Hoyt Corkins

Foxwoods Trip

2006-11-15T16:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a recap of my trip to Foxwoods. I traveled with Todd and Doyle Brunson. We left Las Vegas at 10:00am on Saturday. We had a connection in Pheonix, Arizona that was delayed, which was not a good sign. The main event started at 10:00am on Sunday, but we did not arrive until 12:30pm. I was only able to get about 4-5 hours of sleep in the night before. Then I heard the "great" news; we would be playing a 15 hour day . I was very sluggish the entire day, and I didn't play many hands. I was finally able to go to sleep at 2:00am. I woke up at 12:00 and headed to the tables. My biggest hand that day was when I had 9's full which put me up to almost $300,000. From that point on, I was card dead and basically anted down to about $110,000. On my final hand the blinds were at $4,000-$8,000 with a $1,000 ante. I had AJ in middle position and pushed in my last $106,000. The man in the cutoff position called with QQ. I didn't improve and was out in 44th place.

Finished With Break

2006-11-07T20:25:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry it's been so long since I have updated, but I have not been up to much lately. I have been taking a break for a while because of some relationship problems. I feel I'm ready to play again though. I will be at Foxwoods from November 11th through the 17th. Just thought I'd make a short update let everyone know what was going on.

A Little Tease

2006-10-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

I'm willing to bet that most of you have read Daniel Negreanu's blog recently. We aren't really supposed to talk about the certain things until December... but I will leave you guys with this photo from a celebrity tournament at the Venetian last weekend:

Poker Trading Cards Are Out

2006-10-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

The Razor Tradings cards, featuring yours truly on 3 of the 76 cards in the set, are now available for purchase at Wal-Mart, Target, Blockbuster, Kmart, and Amazon.com. I believe there are also some up for auction on Ebay.

There are 37 players in all featured in the deck, each hand autographed. There are also Player Memorabila cards that have little swatches of clothes that were worn in a poker tournament by various players.

Here is the list of the cards in order:

BASE CARDS
1 Daniel Negreanu 2 Josh Arieh 3 Hoyt Corkins 4 Juan Carlos Mortensen 5 Kathy Liebert 6 Phil Gordon 7 David Williams 8 Erick Lindgren 9 Erik Seidel 10 TJ Cloutier
11 Phil Hellmuth 12 John Juanda 13 Antonio Esfandiari
14 Phil Laak 15 Amir Vahedi 16 Layne Flack 17 Ted Forrest 18 Chip Jett 19 Jennifer Harman 20 Michael Gracz 21 Michael Mizrachi 22 Evelyn Ng
23 Isabelle Mercier 24 Cyndy Violette 25 Jerry Buss 26 Gavin Smith 27 Jennifer Tilly 28 Greg Raymer 29 Chris Moneymaker 30 Joe Hachem 31 Scotty Nguyen 32 Todd Brunson 33 Sean Sheikhan 34 Mike Matusow 35 Kenna James 36 Sammy Farha 37 Men Nguyen
LEGENDS
38 TJ Cloutier39 Men Nguyen 40 Scotty Nguyen 41 Ted Forrest 42 Phil Hellmuth
SUPER SHOWDOWN
43 Phil Hellmuth/Mike Matusow 44 Greg Raymer/David Williams 45 Layne Flack/Jerry Buss 46 Phil Gordon/Chris Moneymaker 47 Phil Hellmuth/TJ Cloutier 48 Daniel Negreanu/David Williams 49 Gavin Smith/Ted Forrest
50 Todd Brunson/Sean Sheikhan 51 Scotty Nguyen/Michael Mizrachi 52 Sammy Farha/Chris Moneymaker 53 Scotty Nguyen/Phil Hellmuth 54 Todd Brunson/Men Nguyen 55 Mike Matusow/Hoyt Corkins 56 John Juanda/Men Nguyen 57 Amir Vahedi/Chip Jett 58 Phil Hellmuth/Daniel Negreanu 59 Erik Seidel/Cyndy Violette 60 Greg Raymer/Mike Matusow
WSOP BRACELET WINNERS
61 Greg Raymer 62 Chris Moneymaker 63 Phil Hellmuth 64 TJ Cloutier 65 Erik Seidel 66 Layne Flack 67 Daniel Negreanu 68 Mike Matusow 70 Todd Brunson 71 Hoyt Corkins 72 Joe Hachem 73 Kathy Liebert74 Cyndy Violette 75 Ted Forrest 76 Checklist
AUTO MEMORABILIA CARDS
PP2 Phil Hellmuth PP3 Ted Forrest PP4 Phil Laak PP5 Antonio Esfandiari

ALL IN FOR THE CURE

2006-09-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

I think Natalie is becoming a regular celebrity. LOL! She's featured in a comic created by the boys at Life's A Bluff. It is a portrayal of the WPT Ladies' Night final table and in addition to Natalie, there are caricatures of: yours truly, Jennifer Tilly, Melissa Ethridge, Sheryl Crow, Lance Armstrong, Sabina Gadeki, and other professional women poker players.

Natalie now owns the original, which was part of an auction lot benefiting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Prints are available at Life's A Bluff's website for $20 each. There are only 100 available for purchase and 50% of the proceeds go to Susan G. Komen.

Please consider buying a print. Natalie is a big supporter of the Komen Foundation, and your support would mean a lot to her. I can't think of a prettier way to give to charity. There are a lot of beautiful women in this print.

Hoyt Takes Home 2nd Place, Helps Raise Over 100k For Cystic Fibrosis

2006-09-21T19:12:00.000-07:00

The First Annual PWT Celebrity Shootout Raised More Than a $100,000 For the Boomer Esiason Foundation for Cystic Fibrosis

The top ten In-Fisherman Professional Walleye Trail pros in the Johnsonville Brats Angler of the Year race were joined by celebrities for a fun-fishing event held at Manitoba's Aiken Lake Wilderness Lodge.

The winners were pro Mark Christianson, full-time walleye pro and guide for 29 years and Robert Williamson III, World Series of Poker winner. In accepting the first place trophy, Williamson said, "This was a great week and to thank the Boomer Esiason Foundation for Cystic Fibrosis (B.E.C.F.F.), I will donate an additional $10,000 to help the cause." Christianson said, "He's the most positive guy I've ever met. He told me we'd win before heading out on day one, and he had never caught a walleye.

This was the first measure, photo and release event for the PWT. Pros were paired with celebrities and their top five fish were counted daily. The first place team measured a total of 240.75 inches. Second went to pro Bobby Crow and World Series of Poker winner, Hoyt Corkins with 239.50 inches.

Pro Ron Seelhoff and Discovery Channel's "Survivorman" Les Stroud tied for third with pro Sheldon Meidinger and actor Rick Schroder. Both had 238.25 inches. The other top PWT pro participants included Bill St. Peter, Jim Carroll, Mark Martin, Dave Van Oss, Daryl Christensen and Andy Kuffer. Their partners were Dale Jensen, Arizona Diamondback owner, Kris King and Mike Gartner, NHL Hall of Famers, Scott Flansberg, the human calculator, Dave Krieg, former Seattle Seahawks quarterback, and Don Lamont, Travel Manitoba.

Many special accolades went to the Aikens Lake Lodge staff. "The setting in Manitoba's wilderness, walleyes of all sizes, the fly-in experience and food fit for a king were enjoyed by the entire crew," said, Jim Kalkofen, PWT executive director.

Proceeds by major sponsors will benefit the B.E.C.F.F. PWT sponsors E-Cell and StowMaster donated an extra $5,000 to the Foundation. Nick Koker representing the Foundation said, "This was great for the first annual Celebrity Shootout."

The show will air on the Outdoor Channel as part of the PWT’s 13 episodes this fall. It will run once between October-December, and will run a 2nd time between January-April. I will update the site with a specific time as soon as we know.

Celebrity Fishing

2006-09-20T20:31:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone--It's Natalie. I'm in Memphis, taking care of business. Soon, we will have some great news to tell everyone... but it is all confidential for now. Sorry. I'm still ironing out some details on all the contracts and such, but we'll let everyone know as soon as possible.

Hoyt is at Aikens Lake in Manitoba, Canada right now. He is one of 10 celebrities to be invited to the Inaugural PWT Celebrity Shootout to Benefit the Boomer Esiason Foundation for Cystic Fibrosis. Each of the 10 celebrities were matched up with the 10 best walleye fishermen in the world. Hoyt drew professional Bobby Crow and they are currently in 5th place. They still have tomorrow to compete, so if you would like to follow the tournament, go to In-Fisherman Magazine's website.

Hold'em with Hoyt and The Trent Tucker Event

2006-09-11T13:35:00.000-07:00

Last week, we were in Minnesota for some promotional appearances. The first leg of the trip, we were at Lake Vermilion in Tower, MN. We did some fishing out there on two very beautiful days near the Fortune Bay Casino. My buddy, Chuck Chastain, his father, and brothers joined Natalie and me. Natalie cought the first fish of the trip, but threw it back because it was a perch. I got some practice in Walleye fishing since next week I am schedule to go to Aikens Lake in Manitoba, Canada for the Celebrity Pro-Am tournament to benefit the Boomer Esiason Foundation. I caught a few... none were very large. I had never fished for walleye before. They hit once, then ball the bait up in their mouths, and then about 10 seconds later they actually swallow the bait. So, you have to let out the line on the first hit and then reel them in on the second.

The casino also arranged a poker tournament in my honor. Natalie played in it and took home 12th place. I busted her out (much to her chagrin) and finished 7th.

Then we were off to Minneapolis for the Trent Tucker Celebrity Poker and Golf Event.
The poker tournament was held at Canterbury Park and Michael Jordan won it. I made it down somewhere about 30-40. After the tournament, we went to a new club caled Karma. I had a chance to drink Cristal with some of the NBA players and Phil Hellmuth. I even got my photo with Michael Jordan.

At the golf tournament, I was the celebrity in my group. I had a separate golf cart and had to stop after every shot to sign autographs. I didn't think that I played that well, but my team got first place, so now I have my first ever golf trophy. Who would have known? I don't even know what my score was, because they had someone keeping track of it for me.

Now we are in Alabama visting my family and are planning to attend the Auburn LSU game this weekend. Then it is back to Memphis to pack for Canada.

