Chris Kennedy Blog
This past year in April I was fortunate enough to win Ultimate Bet's "Live Like a Pro" package. My how time flies! It feels like just yesterday we were rushing plans together to get me out to my first tournament, the 25,000 buy-in WPT World Championships. My first experience as a "pro" started off as a very favourable one. To my surprise, I sat at a very tough table with a few online poker pros like Andrew Black, Ben Roberts, Josh Arieh, Sorel Mizzi a.k.a. "Imper1um," and I was not nervous.
Looking back on it now, I'm thinking it was just a huge adrenaline rush that didn't go away. I was very excited to be in the presence of such a tough poker field but I really wanted to show my skills and finish well. I finished day 1 as one of the chipleaders, 29th I believe. Unfortunately I ran into some bad luck on day 2 and missed out on the money. My most memorable hand from this tourney was when my pocket fives flopped a full house to a board of 5-3-3 and I managed to get paid off the whole way by Sorel Mizzi who later said he had pocket 6's. That really helped my stack and allowed me to finish the day on a strong note. I didn't cash but the experience of it all and the fact that I had managed to be among the chipleaders at one point gave me great confidence heading into the World Series.
June and July brought sweltering heat and thousands upon thousands of poker players to Vegas. I arrived the first week of July just before the main event started. One thing I can say about 119 degrees is that it is damn hot! I actually walked from Caesar's Palace to the Rio on one occasion to meet up with a few people from UB and nearly fainted as I walked into the Rio entrance. I don't know what I was thinking, maybe all the taxi drivers decided to go on vacation on this day.
When people say that the World Series of Poker® is filled mostly with clueless idiots that don't understand the simple concepts of poker, they aren't exaggerating. I did not manage to make it past day one and I can honestly say I saw some of the worst poker of my life played at the table I was assigned. It honestly made my home game look like a bunch of pros! Anyways I never really got anything going as I flopped a set twice only to be run down by a gutshot straight draw on both occasions. This was probably the most disappointing trip to date as far as poker goes, but I can say that I discovered some great pools in Vegas during this week. The girls are definitely not worried about showing too much;)
Side note:
The taxi cab drivers in Vegas are crazy! I heard a couple stories from guys that made me want to ask to be let off right then and there.
The Bellagio is the nicest and friendliest hotel I've stayed at so far. The Imperial Palace is the worst The Stratosphere is cheap but a $15 cab ride to most of the action on the strip
If you are looking for a good poker room, the Bellagio has the best action on the strip, especially when there is a tournament in town. Caesars Palace poker room has a Horse game and a couple decent Omaha tournaments during the week. One night we actually played crazy pineapple and double flop Hold'em. That was a great night!!!
Ok so back to my travels...
In November I went to Foxwoods Casino for the WPT event there. First of all, if you haven't been to Foxwoods before, you should be prepared. I wasn't. If you take a cab it is an hour ride and will cost you $150 bucks plus tip, so I suggest renting a car. Foxwoods is the largest casino in the world, and has many options for entertainment, food, and gambling. The poker room was filled with cash games and was very organized for the most part.
As far as the tournament goes, with a mix of bad play and bad luck I didn't go very far. I had a memorable hand in which I raised 4 times the BB from under the gun with KK and got two callers. I bet out the pot to a board of 7c-7s-3c. Mr. Bonyadi, a well established pro, called my bet after a minute of deliberation. A 4c brought a possible flush draw on the turn but after a moment of thought I decided to put him on a pocket pair between 8s and Js. This time, after a half pot bet, Bonyadi quick called me which sent up instant alarms. The river was the 6d and I instantly checked now that every draw has now connected and regardless of my read, this wasn't a board I could confidently continue betting into. After my check, Bonyadi put in a small, 1/4 pot bet and I called without much thought considering the size of the pot and my instinct that he may still have a pocket pair under mine but over the board. Unfortunately he held 4-5 of diamonds and connected with a straight on the river. To this day I'm really confused at his play, from the preflop call, all the way to the river, but what do I know I'm just a rookie ;(
Overall I had a great trip to Foxwoods, minus the cold and bad beats. It was a very worth while trip, especially since it was free! The only pro that I played against at this poker tournament was Al Krux. He's a really great guy and we shared a quick meal in which I constantly bragged on how hot his daughters are..
After a short break it was back to Vegas for the Doyle Brunson's Five Diamond Classic WPT event at the Bellagio in December. I decided to go out a little early for this trip mainly because I was meeting a few friends out there. I took some extra cash and decided to play in 2 smaller events as well as the 15k main event. This trip in particular may have been my favourite so far. Not because of the results, but because I got to meet, converse, and play with more pros than in all the other poker tournaments combined. In the 1500 event I sat with Amir Vahedi and it was a blast. We were constantly jabbing at each other but he did get the last laugh, I busted out before he did when my AK of clubs ran into 34 of diamonds to a flop of A 3 4 with two clubs..As you can imagine we got it all in and I never improved to an 8 brick 5 brick turn and river..Sigh!
Throughout this trip I was able to play with such pros as John Gale, Layne Flack, Amir Vahedi, Hevad Khan, Devilfish Ulliott, Jerry Yang(very very nice guy), Isabelle Mercier, Victor Ramdin, JC Tran, and other live pros, as well as a slew of well known online players like WacoKidd, Jared Hamby..
Unfortunately in the 15k event I was chipped down early in day 1-B and was never really able to recover.
My aces were cracked by pocket 4s which seems to be a reoccurring theme in the tournaments live played so far..I ended up pushing all in pre flop with about 11 big blinds with pocket Queens. The gentleman directly to my left found Kings in the hole and immediately shoved all in right behind me. No two outer for me and I was gone from the 5 diamond event.
I probably made more friends in my last trip though than any other. I also gained a lot of credibility from some high ranked poker players. Before the 15k event I even had a few pros(whose names I'm not able to reveal) offer to stake me into it but with a big smile I refused there offer and was happy to tell them my story of how I won Ultimate Bet's Live like a Pro for a year package. "I'm already taken good care of guys, but thanks for the offer."
Thank you Ultimate Bet for this opportunity to travel around the country and play poker, it has truly been an amazing experience. I am really hoping to go out with a bang in January, as I will be playing my last event, the WPT event in Tunica, MS. My birthday is the 11th so I'm really hoping for a big birthday breakthrough, lord willing.
Chris "KrazyComish" Kennedy
