Semanisin Wins Ho-Chunk Nekoosa’s Pulse Pounding Tournament

On Saturday, September 28, Ho-Chunk Gaming Nekoosa hosted the 3rd Annual Pulse Pounding Poker Tournament, a tournament held in memory of former table games employee Kevin Abbott. I was very excited to take part in this tournament as an invited celebrity bounty, meaning whoever knocked me out would receive $200. The tournament attracted 40 runners, which created a prize pool of $12,500 and raised $1,800 for the Foundation of Saint Joseph's Hospital to the Cardiac, Cancer and Diabetes Funs.

“The Pulse Pounding Tournament event started in 2011," Nekoosa's poker room manager Adam Estes explained. "The previous year, we had a co-worker and friend named Kevin Abbott pass away. He loved poker, dealing and talking to people. We wanted to create an event to honor his memory and raise money to donate to help others in need at the same time. We chose the Foundation at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield as our charity because Kevin had spent time there the past couple years before he passed."

Aside from myself, local radio personalities Kim Carr, Bryan Scott and the entertaining "Panama Jack" served as bounties. Also in attendance was Nikolas Stone, who you might recall as the runner-up in the 2012 World Series of Poker National Championship.

The championship bracelet.

For a small casino in central Wisconsin, Ho-Chunk Nekoosa sure knows how to throw a top-notch poker tournament. The chips and tables were akin to those you’d find on the European Poker Tour, and the structure of the tournament was among the best I’ve ever played. On top of it all, the staff was surprisingly accommodating. They provided players with a full spread of food and drink, and also went out of their way to create a special bracelet for the winner. I have a WSOP bracelet, but believe me when I say the Pulse Pounding silver bracelet looked nice and was something I wanted around my other wrist.

“I give all of the credit to my staff. They are a great group of employees,” Estes said. “They are very knowledgeable in the poker area and spend a great deal of time listening to what the guests would like to see. We always try to cater our tournaments to what our guests want to see. My staff puts forth the extra effort to make sure things run smoothly and attend to the players needs. We talk often about what we could do differently to make tournaments or poker better.”

Unfortunately, things didn’t work out for me and I was sent to the rail in 33rd place or so. I neither played well nor ran well. It’s a bad combination, but I had fun nonetheless, even when I had to ship my bounty chip over to a young local player named Will. He played well and I was surprised that he didn’t cash in the tournament (well aside from my $200 bounty of course).

Here’s a look at those players that did cash in the 3rd Annual Pulse Punding Poker Tournament:

The winner of the event, Miroslav Semanisin.

3rd Annual Pulse Pounding Final Table

Place	Player	Winnings
1st	Miroslav Semanisin	$3,500*
2nd	Kevin Koscal	$3,000*
3rd	Troy Miller	$3,000*
4th	David Nelson	$1,250
5th	Ben Rock	$1,000
6th	Robin Weideman	$750

*Denotes three-handed deal.

Ho-Chunk Nekoosa’s next big tournament will be held in December. You can learn more on that event, and view other photos from the Pulse Punding tournament, by liking Ho-Chunk Nekoosa's page on Facebook.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @ChadAHolloway for more poker articles, stories and musings from the tournament trail.

Why I've Had It with Phil Ivey in Fantasy Poker

Back in May I told you about the 8th Annual ESPN Fantasy Poker League, which included a mix of ten players and media members including Daniel Negreanu, Matt Glantz, Andrew Feldman and myself, just to name a few. This year’s winner was none other than Kevin “KevMath” Mathers, who amassed 622 points due in no small part to adding Matthew Ashton the day before the $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship—which he went on to win.

Here’s a look at the results:

2013 ESPN Fantasy Poker League Results

Kevin "KevMath" Mathers

Place	Player	Score	Top Scorer
1st	Kevin “KevMath” Mathers	622	David “Bakes” Baker w/ 235 points
2nd	Daniel Negreanu	564	Dan Kelly w/ 160 points
3rd	Josh Brikis	476	John Hennigan w/ 113 points
3rd	Jason Somerville	476	Daniel Alaei w/ 138 points
4th	Eric Baldwin	462	Marco Johnson w/ 163 points*
5th	Andrew Feldman	309	Chris Klodnicki w/152 points
6th	Matt Glantz	297	Rep Porter; points unknown
7th	Lance Bradley	216	Scott Clements w/ 92 points
8th	Steve “Chops” Preiss	214	Mike Wattel w/ 78 points
9th	Chad Holloway	182	Should’ve drafted himself

*Only team with 3 bracelet winners – Erick Lindgren, Mike Matusow and Marco Johnson.

