I didn't feel quite so fantastic when I had to get back on the plane to Vegas the next day however.

posted by Liv Boeree Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 7:35 PM 0 Comments

I've forgotten what sleeping is like but who cares, I'm having so much fun! Sunday entailed go-karting with the Ultimatebet guys and their posse (I came 3rd/10 after being spun out on the very last corner!) and then on the Monday we all played the $1500 Shootout event. I had a run of cards like you wouldn't believe, where I saw literally EVERY pocket pair in the space of 2 levels and then some. We got down to the final 3 players on my table and I ended up in a set-over-set situation, leaving me once again making the long walk back through the Rio. Fortunately, I bumped into Phil Hellmuth, Debo and PokerH0 who invited me to go golfing with them, and the set of sixes was soon forgotten about.

Now I'd never swung a golf club in my life (except for mini-golf when I was ten) so this was to be an interesting game. As there were 8 of us we split into teams of 4, them literally drawing straws as to who was going to get the handicap, i.e. me. Phil lost out so he gave me a crash course, but the best bit was driving the golf buggy.

As far as my golfing went, I truly sucked. My putting was incredibly accurate but also far too heavy, and my drive was just comical. However, I did earn my way in the end...everyone had fluffed a shot onto the green so it was left to me... and I nailed it!

I'm off to buy one of those white leather gloves.

posted by Liv Boeree at 7:20 PM 0 Comments

Maaan, I love Vegas! I'm having such a ridiculously good time. Except for the poker, which I'll get out the way now as it's putting me on life-tilt just thinking about it. The $2000 NLH was a world of pain with my Queens losing to Fours and then the next hand having Aces lose to Queens. Awesome. The next day was the $1500 6-handed and I was standing in line with 10 to go to register when they announced they had decided to cap the entries. That's how good I run. Therefore the whole world and its dog decided to go play the $1k Bellagio event on that day which attracted around 170 runners. I played for 1o hours, and what I would like to say was some of my best poker, until we got to the bubble and I donked out 2 from the money. Double awesome.

But like I said, I've been having a fantastic otherwise! I went to see "The Amazing Jonathan", spent two days partying with Sully and his mates, went to a custom car shop which had the coolest cars and bikes ever (including Ozzy Osbourne's low-rider) and gone to all the best night-spots Vegas has to offer.

Criss Angel, Sully Erna and me in Blush Nightclub

posted by Liv Boeree Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 11:07 AM 1 Comments

So I'm finally here in crazy town, and am settling into my condo for the next 6 weeks. I got here 5 days ago and it's been pretty mental already. The first night was spent fighting with my bank on the phone who had blocked my card and wouldn't (and still won't!) let it work at the casino cage to withdraw any money! However, the crisis was averted and I managed to buy-in for the sell out $1500 NLH on the Sunday.

The night before I met up with some of the UB guys including Debo and Shawn Rice to go see Sully Erna play his solo show at the Hard Rock. It truly rocked and much fun was had by all, although it all went a bit wrong when we ended up at Imperial Palace in a sleazy karaoke bar and Debo made me sing Skid Row's 18 and life (impossibly hard to sing, especially if you suck at singing like me). Anyway, everyone seemed suitably amused by it and I bundled home to bed at a relatively respectable hour to ensure 8 hours sleep before the tournament the next day.

As I got to the tourney I was pretty nervous as this was my first ever bracelet event. Things got off to a slow start with me going down to about 1200 in chips at one point, but after three hours it all went right and before I knew it I had one of the big stacks with 26k. It was a fun table too as I had Clonie Gowen (who I've known for a while) and the aforementioned Godsmack frontman Sully Erna to my left, so it was banter-ific.

Then it all went to s***. I was dealt 99s in early position, and made it 3x BB to 1800. Everyone folds except the SB and BB who both call. The flop comes q-j-9 with 2 diamonds, and the SB pushes all in for 7k. The BB, who has been a complete maniac, flat calls. I therefore went over the top for my whole 26k to put him all in (and he still had a lot behind) as I put him on a flush draw. My read was totally correct, for the maniac CALLS with, wait for it... 7-4 diamonds. Of course, his "play" was rewarded by a diamond on the turn to leave me utterly crippled and out shortly after. What gutted me even more was that if he hadn't sucked out was that I would've been one of the top 5 chipleaders at that point with 60k! Arghhhh.

Still, onward and upwards eh?

posted by Liv Boeree Wednesday, June 4, 2008 at 4:07 PM 0 Comments