Doyles Room Celebrity Bounty Tournaments Continue to Dominate the Poker World

2006-09-07T08:13:00.001-07:00

The Doylesroom Bounty Tournament got a whole lot hotter with the addition of two special guests alongside Doyle Brunson this week, Nicky Hilton and Hoyt Corkins. Nicky Hilton, sister to pop-icon Paris, is not your typical beautiful, socialite, heiress to fortunes masquerading as a poker payer. She can hold her own -- as was exemplified by her first guest appearance as a bounty back in March of this year. She continues to rake in the chips in a number of celebrity tournaments. Nicky is back this Thursday night, September 7th at 9 p.m. ET to once again try to fend off her attackers.

If you have followed poker or have watched any televised poker tournaments, you certainly should be familiar with the other special guest bounty. “The Alabama Cowboy,” Hoyt Corkins, is not new to the poker world. Fresh off his 3rd place finish at this year’s Legends of Poker Tournament at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, Hoyt is more than excited to be playing as a marked man in the DoylesRoom Bounty Tournament.

Of course, much of the excitement comes from the opportunity to actually play online with the legendary Doyle Brunson himself and the possibility of winning a huge cash bonus prize of $50,000 for knocking-out all three of the bounties. But the truly unique feature of this weekly tournament is the rich line-up of professional poker players and special celebrity guests like Pamela Anderson, Nicky Hilton and Kevin Connolly who play as bounties with cash prizes on their heads.

For more information on how to get in for free, go to: http://www.doylesroom.com/bounty_tour/

Another Final Table for Hoyt

2006-08-30T03:56:00.000-07:00

Hoyt goes into the final table in 4th chip position with 1,030,000. The final table is set to begin at 5pm Pacific, but interviews are much earlier than tha (1pm). With such a long day of play just completed and such little time for sleep, some players have protested giving pre-show interviews. This could affect the start time for the filming of the finals if the WPT is playing catch up.

Here's hoping everything goes smoothly and Hoyt makes a top finish at his 4th WPT final table appearance and his chance to become the 10th 2-time WPT Champion.

The Legends of Poker in 2003 was the very first WPT event that Hoyt and I ever went to, so it has stood as an anniversary of sorts. Now on the 3rd anniversary of the start of our poker life together, a win here has more significance than the money.

Hold'em With Hoyt

2006-08-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

Poker Parlor and Legends of Poker

2006-08-26T16:18:00.000-07:00

Originally, we were scheduled to travel to Memphis and then down to the farm right after the WSOP in order to spend some time with the family. We made it as far as Memphis when we got a telephone call from International Poker Tournaments... wanting us to fly to L.A. to film a show called the "Poker Parlor." So, we hopped on a plane back to the west coast and did 4 episodes of the show, which is modeled similarly to the "Learn from the Pros" show that aired on Fox Sports.

Since we were in the neighborhood, I decided to play in the Legends of Poker WPT event.
Natalie will be on hand to give updates.

END OF DAY 1A - Hoyt finished the day with 72,000 in chips. Each player started with 20,000.

Feature Article from WPT Magazine

2006-08-13T20:07:00.000-07:00

Source: The Official World Poker Tour Magazine

HOYT CORKINS
Alex Outhred profiles the mild-mannered man they call ‘The Nightmare’.

When you think of an American cowboy, you picture a gruff, stubbly character chewing tobacco. Add the knowledge that this person is a poker player, and the image does not change very much. But in reality, most American ‘cowboys’ are businessmen. Men that own ranches, or have businesses that have to do with the farming or livestock industries. Men who are simple in need, and wise to a bluff. This is starting to sound a bit more like Hoyt Corkins.

Hoyt owns 60 head of cattle in his native Alabama, and when he is not out and about playing in the top tournaments in the States, he is happy to be at home on the ranch, living the peaceful life, so to speak. The advent of online poker allows a bit of a twist in this cowboy’s daily routine. With a love for the outdoors and for playing poker, online gaming has afforded Hoyt the opportunity to enjoy both in the same location.

Most people are familiar with Hoyt from his first major TV appearance, at Foxwoods Casino during WPT’s second season. Hoyt was the proverbial thorn in the side of Phil Hellmuth, and quickly became a fan favorite as he beat Phil in pot after pot, maintaining a demure table image, whether he won a monster pot or lost to a bad beat.

Although this was the first many had seen of Hoyt, he had already won a bracelet at the World Series of Poker 11 years earlier in Pot Limit Omaha.

MAN WHO CAN BLUFF

For many people who watched the Foxwoods episode, Hoyt’s physical presence at the table redefined the meaning of ‘poker face’, because he offers no physical tells at the table. With his mirror shades, perfectly fitted black cowboy hat, black shirt, jeans and cowboy boots, Hoyt certainly is an image to behold, and if you didn’t know any better, you would be inclined to believe every bet that he made.

That’s what hard-working cowboys do, isn’t it? Tell it like it is? Perhaps in an interview, but at the poker table, not so fast. Hoyt has made a brilliant poker career blossom out of knowing how and when to mix up his game.

“Bluffing well just comes naturally to me,” Hoyt says. “There’s a time and a place to do it, and perhaps I pick the wrong moment every now and then, but more often than not, I read weakness properly, and can take advantage of that”.

That’s bluffing in a nutshell – bluffs do not succeed when your opponents are strong. And Hoyt also adds the semi-bluff to his repertoire. “When you bluff, it’s always good to have outs, just in case they catch your hand in the cookie jar”.

If you watch through Hoyt’s final tables, you’ll start to see how his sense of timing is perfectly honed. His opponents either have hands that are too weak to call a bet with, despite being better hands than Hoyt’s, or Hoyt has a healthy amount of outs with which he can make the best hand.

…AND DOUBLE-BLUFF

Hoyt’s true talent at the table is not simply a skill at bluffing, though. It is knowing how to adjust his game accordingly when he has established himself to certain opponents as a willing bluffer. Time and time again, Hoyt will continue his aggressive betting even when he has a monster hand, because his opponents are most likely to not believe him, and pay him off.

It’s important to be able to read your opponents, but a deeper aspect of that is to know how your opponents are reading you. Once you know how your opponents are going to react to your behavior, you are the puppeteer, and they are the marionettes. This is a skill that has helped propel Hoyt into being one of the most respected players in tournament poker.

IN THE LIMELIGHT

Hoyt’s lovely fiancée Natalie is well-known and well-regarded by other pros and fans on the tour. While the couple take every chance they have to relax at home, living the lifestyle of a top professional brings sponsorships and opportunities that only add to Hoyt’s chances for a big tournament payday.

His popularity has earned him invitations to numerous free-rolls. He took second at WSOP’s Tournament of Champions free-roll, one spot away from earning two million dollars. While he took the loss to Mike Matusow graciously, Hoyt was inches away from a hike in his bankroll that would have made every media appearance well worth the time.

Staying in the limelight offers more opportunities than it prevents, and Hoyt is very quick to thank Natalie for making this possible.

PERFECT MATCH

Natalie embraces Hoyt’s lifestyle, and does everything she can to make sure that when the tournament director announces, “Shuffle-Up and Deal!”, Hoyt’s mind is clear of everything except the cards and the players at his table. This is an invaluable asset, as many players bring the rest of their worldly issues to the table with them, which has them playing cards at a less than optimal level.

Natalie has also seen her own share of success playing online cash games, and could soon be a force to reckon with at the tables. The point is that life does not have to be a solo sport, and when two people find a way to live it together fully, it can be that much sweeter.

As Hoyt has committed his time to the WPT tournament circuit in the United States, he has gathered fans across the country, but look out for him closer to the UK, too. Hoyt has grown accustomed to the styles of play by some of Europe’s best, and is now looking forward to playing in European events as the game continues to go global.

EASY TO SPOT

While his stern poker face and cowboy hat might be the easiest way to recognize Hoyt, the next thing to look for would be a smiling redhead sitting close by who answers to the name of Natalie.

If that’s not specific enough, double check his chip-stack. If it’s plentiful and he’s surrounded by baffled opponents murmuring to themselves as they wonder where their chips went, that is most certainly Hoyt Corkins.

http://www.worldpokertour.com/magazine/?x=detail&aID=156

In Memoriam

2006-08-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

On August 3rd, a friend of ours passed away from complications of an appendectomy. His name was Paul Hannum, and he was one of the videographers working with the WPT. Paul had been beaming for months with the news of his impending fatherhood. His unborn daughter is now left to be raised without a father. A fund has been set up to aid in the expenses of raising the child. We have made our donation through www.babyhannum.com and hope that you will too.

Hoyt out in 364th place

2006-08-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

The button raised and Hoyt re-raised all-in from the big blind.

Hoyt showed A K

button showed 9 9

with no help on the board, Hoyt is eliminated and collects $34, 636 for his efforts.

423 Left

2006-08-05T13:28:00.001-07:00

That means anyone who busts out in the near future will receive $30,512.

Last count, Hoyt had about 105,000. Of course, that is subject to change at any time. ESPN is filming at his table now - which means no one else can lurk around.

Ted has 210,000.

End of Day 3

2006-08-05T01:09:00.000-07:00

Play has just finished for the day.
Hoyt has 163,000.
Ted has 135,000.
There are 481 players left, will a current payout of $26,389.
At 441, the payout will move to $30,512

Applause All Around

2006-08-05T00:28:00.000-07:00

The room burst into shouts of hoorahs and applause upon the announcement that play will end after this level and then color up before going home.

Hoyt is still around 125,000. Ted has about 140,000.

We have hit yet another payout level with 503 players left. Now the knocked-out players will receive $26,389.

Hoyt Doubles Up

2006-08-04T23:24:00.000-07:00

Hoyt raised from middle position for 10,000. Dustin Holmes reraised to 35,000. Hoyt moved all-in for 65,200 and Holmes called.

The board reads 94279

Hoyt shows Q Q
Dustin shows J J

He is now up to 127,500. Ted has about 120,000.

There are currently 553 players remaining.

Hoyt Down to 70K in chips

2006-08-04T23:17:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what the details were. I will post as soon as I know.
Ted has 120K.

In regards to the payout structure, we are now at 580 players, which puts us in the $20,617 bracket.
At 568 players, we will move into the $22,266 bracket.

Ted won a hand

2006-08-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

We're not sure what happened, but he's raking in some chips.... further update to follow later.

Chants in the room

2006-08-04T21:55:00.000-07:00

Many players got up from thier chairs shouting, "600 players, 600 players, etc." An obvious protest to the recent decision to deviate from the published tournament structure. They were quickly quieted by tournament staff. I believe the 2am decision will stand.