Last place this year? Yours truly, and I blame one man for that — Phil “Mother F***ing” Ivey. I’m about to sound off on my thoughts on this year’s league, but to give the rant some sort of coherence I’ll break it down into five points.

1. To Hell with Phil Ivey

Back in 2010, I won the 5th Annual ESPN Fantasy Poker League thanks in no small part to having Phil Hellmuth, Michael Mizrachi and Jason Somerville on my team. It was the first year I had played, and since I fancied myself a fantasy poker expert of sorts (I used to write a lot about it), the win was confirmation that I knew was I was talking about, or so I thought.

In 2011 only one man picked in front of me, and that was the inexperience Dwyte Pilgrim, who inexplicably selected Eric Baldwin with the first overall pick. The laughs were aplenty and I felt blessed to have Ivey fall to me at No. 2. I was already confident in my title defense, but what does Ivey do then? Boycotts the damn World Series of Poker. Sure, I could have dropped him and picked up someone else, but by the time his absence was confirmed it was too late. Ivey screwed me and I was angry. I ended up finishing 7th out of 11 players and had a bitter taste in my mouth

Fast-forward one year to the 2012 draft. I once again had the second pick, and while Ivey was selected first overall, I had made up my mind that I wouldn’t have taken him had he fallen given he’d done to me the year before. What did he go on to do? He made five final tables and earn 245 points, more than any other player selected. Ivey was a beast, and I couldn’t help but forgive him and give him another shot when he fell to me at No. 2 this year.

I was licking my chops at the points Ivey was sure to earn me, especially after his bracelet win at the WSOP-APAC. While I was excited to see him play nearly every event, my stomach turned each time he made an early exit. He played well over 50 events and do you know how many cashes he had? One. A single cash in Event #18 $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em for $15,544—FML.

Ivey’s great, there’s no denying it, but I’m cursed when it comes to that guy on my fantasy team. Ivey gets my blood boiling, but there is one fact that calms me down. Of Ivey’s nine bracelets – none of which are in no-limit hold’em – the largest field he defeated was 478 (2010 WSOP Event #37 $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.), while I topped a field of 898 in Event #1 $500 Casino Employees in my bracelet win. There’s really no significance to that, but somehow it still makes me feel better.

2. Where’s JC?

JC Tran

Up until last year, a fairly well known player has been able to make the final table, but none of them entered as the chip leader. That changed with this year when two-time bracelet winner and World Poker Tour champ JC Tran made the November Nine with the biggest stack. Given his bracelet wins, which came in 2008 (Event #44 $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em w/Rebuys for $631,170) and 2009 (Event #30 $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha for $235,685), it’s shocking that Tran wasn’t selected in our draft.

In fact, Tran wasn’t selected last year either. The last time he was drafted was back in 2011 when Dennis Phillips took him with the fourth-to-last pick (Phillips had selected him 16th overall way back in 2010). It seems Phillips, who won the league in 2011, was onto something with Tran. Unfortunately when Phillips left, Tran did the same on our poker radar. Rest assured that mistake won’t be made in the future.

3. Good Pass on Merson

Greg Merson

While the entire league dropped the ball with Tran, they were spot on with the collective pass on Greg Merson. It’s not often a two-time bracelet winner from the year before – not to mention the defending Main Event champ – goes undrafted, but it seemed everyone knew Merson wasn’t going to bracelet hunt. He’s made no secret that he much prefers to play high-stakes cash games, which was evidenced by all the time he spent in Macau. Cash game players are detrimental to a fantasy team, and as tempting as Merson was prior to the WSOP, everyone managed to resist.

I’m not sure how many event Merson played (maybe one or two), but I do know he only had one cash – 167th in the Main Event for $42,990. A nice run after winning the year before, but meaningless as far as fantasy poker was concern.

4. Wrong Old Schoolers

My strategy at the draft this year was to select consistent players who have established themselves over the course of time. I ended up with a couple of old school players in Erik Seidel and John Juanda. I had the right idea, but unfortunately I chose the wrong players. Neither Seidel nor Juanda had a good summer, but plenty of old school players did including Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Erick Lindgren, Daniel Alaei and John Hennigan, with the former three all winning gold.

I’m happy with my strategy, just disappointed in my selections.

