Poker, Football, and everything sports

Well its come and gone and what a final Sunday it was. While most of the headlines were about Tiger coming in, it seemed only fitting that his biggest rival of this past decade was the one who stole the show. Here are a few of my thoughts on the top 5 golfers this weekend.

T 4th. KJ Choi- This result probably surprised everyone who isn't on the tour. Choi has been a solid contender for years now, and he looked like he mite be the one to play spoiler after going 4 under on the front nine. But where others thrived, be collapsed, and fell to a tie for 4th. He'll get there soon enough he's a very solid player.

T 4th- Tiger Woods- Anyone who thought that Tiger was "the favorite" coming in was out of their minds. No matter how good you are, you simply can't take 5 months off from this game(let alone having to deal with that little sex incident) and expect to be on top of your game. Despite all of that, he was able to be in contention until the end despite doing 2 things that he has been able to avoid not doing his whole career: make careless errors and miss short putts. The commentators always say that the 3-4 foot putt is no gimme, and its true. For old Tiger, he would probably have about 30-35 putts between 4 feet and 10 feet to close out holes, and he would probably make 30-32 of them. This year, he missed putt after putt after putt, and it ultimately cost him. Also, his 3 putt on the 15th hole was inexplicable. This perfectly encompassed his whole Sunday. He didn't seem like he wanted to be here. His mind was elsewhere, understandably so. In his post round interview, he said he will take some time off again. This makes me wonder if he will simply play the 4 majors this year and take the rest of it off. If so, mark my words, he won't win a major this year. The field was already catching up to him, and with all of these leaves of absence, he will once again appear human not only off the golf course, but on it.

3. Anthony Kim- Boy u wanna talk about a stud in the making. This wizz kid absolutely shredded the back 9, and showed just how much talent he has. He will soar up the rankings after this performance, and with play like that, he could win a major in the next few years. However, we have to see how he can hold up with the lead in a major on the back 9. That will show just how good this kid really is.

2. Lee Westwood- His name is always thrown around when it comes to "sleeper picks" or even outright winners, yet he hasn't been able to live up to the hype for 72 holes. I forget who said it, but one of the commentators put it best when he said that Westwood often goes through a few holes where he just gets out of his game and makes small but silly mistakes. That happened today on the back 9, where he played solid, but wasn't able to make the birdies that Phil was able to on the "easy" holes. It does seem like only a matter of time, before he takes down a major, likely a British Open soon enough when he has the home crowd on his side.

1. Phil Mickelson- Quite an emotional scene at the end. An incredible story about his Mother and Wife being diagnosed with breast cancer in the past year. This was the best tournament I have ever seen Phil play. He absolutely owned the last two days, and no shot proved that more then his impossible shot on the 13th, where he landed the ball within 5 feet of the cup from behind a tree 200 yards away. Forget that he missed the eagle opportunity, this shot was one of the top 10 of all time at the Masters. You will see it for years to come. When their careers are over, there is little doubt that even after the scandal that Tiger won't be the all time majors winner. But I would put money down that when its all said and done, Phil has more Green Jackets then Tiger. Augusta is his home away from home. Now if only he could finish off a US Open!

Those are my thoughts. What did you guys think? Keep an eye out for my poker schedule coming up with FTOPS just around the corner. Thanks for reading.

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I've been keeping busy with PS3 and job applications. Enthralling stuff I know. But I've had a couple solid results. Yesterday, I made my 3rd final table in the 30 buck turbo in as many weeks. Sadly, I could only muster up a 4th place showing (I won it the last two weeks). Still good enough for 600 bucks though. And this morning, I chopped the 15 buck omaha super turbo for 430 or so. So solid results and hoping for bigger results when Ftops 77(more like 16 I think) starts. Not sure of my schedule, but I'll def be playing in a couple of them. Stay tuned for my schedule. Thanks for reading.

So after the first two rounds of the tournament, by bracket is mostly busted. I don't have any teams in the Midwest left, and my champ is gone. But I do still have 3 of my 4 Final four teams, which I think is more then most. Well we are down to 16 teams now, so here is how I think it will go down.

Midwest

Northern Iowa vs Michigan State: Perhaps the most impressive thing about NIU's win was that they were leading Kansas the entire time. This was no fluke. They were the better team on Sunday. Now if they played 10 times, Kansas would probably win 7 to 8 times, but that doesn't matter. NIU played better. As for Michigan State, I still hate them for beating my Terps, and the Spartan's are hurting: literally. They won't have their star guard Lucas, and while the Spartans are March monsters, I'm a NIU believer.