New Payout Level

2006-08-04T21:36:00.000-07:00

According to the board here in the Amazon Room, we have reached the next payout level of $19,050 with 648 players remaining.

Hoyt has 138,000. Ted has just over 90,000

Lost a pot

2006-08-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

Derek Feldman pushed all-in and Hoyt called. Hoyt shows pocket 7s, Feldman shows A J.
THe board came 6 5 3 A 2. Hoyt's stack is now at 133, 000.

Playing until 2am

2006-08-04T21:27:00.000-07:00

It has just been announced that a decision has been made to deviate from the published structure. Instead of playing down to 600, as originally slated; play will continue until 2am.

Hoyt won a pot against Marius Hogseth. On a flop of 9 4 3, Hoyt shoved all-in for his remaining 65,800 and Hogseth folded. After the hand, Hoyt had about 155,000.

Ted Lawson has 130,000.

Update

2006-08-04T18:47:00.000-07:00

After the "in the money announcement", 14o players took thier walking papers.

Hoyt currently has approximately 102,000. We will go on dinner break in 12 minutes so, I will give everyone an update once play resumes.

I have had a request to follow Ted Lawson, so here is his chip count : about 150,000

We are at 763 players, which is in the $16,493 bracket. The next payout bubble is at 720 players ( $17,730).
-Natalie

We're in the Money

2006-08-04T17:37:00.001-07:00

865 players are left in the the event right now. The current payout is $14,597. At 819 players, the payout will move to $15,504.

Last count on Hoyt's chips was approximately 90K.

- Natalie

Days off

2006-08-02T12:44:00.000-07:00

Today I'm going to chill down with some friends. We are going to go hiking at Mt. Charleston. Then everyone is coming back to the house for some of Natalie's good cooking. Tomorrow I have booked my appointment with my masseuse - aka: Natalie and will just spend time collecting my thoughts and strategizing.

Here are some photos from the Red Carpet at Doyle's Roast and from the press conference with Pamela Anderson.

Yesterday's Play

2006-08-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

I had a hard time geting out on the floor yesterday. There were a lot of spectators and the guards don't know me like the floorpeople do... I couldn't even get in the room at one point. I had to sneak over to the service entrance and run over to the bluff booth like I was playing a game of freeze tag. Once I got over there, I was safe.... But I couldn't see the action at Hoyt's table because it was too far away.

I have put in a request with Nolan Dalla directly for a press pass or a VIP pass. I should know on Friday if I get one. Ok , enough about that.

Hoyt's "table of death" quickly broke, but not before sending 10 unwilling victims to the rail. He later knocked out Shirley Williams, mother of 2004 second place finisher, David Williams, and a close friend of mine. She seemed to take the bust out pretty well.

Hoyt finished the day with about 72,000 in chips and about 550 players left in his flight. Flights C&D have merged together to play today and the remaining players will come back on Friday to play against the rest of the field. At 873, we will be in the money ($14,597). First place is slated to pay an even $12 million dollars.

Bad News on the Table Draw

2006-08-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

Here is Hoyt's table assigment:

40 1 Michael Erstling $94,075
40 2 Ken Jacobs $119,106
40 3 Fzdwin Spencer $29,050
40 4 Francis Cipriano $123,200
40 5 Jim Boyd $32,375
40 6 Bill Gustafik $36,675
40 7 Darryl Dare $37,975
40 8 Hoyt Corkins $29,725
40 9 Terry Rossi $27,450
40 10 Noah Boeken $16,850

Here is a sample of everyone else's table assigment:

42 1 Loi Tran $10,300
42 2 David clayton $37,050
42 3 Chi Bui $29,175
42 4 Mark Simmons $30,800
42 5 Janne Juutilainen $5,625
42 6 David Atrubin $1,125
42 7 Quan Tran $49,575
42 8 Arthur Flangas $32,775
42 9 Yaron Wasserman $40,000
42 10 Kido Phan $35,100

Hoyt will have a lot of bullet dodging to do today. Hopefully, he can pull it through and amass some chips.

I will try to give some updates of the action as it happens.

Still In the Main Event

2006-07-30T17:41:00.000-07:00

I have 29,725 in chips and will play again Tuesday. I was busy today signing autographs in the Gaming Lifestyle Expo. Tomorrow I am going to try to chill out and get ready for a long day of play on Day 2A. It was pretty crowded before, so I don't know if Natalie will be able to get in there and get any updates done, but I am sure she will try.

50th

2006-07-23T21:56:00.000-07:00

I went out in 50th place, which was close to - but not in the money. I picked up AK and took a race against Nam Le and his pocket 10's. I could have just sat back and antied my money down until we got in the money... but you know me - I play to win (or in this case, to lose) big pots.
Now I am going to rest up until the main event. There are a lot of other commitments that we have leading up to the main event. I will be signing autographs at both the Doyle's Room and Poker Resource Network booths in the Lifestyle Show. We also are attending Doyle's Roast and the party for the lauch of Pamela Anderson's site, www.pamelapoker.com .

7 tables/58 players left

2006-07-23T00:25:00.000-07:00

Hoyt has 35,200 in chips right now. Average stack is 32,500. They are playing at 600-1200 blinds right now with 25 min left in the level. This should be the last level of the day.

Now, with 12 minutes left in this level, Hoyt has been moved to a stacked table - Hoyt , Cyndi Violette, Chau Giang, Devilfish, and Nick Shulman are all duking it out for table captain rights.

PRO-file: Hoyt Corkins

2006-07-22T21:15:00.000-07:00

Bluff Magazine has a feature that the do every issue, entitled" PRO-file." The August issue features, none other than Hoyt. Check your local magazine stand for it. The five-page article is on page 66. Danny Aller was the reporter who wrote this piece and I have to say, he did a wonderful job on it. Also, thanks go out to Daniel Negreanu, who contributed some heartfelt compliments about Hoyt.

Today, Hoyt is playing in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event. There are currently 117 players remaining from the 378 original entrants. Hoyt has 18,200 in chips, which is above the approximate 16,150 average. Player will be "in the money" at 36 players. They are currently at level 7 with 200-400 blinds. Level 8 will start with 300-600 blinds.

I'll try to keep everyone posted.

Natalie

Hoyt out in 30th place

2006-07-19T21:55:00.000-07:00

Here is the recap of the last hand:

For the fourth time in the last 30 minutes Antonio Pane moves all-in. Pane ($86,000) pushes from the button. The small blind folds over to Hoyt in the big blind ($80,000). Corkins has A 8 but is behind as Pane has QQ. The flop comes J 10 4. The turn is a 5 and the river is a 3. Hoyt collects $8706 for his efforts.

Update

2006-07-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, Natalie again. We are at about 30 players in the $1500 event right now. Hoyt had been up to about 170,000 in chips, but is currently at approximately 80,000. On the last break, he was saying that he hadn't caught a hand for the last two levels. Here's hoping that his luck changes and he doubles up before the dinner break at 8:30pm Pacific.

Hoyt is deep in the $1500 No-Limit

2006-07-19T00:44:00.000-07:00

Hey guys. It's Natalie here with an update from the tournament floor at the WSOP. I know you haven't heard from us in a while, but I am happy not announce now that Hoyt is currently the chip leader in the $1500 No-Limit event.

Play started at noon with 2126 players, with 127 left right now. Hoyt has 85,400 in chips right now. The payout structure will change at 109 players - from $2,902 to $4,353; then again at 82 to $5804. Play for the day should end shortly, so I will try and send some updates from the floor tomorrow.

Congratulations, Lee!

2006-07-12T22:25:00.000-07:00

My friend, Lee Watkinson, just won the Pot-Limit Omaha bracelet last night. All of my avid fans know that this event is the one I won in 1992. I provided commentary for part of the final table then Ted Lawson picked up the commentary for the rest of it. Ted is also one of my good friends, and he won the Pot-Limit Omaha in 2004, beating Lee heads up.

On the final hand, they got got it all-in preflop; and Lee made a straight on the turn. The tournament director wasn't sure if the hand was over yet. Natalie was running out onto the floor, draggin Lee's fiancee, Timmi with her, screaming, " It's over! Lee has the nutz!" After a few seconds that seemed much longer, Lee was officially deemed the Champion. We all had our photo taken with Lee wearing his clothing line, Criminal Mind.

Congratulations again, Lee.

Way Too Busy

2006-07-11T22:27:00.000-07:00

This have been crazy here. Nick (Natalie's brother) has been staying at the house with us, and working at the Doyle's Room Hospitality Suite. Thursday, Mike and Amy flew into town and then Nick flew back to Memphis. Amy played in the Ladies' event and the $1000 No-Limit event with no luck in either.

I haven't had much luck in any of the events I have played in, myself. Natalie has come up with "punishments" for getting knocked out. So now I have put in a couple of afternoons signing autographs and two afternoons doing the Bluff Radio Show, which airs live on Sirius Satellite 125. I don't know if the archives are up yet; but if they are, they will be located here http://bluffmagazine.com/radio/index.asp or here http://bluffmagazine.com/wsop/radioarchives.asp

Video Interview

2006-07-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

Natalie and I just got done in the PokerListings.com suite. The Video clips should be up tomorrow afternoon - in the WSOP Coverage section's video album.

My 8th Cash in the WSOP

2006-07-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

It's not that 79th place is is an accomplishment that I am normally proud of; but now adays the fields are so huge, it is very difficult to make it in the money. There were 1,102 entrants in the $1500 pot limit hold'em event, so you see how many people we had to lose just to get where I finished. There are a lot of people who go a whole WSOP without cashing, so it is also a small confidence booster. The stats aren't too bad: eight cashes (so far) in 7 WSOP's. Anyway, the $3008 I cashed is hardly enough to brag about (or to break even with, having played 3 events); but I thought everyone might like to know.

