PokerWorks

PokerWorks interviewed Lubo "CrazyDonkInc" when he arrived from Denmark to play the WSOP 2010 Main Event after winning the FullTiltRakeback.com Rake Race.  Lubo gave us an update on Day 1C and Lubo busted on Day 2 but shared some of his Las Vegas experience with us and we'd like to share it with you: 

I was, in general terms, pretty happy about my play on Day 2.  I stole blinds when I had the option and 3-bet an active guy who raised my BB a couple of times. Aside from that nothing much happened on my table other than people who were willing to gamble. A young internet guy called all-in with A-K for what was around 1½ times the average pre-flop vs. a tight player. So there wasn’t much slow playing or scared money on my table.
 
My last hand came after I lost about half of my stack on a huge draw + 2 over card outs which didn’t hit, so I was down to around 18.000 or so with blinds at 300/600 and Ante.  I wasn’t in great shape. I had an M around 10 and my guess would be the average for the tourney was around 50k. My final hand I had J-J in the cutoff and it was folded to me. I raised to 1500 and the BB who was an active 3-betting, internet young gun 3-bet me to around 4,000 - I think it was. I thought about 10 seconds before I shoved my 18.000 and he insta called with A-Ko. To get far in such a tourney you need to dodge and win a lot of flips. The flop was good for me but he then took runner-runner flush to his A-Ko and that was the end of my WSOP Main Event 2010.
 
All in all I would say it’s been a great experience; I played in Event 54 and the ME both for free, so it was all a good experience. The atmosphere at the ME is something you can’t describe, it’s a buzz. So if FullTiltRakeBack does some sort of rakerace promo next year, I for one will be there to try getting into WSOP ME 2011.
 
On a side note, Andrew from PokerNews took me and the French guy who won the freeroll out to dinner one night at a good restaurant in the Palazzo. When we got to our table we decided to order something mixed so we could all try different things, and we left it up to the chef to decide what to bring out. We decided we wanted to share 3 starters and 3 main courses. I must say the dinner was GREAT - only thing I didn’t like that much was one of the main courses which was typical American (no offense), but very heavy with fat in it. The rest was great!!  We also shared a good bottle of wine, and both the French guy (sorry I don’t recall your name) and Andrew seemed to know what they were talking about regarding wine, so I just let them pick which one we got - and it was a GREAT wine.
 
Afterwards we went out for a couple of beers and since we could get into the nightclub for free (since we ate dinner at the nightclub restaurant), we decided to see what it was like. I must say the people who came to this place made me feel old :) I am 36, but damn, not many of the other guests where much older than MAX 25 years old. So we had a couple of drinks and decided around 1am to call it the night, since both me and the French guy had to play day 2 the next day.
 
After being knocked out from the WSOP ME, I spent the rest of my time playing a lot of cash games, where the level of competition in live poker Vegas is FAR below what the level of competition these days is online. I don’t think that comes as any surprise for anyone, but it still is surprising what people play/can’t fold in live poker.
 
I didn’t really go on any trips or anything since I have been to Vegas before with my girlfriend, where we saw it all, so I didn’t have that urge this time around. I mainly played at Ballys (you won’t find softer competition) and the most juicy game I played in was a 2/5 game at the Venetian. People were really deep and crazy gamblers, calling more or less with anything pre-flop, so 5+ to the flop was not unusual, even not in a 3-bet pot (this was not standard for 2/5 games in Vegas this time around)..... I didn’t make that much on that game, but it was a fun and chatty table so it was perfect for me.
 
Next year if I get to go to the WSOP ME again, i learned that 3 weeks is bloody to long for Vegas if you seen it all once before, so I won’t go for more than 10 - 14 days next time, BUT I might stay at Ballys again, since I loved the location and the room in the North Tower was decent. Plus I could get WSOP rates since it was a Harrah's property, so the price was $45 per night and around $100 on weekends.

The last night in Vegas we ate at Ballys’ Steakhouse, and for anyone who loves a good steak, I can HIGHLY recommend it. It’s kinda pricy, but damn, it’s one of the best steaks I have ever had and the service was also good, so it was a perfect and good way to end a trip to Vegas.
 
Now it’s time to go back to reality and let the grind begin again - so hope you all enjoyed reading about my experience and hopefully I have more to write in the future (if they make some races to the Aussie million or WSOP ME 2011).
 
See you all at the virtual felt on Full Tilt Poker.
 
CrazyDonk Inc