Winner: Northern Iowa

Tennessee vs Ohio State- Tennessee has had arguably the easiest route to the sweet 16. They knocked off a solid San Diego State team, and then beat up an Ohio team that somehow dominated Georgetown. Ohio State has impressed me. I had them losing to Georgia Tech, but they looked very solid. And more importantly, Evan Turner is getting alot of help.

Winner: Ohio State

Northern Iowa vs Ohio State- This could be a great game. I won't go into as much detail on the "potential match ups", but I think the Cinderella story ends here. As we have seen in past tournaments, the cinderella rarely makes the final 4(George Mason the only exception last decade). And I think Ohio State ends the story here.

Midwest winner: Ohio State


West Region:

Syracuse vs Butler- With all due respect to Northern Iowa, I'm not sure I was more impressed by a team's performance in one game then I was when Syracuse utterly dominated an upset minded and very good Gonzaga team. Butler meanwhile, also hasn't been extremely tested against UTEP and Murray State. I think Syracuse is far and away the better team, and they will show it.

Winner: Syracuse

Kansas State vs Xavier- Xavier seems to have a home in the sweet 16. The A-10 powerhouse has been there three years in a row. Meanwhile, my Final 4 pick Kansas State has looked very impressive so far, and I think they will keep that up.

Winner: Kansas State

Syracuse vs Kansas State- While Syracuse has been playing better then anyone this tournament, I have to stick with my Final 4 pick. Going with the upset here, but this is more of a sticking to my guns then actually thinking they will win pick.

West Winner: Kansas State


East Region:

Kentucky vs Cornell- I don't think any team benefited more from Kansas's lost then Kentucky, who had sure they wouldn't let the same thing happen to them. On the other hand, Cornell has looked like a 2 seed, as they have been dominating their opponents so far, throttling Temple and Wisconsin. I think it was Bob Ryan who put it best: if they were playing any other team, Cornell could be this year's George Mason. Kentucky will be too strong.

Winner: Kentucky

Washington vs West Virginia- This will be very interesting. Washington looked very impressive vs New Mexico, but how much credit can we give them for beating New Mexico. Even as a 3 seed, they are a mid major. And while West Virginia has looked great, they have lost their starting guard. I still think WVU has too much, and I think they pull it out.

Winner: West Virginia

Kentucky vs West Virginia- I'll keep this one short. With Kansas out, Kentucky is the most talented team left, and its not too close in that department. The only thing that will beat Kentucky is themselves, and while they are young, I don't see it happening here.

East Winner: Kentucky


Duke vs Purdue- Duke has also looked quite impressive, as they were never threatened by Cal. And give props to Purdue, who are in the Sweet 16 despite being without their star player. But their run ends here. Duke will have too much.

Winner: Duke

Baylor vs Saint Mary's- Baylor almost blew it against Old Dominion, but they held on after a bit of a sweat. For Saint Mary's, I don't think you can argue that Omar Samhan is the tournaments most outstanding player. And I think they continue it here. The strength of Baylor is their guard play. The strength of the St Mary's play is their big man. I think the Big man wins out here.

Winner: Saint Mary's

Duke vs Saint Mary's- You have no idea how much I want to go with Saint Mary's. In fact, I almost did. But I thought about it and I think Duke has the tools to win this game. Brian Zoubek has the size to contain Samhan, and Duke has too much guard play. I'll be pulling harder then anyone for Saint Mary's, but Duke wins this.

South Winner: Duke

My new Final 4: Ohio State, Kansas State, Kentucky, and Duke

Keeping it short: Kentucky vs Kansas state with Kentucky winning. Thanks for reading.

And it was a pretty big disappointment for me. I think I played like 10 events in total, and I'm quite certain that I didn't cash in one of them. I had alot of hopes for today, and had three shots at it, but they all ended up without any money.

1st event: 26 buck 6 handed KO

This tournament started out slowly for me, losing about 1k of my starting 5k stack when I doubled up in a standard AA vs KK all in preflop cooler. From there, I built it up to about 12k, then proceeded to vary back and forth between 4k and 12k for about 3 hours. Finally, about 700 from the money, I got it all in preflop with a stack of equal size with 1010. He flipped up JJ and I couldn't catch up. The hand was pretty standard. He raised utg and got one caller and I squeezed and she shoved. I coulda folded it, but if I win the pot, I'm sitting at 25k and have a good shot at a deep run.