5. Andy, Andy, Andy

Andy Frankenberger

I’ve talked extensively about my fantasy kinship with Andy Frankenberger. He was my sleeper pick in 2011 after finishing as the WPT Player of the Year and he promptly won a bracelet. The next year he won his second bracelet by defeating Ivey in heads-up play. While I’ll no longer have a place for Ivey on my fantasy team (provided I don’t change my mind), I will always have one for Frankenberger.

That said, this year was a bit disappointing (especially to him personally) as he managed just three cashes (none better than 61st) for $16,880. Frankenberger’s career started out as hot as any I’ve ever seen, so it’s only rational that variance would slap him in the face at some point. That may be happening now, and while I know he’s a bit discouraged, I’ve no doubt he’ll bounce back. If no one else takes him next year, Frankenberger will once again be on my roster.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @ChadAHolloway for more poker articles, stories and musings from the tournament trail.

Charity Poker for a Great Cause: Nekoosa's Pulse Pounding Tournament

One of the unexpected benefits of winning a World Series of Poker bracelet this past summer is the influx of invitations to charity events. I've actually had two extended my way, and while I have to miss the All In for Wishes in upstate New York in October (I'm going to work the European Poker Tour London), I was able to accept a spot as a "celebrity" bounty at Ho-Chunk Nekoosa's 3rd Annual Pulse Punding Poker Tournament on September 28 and 29.

The tournament is held in memory of Kevin Abbott, a man I did not know personally but have heard nothing but great things. Kevin was a former table games employee at Ho-Chunk Gaming Nekoosa, which is a small casino located in central Wisconsin. I'm very excited to take part in this tournament not only to play for a great cause, but because it's right in my backyard. Poker in Wisconsin is as strong as in any other state, and there are some great players that both started here (i.e. Phil Hellmuth, Trevor Pope, Phil Galfond, etc.) and still play here.

The Pulse Pounding Tournament event started in 2011," Nekoosa's poker room manager Adam Estes told me. "The previous year, we had a co-worker and friend named Kevin Abbott pass away. He loved poker, dealing and talking to people. We wanted to create an event to honor his memory and raise money to donate to help others in need at the same time. We chose the Foundation at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield as our charity because Kevin had spent time there the past couple years before he passed."

The proceeds from the tournament will be donated to the Foundation of Saint Joseph's Hospital to the Cardiac, Cancer and Diabetes Funs, and I am honored to be one of their celebrity players. As such, there will be a $200 bounty on my head, which ought to make things interesting. I plan on having a good time, conversing with the other players and hopefully win some money. In the instance that I do, all of it will be donated to the charity. I don't expect every player to donate their winnings, but I do encourage them to donate a portion to the charity to help make the event a success.

"Our main goal is to fill as many of the 150 seats as possible," Estes explained. "That would allow us to raise the most money we can for the charity. A high turnout would also be a reward for my staff to see that their hard work over the past couple years has paid off. Players will not be disappointed with the experience. Hopefully word will spread that these tournaments are something that players don’t want to miss. It will give HCG-Nekoosa a good reputation and be a place more players would visit often."

The Pulse Pounding Poker Tournament will start on September 28 at 11:15 a.m. and conclude on September 29, 2013. If anyone is interested in more information, please feel to reach out to me on either Facebook or Twitter. I also recommend you like Ho-Chunk Nekoosa's page on Facebook for updates and pictures from the event.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @ChadAHolloway for more poker articles, stories and musings from the tournament trail.

The Miami Dolphins and the SHRPO $10 Million Guarantee

I love Miami. Well to be honest, I love the Miami Dolphins. They’ve been my favorite team since I was a kid despite only being to their home city just one, that is until I decided to cave in to the hype, jump on the bandwagon and book a ticket for the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $10 Million Guarantee (SHRPO). It seemed the entire poker world was heading down to South Florida, and since I didn’t have to work, I thought it’d be a good chance to go down, hang with my friends and even play a little bit.

The plan was to try my hand at a couple of $575 satellites and hope to qualify for the $5,000 buy-in Main Event. I arrived on Thursday, August 22 just in time to catch the 2 p.m. satellite, and after dropping my bags off at the bell desk, I promptly registered. This particular satellite was held in the main poker room, which was across the property from SHRPO, so I began to make the long trek across the casino floor. A minute later I passed a well-known poker pro and something remarkable happened—I “qualified” for the Main Event!

