I just got the new Canadian PokerPlayer Magazine and I am mention in 3 places in a article called "Brantford Spring Classic 2007" by Ken R Auliffe.

First I am mentioned when he gives everyones chip count, then he mentions me in two separate paragraphs and I quote.

1 - "At level 8(6k/12K+600)Leo who is now the short stack but is able to double up and go all-in on the next hand as well against Chris to continue racking his chips. I first met Leo in Sweden when he was an on-line player and managed to turn a $10 comp into a $125,000 cash-out. Now here he was in his first live tournament in 12 years"

2 - "With level 9(8K-16K+800) the eliminations came quickly as the orbits whipped around. The next to go was Leo when he committed his pocket 9s against pocket 10s. Stewing over that mistake, $18,000 will surely cheer him up. As primarily an on-line player. Leo could consider this a viable return to live tournaments; that goes back 12 years when he remembers playing against an unknown Gavin Smith."

wheelerleo

Well guys. I was seriously thinking of giving the 1K event a pass today as I didn't sleep to well which I posted earlier.

But since I was here I decided to play as I didn't have anything else to do. What a mistake. Oh well.

Here is how I did in the $1,000+50 freeze out event.

181 punters started.
1st- $48,000
2nd- $25,000
3td- $18,000
4th- $14,500
5th- $10,000
6th- $ 8,000
7th- $ 6,500
8th- $ 5,000
9th- $ 4,500
10th-$ 4,000
11th throung 20th- $2,300 to $3,400

The day started with me playing well and by first break I had 12,000 in chips.
In the second session the key hand for me was limping in half way to no-where with K-J off.
Both blinds and 1 other is in at level 5. Blinds were 100-200 at the time. The flop was Kc-4d-2c.
All check to me and I bet 400. The big blind called. Others folded. The turn was a Jd. I bet 500
The BB makes it 1000. I think for awhile as to what to do and decide to only call. The river was a 9c.
The BB bets 1000. I know he doesn't need that card so I raise to 2000. He call and rolls over K-2 for a flopped 2 pr smaller then my top 2.

At dinner break im at 22,000 and things aren't looking 2 bad.

This part is for amh. For dinner we had. Chicken alfredo, beef ribs, 2 kinds of salads, rice, stirfry, pickels, rolls, and a ton of dessers such as
Black forest cake, cherry cheese cake, and a few other pastries.

After dinner is were things started to unravell as I started to get very tired and couldn't consentrate very well.

I am on the button and raise to 1800 to steal the blinds with A-6 dia. The BB moves all in for 7000. I am thinking about it and say to the dealer how much to call.
The dealer says I called and says show your hands and puts up the flop. I said I didn’t call I wanted to know how much to call.
The dealer says no you didn't put in the chips and show your hand. So I did and of course the BB had AA. Nice that's 2 days in a row I ran into AA. Good timing.

I took this as an error on my part as I didn't make myself clear enough I guess. Ok I’m down to 14000. I battle back to 20000 and another key hand arises.

First let me tell you the guy to my left kept saying how good this one player was. I couldn't get him to shut up and it was getting on my nerves, I am in the BB and have A-Q off.
The guy my friend to my left kept talking about goes all in 2nd under the gun for 14000. I thought long and hard but couldn't concentrate well enough to read him, AND READING YOUR OPPONENTS IN A LIVE GAME IS PARAMOUNT.

I finally fold and the guy rolls over A-6 like hes a superstar. Oh well. Next time around I pick up pocket JJ under the gun and raise to 2000 we are now in level 10. The button makes it 4000. I call. Questionable play?

The flop was A-10-9. I check and he checks. The turn was another 10. I checked again and he bets, 5000. I really thought he was putting a move on me but could't find a call. Questionable again? I fold my hand face up and he shows poc 66 just like I thought.

NEVER PLAY TIRED. You don't trust your own judgement. I am now down to 10,000 and I grind back up to 18000 so I'm not our yet. We are now up to level 17 buy this time and my 18000 is a short stack.

