JustinSmith

Posts - Maio 2009

Seriously? Sick again? Live Cash, High Stakes Living, WSOP Events
Maio 31, 2009
I can't believe I got sick again so soon. 3 non-long days and I woke up congested this morning. I think it's recurring sinusitis and I'll try to see if it will work its way out of my system within the next 2 or 3 days naturally with some Vitamin C, Zinc, B12, Tea, Nasal spray, Turmeric, and my Sinus clearing kit. If it doesn't clear up very soon, I will go to a doctor and see if he thinks its a sinus infection again, and get some antibiotics. As long as I'm not worse, I will go down tomorrow and play the $1500 PLO and try to gamble it up and amass a big stack before the $10k Stud. If I fail to amass a big stack, I'll play the $10k Stud.

I filmed High Stakes Living yesterday with Kristy Arnett. I think it should be a solid episode and was sorta fun to do. I enjoy watching the show myself so it'll be interesting to see how I turn out on it. After I was finished with that, I went over to the Bellagio to play some 600/1200 mix and ended up losing $15k before I quit since it turned into a fairly bad game. After that I was going to play some 200/400 PLO in Bobby's room, but got beat to the seat. By the time there was a seat open, it was time to pick up one of my best friends, Brian, and will be staying with me for a few weeks throughout the WSOP. I haven't seen him in about 10 months and we should have a good time hanging out in the free time I will have.

I played the $1500 O8 yesterday which was incredibly soft, and the $1k event today which was sort of a joke. I didn't even make any moves in it, and busted when my nut flush gutshot combo draw whiffed vs. top two.

For the rest of the evening, I intend on taking it very easy, shoving down tons of supplements, and hopefully falling asleep a little early. I've been having a rough time falling and staying asleep since I arrived in Vegas two months ago. I'm dreaming a lot, which leads me to believe I'm getting deep REM sleep, but it usually takes me an hour or an hour and a half to fall asleep and I keep waking up throughout the night to turn over or whatever. I'd really love to just lay there happy on my back and wake up the next morning seemingly not more than a minute later. I've gotten into the habit of twittering quite a bit, so keep up with me there at http://www.Twitter.com/BoostedJ.

Good night.

P.S. I had 5% of Justin Bonomo in the $40k Event and he just busted for a little over $400k, so ship the $20k this way. Although I lost $5k to Ted in our final table/final 3 bonus bets.
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WSOP $40k, Twitter, WSOP Props
Maio 29, 2009
Okay, this is going to be a very short blog. I played the WSOP $40,000 Buyin tournament today. I was eliminated the last hour of the day unfortunately. So a whole day to waste basically. Very very happy with the way I played except for possibly a call I made on the river for about 13% of my stack at one point, however that did not affect the outcome of anything. Ended up losing a coinflip with 77 vs AQ and out the door I went.

My twitter is http://www.twitter.com/BoostedJ which will be regularly updated throughout the day, every day of the WSOP with interesting stories, hands, and other various things.

Ted Forrest who is a decent friend of mine came up to me today and propositioned me for a $5,000 bonus for each final table either one of us makes we have to pay each other and an additional $5,000 for making the top 3 of any tournament during the WSOP this year. The most final tables he's ever made in a year is 3...and he won all 3! LOL! So hopefully my sake that doesn't happen this year, but I definitely don't want to root too hard against Ted, he's a good guy.

I received 13-1 odds on winning a bracelet this year...my $10,000 to his $130,000. It's with a particular long time high stakes NL cash game player whom I've played many many hands with. I'll leave his name anonymous for now but when I win an event it will be a nice victory.

I have a $1k friendly bet with Lance and company at Bluff Magazine on gross $$$ cashed during the WSOP this year between my team of: Justin Bonomo, Brett Richey, and myself vs. his team of Andy Bloch, Bertrand Grospellier, and Michael Binger. Elky is on a super heater the past year so hopefully I can fade him.

Today during dinner break of the $40k in the VIP break room, I took a piece of Mike Matusow in chinese poker vs. Eli Elezra, Phil Hellmuth, and Doyle Brunson. I don't know how to set my hands that great in chinese so I sweated Mike and Eli a little bit and fortunately Mike went on a pretty nice heater which netted me $6,000 for my piece of the action.