My Civic Duty

2006-06-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was served with a notice to appear for jury duty. I was not happy about it at all. The system they use here in Clark County is a pretty streamlined one; but still, you must give up days of your time, sitting in a room waiting for them to call your number. You even have to call in the night before to make sure that you are still supposed to go, or if they rescheduled you (which, of course, I made Natalie do). I asked her what the penalty is for not showing up. Her reply is what I thought it was - jail time. So, needless to say, I went. She packed me a bag with my cellphone, sudoku puzzles, pens, reading glasses, our ipaq that has games loaded on it, and lunch. I had no clue where the building was and could not figure out the little map they give you on the summons, so Natalie agreed to drop me off and pick me up. We stopped at Starbucks on the way for our regular morning coffee. I sat down with mine while she waited for them to finish making hers. As soon as she got it, she headed for the car. Now...usually we sit outside and talk for a while before starting our daily activities. I asked her to sit down for a while before we headed off and she told me that she was not risking me being late and she did not know how good or bad the traffic would be on the way. Man! She was taking this stuff seriously! I know she's a paralegal and all, but it's just jury duty. This is a woman who is late to almost everything... She actually plans to be late to some events. I figured at one point that she was just trying to get me out of the house. LOL

I got there before my 9:00am check-in time and at about 10:30, the judge let everyone who had not been pulled to a case already go to lunch until 1:00pm. I called Natalie to come get me so I could come home and put some time in online, but she did not answer. What was she up to?? About noon she called back and guess where she was? At the outlet mall - surprise, surprise. Those of you who know her, know what I am talking about. It turns out that I couldn't be mad at her for too long. Before going to the mall, she had taken a meeting with Lucchese boots and landed an endorsement. She has been trying to get this Lucchese deal for some time now, so I am real proud of her and happy about my boots that are coming later this week. :o)

Back to the jury duty. I was selected to a jury pool in regards to a personally injury case. This guy was at Team Ford and took a car out on US-95 for a test drive. He got involved in an accident with a 55 year old woman and was found to be at fault. The woman suffered some injuries and decided to sue in civil court. I made it down to the final twenty people considered to make the 12, and then I was dismissed. Thank goodness. All in all, it was a good experience. I got several hours of quiet time to reflect on hands and plays; and review strategy in preparation for the WSOP.

Natalie Makes Top Pair

2006-06-01T05:17:00.000-07:00

Top Pair Magazine's June july issue is out on the stands today and it contains a feature article about Natalie on page 67. There are also photos from the Playboy fashion show we went to in Feb. on page 72.

You can get the issue at most book stores, or download from Top Pair's website, www.toppairmagazine.com.

I didn't make it.

2006-05-31T13:44:00.000-07:00

I busted out in 21st place at New Orleans, which was 3 from the money. I was very disappointed in my table draw and I didn't put enough focus into playing through the handicap. I might have been too tired to play the event to begin with, so I am going to take a break until the WSOP starts up.

Down to 27 in New Orleans

2006-05-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

I am still in the WSOP Circuit Main Event here. I am going into day 3 with 100,000 in chips, which is 5th place overall . I got an unlucky table draw. I am 4th in chips at my table. Phil Ivey, Gavin Smith, and Andy Bloch are all set to sit down with me tomorrow. ESPN will be filming tomorrow, with one feature table and I am pretty sure that my table will be it. You can check out the action from Pokerwire, Bluff, or PokerPages. Play resumes as 11am Central.

A Busy 10 Days

2006-05-06T10:24:00.000-07:00

We've been quite the social butterflies the last 10 days.

Last Wednesday, we were invited to the Rolls Royce party at the new Red Rock Casino. It was held at the pool and man it is a nice pool! They have cabanas out there with private dining areas. There are huge round sofas with canopies out in the middle of the water. We test drove a Phantomand they have really upgraded from last year. There are TVs in the back of the headrests as opposed to the one tv in the dash (that doesn't work when the car is in motion). The car really has some power to it with a V12 under the hood. Also Neiman Marcus and Harry Winston each had a trunk show, so Natalie had fun looking at and trying on all the jewelry and clothes. Natalie ran into her friends from Item Magazine, who came to the Playboy party. They invited us to the grand opening of the new nightclub on property, Cherry; but I was too tired to do the red carpet thing. I did agree to having our photo taken for the magazine by the pool. We also met some of our neighbors, Joan and Ed Sabel. They love one neighborhood over from us, in Spanish Hills and are related to Matthew McConaughey and have promised Natalie to have us over the next time he is in town.

Friday, Natalie had her Valentino trunk show over at Caesar's Palace. The store manager called and e-mailed her to make sure that she was coming because they wanted Natalie to model some of the clothes for a new Valentino portfolio coming out soon. Somehow I managed to get out of going. I hate shopping. Natalie seemed to have had a really good time, though and even came back with a pair of shoes that she had modeled.

Monday morning we ran into Melissa Hayden (Allen Cunningham's girlfriend) at Starbucks. While talking to her, Lisa Wheeler from Cardplayer Magazine came up and invited us to her house for a cookout Tuesday night. We were happy to get the chance to get to know Lisa better. She has always seemed like such a sweet lady. Natalie made some pasta salad and stuffed portabella mushrooms to take over. Suzie Lederer, BJ Nemeth, and Melissa all showed up at Lisa's. We made some new friends while we were there too, and look forward to having the whole crew together again for another cookout soon.

Thursday we invited our friends Chuck and Marilyn Kruse over to the house. If you have been reading the posts for a while, you will remember that we met them almost a year ago out at Lake Mead. Since we last saw them, they purchased a very nice RV and have been doing a lot of traveling. It was good to have them over and catch up on old times. I got to show them my clip from the Tonight Show, and they got a big kick out of it.

We also went out and got Mother's Day presents taken care of for my mother, Natalie's mother and Natalie's grandmother. We got them all mailed out Friday, and we hope everyone likes their gifts.

Now I am going to try and get some rest. LOL I am not playing the WSOP Circuit event at Caesar's Palace the 8th-11th, but I am playing the WPT at the Mirage the 14th-17th.

It's Like a Kick in the Gut

2006-04-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

On the hand that knocked me out, we got it all in on the turn. I was on a straight flush draw against David William's aces up and didn't hit the flush or the straight. It was a 250,000 pot.

Whether you got it in with the worst or the best hand, when you get knocked out it stings. This tournament was paying $3.7 million dollars for 1st place. 2nd and 3rd were over $1 million as well. I felt really good about my chances at the end of the first day, finishing with 123,000. Everyone else at my table was way behind me in chips. The only named players were Hung La and Joe Cassidy. David got moved to my table and I wasn't that worried at first... Then he started rasing about 80% of the hands. When someone like that raises all the time, you know longer give him credit for a hand. You just feel like he is always bluffing.

Natalie worked hard to get prepared for the event and to get me realxed and focused on our day off. It just didn't work out for us.

Made it Through Day 1

2006-04-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

Well, we started with 50K in chips and I finished the day with 123,725K.... not too bad. I am 20th in chips. My friend, Ted Lawson is 19th in chips with 125,500.

I really like how the Bellagio is running this tournament. We have 7.5 hours of playing time and with all the breaks between levels, we are done by about 9pm. That gives everyone a chance to chill down and enjoy their dinner, and maybe get a few things done before having to go back to work the next day.

With so many players in this event, those of us that played yesterday get today off. So, I'll be back in action on Thursday. Maybe the crowd won't be as intense and Natalie can get some updates in for everyone.

No Good at Foxwoods

2006-04-15T11:22:00.000-07:00

I made it to the second day at Fooxwoods and got up to about 160K in chips. There was a young kid at my table who I could tell was bringing a lot more focus to the game. We tangled a few times and he got the best of me. He ended up going to the final table and if memory serves me correctly, took second place. My friend, Victor Ramdin ended up winning the the tournament. Congratulations Victor!

Now we are getting geared up for the WPT Championship at the Bellagio. Mike and Amy are in town for the week, so we are spending some time with them as well.

The 25k at Bellagio starts on the 18th, so wish me luck everyone.

Bobblehead Preview

2006-04-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

I just got the final images in for my new bobblehead, set to premiere at the WSOP Lifestyle Show.

Here is a sneak peak of the prototype.

If you can't make it out to the WSOP, you can purchase it from www.pokerheads.net.

Keeping the Fans Happy

2006-04-04T13:30:00.000-07:00

We have had requests for photos from the Cardplayer Awards Gala. Natalie managed to get in touch with one of the photographers from the red carpet and get him to e-mail us a few. Here is the best one of the the lot. The rest are in the photo album.

And a big Thank You to my fans for making my episode of The Circuit with Scott Huff the most downloaded show they've ever had.

On the Road Again

2006-04-04T11:31:00.001-07:00

Tommorow we head off to Foxwoods. I feel like we just got back from Reno the other day... Oh wait. We did. Somehow amidst the chaos of geting taxes together, unpacking from Reno and repacking for Foxwoods; I managed to have some people over for some basketball. The Grinder, Lily (Mrs. Grinder), Chino, Robert Mizrachi, and Al Ardebili (who won the Borgata tournament September 05) all came over. Natalie fired up the grill and cooked a bunch of huge hamburgers with all the fixings and some salmon. We didn't have any leftovers, so I think everyone enjoyed the food.

Everyone also really enjoyed Natalie's piano. I remember when she told me that she wanted a piano for Christmas. I thought she was crazy! Then she took me to the piano store to let me hear one of the pianos she wanted. I knew immediately that I had to get her one. Shawn Rice came over the day it was delivered and was razzing me for buying it the entire time the guys were setting it up. Then he heard it play - end of arguement. Needless to say, grinder wanted to pretend playing it while it was actually playing itself.

We also managed to make it out to the grand opening of the new poker room at the Venetian. Robin Leach was the MC of the event and Natalie made me have my picture taken with him. There was a big reception at Tao to start. And after a champagne toast, the big curtain that was enclosing the poker room was lifted to unveil all of the celebrities and poker players, ready to play a tournament for a Lotus sports car. Someone told me the car was worth as much as $250,000.The poker room is really nice. I liked that the high limit area has a lot of privacy and also has a lounge with a big tv in it. I started at a table with Phil Gordon, Rich Belsky, and Mike Matusow. I was then moved to a table with Willie Garson from the show, Sex and the City. Natalie ended up at at table with Chau Giang, Barry Greenstein, Eric Lindgren, and Morris Chestnut. Somehow, she managed to survive. Then she got moved to a table with Tex Barch and Annie Duke with a very short stack and went out soon after. She came over to sweat me, but ended up posing for photos the whole time. Everyone wanted to take a photo of her outfit and purse. I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't take any photos myself to show you what she was wearing... Apparently it was spectacular. I didn't think anything of it, but then what do I know about fashion. I just wear what Natalie tells me to wear. LOL After all of the commotion, I was moved to a table with Amir Vahedi and Todd Brunson. It started getting late and I was proud when I got knocked out. Especially when I found out that the tournament went on past 4am. A woman ended up going heads up with Carlos Mortenson and won the car.

Bust out in Reno

2006-03-30T16:19:00.000-08:00

I busted out the first day about 5 minutes before the dinner break. However, I got in on the cash games at Reno and the 25-50 game made me forget bout busting.