Everyone folds to the SB who goes all-in for 12000. I know this is a move and I instantly call with K-10 spades. He shows K-6 dia. The flop was Ad-4c-9d. Turn was a 10h. So he needs a dia only and that is exactly what the river brings. The 7d.
I am now crippled and go all-in with A9 sp. One caller who has poc 99. Hey at least they weren't Aces this time. I get no help and I'm out in 41st place in level 17.

I had some chances but mis-read my opponents, and got what I deserved for the way I played. All-in-all it was still a good trip.

After all my expenses, airfair, hotel, cabs, etc, I still come out $1,100 ahead for the weekend with my cash of $4,000 for 8th yesterday. Not bad for an old timer, in the 4 tourneys I have played live in the last 6 weeks I have 2 cashes both on the final table and 2 no-shows for a net profit of around $20,000

I would like to thank SUZE at POKERROOM for the clothes and for POKAH for putting up with my ramblings. I haven't checked the schedule yet but you can be assured i will be playing somewhere next month.

Later.

wheelerleo.

O.K. I'm up after 4 hrs of sleep. Dam hotel rooms, can't get a good nights rest in them.
The food they put out for us during the tourney was the best yet.
Chicken alfretto, pork chops, mashed potatoes, gravy, salads, pickels, cooked carrots, every kind of dessert you can think of.

They also gave all the players a Casino Regina windbreaker. I'm going to try to get more rest. Smell ya later as Nelson Munze would say.

wheelerleo

I just finished playing for 13.5 hours and got knocked out at level 22. Here is what happened throughout the tourney.

At first break (level 4) I had 6,900 in chips. Only thing eventful for the first 2 hours was hitting trip Kings and getting a small win.

At dinner break (level 8) I was up to 24,000. A local lady was at our table and she was a calling station. She also would raise any 2 face cards.
I pick up poc 7s 2nd under the gun and limp in. She has the button and raises to 1,000. I call out of position. The flop was Q-7-4. I check and she bets a 1,000
I min raise to 2,000 to see if she can call. She calls. Turn was a J--and I bet 2,000. She comes over the top all-in for 6,000 more. I call and she has Q-J. I win a very nice pot.

I rock on back and forth up to level 12 and finish there with 24,000.
I get my stack up to 48,000 by doubling up with poc Kings vrs A-Q suited.

I don't see a hand and hang on to the money. The tourney was grinding to a halt when there was 32 players left and we were hand to hand. The tourney director had a great idea that we all agreed to speed things up.

He took $711 from the first place prize of $40,711 and awarded the $711 to the player busting out in 32nd spot. There was 311 entrants so 31 spots paid.

1st- $40,000
2nd- $26,000
3th- $18,000
4th- $10,000
5th- $8,500
6th- $6,000
7th- $5,000
8th- $4,000
9th- $3,000
10th-2,500
11th to 31st $1,100 to $1,700

When we were done to 26 of us I was down to 15,000 in chips and I was in the BB for 8,000

Under the gun goes all-in for 15,000 A guy calls for 15,000 then another calls the 15,000.
I have 6-8 and throw in my last 7,000 as any 2 cards at this point are getting pot odds.
I hit a 6 on the river to quadruple up to 60,000 as everyone was playing Ace-rag, and that propelled me to the final table.

I was a short-stack at the final table but I got there, and I'm in 8th spot. First hand at the final table the short-stack goes all-in and get knocked out. Now we are 9.

Then a med stack gets knocked out and we are down to 8. I pick up Q-J in the small blind and raise and the BB goes all-in and he has 225,000 in chips. I call as I’m short anyways.
He shows J-6 and says he thought I was bluffing. A 6 hits the river again but this time it knocks me out. Payback is a *****. Oh well I finished 8th. Close to the big money and just short again.

I kind of rambled with this post but it's late and I'm tired and I have the $1,000 buy-in to play in 10 hrs. I will let you know how I do in that one as well.

Later
wheelerleo

In order to speed things up while I'm playing today here is a schedule of the blind structure.

The tournament starts in about 4 hours from now.