2nd event: 22 buck omaha heads up

I was pretty excited for this tournament. I played it in the last mini ftops, and made it all the way to the round of 64 before I had to leave for a Blink 182 concert. (totally worth it awesome show). So I was ready to get back there, and it started off well. I won my first match in about 25 hands when I had a flush draw and huge straight draw that hit on the river and I got paid off. In the 2nd match, I played a very tight opponent, and was one of the last 50 matches left. I pretty much had the lead the whole time, and I ended up winning, putting me in the bubble round. I played a very aggressive opponent, and had to sit on my hands until this hand came up. As he had done all match, he raised the button but this time I three bet with KQ107 double suited. He called and the flop came 982. I bet 480 and he raised to 1480 and I shoved. He called and show some crap like 8654. 2nd pair and an inside straight draw well played sir! Turn brought a 5 and the river bricked out and he won the pot. Again well played sir! Oh well.

3rd event: 50 buck mini ftops Main event.

The big one on the day, it didn't last too long for me cause of a pretty sick final hand. I had played mostly tight and let others at the table do the crazy plays. I had about 5k of my starting 7500 when I limped in early position with 33. After two others limped, the button raised to 360. It was a pretty big raise, but knowing the other limpers were gonna come along I decide to gamble and call. The flop is a beautiful J32 with two diamonds. It checks around to the button raise who bets 700. I called and the button who was a loose bad player called as well. Turn was a 10 of hearts, meaning 2 flush draws. Didn't think I could give another free card, so I bet 1k into the 3700 pot. The loose player shoved all in, and the button thought for about 15 seconds and shoved over the top. If they have JJ or 1010 oh well gg to me. I call and the loose player flips J10 for 2 paid and the button has AK of diamonds. If I can dodge a Q,J,10, or diamond, then I will have 17k in chip with the blinds at 30 60. The river comes...a 10 of diamonds. Lol go from 1st to worst. Lame. My mini ftops in a nut shell.

Well after my big last couple of runs, I'm sitting on about 3200 in my account with 2500 coming in the mail. Not sure what is next for me. I'll probably cash out another 1500 and leave myself with about 1500 or so to play with. Don't think I'll have any casino tournaments coming up, so mostly online stuff. If my addiction to the god of war series doesn't get in my way :) Thanks for reading.

After the best two days in sports, we are down to 32 teams in the NCAA tournament. And there are alot of teams that are impressing(mid majors and Pac 10) and those that are disappointing(Big East). Here are a few of my thoughts on each region.

Midwest

Seriously Georgetown? SERIOUSLY?! Its one thing to have a close game and lose at the end, but its another thing to be absolutely dominated by a team that went 7-9 in their conference and had to run the table as a 9 seed in their tournament. This could go down as one of the most embarrassing games in recent memory. They didn't even show up. Maryland looked very solid against Houston, and with Michigan State's struggles, I like their chances. And Georgia Tech could be very dangerous.

West

Murray State probably provided the new buzzer beater to be seen for a long time to come. Good for them, but for some reason, in one of my brackets, I had Vandy in the elite 8. Lame. And quite a game between BYU and Florida they could give K State some trouble.

East

Wake killed me with that last second shot. I had Texas beating Kentucky in the next round. Keep an eye on that next game I think Kentucky is pretty vulnerable they are maybe the most talented team in the nation but they are also the youngest and cockiest. Could be a tough combination. Also very impressive showing by Cornell they could very well knock off a Wisconsin team that will not be able to outscore Cornell in a shootout.

South

Old Dominion played incredible defense to shut down potential All American Luke Harangody. They could give my final 4 pick Baylor alot of trouble in the next round. And Villanova laid a giant egg against Robert Morris and they should have lost. The refs really blew that jump ball call in overtime the ref who called the jump ball and backed down needs to grow some balls and call the game evenly. St Mary's is looking very good right now they could be this year's George Mason.


The rest of the weekend should be a great one and I can't wait. Tomorrow I will be playing 3 mini ftops events. The 26 buck 6 handed KO, the 20 buck omaha heads up, then the big one, the 50 buck main event. As always I'll be tweeting updates at my twitter tayke2. Thanks for reading.

After going through a slump of not cashing in 26 straight tournaments, I broke through last night, and in quite a big way. I took 4th in the 50 50 for 3700 bucks. The 50 50 is a 50 dollar buy in with a 50k guaranteed prize pool. I final tabled this tournament in 2008, but only got 7th or 8th for about 1500. So here are a few hands that I can vividly remember. I wish I had all of the hand history but this will have to do.