You can hear all the details on "The Circuit" with Scott Huff. I had a lot of fun doing the show and hope everyone gets a chance to listen. Cardplayer also took video during the show.

I also ran into Tuscaloosa Johnny and gave him an interview. You can check it out on his website.

We hung out with the crews from Cardplayer, Pokerwire, All-In, Bluff and the WPT down in the bowling alley two nights while we were there. JC Tran, Joe Sebock, Barry Greenstein, Allie Prescott and Shawn rice joined us for the festivites.

We tried to go skiing at Lake Tahoe, but never managed to wake up early enough to get out there. We're back in Vegas until the Foxwoods WPT on April 6. I am looking forward to the brand new WPT poker room.

Party at the Playboy Mansion

2006-03-26T12:29:00.000-08:00

Poker Host had a party for me, Amir, Mihn and Tony at the Playboy Mansion last night. We had a poker tournament for the charity, Urban Health Institute. Celebrities like Tara Reid, Don Cheadle, Mekhi Phifer, Jerry Buss, Anthony Anderson, Shannon Elizabeth, Daphne Duplaix, and others were there. Poker players Eric Lindgren, Carlos Mortenson, Daniel Negreanu, David Williams, Steve Dannenmann and others came to my party as well.

I was honored that Don Cheadle (Ocean's Eleven) and Daphne Duplaix (Passions) asked to meet me. Poker Host had a huge banner with my face on it hanging over the bar, which was flattering. Natalie and Daphne made quick friends, and Natalie made herself a few new girl friends to visit with when we come to Los Angeles for work and I proud for her on that.

I think everyone had a great time. Natalie got dared to get in the pool, and she made a witty win of the bet by putting her feet in.

You can check out other photos at WireImage.com and similar sites, or our photo album on the website.

Snow in the Desert

2006-03-22T13:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we had a large amount of rain for Las Vegas. Although it was almost 60 in the city, up at Mt. Charleston, it was 22 degrees and snowing like the dickens. Last year, there was so much snow that they even had an avalanche. A young kid about 13 or 14 died in the avalanche. However, this was the first big snow this year. I was so excited about the snow. Natalie kept looking at me like I was crazy when I was excitedly talking about going up there. She had not slept much the night before and had a long list of things to do before we head out of town again on Saturday.

I convinced her that we were going, and rushed her into the Denali before she had a chance to protest too much. We went to the lodge and had lunch. Natalie apparently found her second wind sometime on the ride up the mountain... As soon as I got out the truck I was pelted in the face by two snowballs she wailed at me. She totally caught me off guard and the ground was icy, so I slipped a bit. I tried an elk burger for the first time, and it was pretty good. People were going out of the back door of the lodge to get horsedrawn sleigh rides. I knew how Natalie loves the horses, so I arranged for us to take a tour of the mountain. Man, was it cold! About that time, I was wishing I hadn't rushed Natalie out of the house. She surely would have bundled herself and me up given the time. She did manage to collect my scarf and gloves for me, but that just wasn't enough. I needed some long johns! About half-way through the ride our body heat had built up in the blankets in the sleigh, so it was much more pleasureable.

All in all it was a good outing.

PPT Preview

2006-03-18T17:46:00.000-08:00

Right now I am watching the Sneak Peek at the Professional Poker Tour, produced by WPTE, on the Travel Channel. I made several feature tables throughout the series, but do not know if I am in this episode.

If you get a chance to watch, call this number and leave them a message about what you think. 1-888-838-9PPT.

It comes on again tonight at 11pm eastern.

BAY 101 WPT

2006-03-03T22:16:00.000-08:00

I couldn't make through to the tv at the WPT Invitational. Only six spots got paid, so I didn't make the money either. There's been no definative word on when I'll be on The Tonight Show, but it is supposed to be some time soon.

As for the tournament at Bay 101, I got knocked out before the first break. I was crippled on a hand against a woman sitting to my direct right. I had pocket 2's. The flop came gin for me - 8 2 A. I had a set of 2's and the probability of her having pocket A's for the set was so small, it was almost impossible. The turn came J. The woman checked, I bet and she called. Then the river came another J. Now I had made a full house. She bet 400, I raised to 5K, she shoved all-in and I had to call. I had put half my stack in the pot and it was a 500 to 1 shot for her to have the nuts. LOW AND BEHOLD she turns up A J for the bigger full house. That left me with 225 in chips. I managed to build my stack to about 1600 when I woke up with a pair of J's. Tom McEvoy, who was sitting two away on my left, set me all-in with his K's. Five cards were no help and I was out in a flash.

I've played almost every 10K event this year, so it is time for a break. I'm going to lay low until the Reno WPT later this month.

WPT Invitational and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno

2006-02-23T12:02:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, it's Natalie here again. Hoyt made it through day 1 of the WPT Invitational with slightly below average chips - 21,700. There were over 300 people at the start and we are already down to 88, so surviving is an accomplishment in and of itself.
While in the tournament, Hoyt was followed by the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" crew. He played with one of Jay's correspondents, busting him out; and even gave a taped interview for the show. I hope everyone has the opportunity to watch. I'm really excited for Hoyt. He's a big Jay Leno fan, and would love the opportunity to come on the show as a guest.

Play for day 2 of the WPT Invitational begins at 6:30pm Pacific time. You can check out the updates from yesterday's play and tonights play at any one of the following sites: Cardplayer, PokerPages, Pokerwire, and the new WPT Updates. Best of luck to you, Hoyt as you play for top prize of $100,000, your 4th WPT final table, and your 2nd WPT Title!

2005 CardPlayer Awards

2006-02-19T13:11:00.001-08:00

Natalie and I went to LA for the CardPlayer Awards Gala, and was it ever! Calvin Ayre, who owns Bodog put on a great show. We walked the red carpet, having our pictures taken. Then we went up to the roof of the Music Box Theatre for the pre-show cocktail party. We mingled with some celebrities and fellow poker players as well as lots of reprsentatives from various media outlets.

Natalie wore one of her infamous Valentino gowns, and if they had given an award for best dressed, I'm sure she would have won. Not only did I think she looked good, but everyone else did too. People were coming up to us, and I thought they would have wanted to talk to me, but they all wanted to find out about Natalie's dress! I guess I will have to step it up a notch next year with my wardrobe.

The awards show was great. It was more than I ever expected for the first time out. Congratulations to Barry and Jeff Shulman on such an accomplishment.

The after party was at the Geisha House on Hollywood Blvd. We went over there and Vince Van Patton bought us a drink, which was really nice of him. Thanks again, Vince. Upstairs, they had a private room for us all where we ran into Phil Hellmuth. He had made a bunch of money in the stock market and was very excited. Natalie told him that he should buy some Dom Perignon to celebrate on, and he bought us our own bottle. Needless to say, we weren't going to try and drink a whole bottle of Dom and then drive back to the hotel, so we shared with a few of our friends from the WPT.

Natalie and Daniel Negreanu's wife, Lori made quick friends; and I made a new friends in Rich Belsky whom you may recognize from CardPlayer's video updates at the WSOP last year. About 3:30am, we decided that we had had enough fun and headed back to the hotel.

The next day, Natalie was in the mood for a little shopping. Our hotel was three blocks away from Rodeo Drive, so you can't really expect a woman to not get in the shopping mood that close to some of the finest shopping in the world. We went to the Farmers' Market first, because I was in the mood for some coffee and Natalie had seen a Starbucks there before. We walked around the little booths of the Farmer's Market and the stores of The Grove nearby. A trolley ran down a cobblestone road that was closed off to car traffic. There were some fountains similar to the Bellagio's but not near a big in the small park surrounded by the shops. We stopped for lunch at a really nice Greek restaurant and then headed over to Rodeo Drive. I was real impressed with the charm of Rodeo Drive. The telvision shows and movies do not catch the true ambiance that you feel when you are there. It is a real peaceful and quite place in the middle of a tremendously busy metropolitan area.

In Valentino, we ran into Katherine jane Bryant, who is the Costume designer from the show on HBO, Deadwood. She's a Tennessee girl like Natalie, so they were having a blast talking and trying on clothes together. Janie is up for an award for her work next Saturday, and we are hoping for her to win it.

We're in Vegas now and will head back to LA on the 22nd for the WPT Invitational.

SuperBowl Weekend

2006-02-07T21:05:00.000-08:00

Friday we started the event off with the Legends Celebrity Poker Tournament. John Elway, Roger Clemens, Britney Spears, and yours truly were in attendance. Many poker players came out to show their support for Jen Harman who was the host of the poker tournament. Natalie and I walked the red carpet, signed some autographs, and had some fun playing in the tournament. There was a silent auction with a Peyton Manning autographed football that Natalie made sure she won. I think she probably could have gotten one off ebay cheaper, but she's a huge Peyton fan and the proceeds were for charity - so it's all good. The football came today and she seemed very excited so it was all worth it. Maybe I'll be lucky enough for the ball to count as her Valentine's present. LOL

After the tournament, we went to the Playboy fashion show. We had a VIP booth complete with champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries, so Barry Greenstein and his girlfriend joined us. Todd Brunson, Erick Lindgren, Jen and Marco had the one next to us; and we all had a blast watching the show and going through our gift bags Playboy gave us.

After the fashion show, we went to the grand opening of the new high-limit gaming room at the Palms, called "The Mint." Jenny McCarthy was filming her show in there so the place was jam packed. We took a quick peek and decided to go back and see who won the tourney. We got there just in time to see the winner and have a chat with Mike Sexton about the future of poker and some recent events at the WPT.

Saturday, we spent in meetings with Wendy Meadley of Poker Resource Netwok and Chuck Chastain of the World Poker Store. The meetings were real positive. I hate going to them because I don't really understand all that is being said. Natalie listens to what they have to say and then puts it in layman's terms afterwards. We've got some good things in the works that I can't tell you about, but one thing that I can tell you about is that my bobblehead is in the works from www.pokerheads.net. It will make the series 3 line and be launch in July in time for the WSOP.

Sunday we went over to some friends' house. We didn't know many of the people there but had a good time making new friends and watching the game.

After all of the activities, I just pretty much rested yesterday, trying to get ready for my Cardplayer photo shoot that was scheduled for today. Unfortunately, the photographer's mother died and we had to reschedule. Since our day had suddenly been freed up, we decided to go over to the Bellagio and check out the action. They had started a 50-100 No-Limit game that I wanted to play in, but the last seat had just been taken. I may try going over there later tonight and see if I can beat up on the table a little bit.

