The announcement kinda screwed me.  I had planned on sweating current chip leader Kenny Tran, but he was embedded deep in the tournament area and I wasn't about to wait in line half-an-hour for 15 minutes on the floor.  Skipping that perpetual circle of hell, I decided to cruise the rail for some interesting action.  Luckily, I found table 27, which featured Hasan Habib, Shirley Williams (David's mom), and Gavin Smith.

Here's the thing about working the World Series - you loss track of time, space, and reality.  I thought yesterday was Monday...it was Wednesday.  That being said, I didn't even realize the main event had reached money bubble play until I got down to the Amazon Room.  Already?  But it's only Tues-- wait a second.

I talked to Gavin briefly, asked him how he was doing, and he responded, "could be better...but I could be worse."  With only ten players to go until the money bubble popped, I thought that sticking around and watching Gavin cash wouldn't take too long.  That's when I got my second dose of bad news for the day. 

Tournament Director Jack Effel got on the mic and announced that play would switch to hand-for-hand until the money.  Hand-for-hand can last a long time with three tables; we had over 600.

The next hour felt a lot like the world's largest game of "Red Light, Green Light."   People played, then stopped.  If action folded around at your table  (like it did at Gavin's numerous times), you could be waiting upwards of five or ten minutes.  In fact, the time in between hands became so long and frequent that Hasan, sitting behind a healthy stack, stood right up and headed out for an early dinner break.

Well, folks, on the fifteenth hand of hand-for-hand play, a dealer jumped up and shook his hands in the air like one of the dancers at the VooDoo lounge.  Everyone correctly assumed that the money bubble had burst, and the cheering began.

With the remaining field guaranteed to make at least $20K, I reached out and congratulated Gavin.

His response, "for what?"

"Fine.  I'll congratulate you on Tuesday."

Satisfied, Gavin nodded and turned back to his table.

Gavin Smith - "The Caveman" was one of the first people I spotted, and he greeted me with a real serious Mister-Miyagi-type nod.  He came into this morning's radio show (2007 WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider was our guest) well rested and in a great mood.  We didn't exchange any words down in the Amazon Room, but it's pretty easy to tell that he's focused.  I like that combination for Gavin - happy yet determined.  Gavin's Chip Stack - Healthy.

Daniel Negreanu - Daniel's playing on the ESPN televised set.  I'd like to go on record and say that there's an opponent at his table who is easily wearing the ugliest shirt on the planet.  The thing is Argyle (you know, that same pattern as your grandfather's sock) and sleeveless.  Kind of makes the dude look like a cross between a librarian and Sasha Baron Cohen's "Bruno" character.  Daniel's Chip Stack - Don't know...couldn't take my eyes off the shirt.

Court Harrington - The shining beacon of hope for all us in poker media, reporter Court Harrington is again making a strong showing at a major tournament.  He cashed in Reno, and came into day 1B with over $100,000 in chips.  When I saw him, his stack was pretty much cut in half, and he explained to me that he'd lost two set-over-set hands early in play.  Court's Chip Stack - Down but not out.

Danny Smith - Seated at the same table as one of the big stacks.  I watched Danny win one pot and he seems to be in decent shape. Danny's Chip Stack - Healthy.

JC Tran - An honorable mention on my list of fantasy busts, JC's looking to pull some Steven-Segal-revenge-type-business on my @#$#.  The man has a huge chip stack, and everyone at his table his giving him more respect than Don Corleone got in The Godfather.  It's still early though, and JC's blown off some pretty big stacks already in this Series.  JC's Chip Stack - We're gonna need a bigger table.

Chris Bell - Apparently Chris brought a $100 + stack to his table, but when I saw him he didn't have much more than a card protector and a pack of gum.  Chris's Chip Stack - Slimmer than Nicole Richie.

Bill Edler, Carlos Mortensen, Ted Forrest, Peter "Nordberg" Feldman, and Gus Hansen - All five of these dudes have amassed a lot of ammo.   Should be interesting to see how many chips some of these maniacs (not so much Edler or Nordberg) will have by the end of the day.  Quick note: Currently Carlos is working behind straight towers, and has yet to build one of his architectural masterpieces.  Bill's, Carlos's, Ted's, Nordberg's and Gus's Chip Stacks - Big ballin'.