I'll be playing the $1,500 Omaha H/L tournament tomorrow at noon and you can follow me on twitter or Pokernews.com
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Playing Online, Working Out, NBA, WSOP
Maio 24, 2009
I've been playing online the past few days...mostly 25/50 PLO on Stars and FTP, 100/200 and 400/800 8 game on Stars, and the 2-7 TD 100/200-500/1000 on Stars. 2 days ago I had a nice $70k win in a session of 500/1k 2-7 TD. Yesterday however I lost just about all of that back playing 25/50 PLO and 400/800 8 game though. Today I had a 7 table session of 25/50 PLO on Stars and started running nice and was winning $45k, and then it made a full reversal and ended up breaking even. I'll continue to play only when the games are really really good before the first event of the WSOP which is the big $40k buyin NLHE tournament. I don't want to wear myself out before a very long 6 weeks.

Since overcoming being sick twice in two weeks, I've gotten on a great workout schedule which I really like. I like to be working out frequently at least 3 times a week. I'm eating very good and nutritious (like usual) with extra high protein foods.

What can I say about the NBA. The NBA playoffs have been amazing to watch. All the games in the conference finals have been extremely close. I've been betting a lot on the Nuggets and the Cavaliers. I really want to see the Nuggets beat the Lakers personally, and the Cavaliers are really playing dreadful. I haven't been putting in as many hours into poker as I normally do, which is awesome. I play 3-4 hours after I wake up, mix in a little pool shooting, and then gear up for a basketball game at night and go into full sweat mode. I've definitely been enjoying my daily routine lately.

WSOP starts in a few days, and I'll be putting every last bit of energy into that. I'm definitely going to try to make something happen this summer. I'm very confident in all of my games lately and I've made the commitment to myself to remain absolutely focused throughout the duration of the WSOP. I'm never going to slip up or give up. I'm just going to play my absolute heart out and that's all there is to it. If you want to bet against me, feel free to bet with Justin Bonomo. Read his latest blog on his site http://www.ZeeJustin.com and he wants to bet on me taking 4.5-1 odds.

This will probably be my last blog until either during the $40k event if I make it deep, or after the second event or so. My blog should be moving to the front page of PokerNews at the start of the WSOP so look for it there I think if you intend on continuing to follow me throughout WSOP. Also check out my twitter at http://www.Twitter.com/Boosted J
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Getting Strong, Getting Focused, WSOP Prop Bet, Twitter
Maio 19, 2009
Fortunately for me I'm just about over this sinus infection without the help of antibiotics which is a huge victory for me given I've used antibiotics twice in the past 9 months, once for a throat infection on Day 4 of the WSOP-E Main Event which I was an hour late to, and once for a sinus infection during the EPT-PCA $25k Highroller event. I always seem to catch some bad germs while playing live.

Anyways, I'm now getting very strong by sticking to my old workout schedule and eating PERFECT thanks to Chef Anita! My wife has really turned into a good cook over the past year or two and she definitely knows my taste exactly.

I'm really really starting to get focused now. I am absolutely determined and ready to go for the WSOP this year. Obviously since I turned 21 in January, this is my debut showing at the WSOP. I feel like I'm going to play better than ever before through extreme focus and concentration. It's fairly known that I've lost a whollleeee lot of money over the past two months, and that's just more fuel for the fire that I WILL be sparking up. I'm taking it very easy over the next week leading up to the $40k NL Event. I will be working out 5 of the next 7 days, weight training a lot, walking my dog regularly, enjoying the hot Vegas sun, sitting on my recliner just chillin watching some more of the NBA playoffs, and maybe dipping into some of the 25/50 PLO games that have been running on FTP and Stars lately. Overall, I am definitely in relaxed and focus mode as there aren't too many games going lately, and honestly I don't even care for one of the few times of my life. Every little bit of energy within me will be going towards winning a WSOP event this year and/or winning a whole lot of money in the nosebleed side games. I can't even explain how amped up I am. With all that said, I propose to any player who has never won a bracelet before that I will win more Player of the Year Points during the WSOP than you, and we can bet on it. E-mail me at BooostedJ@aol.com or PM on 2p2 (Boosted J).

I finally got a twitter account as I'm sure there will be people wanting to follow me through the series. I will be updating it very regularly (multiple times a day) with updates in tourneys, the side games, and any other interesting personal stuff. http://twitter.com/BoostedJ and follow me.
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One of the best weeks of my life(non-poker), Sick again???, WSOP 2009(bets?)
Maio 10, 2009
This past week after my dad left, two of my closest friends, Randy and Jon came to stay with Anita and I. I've known Jon since we were in the 3'rd grade together, and I've known Randy for about 4 years now. They are both non-poker players but I would trust them with just about any amount of money and any important situation that could potentially arise. Anyways, it was one of the funnest weeks I have ever had. We started the week at Naked Fish which is obviously a poker player sushi place hot spot in Vegas. The sushi there is really good, and moreso they make me a really delicious sauce supplement instead of soy sauce(I'm allergic to soy). It was a good dinner. We shot a lot of pool throughout the week which was fun. We did dinner at Wolfgang Puck in MGM and I thought the sausage filled gnocchi was amazing.