Out in the First Level at the Grand

2006-01-30T20:13:00.000-08:00

I spent so much energy to make it so deep at the Goldstrike, and I became so frustrated by it, that I just couldn't put enough into the WSOP Circuit in Tunica. Natalie's cousins Lezlie and Dana came down to sweat me in the tournament; and arrived just in time to see me make the long "Walk of Shame" out of the tournament area, past the reular poker room and down the escalators. It was really good to meet them and was really thoughtful of them to come. I only wish I could have given them a better show.

Mike and Amy came down to have dinner in Lyle Berman's Steakhouse with us and Ted Lawson. We ran into Scotty Nguyen on the way, and took the opportunity to congratulate him on his win at the Goldstrike. Ted wanted to play in an online tournament, so he had his laptop going at the dinner table. It was quite a hoot to see him try and eat this huge steak while clicking away at his mouse. After dinner, we all went to the room and sweated Ted. Natalie and Amy fell asleep, so once Ted busted out and went back to his room, Mike and I headed to the craps tables.

The next day Natalie had scheduled an interview for ESPN. They were doing some renovations at hotel, so the interview was postponed while the crew broke down the set and moved it to another room.

Out in 59th place

2006-01-22T22:13:00.001-08:00

Nine from the money, and I'm out. I had A 6 with a flop of 5 J 6 and raised to 6,000. My opponent re-raised to 20,000. With about 60,000 chips in total and a pair of 6s, I pushed all in... only to find myself called with trip 5s. I feel like I could have played the hand better if I had taken more time with it.

All in all, I really liked the way the Goldstrike tournament was run. I truly enjoy the tournaments that get all the play done about 9pm, and then leave you free to enjoy your dinner as well as the rest of your evening. It just wears on the players less.

Amy got us a very nice suite comped, and Ken Lambert was kind enough to extend our stay through the Grand tournament, so that we have a place to crash on breaks and don't have to drive back to the condo if we don't want to. It has helped me stay more rested. If we hadn't gotten the suite, I would have wanted to make the hour drive twice a day, and anything you can do to reduce stress helps exponentially during the tournament.

Many of my friends I used to hang out with here in Tunica came and supported me in the WPT tourney; and we practically had a family reunion up here the other day. Mike and Amy brought in some barbeque from The Germantown Commissary. We had so much food, we invited the WPT crew and Cardplayer magazine up to the suite. A few poker players and friends showed up as well. We had a really nice time.

So, we are going to fire another bullet (and another $10K) at the WSOP Circuit here in Tunica.

Christmas, New Year's, Bahamas WPT

2006-01-12T19:08:00.000-08:00

We had a nice Christmas this year, spending Christmas Eve with Natalie's family in Memphis and Christmas Day with mine in Alabama. While in AL, we had a great birthday party for me and my best friend, Dennis. He and I were born 8 days apart, so all of our old friends made it over to Dennis' house. I was really proud to see everyone because the travel is so intense that I haven't been able to keep in touch with some of my friends.

We just hung out at the condo in Memphis for New Years, watching the fireworks from Beale Street on the tv. New Years' Day was the big gathering at Natalie's aunt and uncle's new house. They have a really nice house on a lake. John took me out on one of his boats to see the lake. Some of the houses out there are multi-million-dollar homes. John and Teresa didn't buy one that big since it is just the two of them... but I believe they managed to get the best lot. The view of the lake from the house is breathtaking. Hopefully, they'll be having us back over soon.

On the 2nd, my nephew, Joe, had his first start in a major bowl game. We had a few family and friends over to the condo to watch the game, and were saddened to see Auburn lose.

Then on the 4th it was off to Paradise Island for the Pokerstars Carribean Adventure at the Atlantis Casino. Our friends Ted and Michele were nice enough to book a two bedroom suite for us all, since they live in Ft. Lauderdale and are regulars at the casino. I made it through the first start day of the tournament and on my day off, Michele and Natalie made plans to take Tammy Ward, wife of the TD, in to Nassau for some shopping. Ted and I decided to tag along, so we got a the hotel to give us an excursion limousine and we headed into town. The girls got so excited by all of the stores and drug us around a couple before we decided to break for lunch. We thought they were going to come back by the restaurant, but after 5 hours there alone, we decided to head back to the hotel. We met up with the girls; and I don't know who spent the most money, but I know that Natalie bought the most stuff. She had Michele and Tammy carrying stuff for her! I'm just proud that I didn't have to haul that stuff around. LOL
Day two of the tournament, I found myself fighting for position, but I made it through. I had built my chips up to 90,000 when we broke the bubble. We played two more levels that night, and i found my self pinned down under heavy fire. I anted away 34,000. I played two extrememly selective hands during that time. On one, I picked up the blinds and antes to the tune of 6,000; on the other, I reaised 6,000 and someone came over the top of me and I was forced to fold. It was like my chair was empty for the last two levels. I was extremely frustrated with the situation.
On Day three, I came back ready to play with 56,000. I picked up A-4 suited, one seat off the cut-off. I pushed and the small blind called with A-3 offsuit. He hit a 3 on the flop to put me out in 61st place.

Now we are just chilling down in Memphis, trying to get ready for the two tournaments in Tunica. I am also trying to decide whether or not I am going to have the energy to play in the Borgata tournament, or if we are just going to head back to Vegas.

Happy Birthday To Me

2005-12-21T16:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my birthday. I wasn't expecting much ado, and wasn't up to it. I am a bit sick, but should be over it soon. I had already gotten most of my presents already. Natalie's mother, Amy, called bright and early to wish me Happy Birthday. However, I was asleep when she called, and when I checked my voicemail, there was Amy... singing the birthday song!

Natalie took me to our favorite Chinese restaurant in Memphis. It's actually called the New Nam King, but everyone calls it Annie's -- after the woman who runs the place. Natalie slipped word to Annie that it was my birthday, and Annie brought out some chocolate (my favorite) and dessert with a candle in it. Then off went the party popper full of confetti. I was so surprised by it all. Natalie has only taken me to Annie's a handful of times, but they treat me like I am family. Annie and her husband follow me on the tv, which is really sweet.

When we got home, Natalie gave me the one present I hadn't already managed to weasel from her... That Louis Vuitton wallet that I had wanted in New York and Natalie wouldn't let me get. After all of that, I was beat. I slept most of the day next to the fire made from the wood Mike chopped and brought over to the house for me, as part of my birthday present.

It may not have been the most eventful birthday, but it was a good one.

Busted at the Bellagio

2005-12-13T18:01:00.000-08:00

I played so silly the first day of the tournament, and ended up with 23,225 at the end of the day (we started with 30K). Today, my goal was to skate by to level 8 and then come out with guns blazing, but my plans were foiled. In the last hand of level 6, I found myself with A K. I raised it up. Rick Salomon is right behind me, and he comes over the top. I push and find out that he has a pair of 10's. Five more cards couldn't help me, and I was out.

Natalie got herself a press pass and took a bunch of photos from the tournament. They are in the photo album section of the site.

Random Info

2005-12-08T23:34:00.000-08:00

According to Nolan Dalla, the WSOP’s reporter of record,

"The 2005 TOC concluded in a way which will be the yardstick of all future
televised tournaments. Some events, such as the World Series of Poker, may
be considerably bigger, but no major poker tournament has ever offered so much
human drama as this three-day invitational event."

Hopefully everyone will get to watch the TOC on ESPN December 24th from 1-4pm Eastern. I am really looking forward to seeing the show. I am curious as to how they will edit the footage, since we played the final table for 11 hours.

On another note, Natalie and I are having a casual holiday gathering at the house before the 15K at the Bellagio. My uncle and cousins are coming to town from Arizona and some fellow poker players are stopping by. I'm trying to get some rest in so that I can make a good finish in the tournament. I'll have Natalie post any photos or updates from the tournament.

Battle of the Champions is this Wednesday

2005-11-26T20:19:00.000-08:00

Hey there everyone, it's Natalie again. Don't forget to watch us Wednesday night on the Travel Channel for the World Poker Tour's Battle of the Champions: Season II.

Happy Thanksgiving

2005-11-24T10:45:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone Happy Thanksgiving and also give thanks for my blessings. There are so many people out there who are less fortunate than you or me. We are truly blessed by having a computer and internet access, allowing us to read this blog. Many others are struggling for survival in third-world conditions. Natalie cooked a wonderful turkey with all the trimmings. My new WPT espisode is coming on the Travel Channel next Wednesday. My new WSOP TOC episode is coming on ESPN Christmas Eve. There are so many other things to be thankful for. I hope that everyone reading this has a great holiday and takes a moment to be thankful for their blessings too.

WSOP Circuit at Paris/Bally's

2005-11-21T08:45:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Natalie here again. Hoyt has made it to day three of the WSOP Circuit in Las Vegas. They are to continue play at 2pm in the Pacific Ballroom in the Baly's portion of the casino. If you are able, feel free to drop on by. If you aren't able to come watch, you can keep up with the action at Cardplayer, PokerWire, or PokerPages. May the flop be with you (and us too.)

Readers' Poll

2005-11-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

Ok. Everyone keeps calling this TOC the best final three ever. Specifically, the are talking about: Me, Phil Hellmuth and Mike Matusow. Now, Daniel Negreanu said that the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure final three was the best ever. That was: Me, Daniel Negreanu and Gus Hansen.

I decided to get you guys' opinion. Post your vote below by clicking the comment button bellow.

-Hoyt

I got 2nd Place

2005-11-09T22:05:00.000-08:00

It is being called the greatest TV tournament of all time. I do not know if that is a correct statement, but I have heard it from several people. Nolan Dalla, whose opinion I respect, said that it will become a legendary tournament. All I know is that it was exhausting. It was extremely tiring to play 30 hours of intense poker in a 3 day time frame. The final table alone went on for over 11 hours.

I was very tickled by the things that Phil Hellmuth said about me to ESPN in his exit interview. Although I didn't hear it at the time, I read about it in the articles published about the event. I am looking forward to seeing it on Christmas Eve. I was laughing like crazy reading about it, and am sure to get a huge chuckle when the show airs. I had fun knocking him out of another tournament.

Thank you to all of the people who called and e-mailed wishing me well going in to the final table. I was overwelmed with the number of wellwishers and have to appologize for not being able to take the calls or respond to the e-mails. Those ESPN people work you quite a bit on the interviews and specialty shots and such, and I was taking every free moment that I had to go over my strategies. Also, thank you to everyone who came to the taping and rooted me on. I really appreciate your support.