To respect his privacy, I’ll keep the name of this pro confidential, but suffice it to say I’ve known him for a few years and we’ve always gotten along splendidly. Our paths hadn’t crossed in awhile, so we exchanged pleasantries before he asked if I was there to work. I informed him that I was there to play a bit and was going to attempt to qualify for the Main Event.

“You want me to put you in?” he asked nonchalantly while simultaneously leaving me flabbergasted. That’s a lot of money and I was honored he had enough faith in my to offer—I guess winning a bracelet has certain benefits. Anyway, I said let’s wait and see how I do in the satellite, which I promptly busted, and then took him up on his gracious offer. I was in the game.

I played Day 1b of the Main Event and I was excited to go despite having only one bullet to fire (you can read more about that in my recent piece on learn.pokernews.com). Aside from this year’s World Series of Poker Main Event, the SHRPO was the largest buy-in tournament I’d played, and given the smaller field size, I knew I’d get the chance to play with some fairly big names.

The biggest ended up being David “Doc” Sands, who I was pleased to learn doesn’t take as long to act as his reputation suggests. Sands and I didn’t get involved in any big pots against one another, and he eventually busted (he re-entered several times and ended up making a deep run). On the other hand, I had trouble getting anything going. We started with 30,000 and I did nothing but dwindle early on. I dropped to 8,000, worked it up to 40,000 and then ended up busting to Sam Soverel in the penultimate level of the night. Soverel was the bane of my tournament beating me over and over again (every time I had a good hand he had one a little bit better). It was frustrating but fitting that he was the one to finish me off.

I was extremely disappointed to bust, but alas that is poker. The toughest part is breaking the news to your backer, though he appeared to take it well. Whether or not he was being sincere I don’t know, but either way I was sure to let him know how much the opportunity meant to me. Even though I didn’t do much, I still got to play in one of the year’s biggest tournaments alongside the game’s best. Truly a great experience.

My bust-out disappointment disappeared on Saturday when I had the opportunity to attend the Miami Dolphins game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Granted, it was a meaningless preseason game, but I was still ecstatic to check out the Fins’ stadium, something I hadn’t done in the better part of a decade and only once at that. What’s more, my friend Garry Gates, who is a VIP host of sorts for PokerStars, won a contest on Twitter that gave us seats in a suite and a tour of the stadium.

Along with PokerNews Editor in Chief Donnie Peters and World Series of Poker bracelet winner Allen Bari, the four of us arrived at Sun Life Stadium to do a little pregaming. Beers, rum and a football got us off to a good start, and it only got better as free food was part of our reward experience. The best part for me was getting the chance to go down on the field during pregame workouts. What an experience to be on the ground looking up at the stadium—a surreal perspective.

Needless to say, I’m pumped for the upcoming season. Have a look at some of the pictures I snapped at the game.

The boys and I meet Dan Marino!

I was very excited to be at the Dolphins home turf!

A view from the field.

A view from the suite.

Ice cream break!

Miami was great and the SHRPO was a great tournament. I expect I will be down there again in the near future. In the meantime, I am off to Barcelona for the start of the European Poker Tour Season 10.

Before I sign off, a very special thanks to Mickey Doft for letting me crash in his room all week. I understand as well as anyone that it’s a big sacrifice to open up your room after working 14 hours a day, and I greatly appreciate his kindness.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @ChadAHolloway for more poker articles, stories and musings from the tournament trail.

My Trip to Ireland and Upcoming Poker Plans

After detoxing at home for a few weeks from the 2013 World Series of Poker, I had to jet off to my next assignment—the Full Tilt Poker Galway Festival in Ireland. This was my first time to that country and the first time I’d traveled to a foreign country without another PokerNews colleague from the States (though there are plenty of Irish and UK team members here… I guess I’m the one with the accent). Ireland has always been toward the top of my list of places to visit, and it feels amazing to be writing from the Harbor Hotel in Galway, which is on the west coast of the country.

The flight over here was amazing considering I had a whole row in Economy Plus to myself. First time I’ve ever been able to laydown on a flight and it felt good. Three movies (Broken City, Side Effects and Mud) made the time fly. After landing, I had a one-hour car ride through the countryside. I’ve never seen so many horses, sheep and stone walls in my life. Seriously, where do they get all those stones? I also appreciate how they build into the countryside as opposed to the U.S. strategy of bulldozing everything and building on the ruins.