Ok well the most important thing in this tournament was that I established an image of a very aggressive preflop player. I was making alot of raises preflop with alot of marginal hands and alot of my money came from simple blinds and antes take downs. Here was the first big pot I remember. I had built my stack to about 70k which was a monster at the time, but then I lost a few big pots and was all the way down to 20k with blinds at 500 1k. But I tightened up a bit, and got 1 double when this hand came up where I had 60k. This is where my image comes in handy. I pick up the beautiful AA and make a standard raise in last position. The sb thinks for a bit and shoves for around 55k so just under my stack. I insta call and he flips....A5 offsuit!! Well the flop is one of the worst it could be. 10105 with two hearts. He now has a pair and backdoor flush draw. Of course the turn is the 8 of hearts, and now I have a ridiculous sweat. The river blanks and I double to about 100k.

Then with about 90k, I call the big stack utg raise with 55. The flop comes 653 two diamonds. He bets 13k. I decide to put a small raise in there to 29k. I did this because the board looked great to me. Any over pair and he is shoving, and my bet looks weak like I'm trying to steal the pot. He thinks for about 20 seconds and shoves and I snap call with my set. He shows AQ and he's all but drawing dead. I double up big.


I then remember getting moved and going on a huge run of sick hands. Very first hand blinds at 1500 3k I call a small raise with 75 of hearts. The flop comes 1034. He bets small about 10k and I call to float(I'll get back to this in a bit.) The turn is my gin car, the 6 of spades. I decide now I'm going to bet small, about 9500 into a 30k pot. He calls. The turn is a Q of spades completing a flush. I'm not too concerned by this, and I bet 20k. HE min raises to 40k. Wow what to do now. I decide to just call, and he shows a bluff K7 offsuit and I take the big pot.

Going back to floating. This is the concept of calling a bet on the flop in position with nothing with the intention of bluffing the river if the guy checks to you. I did this literally 4 or 5 times last night with success in all of them. A perfect example. I called a raise on the button with Q10 and the flop came K46. This is the perfect board to float on. He continuation bet and I called. The turn brought a blank, and he checked. I bet 20k and he folded. The reason that its a perfect board to bluff at is because he can only play back at you if he has 1 of the 3 kings in the deck or a set. Chances are he missed it, or has an underpair, and wouldn't wan to commit his stack. When you have the big stack, you have to use it, and I did last night.

Ok so I ride the 250k-300k stack to the final 3 tables when this hand comes up. I have about 275k the guy has about 250k. I call his small raise in the bb with K5 suited. Flop comes Q98. I check and he bets I call. Turn is a K I put a bet in there of about 29k pot has 60k and he calls. Two clubs on board. River is a 10, meaning the board reads Q98K10. I decide to bet 50k and he thinks for just a few secs and calls and shows K9. Good call on his part and lame for me that he had two pair. If he has AK there, I doubt he's calling me. This put me at about 190k, and about 5th with 18 to go.

Well at the final 2 tables, I didn't get many cards. Made a couple steals but that was it, and now I was 7th at the final table. I was confident though for 2 reasons. The guy to my left and the guy to my right. To my right: an FTOPS champ who was raising every other hand, but often folding when played back at. I knew I could get some chips from him. And to my left, a crazy player who made ridiculous over shoves anytime he had a decent hand. Just needed 1 big hand against him. Well after alot of action, the short stack busts thanks to the 2nd short stack, so now I'm the short stack. I pick up A10 of hearts in the bb and it folds to FTOPS. He raises me all in and I insta call. He shows Q5. Flop comes A high and i hold and now have some chips at about 370k!

I mainly got my money by shoving in on FTOPS. Mostly in my bb. I reraise him all in with KJ and didn't get a call. Shoved the sb with A8 after he raised no call. I remember getting up to about 500k when this hand came up. Had QJ spades in the bb and he raised in the sb again. I shove for 400k and he calls and shows A4. The flop comes J high! I hold and now 5 handed everyone is dead even. I take a small chip lead later when I shove with two overs and a flush draw, when this hand comes up.

I'm not sure how I could have played the hand any differently without likely going broke. I call FTOPS raise with 66 on the button. He raised to 62k blinds at 15k 30k. We are about even I have him covered by 75k. The bb calls as well and the flop comes 943 rainbow. BB checks and as FTOPS has done all final table long, he c bets to 85k. I raise to 300k leaving me 400k behind. BB folds and he tanks for about 15 secs before shoving all in. If I call and lose, I have 75k, aka 2 and a half bbs. If I fold, I still have 400k. I decide to fold. The only way I think I could have played it differently is raising to about 270k and saving an extra bb. Oh well had to get caught eventually nice play.