Prahlad Friedman - "Prahlad Friedman, everybody!"  Like I said before, I haven't been in the Amazon Room since the Senior's event, but word on the street is that Prahlad ain't been around too much.  I watched him play one hand.  He busted when he moved all in with pocket eights against pocket tens.  On the bright side, he was wearing a hoodie that I think said "Craptastic." Prahlad's Chip Stack - Rebuy!

4:44 Gavin Smith just made his entrance.  The last time I saw Gavin here he was sweating Greg Pappas at the stud final table.  He flipped me off.  Classy, as always.  ESPN just put a mic on him. 

 4:48 John Hanson has been moving full steam ahead.  Deeb still has the chip lead with Hanson now 1m behind, basically tied with Amnon.

4:50 The game has just changed to 7 Card Stud. The limits are 80k-160k with a 20k ante and 20k bring-in.  I expect play to slow down considerably as the average stack now has 30 big bets.  That’s a great number for the players as it puts less emphasis on the cards and more on the ability of the players.  When you are around the 10 big bet stage, you basically have to pick a hand and go with it.

4:53 Gavin yelled, “Happy Birthday, Amnon!” from across the room as Amnon dragged in his first pot in some time.  Turning another year older might just knock the matured Filippi out of the running for Alex’ “World’s Largest Eight Year Old” contest.  LA Mike is safe for now, but he better look out for Bill Chen.

4:58 Kenny Tran just raked in a nice pot from Freddy Deeb.  Deeb is sporting a red floral print shirt, althought it's not the red floral print shirt made famous by Phil Ivey in the 2003 WSOP.  Deeb got it all in with K’s versus Ivey’s set of 7’s only to spike another king on the turn.  Ivey deadpanned, “Must be the shirt.”  Unfortunately I’m too far away from the table to hear how many times Deeb dropped his just-as-famous-F-bombs after losing the pot.

These new guys have done some reading. I’d guess that most have schooled themselves in the ways of tight play by taking in Sklansky and Harrington. They know to be wary of A-Q, and to abandon all but the very best hands from early position. They’re not necessarily willing to go broke on top pair.

Often these players are completely indistinguishable form hunks of granite. When cards aren’t coming their way and flops miss their Ace-bigs, they are without any means of accumulating chips. They surrender hand after hand after hand; their stacks rarely climbing above average. They become largely if not entirely reliant on cold decks (KK vs QQ, e.g.,) to stay in the running.

While these players wait for their big pairs and TP/TKs, they become easy prey for the more active/experienced players around them. I’ve heard various pros describe strategies that have worked brilliantly this year. One described a play where he’ll defend his big blind with a call with almost any two cards then bet out one-third of the pot on about any flop. Apparently this scary-weak move forces more folds than one would have thought possible.

Others, like Gavin Smith or Erick Lindgren, will call in position with a ton of hands, subjecting their opponents to a variety of calls, bets and raises. They lose chips on some hands, but more often then not, they chop and fineness their way to substantial net gains.

I’ve seen a lot of the same in the side games. Many buy is short and most seem to have no gamble in them at all. An adventurous player can get a way with murder—stealing small pot after small pot—and occasionally winning a big one when a nailing a flop.

Every player I’ve spoken with has said how much easier it is to play against the new breed. A maniac is by his very nature unpredictable, and they inevitable cause some tough decisions. These new guys create almost no difficulties at all.

So I guess the question is this: How can these weak-tight players expand their abilities? I can offer advice that I once got from Mr. Lindgren.

“Play more pots,” he told me. Drop to a lower limit than you currently play (much lower, if it makes you comfortable), and play all kinds of hands in all kinds of positions. Find ways to make the hands work.

Find a way to win without Aces. It’s not only profitable, it’s also a hell of a lot more fun then sitting on your hands waiting for the deck to smack you in the head.

Thomas has been playing well today and currently sits within the top five.  It looks like Thomas is starting to find his A-game.

James Gorham has a crushing chip lead with 150k after starting out around 50k.  James already has one final table under his belt this summer with a 5th place finish in the $1,500 Limit Holdem event.  He won the bracelet in the last $1,500 No-Limit tournament before the main event in 2006. 

I also noticed that Howard Lederer is hanging around the top of the leaderboard, but I was too afraid that his stare would burn a hole through my skull so I stayed away from his table. 

Although that may be a better fate than experiencing the look of disappointment he gave JDN after bubbling the $2500 HORSE event last night.