The FTP Galway Festival venue is pretty sick. Imagine two giant beer tents next to each other—one for the poker action and the other a great big lounge. It’s a nice change from the usual casino floors and convention centers. I actually had some time to play, which is a rare occurrence when I travel. The first night I jumped into Event #41 €110 Triathlon NLHE. Unfortunately I couldn’t get anything going and was one of the first people out. Still, it’s cool to be able to say that I’ve played in Ireland.

Fast forward through five days of non-stop work and you’ll get to the FTP UKIPT Galway Party, which turned out to be an unexpected treat packed into 90 minutes. After working a full day, I decided to drop off my stuff and “make an appearance” at the party. I always drink spirits, but the open bar didn’t include that, so “when in Rome”… I ordered a pint of Guinness. By my second round, I had talked my photographer friend Danny Maxwell, who is an Irishman, into taking pictures of me with Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Gus Hansen.

Blom was first. I had heard the Swede enjoyed his liquor, and apparently that was true because when I nonchalantly asked him for a picture he noticed my full pint and promptly challenged me to a drinking contest. He had just received a full vodka and Red Bull, you see, and despite his attempts for me to give him a head start—his may have been a little fuller but mine was a thicker brew was my argument—we decided to see who could finish there’s first. I’ll just say that I’m born and raised in Wisconsin, and if it’s one thing we know how to do it is drink. I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Blom challenges me and mixes his drink. He wanted a head start because he had a little more. I argued mine was a thicker brew. He asked to trade drinks. I said I would. He then backed out and stuck with his vodka Red Bull.

Cheers!

Drinking contest with VIktor "Isildur1" Blom in Ireland.

Bottoms up!

Kicked his ass. Not even close. I'm from Wisconsin, bitch!

Not long after I managed to get a picture with Hansen (who had denied me an interview earlier in the day). I’m afraid my story concerning that wasn’t nearly as interesting; in fact, it wasn’t interesting at all. Despite that, here is the pic:

Gus Hansen and I.

On the 22nd of this month, I will be headed to South Florida for the $10-million guarantee at the Seminole Hard Rock. I’m actually going to this event not to live report, but to play. I don’t know if I’ll play the $5,000 buy-in Main Event yet as that price is a little steep for me, but I will be playing a couple of $500 satellites. Other than that I will play some smaller buy-in events, do so pieces for PokerNews from the hyped event and spend some time with my South Florida friends (Mickey Doft, Garry Gates, Jason Mercier, Sam Cohen, Tristan Wade, etc.). I’m also hoping a trip to the watch the Miami Dolphins in preseason action against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is in order.

I’ll be sure to do a post about that adventure as well as one for Barcelona, which I’ll be headed to straight from Miami to cover the European Poker Tour for the second year in a row. If you’d have told me a few years ago I’d be going to Barcelona twice in one year, well I’d have thought you crazy.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @ChadAHolloway for more poker articles, stories and musings from the tournament trail.

My Top 5 Moments from the 2013 World Series of Poker

Although I write for PokerNews on a daily basis, this is the first of what I hope to be many blog posts on the site. My intention is to use this blog to document my poker experiences and any interesting offbeat stories (ones that might not make the sight) that I encounter on my travels as a PokerNews Reporter.

For my inaugural post I thought it’d be cathartic to offer my top five moments, both professionally and personally, from the 2013 World Series of Poker, which for me was literally a life-changing experience. Here are my top five favorite moments from the 2013 WSOP:

5.) Seeing All of My Poker Friends

My good friend Paul Oresteen once described the WSOP as going to summer camp. While I never went to camp as a kid, I imagine he’s right. Every summer for six weeks poker players, media and fans flock to the innards of the Rio All-Suite Hotel’s Convention Center. It’s there inside rooms called “Amazon,” “Brasilia” and “Pavilion” that we spend at least 12 hours a day. You get to know some people pretty well over that period of time, and while familiarity no doubt breeds contempt, you learn to love one another—especially the other media folk as they’re the only ones who can truly understand what it’s like to work the WSOP.

There are far too many people to name that I enjoyed seeing, but suffice it to say I got to interact with friends and colleagues from all across the globe. Many of them were on hand to share in my bracelet victory (more on that below), while those who weren’t showed their support from afar. For that I will always be grateful.

A few special shout outs—thanks to my boss, Donnie Peters, for occasionally letting me use his car. Thanks to Matt Sexton and Matt Whitefield for taking me out to dinner every once in awhile and allowing me to get out of the Rio. Thanks to Tim Duckworth and Ben Ludlow for the bottle of whiskey, a small gesture that inspire great appreciation. And to everyone else, thanks for another great summer and I look forward to seeing you next year or on the circuit in between.