Final Table Taping

2005-11-07T20:15:00.000-08:00

It's Natalie again. Hoyt managed to make the final table at the WSOP TOC. Play begins at 2pm in the Augustus Ballroom at Caesar's Palace. Hoyt is 7th in chips going in to the final day and the payout is as follows:

1st place - $1 million
2nd place - $325,000
3rd place - $250,000
4th place - $150,00
5th place - $100,000
6th place - $75,000
7th place - $50,000
8th place - $25,000
9th place - $25,000

The show will be broadcast on ESPN December 24th from 1p to 4p eastern.

Tournament of Champions

2005-11-07T11:24:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, it's Natalie here. Just wanted to let you know that Hoyt is 3rd in chips going into day 2 of the WSOP TOC. Play resumes today (Nov. 7) at noon. If you are in Vegas, viewing seats are available in the Augustus Ballroom of Caesar's Palace. When I get a chance, I will post photos in the photo album section of the site.

Check out Cardplayer.com, PokerWire.com, or PokerPages.com for live updates, other photos, and updated chip counts.

Natalie

Trip to Auburn for Football game

2005-10-31T14:28:00.000-08:00

My nephew, Joe Cope, is currently the starting center for Auburn football. The whole family is so proud of him. He was a walk-on his first year, and even though he is 6 foot & about 275 pounds, he is smaller than the average size center. But Joe put in a lot of hard work and made it to the number 1 position on the offensive line. Joe is second in command of the whole offense, next to the quarterback.

Natalie and I were visiting my family, trying to chill down a bit before the WSOP Tournament of Champions and just couldn't resist going to an Auburn home game. We rode up to Auburn with Mother, my sister, Felicia, and her husband, Lucky. Lucky's mother and father, Maryann and C.P., had a big RV parked outside the stadium; which now having experience firsthand, is the first class way to spend your time before and after a game.

We went down near the players' entrance to the stadium and lined up for the "Tiger Walk." The players walk through the crowd giving everyone high fives and taking photos. Then we watched a great game where Auburn beat Ole Miss. We went back to the RV after the game and had a great time. Thanks a lot CP and Maryann for your hospitality. We defininitely want to do it again.

US Poker Championship

2005-10-06T20:37:00.000-07:00

Natalie and I headed up to Atlantic City directly from Aruba the other day. Mike Matusow and Gavin Smith rode on the plane with us and in our limousine to the Borgata. Once we got checked in, we all met up with Bill Gazes, John Juanda, and David Singer at the AC Bar & Grill for some eats. We watched some football and tried to stay up late since day one did not begin until 3pm. After that, we all headed over to the Taj Mahal to post our buy-ins. The boys wanted to go to John Juanda's room to play some chinese poker, but I figured it was best to save my energy for the tourney.

The next day, we arrived at the Taj and found out that I was starting my day at the feature table with my good buddies John Juanda and Brian Haveson. Brian and I played at the final table in this tournament last year. I played pretty well the first day, and on into the second day. I had gotten up to $65,000 in chips at one time. It all went down in a handbasket in the last level of the second day. A pretty conservative player made a small raise from the button. I had been paying attention to the player and had noticed that he made smaller raises with weaker hands, and thought I could get him to turn over if I raised all in. Man, did he pull one over on me. It turns out that he had a pair of Kings and I couldn't outdraw him.

Now we're on our way to Memphis to visit Natalie's family and then on to Alabama to visit mine.

One Happy Island

2005-10-02T18:42:00.000-07:00

Bon Bini from Aruba!
I just got knocked out of the UltimateBet WPT Tournament, and I am not too terribly sad about it. Of course I was hoping to win. Everyone is when they enter a tournament. But, if I am going to get knocked out early, this is a good one to do it on. My best friend, Dennis, and his son, Landon, came down to Aruba. Dennis won his seat online and got put at a table with Phil Ivey. He was so thrilled to win a big pot againt Phil. It was good to spend time with Dennis. I don't get to see him as much as I would like since I am traveling so much.

My hand I lost with was a pair of Queens against Ace King. We got in all in before the flop, and I thought I had him, until I noticed that there was a flush out. Now, I had queen high flush, but his King out flushed me and I was set to be a beach bum for the rest of the week. I sweated Dennis in the tournament for a couple of days, and talked with poker buddies I hadn't seen in a few tournaments. Brian Haveson, his wife, Tammy thier friends, Natalie and I all went out for a nice dinner one night. I have to thank Rick Fuller, Clonie's boyfriend, for the best part of the trip. He got Natalie and me to go with him to scuba school. We spent 4 days diving in the beautiful Carribean Sea, and are now certified scuba divers. I think we will get lots of enjoyment out of this since we will be going to the Bahamas in January.

Well, today is our last day in Aruba, and I need to get me a cuban cigar, and good beer, and get back to the beach.

Borgata WPT and NYC

2005-09-23T07:54:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Atlantic City two days before the tournament. That way we could get settled in and have a whole day to spend at the spa. Natalie has reserved us the most exclusive treatment at the spa - the couples massage. They have a really nice suite with a private living room, bathroom, fireplace, hot tub and two massage tables. We had really great massages. I think Natalie's was better. Her guy was real proffesional and you could hear her bones crack. My gal did a good job two. I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I felt really refreshed.

That evening, David Williams and Antonio Esfandiari threw a party at the casino's nightclub, Mixx. Everyone had a good time. Many of my poker friends were there, and the hottest woman in poker right now, Jennifer Tilley, made an appearance. She and Natalie had a good long conversation. They might end up the best of friends... who knows.

I played the main event, and early into the first day, I had accumulated about $65,000 in chips. Then came the infamous last level of the day. Natalie has noticed an inconsistantcy in the structure that I noticed as well. The last level has a $75 ante with $200 and $400 blinds. THe ante really should have been $50, so that extra $250 I was giving up every round made me want to play faster. Natalie tried to convince me to quit for the day after the dinner break, but I couldn't. I would lose too much in blinds and antes to do that. So, I sat throught the last two levels of the evening, not catching any cards. Then finally I get it all in with top pair and top kicker, only to be outdrawn on the river by a straight. There went the tournament for me.

Natalie had been wanting to go to New York City. She was just beeing to go after I got knocked out. Something about fashion week. I don't cre one bit, but Natalie wanted to go. So, Natalie got with her friend Michelle Lawson, and had the casino give us a limo ride into the city. Her husband is Ted Lawson, who won the 2004 Pot-Limit Omaha WSOP, and my good friend. He agreed to go as well, so I went too. We did a little shopping - I bought a Louis Vuitton watch and a Rolex for Natalie. Natalie also got herself a couple of purses from Louis Vuitton, and a duffle bag. After all of that, Ted and I had had enough. We went to the bar to watch some sports with the limo driver, and the girls went nuts in Soho. The went down spring street and I think between the two of them, they have every designer purse out there. They had fun, and that's all that matters. Natalie got (hopefully) her last birthday present. If she gets any more, I might be entitled to buy here another one. LOL Ted and Michelle got her a really nice wallet from Louis Vuitton. She is very appreciative. It was so nice, I was tempted to get myself a man's wallet, since the one I have is getting worn out. But, Natalie wouldn't let me. She said that she needed something to get me for Christmas.

The girls met up with us at the apartment that Ted and Michelle recently bought. The building is not finished, so we couldn't go in it. I'm sure it's going to be really nice. Then we met up with Michelle's nephew, Bran and his girlfriend (who I like because she is from Georgia). They took us to an italian restaurant named Fiamma. We had a great dinner and a great time talking. Bran's girlfriend and her family go to the Master's every year. I've always wanted to go at least once, and she said that it would be a problem getting tickets for next year... Now I like her even better!

It was getting late, so we decided to head back to the Borgata. We had a different service that was taking us home, and the driver got lost. Ted finally got him turned around and we made what should have been a 2.5 hour drive in about 4.

Now we're on our way to Aruba and then straight back up to Atlantic City for the US Poker Championship at the Trump Taj Mahal.

WSOP Circuit in Tunica and WPT Battle of the Champions

2005-08-31T22:02:00.000-07:00

Natalie and I went to the WSOP Circuit event at the Grand Casino in Tunica, since it is only about an hour from the condo in Cordova. We decided to go ahead and get a suite at the Horseshoe, since we have so many friends that work and play there. That way we can visit with them and enjoy the health spa there. I made it late into the first day, and was thinking that I could make it to the second day with a respectable amount of chips... until the cards changed in my opponents' favor. I couldn't get a hand to hold up. So, with about an hour or so left in day 1, I busted out. We went back to the Horseshoe and caught up with some old friends. The next morning, I was ready to head back to the condo, but Natalie convinced me to spend one more night. She said the change of scenery would do me some good. I think it did. I had hardly gotten out of the house after the mouth surgery and I was starting to get cabin fever.

After our mini vacation, it was time to gear up for the Battle of the Champions for Season II of the WPT. I watched old WPT episodes featuring my potential opponents. There were 13 WPT champions for Season II; 11 committed to participate; and 3 had to cancel at the last minute. That left 8 of us to battle it out for the $25,500 prize. Barry Greenstein and Michael Kinney busted out early on to leave the final six: Phil Laak, David Benyamine, Noli Francisco, Mel Judah, Antonio Esfandiari, and yours truly.

We took a break in the action to do our pre-final table interviews and for the WPT crew to get the set ready for filming. They had a luncheon at the Bike to introduce everyone to the new "Shauna Hiatt". Her name is Courtney Friel. She made her career in Natalie and Steve Lipscomb's home state of Tennessee. She actually got her big break in my favorite city in Tennessee - Jackson. That is where a lot of Natalie's family lives. Her family is big time there. The road into the airport is named after her great-grandfather, Grady Montgomery. Ok, enough about Jackson, TN.. back to the tournament.

At the final table, Phil Laak was the first to go out, then Antonio and Mel Judah... and unfortunately, I took third. Noli and David grinded it out for a while and David ended up winning it. Even though I didn't win any money, it was a fun tournament, and another opportunity to see my handsome face on the television again. LOL The WPT crew is a great bunch of people. They work real hard at what they do and the proof is in the quality of the shows they make. It was a real honor to be invited to participate in a special WPT show.

We made it back to Las Vegas today. And even though the flight from LA to Vegas is only an hour, I am really tired. It's amazing how even a little bit of travel can wear you down so much. I think I am going to go to bed.

