The first trip to Aruba was so much fun, I had to try for it again and again was successful in winning the trip through Ultimate Bet. Since we had been the previous year, we knew more of what to expect and pack, etc. My buddy Bill (billiam_cdn) from Toronto also won again and we agreed to rent a house this time instead of staying in the hotel. I was able to score a 5 bedroom house with private pool on 5 acres on a hill just 2 miles from the hotel where the tournament was to be held. We had a tropical backyard with hammocks and beautiful foliage and a view of the Caribbean. They also had turtles and I ended up taking it upon myself to feed the turtles each day, which was fun. Each time I would feed the turtles, a bunch of little very colorful lizards would come out as well and help eat the lettuce I was feeding the turtles, very cool. UB also put on an auction for a bunch of cool things, like dinners at very nice restaurants, a private party in Phil Helmuths suite, and other fun stuff. I put in bids on two nice restaurants, Helmuth' party and was watching we got closer to the deadline. I had noticed that Shawn Rice, a UB pro, was also bidding on all the same things. Well, since he has about a million points and works for UB, that didn't seem right, so I asked and was assured he was not eligible. Okay, cool, I ended up not winning the private party but did win two great dinners, one at Texas de Brazil and another at the best restaurant at the hotel. One change UB made to the tourney this year, was that the main event would end at 8 p.m. each night, so that was cool and still gave us time to spend the evening's together. The first day of poker went well for me with the key hand coming when I hook up with A A in an early position and raise and get re raised from the button. I think about it and push all in, opting not to slow play them like I usually do. He goes into the tank and takes about 5 minutes before calling with K K. I win the hand, double up, and he admits he almost laid them down.....hmmm. I get by day one (in fact, I have never NOT gotten into day two in any major event) and in day two, I run good again with a huge hand where I am the button and see 4 4. There is an early raiser to 3,000 and I call and the big blind also calls, so a little over 12,000 in the pot. The flop comes J 4 4...oh boy oh boy oh boy...the original raiser bets 9,000, I call and the big blind mucks. The turn is a 2 and I am hoping his guy either has A A or catches something. He bets 25,000 and I call and he stares me down. This is one of those young hotshots with his poker starter kit, sunglasses and baseball hat (lol, I do the same). The river is a 9 and he goes all in, I call and he turns over pocket 2's for a full house and I instacall and pick up a huge pot. There were 551 players that started the tournament and 54 players would be paid and we got down to the money by the end of the day and I had a nice stack.
We played for a couple hours and I have Lee Markholt on my left two seats. He plays very tight but has a lot of respect around the table. He eventually gets knocked out and we start playing 6 handed when we get down to 36 players. I hang on with nothing special happening but picking up spots. I have already bettered my 07 finish as I was 38th there and once we get down to 18, I get tabled with James Mordue, the 07 2nd place finisher and a very solid player. I also have Lynn Samples sitting next to me on my left. I know James "Jimmy" is the guy I have to watch out for but he has a shorter stack and as a result has pushed a couple times. I pick up 10 10 when it is his big blind and I put him all in and tell him " I really don't want you in the tourney anymore" and he responds " No one does" and he is right. He has played many big tournaments and done well for himself. He looks down at his cards and calls with A J. He turns a J and doubles up and that's not a good sign. The very next hand, I get A Q and raise and he pushes all in from the small blind with 9 9 and I call again getting in heads up with "Jimmy" . I flop a Q and knock him out of the tournament and now I am feeling very confident with lots of chips and "Jimmy" out of the tournament. A few hands later, I push all in on Lynn Samples (she is the girlfriend of UB pro Shawn Rice) and knock her out as well. I am chip leader at this point and feeling it. What a feeling it is to be chip leader very late in a major tournament. After this, I go card dead and get whittled down a bit. It comes to my big blind and I pick up A 10 and, like every hand, there is a raise and I call and an A comes in on the flop. He bets, I call....turn is a rag, he bets, I call..river is a rag and I bet and he calls with A J and I lose the pot and a chunk of chips. I also run into Chris Morrison (dashalert) and I had played with him on many occasions online and he is a solid player as well. He bluffs me out of a nice pot and I am now one of the shorter stacks...wtf ? We are down to 10 players and 7 go to the final table which is on TV..I am that close. Dashalert and Matt Brady are the only two guys I think are equal to me at this point but the blinds are big and I am short. I raise from the button with J 6 of diamonds and get called by both blinds. This is going to be a big pot. The flop comes A 10 8 with two diamonds and it checks around to me, and I push all in. The small blind takes about 10 minutes in the tank and makes the call with A 2, the big blind folds and I now need a diamond...ONE TIME PLEASE....not to be, no diamond and I get knocked out 10th for $33,400. Nice run, but only 9 players to a million...I am NOT happy. As has become our tradition, it's celebration dinner time and we head over to Texas de Brazil. I had not been to a place like this before and what a great dinner, I highly recommend this place. We also got some snorkeling in and of course had a great time with our friend Bill once again.....thanks Aruba . The last night UB had their closing party. These parties are off the hook. It was definitely helped my "mood" that I had done well in the tournament, but they have bars everywhere, great food, it's out under the stars around the pool and they set up a stage built over the water of the pool and Scott Ian from Antrax and his girlfriend Pearl ( who is meatloaf's daughter) and their band just rock the night. We are smoking Cuban cigars, and Amanda and a bunch of others are in the pool dancing and the waiters are getting in the pool with their trays of drinks and delivering the drinks in the pool. It was crazy fun.