4.) Visits from Back-Home Friends

You lose track of time when you’re in Vegas, even if you’re here only for a weekend. Imagine being here for six weeks. In the past four years I cannot differentiate a single day in June, that’s the truth. I’m not afforded the luxury of being able to go back home for a breather halfway through (nor would I want to), but I am fortunate to host some friends every summer (it’s not hard to talk Midwest folks into coming to Vegas when they have a free place to stay).

Adam Brown, Sarah Grant, Heath Herring and Carsen Nachreiner at Hash House-A-Go Go.

This year I had two friends—Carsen Nachreiner and Conroy Greendeer—visit me at separate times. The former, who has been one of my best friends since childhood, came up from San Diego for a few days. We didn’t have much time to spend together, but we made the most of what we did. Some of the highlights from that visit include drinking the aforementioned bottle of whiskey, going to see World War Z (I liked it a lot), partying at the Poker Listings House, going to see Penn & Teller, eating at Gordon Ramsay’s BurGR and spending a night downtown where I introduce Carsen to my friend Heath “Crazy Horse” Herring. Carsen is a huge MMA fan and it was kind of funny seeing him a bit star struck as we walked about Fremont and ate at Hash House-A-Go Go. Special thanks to Sarah Grant for making that possible.

Conroy came about a week later, which is a shame considering Carsen, him and I always have a good time when we get together. I actually had less time to spend with Conroy, though we did squeeze in a breakfast buffet and some drinks. In the meantime he spent his leave from the military trying to strike it big on the slots. He flew home with an empty wallet but surprisingly high spirits.

3.) Playing the Main Event

Ever since Robert Varkonyi won the Main Event in 2002—that’s right, I got in right before the poker boom—I’ve always dreamed of playing in the WSOP Main Event. I could have plopped down the $10,000 buy-in any of the past few years, but that would have been horrible bankroll management on my part. My patience finally paid off this year when I had the chance to check it off my bucket list.

Thanks to winning a bracelet (again, more on that below), I had a lot of people offer to buy pieces of me when I expressed interest in playing the Main. I’ll respect their privacy and not single them out, but I do want to say thank you to each and everyone, no matter the share you bought. Your kindness allowed me to accomplish a dream of mine that I’ll remember forever.

With that said, I wish I could have done a little fucking better! Within 40 minutes on Day 1a I was down to 11,000 from the 30,000 starting stack after trying to bluff my fellow Wisconsinite and friend Eddie Blumenthal (it was still a good call Eddie), but I managed to bring it back up and finished the night with 36,600. Unfortunately Day 2a didn’t go well. My stack only went down until I was sitting with 18,000. I had recently been moved to the same table as Hollywood actor Kevin Pollak and tough pro Jesse Yaginuma. I ended up busting to the latter after he opened for 1,300 at 300/600 and I three-bet to 3,000 with pocket nines. Action folded back to Yaginuma and he paused briefly before moving all in. I suppose I could have folded here but nines were the best hand I’d seen all day and my read said he had , or perhaps a smaller pocket pair. I called off and was wrong as he held pocket queens. They held up and that was the end of that.

Still a great experience and the structure of the tournament is second to none. I’m not sure when I’ll get the chance to play it again, but I know I’ll be back at some point.

2.) Poker Writers Roundtable

One day about three-quarters through the WSOP my friend and mentor Nolan Dalla, famed poker historian and author of One of a Kind, invited me to dinner at a seafood restaurant at the Rio to join him and some other noted poker personalities for their annual get together. Other guests include Anthony Holden, author of poker classics Big Deal and Bigger Deal; Michael Craig, author of The Professor, The Banker and the Suicide King; Poker Hall of Famer Eric Drache; and long-time poker pro Thor Hansen.

All of the aforementioned books were hugely inspiring to me, and meeting the men behind them all at one time was overwhelming. I’ve never felt so honored and intimidated by the company in which I found myself. Thankfully all of them made me feel welcome and is if I was one of their own.

The dinner lasted more than two hours and during that time some great stories were told. Everything said was off the record, and while I won’t get into too many details, I’m sure they won’t mind me revealing a few of the topics discussed. They included Craig’s plans for a new poker book (I’m very excited about this); the events of Black Friday and what some of the villains have been up to since; a lot on Larry Flynt including his venture in the casino business and his famed Seven Card Stud game; and Hansen’s love of the ponies and his cancer situation (which seems to be better than originally expected).