The day after that we went indoor sky diving at the place near the strip. Basically 120 mph wind fan makes you float in the air and gives you the same sort of "feeling" that skydiving gives you. This was pretty awesome except for the fact really hot wind was going right up my nose and giving me some breathing problems and distracting me from the strict form they want you to use. Everything besides the air up the nose part was really great. I would definitely do this again if there was some way to plug my nose or something. We went home and chilled a little while and then hit up Treasures and Sapphire. I've always heard good things about Sapphire but man that place was a total let down. Treasures was superior to Sapphire for sure IMO. We stayed about 15 minutes at Sapphire and didn't even bother ordering drinks.

The next night I got us a good table at LAX (Thanks to Joe Cassidy for the host hook up). Despite not being a great night in Vegas for clubs, again like the rest of the week, it was my best club experience by far and was really awesome. Ricky Hatton was also there after his big loss which I saw a few nights before. I actually have a pretty funny story from that night where my two buddies were pretty much almost a lock to close out a group of 3 girls after popping champagne in our VIP booth(yes 3 girls for 2 of them), and basically the third girl who 2 minutes earlier had been very "intimate" with both girl #2 and one of my buddies basically went super depressed and very suddenly begged her two friends to leave with her. After about 15 minutes of arguing fiercely, the other two girls were forced to take care of their wildly depressed(drunk?) friend. There were definite plans of bringing them back to the house and getting a late night pool party on. Obviously I'm married and Anita was there with me, but we were definitely trying to hook up Jon and Randy since it was their vacation and I had to make sure they had a time they'd never forget.(pics of club and said pool at my house posted below). Anyways, we ended up bouncing after they got two outted by the girls and went home.

From left to right: Me, Randy, and Jon

Me and the wifey

Pool at my house

When we woke up we were recovering a little bit and went dune buggying for an hour and a half in the 100 degree desert. It was really really hot, but definitely worth it. I have a few screws and a metal plate in my ankle from my motorcycle accident, and it was difficult to reach the pedal and keep full throttle to power me through some of the soft sand as I only have probably about 75% range of motion from that surgery. I definitely was focused on staying hydrated in the hot sun and the 85 spf sun block did it's job well. That night we went to see Lance Burton at Monte Carlo which was an okay show. He was a little unenthusiastic about his tricks but he's very talented.(pictures of dune buggies below also)

Me and the Wife in a dune buggy at Nellis Dunes

The next day I started not feeling wonderful so I stayed home, but Anita, Randy, and Jon went zip lining across the canyons. Supposedly they go about 60-80 mph and are about 400-500 feet high which is pretty insane. They said it was awesome and I'll take their word for it. That night we went out to Craftsteak at MGM Grand. Anita and I had gone to their other location at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods. It's a good place, but the service was a little subpar and we liked the food a bit better at their other location, maybe they just had an "off night". We saw the Cirque du Soleil show "KA" after dinner. I saw this show two years ago and it's probably one of the better Cirque shows. I think I enjoyed it a little more the second time also. After that we met up with Albert, an old friend of mine and Randy's, at Moon/Playboy Club in the Palms. We hung out there a little bit but it was just okay although I really enjoyed the music they were playing(more hip hop). Instead of calling it an early night we went right out to Spearmint Rhino. It was Friday night and this place was JAM PACKED. Sapphire or Treasures or Club Paradise don't even compare to the Rhino. They aren't even in the same universe. I had to tip the table guy a hundo to get us a table right away instead of wait who knows how long but it was well well worth it. I ended up getting a little tipsy which is fairly uncommon for me and we all had a really great night out and came home at 5 a.m.