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We played for a couple hours and I have Lee Markholt on my left two seats. He plays very tight but has a lot of respect around the table. He eventually gets knocked out and we start playing 6 handed when we get down to 36 players. I hang on with nothing special happening but picking up spots. I have already bettered my 07 finish as I was 38th there and once we get down to 18, I get tabled with James Mordue, the 07 2nd place finisher and a very solid player. I also have Lynn Samples sitting next to me on my left. I know James "Jimmy" is the guy I have to watch out for but he has a shorter stack and as a result has pushed a couple times. I pick up 10 10 when it is his big blind and I put him all in and tell him " I really don't want you in the tourney anymore" and he responds " No one does" and he is right. He has played many big tournaments and done well for himself. He looks down at his cards and calls with A J. He turns a J and doubles up and that's not a good sign. The very next hand, I get A Q and raise and he pushes all in from the small blind with 9 9 and I call again getting in heads up with "Jimmy" . I flop a Q and knock him out of the tournament and now I am feeling very confident with lots of chips and "Jimmy" out of the tournament. A few hands later, I push all in on Lynn Samples (she is the girlfriend of UB pro Shawn Rice) and knock her out as well. I am chip leader at this point and feeling it. What a feeling it is to be chip leader very late in a major tournament. After this, I go card dead and get whittled down a bit. It comes to my big blind and I pick up A 10 and, like every hand, there is a raise and I call and an A comes in on the flop. He bets, I call....turn is a rag, he bets, I call..river is a rag and I bet and he calls with A J and I lose the pot and a chunk of chips. I also run into Chris Morrison (dashalert) and I had played with him on many occasions online and he is a solid player as well. He bluffs me out of a nice pot and I am now one of the shorter stacks...wtf ? We are down to 10 players and 7 go to the final table which is on TV..I am that close. Dashalert and Matt Brady are the only two guys I think are equal to me at this point but the blinds are big and I am short. I raise from the button with J 6 of diamonds and get called by both blinds. This is going to be a big pot. The flop comes A 10 8 with two diamonds and it checks around to me, and I push all in. The small blind takes about 10 minutes in the tank and makes the call with A 2, the big blind folds and I now need a diamond...ONE TIME PLEASE....not to be, no diamond and I get knocked out 10th for $33,400. Nice run, but only 9 players to a million...I am NOT happy. As has become our tradition, it's celebration dinner time and we head over to Texas de Brazil. I had not been to a place like this before and what a great dinner, I highly recommend this place. We also got some snorkeling in and of course had a great time with our friend Bill once again.....thanks Aruba . The last night UB had their closing party. These parties are off the hook. It was definitely helped my "mood" that I had done well in the tournament, but they have bars everywhere, great food, it's out under the stars around the pool and they set up a stage built over the water of the pool and Scott Ian from Antrax and his girlfriend Pearl ( who is meatloaf's daughter) and their band just rock the night. We are smoking Cuban cigars, and Amanda and a bunch of others are in the pool dancing and the waiters are getting in the pool with their trays of drinks and delivering the drinks in the pool. It was crazy fun.
CLICK HERE for 33% rakeback
Use FRAZ in SIGN UP CODE box