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting each and every one of these poker titans. A heartfelt thanks to Nolan for inviting me to the private affair. It was personally gratifying and a professional highlight.

1.) Winning a World Series of Poker Bracelet

I’ve always dreamed that I would win a gold bracelet, but I thought that if it were ever to happen that it’d be many years down the road when I could afford to play 25 events a summer. Never did I imagine that it would happen right at the start of the 2013 WSOP in Event #1 $500 Casino Employees. Granted, that’s the “low-hanging fruit” on the WSOP schedule and isn’t an open event, but truth be told I don’t really care as I have a gold bracelet, something I had only dared dream of before.

It’s hard to describe what winning a bracelet feels like. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I love the history of the game and the bracelet means a lot to me. To evidence this point, let me quickly tell you about what happened when we I was heads up for the bracelet. Against WSOP rules, my opponent and I discussed the possibility of a chop on a break. During the negotiations he said something along the lines of, “We can split the money and then flip for the bracelet or whatever.”

Right then and there I knew I didn’t want to chop. Obviously the money meant more to him than the bracelet, and the opposite was true of me. I’m sure I could have negotiated a chop where I was awarded the bracelet, but I didn’t want to win it that way. In my opinion it would have cheapened the win and lessened the value of the bracelet. Sure, maybe no one would ever know, but I would. I knew if I was going to win and have it mean something it had to be pure. For me that meant declining any chop and playing it out the way it was meant to be. Win or lose I could live with the decision whereas I wasn’t sure I could with a chop. While those details were unknown to most, I still got a cool nickname out of the ordeal courtesy of Jason Mercier—“No-Chop Chad.”

Fortunately I was able to win the bracelet, which you can read about in the PokerNews Live Blog and the event recap. I wish my family and friends from back home could have been there for that very special moment, but I am grateful that my poker friends and family were there. Their support from the rail, birdcall and all, helped me stay focused through both the ups and downs. I’ve no doubt had they not been there I would have derailed at some point.

Winning a WSOP bracelet is among the highlights of my life. Poker is my life, and by winning the game’s most prestigious award validates what I’ve been doing for so long. It’s not going to change who I am or what I do—I’ll still be writing the best articles I can for PokerNews—but now instead of dreaming about winning a bracelets I’ll be dreaming about capturing No. 2.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @ChadAHolloway for more poker articles, stories and musings from the tournament trail.

The following blog appeared on PokerNews' The Muck on September 5 and documented my trip to Barcelona, Spain for the European Poker Tour.

Life on the Road: PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona

Chad Holloway

   

SEP05

As a poker blogger, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to some great tournaments across the world. I’ve covered events in South America, the Bahamas, and even in Australia, but despite these great experiences, I always longed to visit Europe. That chance finally arrived in mid-August when for the first stop of the PokerStars European Poker Tour’s ninth season — EPT Barcelona.

Aside from a quick jaunt to England in my college days, I’d never visited Europe, so you can imagine how excited I was to travel to Spain and cover my first EPT. I arrived a day before the start of the €50,000 Super High Roller and took the opportunity to explore the city. I accompanied the lovely Lynn Gilmartin andKristy Arnett, who were filming welcome videos for the PokerStars Blog and PokerNews respectively, as well as two cameramen and my fellow blogger, Emilis. Together we aimlessly wandered the city streets, occasionally stopping whenever the girls fancied a location.

We briefly visited the beach where it was not uncommon for women to bask topless. While this no doubt sounds agreeable to most male readers, you have to remember that the bad comes with the good and oftentimes the former outnumber the latter considerably. In other words, you might see some things you’d rather not at the topless beach. Also, in case you’re wondering, neither Lynn nor Kristy opted to let loose.

From there, we ventured down to the tree-lined La Rambla, a street in Barcelona that is known for street performers, living statues, and kiosks. It was there that Kristy took us all to a tucked away marketplace that served everything under the sun. Meats, cheeses, and nuts were aplenty, but what interested us was the vast array of fresh-squeezed fruit juices. The kaleidoscope of colors offered no easy choice, but ultimately I settled on an orange-peach concoction that pleased. Without a doubt, the best €2.00 I spent the entire trip.

