The im the guy paragraph was great ....teared me up....Secret 3 words bud

U R BOSS!!!!

well played; well written

congrats man!

Again, great TR and well done. I really enjoyed it. Great job writing, playing, and appreciating your life.

I was at WSOP for the first time this to support a friend playing in one of the 1K events and his wife amazed at the noise of the chips shuffling. The guys hadn't really noticed it as we were desensitized from plenty of live play.

Question time? (I certainly understand if you don't want to go into details or just not answer some of these at all...)

Does your wife understand that there's life money and then there's poker bank roll and all of your winnings go into the poker bank roll? Seriously, it sounds like you have set some aside for some live tournies?

Do your friends, family, students think you got incredibly lucky gambling, that you're a poker super star, or something in between? Do any particular group understand the combination of skill & luck more than others?

Do all your buddies want to back you again next year?

How did your wife entertain herself through all of those long days?

How many times were you all-in during the tournament? How many times were you at risk (i.e. they didn't fold)?

Do you have a favorite moment from the trip? From the tournament itself?

Awesome report..I'm so happy you did well..I wouldn't want to be at a poker table with you....

Fantastic report. As stated earlier, can't wait for "A Main Event Veteran Lives the Dream - A trip report" in 2011

Congratulations! I´m happy that I follow this thread just from the day 1.
Thanks a lot for your time!

+1

great tr... appreciate it op...

Not nearly as much as the two of you would, I suspect.

In final analysis, would you recommend staying in warrior mode during breaks as opposed to relaxing? I know in the prelim I played, an older gentleman who was doing extraordinarily well went back to his room to nap during a long break that was subsequently turned into a shorter one, costing him a great deal of momentum and rendering his top 3 chipstack into a 9th place finish.

I was thinkin' something along the lines of a huhu match.

Bravo, great trip report.

One big regret, we didn't take very many pictures. The ones we did take were not very good (except landscapes at Red Rock Canyon). My wife is very shy and doesn't want me to post any of her, so I will respect that.

Here is one she took as Hellmuth walked in past her. She had no idea who he was but figured she should snap a pic.



Here is one of me taken by a professional on day 5 (I think). TV cameras were lurking so I turned my hat backwards! What a toolbag.



And here is one from the night I got home with the Happy Gilmore oversized novelty check that my sister had made. It looks perfect up close.



Sorry there aren't more, I'll have to see if there are more good ones on the camera still.

I'll start on the questions soon. There are some good ones and I'll try to do a good job answering them.

Sorry the pics are so big. I don't know how to make them smaller.

enjoyable read and picture sizes are just fine.

Question: What would you say are your top 5 maxims for coaching?


Happy Gilmore size check is great!

SO SICK! You seem like an awesome guy, if you're ever in the Reno/Tahoe area drinks on me!

That's "insider humor" at its finest. Perfect... just perfect.

Now, I'll repeat my question.

Secret,

5 Stars, sir, 5 stars. This is a Hall of Fame TR imho! You're clearly in great company, with the leo doc stamp of approval.

You better take down the pic of the huge check before the WSOP sues you for using their logo. They want that 57k back.

You are Jeremy Irons IRL?



[QUOTE=1-secret-1;21280204]
Here is one of me taken by a professional on day 5 (I think). TV cameras were lurking so I turned my hat backwards! What a toolbag.

My wife was along the rail for part of the day. I'm not sure if she was part of the group.

So you busted two people on day 2?! Nice. I hope that propelled you on to a deep run.

Thank you for the kudos.

[/QUOTE]

Eventually we need to make this happen.

awesome, well done!!!

It’s hard to compare the two. I didn’t have $10K riding on this report, but the pressure to produce was certainly felt. If I had to chose….I’d say ME was tougher.


I have set aside money for taxes, for a family vacation, and then a small “live tourney” bankroll. I have always kept my poker economy separate from my real economy. I have to explain sometimes to my wife why I keep so much money online (to handle downswings with little angst).

My family and friends know the amount of work I have put into poker so they think I’m ready to take on Phil Ivey. I know I am above average but far from being an expert. I’m sure some of the casual acquaintances think I’m a luck gambler.

Yes, but my wife said, “No more selling off anything!”

I’ll let her answer this one.
I originally had the idea that I would spend some quality me time (no not like that) – spa, pool, bar, but the further Craig went in tourney, I couldn’t leave. I was kept busy by sending emails and updating facebook with stats & photos – plus hobbling to the bar for the $2 Milwaukee’s Best and back to the rail kept me pretty busy. I had some interesting conversations with other spectators (one of whom was the sister of Matt Jarvis who came down from Canada to surprise him-little did I know he would make it to the final table- I would have gotten her number!) BTW, thanks for all the nice stuff you guys have been saying about me. It was a great time and I look forward to next year – minus the in-laws and busted ankle.
- Lori


Three including my bust out hand. On day 2 vs the “Dirty Bird” and day 4 vs “angry looking internet guy” (AK vs KK)

From the trip – The night out celebrating.

From the tournament - I think the hand where I called a bluff with 88 on a AJ high board bc I gave me a ton of confidence that I was thinking the game well. And of course the moment the bubble burst was incredible.


In no particular order:
When it gets hard we work harder.
Never back down from a challenge.
Tired doesn’t exist
It’s hard for the other team to score when you have the ball.
Pain isn’t real until you get others to believe in it.


Thanks. Deal.


I definitely would have fold AA. Everything said he could beat Aces. In a cash game I shove and get ready to re-buy, but in a tournament at the stage we were at, it’s a fold unless I had a real good read that he could meta-game that deep.

Here is what 2+2 said re: that hand

I am not sure why the change occurred. I looked up the table draw first thing that morning online, but they gave no reason why they made the change. Originally the seat I ended up taking was listed as “empty.” Maybe they realized there were enough empty seat and my table was going to break first anyway. It still remains one of my “what if” moments


I saw a bunch of shaky hands on day one. I think mostly they meant excitement over a big hand. I saw people looking uncomfortable in general. It’d hard to say, some of the classic tells were there - seeing the flop then looking at your stack etc. Often people would try to get you to not raise by acting like there were already reaching for chips out of turn – this means you should raise – most the time they fold

awesome, loved it, amazing read, gl in everything

THIS. You've written about taking leaps and chances this entire time, take one more and send this story to a few online/in print poker mags, ESPN etc. This 'chance' is a freeroll and it could be pretty awesome if it gets picked up.

You might want to edit that part about the cardplayer mag CEO being a tiltmonkey out before you send it in to THAT publication though...