So, we’re up to the dinner break now. I’m going pretty well. I have Erick Lindgren at my table to my right, which is a lot of fun. I am in the top 10 in chips at the dinner break. 888 started the tourney, and I am playing really good poker.

Daniel Negreanu is on a roll, and Gavin Smith is absolutely sick at the next table, making some sick calls. He busted David Plastik with 6 4, and called another guy’s all in with J 3, that didn’t work out so well. But, he has a lot of chips.

We have 120 players left now. If I can maintain my momentum through the next few levels, we’ll be looking at a final table. I think we’re looking at 4 more levels tonight. I need to get through. This is my game, I feel great. No real big hands, just plugging away stealing, stealing, stealing. This is what this is about, this 6 handed game. Bluff, and rebluff.

The key hand was on that last level, was I picked up A K under the gun. I raised it up, and the big blind called. The flop came A K Q, all spades. I have two pairs, but it’s a dangerous flop, as I have no spades. I decided to check. He checked, and I did too. The turn came a 6 of spades, which pretty much saved me. He checked, I bet 500 into a 2,000 pot. He called. The river was a 6, which paired the board as well. He bet 2,000 - I folded, and he showed me - a flopped Royal Flush. How lucky was I that an A or a K didn’t come out. But, I was lucky it didn’t, and I survived.

Another play I made was I had A K of diamonds. With three limpers, I just limped from the small blind - just to change it up. In a shorthanded game, you try to be creative. So, the flop was 8 5 2, and I just lost the minimum, as a guy who was a big stack showed two nines.

Another hand, I just called with two Queens on the button, and won the pot. So, I have been mixing it up - playing bad hands aggressively, and playing hands in an interesting way.

It’s a lot of fun. Having this amount of chips gives me a real good chance. This is an important tournament for me. Hoping to make the final table.

I’m in good form today. It started today on a good note, quickly up in chips. We’re up to level 4, and I’m in the top 5 in chips. Daniel Negreanu is the chip leader with about 25,000, but I’m pretty close on his heels, I have about 17,000.

I had great tables today. In fact, we started with 6 at the table, and at one point I looked up, and realized I had knocked the other five original players out. I was at a new table, and realized I had knocked everyone else at the original table out. So, that was a good feeling, and gave me confidence.

I had some key hands. On one, I made a big call. I had K 10, and the flop was J 10 6. I don’t know what my opponent has. He checks the flop, I bet 1,000, and he calls. The turn comes a 3. he checks, I bet 1,000, and he calls. The river comes a 5, so the board reads J 10 6 3 5. He checks, I bet 1,000, and he moves all in for about another 10,000. I called in about 3 seconds, it was a dangerous call, but I was right, the guy was on a total bluff. He was so upset I called, he spilled his drink all over the table, and it caused a big delay.

That what it takes at the WSOP - you have to make big calls. That was the key hand that propelled me up to the big stack. I’ve been up to 20,000. I have been playing a lot of hands, and I will update later on how I do.

So far, so good.

I played today, with 1,500 starting chips. I got up to 2,000 right away. There were some big players near me, as Gavin Smith was at the next table, and Michael Mizrachi was right near me as well. But, I had no luck at all today, and I’m feeing pretty sick. I can’t get it going so far in the WSOP.

The highlight was I had a $1,000 last longer with Gavin, and I outlasted him for my first win of the WSOP. Hopefully, I can get some momentum going.

Early on, I got Aces twice, but couldn’t build pots at all. I got ground down, and was finally out in the third level.

Tomorrow is the shorthanded, $2,500 No Limit, I’m hoping to do better in that. Iam pumped up to perform much better over the next couple days.

Also, I am coaching a player in the Mansion Poker Pro-Am Challenge on Monday. I will coach an amateur player, as he takes on Gavin Smith, John Gale, and Todd Brunson, as well as two other amateurs for a $500,000 top prize. This should be good fun, and I encourage everyone to tune in to FSN when it airs, which I think is the 12th of July.

I’m keeping my confidence up for tomorrow. That’s going to be my day.

It’s total chaos here today. There are about 2,800 players to play in this event. Despite registering over two days ago, I was forced to be an alternate as they couldn’t find my registration, and I started the tournament over an hour late.