$500+25 No Limit Freeze Out

Starting stack is 5000 chips. The first 20 levels are all 30 min in duration. Starting at level 21 they change to 40 min levels.

According to the schedule I got there are no levels with Antes

L1 25-25
L2 25-50
L3 50-100
L4 75-150
Break for 20 min
L5 100-200
L6 150-300
L7 200-400
L8 250-500
Break for dinner 35 min remove $25 chips
L9 300-600
L10 400-800
L11 500-1000
L12 750-1500
Break for 20 min remove $100 chips
L13 1000-2000
L14 1500-3000
L15 2000-4000
L16 2500-5000
Break for 20 min remove $500 chips
L17 3000-6000
L18 4000-8000
L19 5000-10000
L20 6000-12000
Break for 20 min
L21 7000-14000
L22 8000-16000
L23 10000-20000
Break for 20 min remove $1000 chips
L24 15000-30000
L25 20000-40000
L26 25000-50000
Break for 20 min remove $5000 chips
L27 30000-60000
L28 40000-80000
L29 50000-10000

When I post a hand history today (if I'm able), I will refer to the level only.

Later
wheelerleo

Before getting into the tournaments, here are a couple of facts about the city of Regina Saskatchewan.

1- Regina was built on the Great plains of Western Canada. Because of that there are no trees indigenous to this area and every tree in the city had to be trucked in and planted by hand. The city has a full-time crew of 10 people caring for and planting trees year round.

2- The Wascana river that runs through Regina was only a creek until 1935. During the depression the province had men dig it out by hand (as a make work project), turning part of it into a beautiful park. The 1988 Canada summer games were held here.

3- The population of Regina is around 200,000 and it is the capital of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.

4- The casino in downtown Regina has been converted from an old train station.
Although these facts can be found on the internet if you know where to look, I would like to thank my cab driver Dwayne for these tid-bits of information and a brief tour of the city.

O.K now on to the tournaments.

Event number 1 is in the can. I didn't play in this event but wanted to post it to show how loose the natives are.

$200+20 rebuy.

180 players started and there were so many rebuys and add-ons that the total prize pool reached $115,000. I really don't like re-buy tournaments but I may have to give them another look after this.

$36,000 in entry fees and another $79,000 in rebuys and add-ons. DAM

Later.
wheelerleo

For anyone that is interested I will use this blog to post my results of my play this weekend. I am playing 2 events and will post hand histories and results as quickly as I can.

It's been an eventful week just getting here. First my sons' digital camera went on the fritz, it was 4 years old and had been dropped at least that many times every year so I guess it was to be expected. I bought a Fugi finepix with 9.2 pixels and 12x zoom for this trip. A nice camera but not overlee expensive.

I hope to take a few pictures on this trip and have pokerroom post them. On Tuesday I received a hoodie and a hat by courier. Thank you Suze, and the only money owing was $5 for GST (stupid Canadian tax).

I left the house at 9:30 am this morning and arrived at the Toronto Airport at 10:30am, checked in and then went and smoked my brains out waiting to board the plane at 11:30am.

The flight left on time at noon and I arrived here in Regina at 1pm local time. They are in Central Standard Time (CST) which is 2 hours behind EST. The flight was exactly 3 hours in length.

A cab from the airport to my hotel room was $20. After checking in I took another cab ($11 fare) over to the casino. Dam, this is getting expensive and I haven't played a single hand of cards yet. I talked to the tournament director about getting a picture or 2 of me playing in the event for the site. Normally cameras are not allowed in a Casino but he
said he will talk to security and his bosses that run the Canadian Poker Tour and will try his best to either; let me take my camera in to get some pictures, or take some pictures with their equipment and e-mail them to me to pass on to pokerroom. He is also trying to get me computer access so I can post a running commentary of my play at each break.

This second part didn't sound promising but you never know. After another $11 cab ride back to my hotel, here I sit posting this. I will post things as they happen. Stay tuned. The first tourney starts at 12 pm Friday CST which is around 7 hours behind my European friends. Later.

wheelerleo