So the first tournament that I'll be playing in will be the LA Poker Classic. This is what my schedule looks like:

Feb. 19th - Arrive in LA
Feb. 20-21st - Walk around LA with my girlfriend
Feb. 22 - Meet up with Daniel
Feb. 24-March 1st - Hopefully play in the tournament everyday
March 2nd - Leave for Toronto

Anyone know what the lowest limit for NL Hold'em is at Commerce Casino?

1-2 with a ridiculously small maximum. It would disappoint me more than a tiny bit if daniel didn't stake you in a game to get a better feel for your play and point out a few things.

That'd be nice. That's good they have 1-2 because I couldn't afford to play in anything higher.

gl Anthony.

gl. make the most of your rookie/protégé dual status.

Thanks, getting pretty anxious and excited to play in more first tournament.

gl Anthony

$1-$2 = $100 max buy in (jopke!)

$2-$5 = $20o max buy in.

$5-$10 = $400 max buy in.

$10-$20 = the real deal.

G L bro....


(p.s. ..... go post something in the General Forum before everyone disowns you!)

We'll be cheering you on Anthony, keep us updated daily!

I thought I was already an outcast...hoping to redeem myself with this tournament.

I will certainly update daily if I have internet access.

If those are seriously the max buy-ins at the cash games at the commerce I wouldnt even bother, that really is a joke. Seriously, 40 big blinds at a 5-10 table? That's how it used to be at foxwoods, the max buy in at 1 2 was 100, but they just upped it to 300. Much better, and juicier pots with all the donks that play at that level.

So how were your first few days in LA.

Give us an update. I don't know if you like to write but mabey you can make a small tripreport.

Anyway, good luck tomorow in the tourney and try not to be overwhelmed by everything you see.

Jan

Hi, just a little update. So I've been walking around LA for the past three days and today I checked into the Wyndham hotel. I went to the Commerce casino just now to register for the tournament and play some poker. I saw Sean Sheikhan and Cindy Violette there which I thought was pretty neat. Going from the cashier cage to the registration table with two $5k chips made me pretty nervous. Never held that much money in my life! The casino there was also very different from the ones at Niagara. Never seen so many poker tables. At niagara it was mostly slots, table games, and a small section for poker (only Texas hold'em).

So I put my name for Texas Hold'em 1-2. Wait for like 20 min. or so before getting called. I sit down at the table and right away from the betting I notice something is different. It turns out it was Limit whereas I play No Limit. So I play one hand and then leave looking like a fool and complete amateur (which I am, but usually not to that extent). So then I find out that the '$40' games where NL 1-2 that had a max buy-in of $40. I'm thinking there has to be larger buy-in tables. So I ask the dealer and other players and conclude there are higher buy-ins but the blinds are higher as well. Still unclear about that. $40 is the min. buy-in at Niagara and it just seems way too low for me. I'll probably play tomorrow again so hopefully I can find a higher buy-in tables.

Just a brief summary of my hands. So on my first hand I lose almost my whole buy-in (left with $2) with a suckout on the river. I probably should've folded to the big bet on the river as I usually play very tight when just sitting down. I deduced that I was ahead throughout but didn't think he caught anything on the river. I later sucked out on someone else which was even worse so that evened things out (I played the hand so bad, it's too embarrassing to post...). I also tripled up with AK. Then near the end of my session I lost ~$30 with a set against two pair and a flush. So after playing for about an hour I was up $51 for the night.

So tomorrow's plan will be to meet Daniel and play some more poker.

My first few days was very tiring. I walked quite a bit. I went to Santa Monica beach, Beverly Hills (where I saw a basketball player, at first I thought it was Tim Thomas but after looking at Google images I think it's another player), Hollywood (where I saw and held a real Oscar statue), LA Zoo (where I saw Callista Flockhart or a very close look-a-like), and Korea Town. Among some of the other things I saw of interest was some people telling me where and how to get weed when I was in the subway and a fight almost broke out in the poker room. Someone also told me Shannon Elizabeth was at the casino and apparently she is going out with Antonio Esfandiari?

Sound slike you are having fun man, Best of luck tomorrow

Glad you're having a good time. The above statement makes me a sad panda.

That's what we were trying to warn you about with the ultra small buy ins ($40 max).

GL tomorrow sir, take it down. Remember to not swallow so hard when you're bluffing

Yeah, thanks.



Yeah, I thought they'd be higher.

So yesterday, I didn't do much. Woke up at 2pm, had lunch, relaxed at hotel, then went to the casino. I played for an hour an a half. I won two hands. One where I had second pair, and the guy made a poor bluff at the end. Then the other hand I had QQ near the end of my session. I decide to raise to $10 (my only raise in my whole session) because the table was quite loose and weak. I get one caller (this guy is a calling station, I don't think he ever folded pre-flop and would see it to the river with nothing). Three clubs come on the flop (I have none). With this guy I decide to push all in (for around $30). He calls. A fourth club hits on the turn so I think I'm done. River pairs the board giving me two pair. I show my queens and he mucks. Two hands later he calls another $10 bet pre-flop. Flop is 3 4 5. The original raiser raises $20, he calls. Turn is another 5. Another $20. He calls. Then comes an A on the river. The guy checks and the caller goes all-in and is called. Original raiser shows 99 and the caller shows 5 10. I leave shortly after cause my girlfriend was with me. I end up making $21.5 but definitely could've have got more from that guy.

Today, I woke up at around 12pm. Tournament starts at 3:30pm. I should be meeting Daniel today at around 1pm for lunch. Going to get dressed and get ready now.

Good luck sir. As with many things whats important is not the destination, but the journey. Enjoy it.

Yea, the NL games here in LA are a joke. Hawaiian Gardens has a $20 MAX with .50/$1 blinds and a $40 MAX with $1/2 blinds, each person starts with 20 $2 chips lol. The $100 MAX is a $1-3 game which is still a joke but slightly better. The $300 MAX is $2/5 I think. Way different from Vegas where you can play $1/2 with a $200 buy-in and actually play poker and not just AIPF.

Hi Anthony,

I wish you the best of success in these coming months.

Just remember to get lots of rest (the tourism--don't get too distracted, also these cash games, don't let them get on your mind).

I know it sounds silly, but since you haven't played live that much, it wouldn't hurt to take advice from Moneymaker's book (lol) about counting to 5 before you act at each stage... who knows if you are giving off tells?

Okay, relax, count the fact that you've not played high stakes as something to YOUR ADVANTAGE and just have fun.

We will root for you win or lose.

Anthony,

I know that your well into your first day of the Commerce ME. All I can say is that I wish you the best of luck in life and in poker!

Thanks for all the kind and encouraging comments guys. I'm having the time of my life here. I feel like a mini-celebrity walking around with Daniel.

It was good meeting you yesterday. Good luck today. We're rooting you on..

It was nice meeting you too. Didn't think I'd meet any FCPers there.

How did Anthony wind up doing?

Here's an interview we did with Daniel and Little Mak. Enjoy!

http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/vi...-at-lapc-73.htm

Link didn't work for me.

Hey Anthony,

I hear from PokerNews Recap of Day 1 that you survived day 1, pretty good man. Keep it up, build your chip stack slowly and do whatever it takes to make the money.

Best of luck!

EDIT: Hey Anthony, how did you do after Day 2?