I couldn’t do much. I picked up 99, but caught a bad flop, and had to fold. Then, I got a couple pots, and built it back up to about 1,000 chips. I picked up A 5 on the button, and the blinds were 50/100.

Not much you can do there, with 10 big bets. If I raise 400, I can’t really lay the hand down, considering my stack. So, I decided to go all in, One of the blinds found AK, and called. The flop was A, 5, 6, and it looked like I was in business, but the King came, and the party was over.

So, I’m through the first event, and I will play again tomorrow. I actually have a seat already in tomorrow’s event, so I’m hoping it will go better. David Williams was at my table, as was Jeff Shulman, who was playing well, but caught some bad breaks, and is pretty short.

With the stacks and the blinds today, you really needed some luck early to get some chips. Things are moving really quickly. I nearly had it today, but it didn’t work out - so there is always tomorrow.

Good luck everyone. Play well if you are playing online, and play well at the WSOP. See you tomorrow.

Here I am ‘relaxing’ outside the tournament room, preparing for battle at the WSOP.

I just got into Las Vegas from my little vacation in Los Angeles, in Santa Monica, which was fantastic. I went out, and played basketball, and got some exercise - I’m trying to get more fit for the upcoming WSOP run, which will be long and hard.

I’m in town, I checked into the Rio. I think its going to be better to stay on location, and be able to play.

Tonight the 25th of June, the WPT Bad Boys of Poker airs, and it was the experience of a lifetime for me to play in it. I hope everyone catches it, its on at 9pm EST on the Travel Channel. You’ll see me play with Phil Hellmuth, Men the Master, Gus Hansen, Mike Matusow, its just a great event.

I certainly played well, and I am excited to watch myself tonight. Let me know what you think of it, if you get a chance to see it. I’m sure it will run a lot of times, and hopefully be one of the more entertaining episodes to come out. Much like the WPT Paris with Surinder, which was very entertaining.

Anyway, that’s my job today - to watch myself. Also, keep watching the Intercontinental Cup, that airs on CBS weekend days at 1:30.

Also, a little teaser….we will be having a poker site on this blog very soon. Everyone can come play with me for real money at Tony G Poker. Take Care, and play well. See you soon.

I’m in the USA, just arrived today from London after my trip to Paris and London playing all these tournaments. I arrived for a week of rest before the World Series begins and this year I plan to be very serious for the World Series. I just plan to stay in Santa Monica, run around the beach for a week and relax a bit.

I’ll be playing online, just keeping my skills as sharp as I can, I’ve got a few tournaments coming up online, and cash games. Mainly I’m playing on Mansion Poker, it’s the best site for me right now and I made the final of that show so that’s coming up on July 2nd at 11pm on FSN. The WPT Bad Boys is this Sunday, June 25th at 9pm eastern on the Travel Channel. Don’t miss that one. The CBS show, the Intercontinental Poker Championship is on this Saturday June 24th, at 2pm. so I’ll be on TV quite a bit. I’ll be watching myself, I hope I don’t come out too bad on TV.

The weather in LA is perfect, it’s not too hot - London’s been really hot like over 90 or something, it’s crazy, very humid. So it’s a relief to be here in LA and enjoy the mild weather but I need to get fit for the World Series and that’s my task right now. I’ve got a week to get fit and play really well and get some good results. I need to get a couple of bracelets to come out even for this trip. That’s how I feel - so I really want to do well and I’m really focused on it and I’m just here to relax for a little while - see you all in Vegas.

I had to come back to London, because I am playing in a big tournament tomorrow, and I decided to play on Mansion Poker because I have been invited to their Superstar tournament on Saturday at 4pm. There are 10 players at this tournament, and the top 2 go through to play for $1,000,000 on July 3rd. Daniel Negreanu is in there, Marcel Luske, John Gale, Harry Demetriou, some big names. So, if anyone wants to watch me I’ll be playing on Mansion Poker at 4pm GMT on Saturday.

So, I decided to play a Mansion Poker standard satellite for their Poker Dome series. Mansion Poker must be the best value out there right now. I don’t have much time these days, especially four hours, but I had to put four hours in today. It’s a one cent buyin (!), and the winner gets flown to Las Vegas, and plays on TV. If you win four rounds of matches, you win a million dollars.

