Posted by kristygazes | Filed under Uncategorized
2009 Southern Poker Championship – Biloxi, MI
Biloxi…my prior thoughts on Biloxi : bad carpet, nice shoreline and the only veggies you can order are deep fried. Cut to me dining on some of those veggies at the fab barf-fet at the Beau Rivage and on 3 separate occasions I was accosted by Tiffany Michelle fans insisting I was her!? The deep fried diet must be working as the beautiful Ms. Michelle is 17 years my junior 
I think I like this place.
But, yeah, choooooooowww! Let’s talk some poker! I KILLED it in Biloxi. I was one of the top stacks going into Level Three. For the first time in F ing forever, I finally had some chips. Then I had aces cracked by Chuck Kelley’s behemoth: 6-7. Here’s how that wicked cute reporter, Andy, covered it:
Gazes Gets Her Aces Cracked
Level 3: 100-200, 25 ante
Three players see a flop of Qh5d2d. Kristy Gazes is in the big blind and leads out for 5,500. The player under the gun folds and Chuck Kelley makes the call from middle position. The turn is the 7h and Gazes doubles her flop bet and places 11,000 in front of her. Again, Kelley smooth calls. The river brings the 6h and Gazes, after betting the two previous streets decides to check action to Kelley. Kelley takes the opportunity to move all in for his last 9,500 and Gazes feels compelled to call with AhAd . Kelley flips over 7d6d for runner-runner two pair, instead of the diamond flush he was looking for. He doubles up and is now at 55,000. Gazes drops down to 34,000.
After that, I was out a little while later when I decided to foolishly take a race….with two Queens. Realizing there’s no way to have a lead in this game, I went up to my room and ordered some deep fried twinkies.
I will say that it was a fun trip overall, as Mike Gracz and I popped my Waffle House cherry. It’s one of those places that everyone talks about so much that it can’t possibly be that good. But it was. There’s nothing like busting out of a $10k poker tournament and then pouring $10k worth of syrup over a plate of indented, buttered broken dreams followed by smothered potatoes. That last part wasn’t a metaphor. That’s really what they call them.
Surfing Boot Camp –
After busting and pigging out, I decided I needed to get myself a present in order to work off all of that dee-lish-ish food. What better way to beat those pounds then a week long Surfing Safari in Mexico!
(No Brian Wilson impressions please)
Unlike when I go to Club Med or on cruises, where I usually fake an illness in order to get my own bedroom, this time – I got really sick. I did get to surf the first few days though, and here’s what I got from it:
Surfing reminds me of poker. You are fighting a force of limitless strength. Just you. In the ocean. Arms paddling away. Trying to tame the M-Fing OCEAN. That’s what it’s like playing for a living. That’s how much of a struggle it is. But sometimes, just sometimes, you catch things just right, and you think you just conquered the ocean. But you didn’t. The ocean conquered you. It just chose not to drown you this time.
But just like poker, with the right skill, you can put yourself in a better position to be in the right place at the right time. That’s how I want to play poker. You have to be completely focused on that wave. You’re watching that wave from the second it started from an oil tanker, outside the Arctic Circle. You’ve been watching that wave your whole life. And there it is.
Now you’ve got to act on it. And that’s a whole ‘nother set of focus altogether.
That’s how you have to surf, and that’s how you have to play poker.
Playing Online – My Bedroom, California
I still suck at playing online. These kids are sick ****’s. Add me to your “live ones” list as I have a -100% ROI so it’s basically free money for y’all.
Personal Stuff:
I had a really bad scare recently, as the love of my life fell ill. We all know that I am, of course, talking about my dog. Turns out he had an infection in his bum. No, no – it’s not what you think. It was just a yucky infection down “there”. I can’t say anymore as I promised him I wouldn’t tell anyone. The doctor said it was from feeding him people food and spoiling him too much. Well, after I got done picking out the diamond studded air-conditioned after-surgery cone, I gave that doctor a piece of my mind.
I also got the chance to stop by and check out Amanda Leatherman’s new place down on Redondo Beach. Now, I’m pretty spoiled – but this place is SICK. For those of you who don’t know the name – Amanda is the WPT hostess this year, and she also does serious and funny stuff on PokerRoad.com.
Other than the fact that she’s five feet tall and a blonde, she reminds me of me at her age. I can’t go into much detail as to what that means, but she has got the world wrapped around her finger
I started taking yoga, and I’m really into the meditation right now. I meditate every day. Things are pretty nutty out there, and I wouldn’t survive with my sanity unless I kept things up, spiritually.
Next up for poker is the LAPC and WPT Celebrity Invitational at The Commerce Casino. See you there.
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