From left to right: rando guy, Jon, Anita, and Randy

Unfortunately for me, going out all week long doing all sorts of activities made me relapse getting sick or something again. The next morning I felt like absolute death and wanted the day to be over already as soon as I got out of bed. The other three felt fine because they are troopers and go out and about normally, but usually I'm just cooped up in the house playing online or whatever. Anita showed them around the main casinos and the strip and I stayed home feeling like complete trash. Randy and Jon flew home to Indiana and Orlando today. I feel a little better today but I'm hoping I don't end up with a sinus infection given some of the symptoms I'm experiencing like I ended up having when I got sick twice in two weeks in January at the EPT-PCA in the Bahamas. I'm also dealing with some ongoing family issues which isn't making things any better as I'm gearing up for the WSOP. I plan on playing all the larger events, the $40k NL as event #1, the $50k HORSE, all the $10k non-NL championships, some of the $2k and $5k events if I have some extra time, and of course the Main Event in the beginning of July. I plan on making some bracelet bets but haven't settled on a particular line for myself. I do offer to anybody that I can pick a better team of 3 people who have never won a bracelet before vs. your team of 3 people who have never won a bracelet before. E-mail me at BooostedJ@aol.com or PM me on 2p2(Boosted J) if you're interested in some getting down some action with me.

One of the first days Randy and Jon were here, we went over to my good friend Mike Matusow's house and had lunch in his neck of the woods. Mike recently released his autobiography. He gave us all free signed copies and I'm already done reading the near 300 page book. It's a really accurate depiction of how his life has been. Most people don't really know "the real Mike" but as I've said before, Mike is a very genuine and trustworthy guy. He's also a really good all around poker player who usually doesn't get enough credit. If you look at the guy's tournament results alone the past few years, I would bet you'd be pretty surprised. Anyways, I definitely recommend anyone buying his entertaining book for some good stories about somebody's life as original as Mike's. Everything is in it...from grinding as a young buck to forming a drug habit to medicate himself, to cleaning up completely, and eventually finding the coveted happiness life has to offer. I can say that I am very proud of Mike to have totally cleaned up his life and stayed clean as I'm sure it's a battle for him every day like any ex-drug user.
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Dad Visiting, Sick, How I Met Your Mother, Business
Maio 01, 2009
I busted out of the $25k WPT Championship in the first hour of Day 3. I could never really get anything going, especially once they moved Sammy to my direct left. Sammy and I have had numerous battles and seat time together playing very big in Bobby's Room. He puts your chips in jail if you are out of position to him. I pretty much had to tighten up all the way and ended up busting out to JC Tran with 99 vs TT preflop, but that's okay because I like J.C. The day after the tournament Tom (durrrr), Marcus(LURPED), and I went out for lunch at Caesar's, and then met up with his assistant Liz at the Bellagio Pool. Finally got some sunlight which I kind of need since I'm starting to look like Casper by being so pale. I've actually made an effort to get out on the balcony upstairs and soak in some rays for half an hour or so a few days a week now. Obviously over-exposure to the sun is extremely bad, so I limit it of course, but some exposure is very healthy, and that's what I need.

About a week ago, my dad came to visit Anita, our dog, and I in Vegas. We went to Cafe Martarano at the Rio the night he got in. There's only two of these places in the U.S. The other one we've been to multiple times in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. This is one of our favorite restaurants. It has some of the best Italian food you will ever experience, definitely a strong recommendation for something a little different than normal Chicken or Steak. The second night we went to a restaurant at The Mirage and went to see Cirque de Soleil's "LOVE" which was pretty cool. I still maintain the stance that the best Cirque de Soleil show is back home in Orlando, FL called "La Nouba". We've seen that show multiple times and it is just amazing. We saw "O" last month with Steve (MrSmokey) and his girlfriend Tana (one of Anita's good friends here in Vegas), and we weren't too impressed. Anyways, the third day was my dad's birthday and I took him to get massages and then we went to Delemonico's with Anita at the Venetian. The next day he left, and that is when a bad cold started to come on.

Since I got this head cold, I've just been sitting with a box of tissue, extra Vitamin C, and my laptop in my recliner playing 25/50 - 100/200 PLO, 400/800 8 game, and 500/1k HORSE online. Anita also got me started watching the TV Show "How I Met Your Mother" which is pretty hilarious, so I've been marathoning that when I don't get any action. I definitely recommend that TV Show to anyone who enjoys comedy. http://tvshack.net/tv/How_I_Met_Your_Mother/

I don't know if I've mentioned this in any of my blogs before, but I have a business venture with a friend of mine back in Florida. It is sort of complicated, but basically we are in the Lead selling business. I've been involved with that now for about 9 months and we've been doing steady business ever since. However last week my partner came up with a pretty brilliant idea and we're really booming now. We are extremely ecstatic for the upcoming months.

I have multiple friends from Florida coming to stay with me over the next two weeks, so hopefully I start getting better tomorrow. We plan on doing the regular Vegas thing, so I need to be ready to SUIT UP, because it's going to be AWESOME! [You'll get this reference if you watch the TV Show ]
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