After that, crazy man goes broke, and I have about 450k 4 handed when I get knocked out. And wouldn't u know it: it was thanks to FTOPS champ in a blind vs blind battle. He standard raises in sb and I call in bb with QJ. The flop comes 1094 two spades. He bets 85k I shove 400k and he calls with one of the worst hands I could see:A4 of spades. Now all my spade cards are out, and he can hit a card that would leave me drawing dead. Would have much rather seen A10 or K10. Well the turn is a Q...but its the Q of spades. And I'm drawing dead.


I realllllllly feel like I could have own this one. If FTOPS doesn't shove on the 66 hand, I woulda had 1 mil. Oh well good play by him, and I can't really complain. Up next for me are a few more mini ftops tournies, including 3 on Sunday. Thanks for reading.

Ok its the best month of the year, as we are once again just a few short days away from without question the best 4 days in sports: the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament. Now I haven't been paying nearly as much attention this year as I have in years past, which might actually boast well for me, as the experts never usually do well. So I won't say all my picks, but I'll give you guys a few teams to look out for, and who I think will make it to the end.

Midwest Region

1st round upset- San Diego State over Tennessee- Tennessee had a disappointing year after starting in the top 10, and SDSU has had a very upstart and solid year.

Top Seed likely to lose early- Ohio State. They showed how vulnerable they were when they should have lost to Michigan, and while they looked impressive after that, I've never been a fan of the one man teams.

Possible Cinderella- Georgia Tech. They showed how good and how bad they can be in the ACC tournament. They have the talent to make the final 4, but they also make enough mistakes to shoot themselves in the foot and be out in the 1st round.

Winner- Kansas. Hate to jump on the band wagon here, but there is no excuse for them to not win this bracket.

West Region

1st round upset- UTEP over Butler- Another game that everyone seems to have a consensus on. UTEP is very solid and Butler trailed off towards the end of the year.

Top Seed likely to lose early- Pittsburgh. I got a buddy of mine who's opinion I trust who is very high on Oakland, and this Pitt team is no where near the team they were last year.

Possible Cinderella- Murray State/UTEP- There is usually one double digit seed who makes the sweet 16, and I see it coming from here. Both Butler and Vandy are soft for 4 and 5 seeds, and both are solid clubs who could make a run.

Winner- Kansas State- They are extremely talented, have had a tough schedule all year, and Syracuse is not one of the top 4 teams in the country, in my opinion.

East Region

1st round upset- Cornell over Temple. Temple is solid but they could be bummed bout been seeded as low as 5. They could have easily have been a 3 or 4. And Cornell has had quite a good year.

Top seed likely to lose early- Kentucky. Alot of people have Kentucky as a shoe in for the final 4. But I've always been a firm believer that experience is more important then talent. And while Kentucky has the most talent of any team, there is only one player over 21, and the Wildcats could get cocky and slip up.

Possible Cinderella- Wisconsin. There's not much to be had in this bracket, and as a 4 seed, Wisconsin isn't really considered a Cinderella. But Wisconsin seems to make a final 4 every five years, and this might be that year.

Winner- West Virginia. They are flying high after the Big East Tournament, and will be looking to ride their momentum into the big dance.

South Region

1st round upset- Old Dominion over Notre dame. The Irish had a letdown end to the season, and ODU will be fired up. Also keep an eye on Siena vs a Purdue team that is still recovering from the beatdown Minnesota gave them.

Top Seed likely to lose early- Purdue. Look above

Possible Cinderella- Richmond. This is by far the weakest region, and there isn't much to be had as far as tough teams, so why not a Richmond squad who one ESPN reporter had in his Elite 8.

Winner- Baylor. I don't think Duke or Villanova are all that strong. So I'm taking a chance on a young but talented Baylor squad.

Final 4

Kansas vs Kansas State- Winner Kansas

West Virginia vs Baylor- Winner West Virginia

NATIONAL CHAMPION- Kansas. People should get used to seeing National Champion and Kansas together. Everyone is picking them to win, and rightfully so. They are the best team in the nation.

Hope you enjoyed my recap. If anyone has any bracket questions, I'll try to answer them, but like I said, don't take my word on it. The experts never pick correctly. Thanks for reading.