I think I’m the first name player in there. It’s a good story, and I’m really excited. It was 350 players I had to outlast. And, I just seemed to cruise the whole tournament. I’ve never had a tournament like that. I was just never at risk, and it seemed like I cruised the whole time.

I got to heads up, and I was in front. Then I took a bad beat, when the guy flopped four sixes, and I had Aces full. I couldn’t get away from the hand on the river. I was down 60,000 chips to 350,000 for my opponent. My opponent was a good player, but he gave me a lot of chips when I raised, and re-raised in certain situations.

So, after losing with Aces Full to quad sixes, I was crippled, but I didn’t panic, and I grinded my way back.

On the last hand, I had A 4, and he had J 10, and the flop was A 8 9, I had a big chip lead, and the money went in. The turn, and river both came Kings, and my Aces, and Kings held up for the win. This win certainly gives me some confidence, and washes out any bad taste left by the WPT Paris.

So, I am going to be on TV a lot in the US over a two week stretch. This Saturday, I’ll be in the Intercontinental Poker Championships on CBS, then again on the 24th. Then, on June 25th, I’ll be on the WPT with my Bad Boys II win. On July 2, I guess I’ll be on the Mansion Poker Dome Challenge on FSN. And, if I can win this ‘Superstar Challenge’ tournament on Mansion on Saturday, I think I’ll be back on TV the next day, July 3rd. Wow. See you all soon.

I’m out - I couldn’t do it. I started off the day with 10,000 a pretty small stack, and I got down to 7,500. I had a double up - I had AQ versus K 10, and my hand held up, so I was up to about 15,000.

Later, Christer Johansen on my table makes a small raise, and I am in the big blind with 7 9 of hearts, so I call. The flop comes A Q 8 with two hearts. He bet, I moved all in. I think it’s a very good play - if he doesn’t have the Ace, you get the pot. If he does have the Ace, you still have outs.

Christer called, and shows me A J, with the Jack of hearts, so I still had some outs. The turn came a heart, which also paired the board with the Queen of Hearts. So, I had made the best hand with a flush, but Christer had the Jack of hearts, so he had a flush draw. It was a really nice pot, too - like 35,000, which would have put me above average if my hand holds up.

But, unfortunately, the river was another heart. The heartbreaking heart.

I’ll pack up my bags, and head back to London, to play a big tournament, the Poker Millions there on the 16th.

I played pretty well, I was pretty happy with my play. I’m sure I’ll do better in the next tournament….it’s not easy.

The tournament conditions were pretty bad. We got the six same players from day one to day two. That was the ‘draw’. You could choose one of two tables, with the same players. It was ridiculously hot - no air conditioning - everyone was upset. Really bad conditions for players here. But, I love the place, and I will be back. It’s just unfortunate I wasn’t good enough today.

I finished about 100th. So, my results for Paris WPT - first season 5th place - 3rd season 2nd place - last season 18th. So, I’m still having good results. Off to London, then its time for the World Series. See you soon.

I had a very tough day today. I just couldn’t get things going overall. I had bad hands all day. I had to lay down many good hands like pocket jacks with a lot of action pre-flop. Not too many opportunities today.

The main thing is I am still alive, and I have a chance to make my third final table in this great WPT event, so I will do my best tomorrow.

I played a big pot towards the end of the day. I had KQ all in versus KJ with a King on the flop. Unfortunately, the Jack popped out on the river, which really cost me. I would have been a big stack, even though I got no hands all day. Somehow, I got chips all day, and I was above average before that hand, but it crippled me to 7,000.

I picked up Ace King on the last hand, and went all in, but didn’t get called. I haven’t been in all day. Just a tough day. We started with 15,000 chips, and I ended up on 10,100. Which is still pretty good. The average is about 25,000, so if I pick up a few pots early, I can be right back in it.

Tomorrow is the big day here. The weather is really hot. Its about 36 Celsius here, or about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. There is no air conditioning, and everyone is complaining. We finished at 2am. This is a difficult job sometimes. But, I just cruise through it, and enjoy it.

There is a lot of play left, and I am eager to start tomorrow. I am in really good form, and playing really well. I am laying down some big hands before the flop.

The big laydown today was pocket jacks. That was hard to lay down, but I managed to let it go, and the guy showed me aces. Those kind of things put you in a good mood. There are still a lot of hands to be played, and I am positive that things will turn out good for me.