But today was the day to give LA Mike's fans a chance to play with him live.  Play, chat and get berated by LA Mike.  I ventured down to the Amazon Room.  Joey Stapes, the host of Pokerwire Radio, asked if he could get a percentage of me.  Usually I play solely with my own money in cash games but what the hell, he's a great guy.  (Even though, he ditched me for lunch earlier in the day and forced me to eat all alone with a small child)  I proceeded to the cash game area and put my initials on the list.  The list was 7432093209 people long but the lady who wrote them down said a new game would likely be starting soon.  LA Mike waited patiently and then waited some more.  Finally, a couple of new $2-$5 tables opened so I jumped into one.  Chips please!

After I secured my $500 in chips I was ready to go.  Typically, I don't like to get too involved or crazy until I see how the table is playing.  I waited one hand and took my big blind.  Everyone folded around to the cutoff position who made it $20 and started a parade of callers.  The button and small blind called so there was no way in hell I was dropping my  J9.  The flop came  J92 and I had visions of raking a monster pot.  So much for not getting too involved early on.  Everyone checked around to the button who bet $65.  The small blind immediately mucked and I decided to raise to $165.  Before it was even the button's turn to act, he starts asking "how much, how much?"  I seriously thought he was going to have a heart attack.  The cutoff mucked and the button said "I'm all in".  His actions alone allowed me to keep from being stacked off.  I knew he had a set of some sort.  I mucked my hand and he couldn't show me  22 quick enough.  Thanks to his behavior at the table I only lost $185 on the hand instead of $500.  Obviously, not the start we were looking for but I felt fortunate to only be down about $200.

I play pretty tight for the next hour or so, getting a bunch of crap for the most part.  I took one pot down with the  A9 when the flop brought  two clubs.  A relatively small pot but a step in the right direction.  This is about the time when my grilled cheese sandwich began to really upset my stomach.  The pain was getting worse and worse.  It was go time!  (Note:  LA Mike is OCD and hates the filth of public restrooms)  The haul to the privacy of my own bathroom is miles away or at least it seems.  Meanwhile, the pain is getting more and more intense.  I'm positive I'm not going to make it.  But I'm OCD so I suck it up.  Ahhh, finally the relief of my own bathroom.

After about a 30-minute break, I return to my table to a dealer "push".  For the love of god, what a terrible dealer push it happened to be.  I was sitting in the nine seat and this dealer had serious body odor.  Bad Beat Sir!  I mean, this guy smelled like he'd bathed in puke.  He did deal me a one monster hand with  KQ and I doubled up when I made trip queens.  My opponent had the queen as well but only an eight kicker.  LA Mike's fans began chanting at that point.

(At this point, I took a break to sweat Pokerwire Radio's Gavin Smith, as he was heads-up for a bracelet in the $1500 PL Hold'em event.)  He ended up losing a race on the final hand when his  55 ran into  A10 all in preflop.  Good game, great start to the series!  You'll get that bracelet soon enough.

I returned to my table and played one more hand of consequence.  The guy under the gun decided to "live straddle" to $10, it folded around to me and I looked down at  KK.  I popped it up to $30 and got called in two spots.  The flop came  KQ10, it checked around to me and I bet $60.  I was immediately min-raised to $120.  The third guy mucked and after seeing the guy had about $350 total, I went ahead and pushed in.  He called but wouldn't flip over his hand.  The turn and river came  77 and my kings full won me a very nice pot.

That was essentially the end of my session.  Personally, I saw a few strange plays but nothing too horrible.  Definitely a few people who couldn't for the life of them lay down a draw no matter how much you bet.  No pot odds...who cares!

Everyone's favorite writer, Alex Henriquez is waiting for me to post this and nobody keeps the "DA" waiting.  Although, he might keep you waiting from time to time.

PS...Before you ask, yes I gave Joey Stapes his cut after I cashed out, he made a few bucks too.  No fleece job from LA Mike!


-LA Mike for Pokerwire.com

Gavin Smith - $480,000

William Hill - $332,000

Bruce Van Horn - $315,000

Jeff Langdon - $286,000

Marco Traniello - $277,000

Mike Spegal - $241,000

Jon Friedberg - $204,000

Tom Savitsky - $140,000

Eric "Rizen" Lynch - $91,000