After the girls finished filming at returned to the hotel, Emilis and I opted to take a bus tour of the city. For just €24.00, we got to see vast expanses of the city including the area where the 1992 Summer Olympics were held, the Plaza Monumental de Barcelona bullfighting arena, Port Vell Aerial Tramway, and Magic Fountain of Montjuic, just to name a few locations. The tour allowed us to get off at anytime and explore at our leisure, but given our time frame we opted to stay on the bus and take in a much of the city as possible. There was a lot we didn’t get to see, but I was happy with what we saw in such a short period of time.

That evening, Donnie Peters, who had flown in earlier in the day, invited me out. Our party included Kristy;Garry Gates; Kyle Julius and his girlfriend, Justine; and Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier and his fiancé, Erica. The dinner, which was at a restaurant at the marina, was decent, but the real treat was the company and conversation. Both Kyle and Jason were set to play the €50K the following day, but that didn’t stop them from having a good time.

While everyone else was enjoying wine, I ordered some sangria. What I didn’t realize until it was too late was that I had inadvertently ordered a large sangria; more specifically, I had ordered a full pitcher of sangria. Of course others wanted to sample, and I was more than happy to oblige. Four pitchers and a couple bottles of wine later, and everyone felt pretty good — except for Kristy, who uncharacteristically abstained.

This was my first time interacting with Jason and Kyle socially, and while I got the sense that they’d be lost without their better halves, both guys proved to be a blast. That part of the group, along with Donnie, extended the night by visiting a hookah bar, while the rest of us returned to the hotel to prepare for the €50K Super High Roller, which I had the privilege of working that event from start to finish.

It was a truly remarkable tournament; in fact, I rank it among my favorite events I’ve ever covered. I say this because of the eclectic mix of players. I’ve covered super-high roller events with Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel and the like on more than one occasion, but I’ve never had the chance to cover one with European players. At the EPT Barcelona, I finally had the chance to witness legends like Philip Gruissem, Juha Helppi, and Tobias Reinkemeier; in addition, I observed online legends I had only previously written about in Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies, Terje “Terken89” Augdal and Ignat “0Human0” Liviu.

In my opinion, the lineup of the EPT Barcelona €50K Super High Roller surpassed that of the $1,000,000 buy-in Big One for One Drop, and I wasn’t all that surprised to seeDan Smith take down the title. I watched him win a similar event back in January, and the guy is something special. His meteoric rise in 2012 is as impressive, if not more, than Seidel’s accomplishments the year prior.

After the €50K wrapped, it was time to cover the €5,000 Barcelona Main Event. It was a week’s worth of great action, but the highlight for me was watching Sahamies, who had taken fourth place in the €50K, navigate the 1,082-player field and make it to the final table as the chip leader. It was there that a fellow Finn, Joni Jouhkimainen, joined him and together the pair put on quite the show.

I’ve never seen so many four and five bets, and I learned a lot about the sheer power of aggression. The Finns are truly fearless; however, neither Jouhkimainen nor Sahamies managed to capture the title, finishing in third and second places respectively. It seemed to me the duo celebrated a bit too early and overindulged in drinks, which opened the door for Belarusian Mikalai Pobal to swoop in and claim the €1,007,550 first-place prize.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t briefly mention my first "football" experience. Now if you read football and thought the NFL, then you’re way off track. Outside the United States, football is the common name for what we Americans would call soccer, and believe me when I say it’s a big part of their culture. While in Barcelona, the hometown team took on Real Madrid. Now I know very little about the game, but I was told they were two of the best teams and the electric atmosphere surrounding the game backed that up.

Plenty of poker pros took the night off to attend the game at Camp Nou, which is the largest stadium in Europe with a 100,000 capacity, but at €250+ for a ticket, our gang opted to watch it at the Barcelona Sports Bar on La Rambla. The usual cast of characters were there, but my experience was exemplified by the inclusion of Marc Convey, Chris Hall and Neil Stoddart — three Brits who knew the game well. They were king enough to answer my naïve questions and provide me some background on the clubs and players.

The game started slow but definitely picked up steam in the second half. I got to watch Lionel Messi andCristiano Ronaldo work their magic, and rousing match ended up 3-2 in Barcelona’s favor. It was only one match, but I took away a whole new appreciation for the game — I really like that there were no commercial interruptions.

My trip to the EPT Barcelona was full of great experiences. The poker action was the best I’ve seen, and there was no shortage of things to do in the city. Other than being a bit too hot and humid for my liking, I had an amazing time in Spain. It may have been my first EPT, but if I have my way, it won’t be my last.