One last piece of business. If you see Natalie tomorrow (Sept. 1) tell her Happy Birthday. I'm going to try and get it right myself. I woke up this morning thinking that today was her birthday and ran into the bedroom shouting, "Happy Birthday, Baby!" I was real proud of myself for doing such a good job of waking her up. Until she mumbled at me that it was not her birthday, rolled over, and went back to sleep. Maybe I'll be a little more successful with the b-day surprise in the morning. LOL

It's Been Awhile

2005-08-18T23:34:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted in awhile. We've been visiting family and trying to tie up loose ends in Alabama and Memphis. I had to go to the doctor about my mouth again... This time, an oral surgeon. He found a cyst and cut it out. He said it was about the size of a quarter in diameter. I was totally out of it. Natalie worked hard to take care of me. That medicine they put you on makes you feel so weird! I was walking in to the walls, I was so dizzy. The swelling has finally gone down.

Now that's all over with, I can gear up for the WSOP Circuit Main Event in Tunica. I played the Pot-Limit Omaha with rebuys the other day and didn't do any good. My mouth was still bothering me a little bit that day and my ipod was dead. Natalie and I just drove down there from the condo on a whim. I had her pack a bag in case we decided to stay the night. Once I bought in the tournament, I told Natalie she should see about getting a room. The people at the Grand were very nice and comped it for us. Once I busted out, we had an enjoyable time at the pool.

My mouth is better -- I seem to have more energy now that the infection and that cyst are out, my ipod is charged and ready to go, and I have been getting more exercise lately. Hopefully I can get lucky in the tournament and do well. I need it after getting torn up at the Rio and the Plaza tournaments. That was a lot of work playing those tournaments and not making a big cash. It hurts a man's ego a bit. Well, it's getting late. I'm going to hit the sack.

The Party was on at our house

2005-07-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

Since the WSOP is over for those of us who busted out, Natalie decided to have a few of our friends over to blow off some steam last night. Nani Dollison and her husband, Tom Dye; Allie Prescott and his girfriend Jamie; and the whole PokerHost crew came over. Natalie fixed enough food to feed any army. People started coming over about 7pm and no one left until after 1am. I think everyone had lost of fun.

I was running a little sluggish today at the Plaza's $2500 event and ended up making a misplay against Eric Lindgren. Once I busted out, we went to dinner with the Lunsfords. They are really great people and brought us some embroidered kitchen towels that Mrs. Lunsford made herself. Natalie really loves them. I signed a few autographs and took some pictures with them. I hope that had a good time with us, as tired as we were.

Tomorrow I'm playing in the $3000 event and Saturday both Natalie and I are playing in the $500 event. I'm also contemplating getting my buy-in back for Saturday so that I can sweat Natalie in her first co-ed event. Maybe I'll make the final table of the 3K and she won't have to be so worried about me sitting at her table and busting her out.

Monday I'm hosting two episodes of the Ultimate Poker Challenge at the Plaza, so that will be exciting. I'm a bit nervous about doing it. I wish Natalie could do it for me. She seems to not be as nervous in front of the cameras. Either way, I'm hoping that they will let her sit next to me at the filming for support.

When all is said and done, we'll try and give everyone a prompt update.

What A Day!!

2005-07-06T19:17:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! It's Natalie here...typing for myself instead of Hoyt. I just wanted to tell everyone about some of the exciting things that have happened today. On a completely "poker unrelated" note, the workers finished fixing the damage from the tub accident we had. In case you don't know, our Jaccuzzi malfunctioned and flooded the den below. We had a HUGE hole in the ceiling, damage to the walls, and a watery mess everywhere. With all the tournaments going on, it has been a 3 week affair getting it fixed. Finally, today I have a new den ceiling, and since the kitchen shares a wall with the den, they ended up painting both rooms. Everything looks as good as new and clean. I'm really pleased...and blessed that homeowner's insurance covered it all.

Now back to poker. I arranged for Hoyt to appear at the Poker Lifestyle show today at the Rio. We camped out at the PokerHost booth and signed autographs for everyone. I also got him several interviews. One is with Live at the Bike. You can go to the Bicycle Casino's website and register for the live feed. Hoyt's interview might be somewhere in the archives by now, but you can still watch it anytime you want. He also did an interview with Bluff Magazine's radio show on Sirius radio. Lastly, I got him an interview with Player's Network, directly from the PokerHost booth.

Well, I think I worked him hard enough for a little while. I'm going to let him lay low until the main event. He's scheduled to start Saturday, so you can check out the standings on Cardplayer, Pokerwire, or PokerPages. Wish him luck and good luck to all of his fans who are playing in the main event too!

Natalie

Natalie's Been a Busy Beaver

2005-06-30T12:02:00.000-07:00

Natalie has been working hard the last week. On the marketing front, she has managed to get me on the front page of PokerPages in a player highlight. She also got an interview set up with PokerListings.com. Somehow, she managed to get a guy who has an embroidery shop opening in two weeks to let her in early and get my new leather jacket (which she got for me) embroidered with the PokerHost logo on it. On the home front, she got her brother Nick in to town to visit, worked with the gardener on a broken valve, and is supervising the workers on some repairs we are having done in the house. We don't have a maid, so if it is dirty - she' the one to clean it up. Not to mention she makes breakfast every morning for me and suprises me sometimes at the Rio with a homemade gourmet meal for the dinner break. Unfortunately, yesterday I had to have her bring it back home since I couldn't make it to the dinner break.

Who knows what else she is up to. I see her on the phone all the time talking to people. She landed my deal with PokerHost and is trying to help guide them in the right direction. She mentioned something the other day about doing an instructional video. All this, and she still manages to sweat me in virtually all of my tournaments. Anyway, I have to quit talking, so she can quit typing for me and get back to work. LOL

Nothing too exciting

2005-06-28T19:41:00.000-07:00

So I have had my two cashes at the WSOP and lately I haven't been doing that swift. I'm just trying to make a good effort at it. I busted out of the $2000 No-Limit today and decided to go to the Orleans to cash in a sports bet I made there. Then I got a craving for some Oysters. Nat and I got a couple of drinks and a dozen oysters. Then we went upstairs to the movie theater and watched Bewitched. I wasn't very impressed with it. The only reason why I went to the movie was for Nicole Kidman. It got my mind off of poker for a little while, so it wasn't a total bust.

Tomorrow we are in the Razz event. I don't expect a big turnout... maybe 100-150 players. We'll see how we do. After this event, I might not play at the WSOP again until the main event. I am tempted by a tournament on the 4th of July; but Natalie's brother, Nick, will be in town and I want to do some things with him.

Two cashes so far at the WSOP

2005-06-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

As you may know by now, I have managed to cash twice at the WSOP. 25th for the $1500 Pot-Limit Holdem event, and 22nd for the $1000 with rebuys event. I would really like to win a bracelet this year...maybe more than ever. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Anyhow, I have today off and I think I will take Natalie out to the movies. The Palms had a huge sign up advertising that new movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith, so I think we'll watch that one. Maybe I can lay off the popcorn, and Natalie can stay away from the nachos. We have to stay slim and trim for the TV cameras. LOL

Oh, I almost forgot to tell everyone. My uncle, Dal, and cousin, Jim, made it over from Arizona the other day. They got to see me play and played a bit themselves. They also go to eat some of Natalie's great cooking, which is the main reason why I can't have popcorn at the movie theater today. Natalie took some pictures of us and put them up on the site. Here's the link. I hope you enjoy them. I'm going back to my day off and will give everyone another report when I get a chance.

First day at the WSOP

2005-06-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

Natalie set the alarm clock for 5:30am and the second for 6:00am... or at least I thought she did. I don't know if we slept through the alarms, or she couldn't figure out how to program the hotel alarm clock. Anyhow, we woke up at 6:30, scrambled to get ourselves put together and the tun of stuff Natalie got yesterday. Then we ran out the door in order to get to LAX in time to make our 8:00am flight. We had a great cab driver. He could have challenged any race car driver and probably won. We still didn't make it in time to check in at the curb. Natalie went in and got us a priority pass and managed to get the security guard to let us in the first class security check line. Then we we got to the gate, we finally got our seat assignments.

It was a quick flight to Vegas, but I lost the valet ticket at some point along the trip. It took awhile to locate our keys, so we left the airport about 10am. We headed straight to the Rio to get my seat assignment. When we got there, Natalie got in line for me and I got me a fruit platter. I was going to sit down and eat my snack, but so many people wanted autographs and I didn't want to turn them down. Natalie got my seat card and we headed to the Denali. I was so hungry I scarfed the whole fruit platter down before we even made it to the house.

The tournment was bound to start late, so we got cleaned up and took it easy for a few minutes at the house before heading back to the Rio. We made it back to the Rio about 12:30pm and the event still hadn't started. That was a good thing, because then I don't feel rushed to get to my table. We started with $1500 in chips, so I don't really want to miss any blinds. Needless to say, I'm out. I had doubled up and got involed in a $5000 pot with a pair of Kings. The other guy had Ace King and hit the ace. Then I had only $700 left. So when I got an Ace Nine, I decided to play. I got called with a pair of Nines and got no help. On to the next event.

MTV Movie Awards

2005-06-03T21:29:00.000-07:00

PokerHost had us come out to LA for one of the parties that they have right before the MTV Movie Awards. Natalie and I were hoping to be able to stay and go to the awards show, but we had to be back to Vegas to play in the $1500 No-limit event at the WSOP. Maybe we'll go next year.

We checked in to the Roosevelt Hotel, where we had a cabana room by the pool. We went for a swim and made the channel 11 news. We weren't quite sure why the news crew was out there. The next morning we found out that they were filming an episode of a show called Fight for Fame.

At the party, we had a blast. We met Andy Dick, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Pauly Shore, Mindy Cohn, Diedre Hall and many other starts. Natalie was in absolute HEAVEN. She must have gotten about $5000 dollars worth of stuff from these designers. She got some clothes that look really good on her. I got some neat sunshades that you can change the lenses out of because they are held on to the frame magnetically.

PokerHost set up a poker table at the party and I met lots of my fans. We set up little turbo tournaments where Mihn and I took turns letting people take their shots at knocking us out. I think people really enjoyed it. We gave them t-shirts, cigars, wine and food.. plus a really great time playing some fun poker.

Our day out on Lake Mead

2005-05-26T09:01:00.000-07:00

I was going a bit stir-crazy, so I convinced Natalie to get a day trip planned. She got directions out to Lake Las Vegas and pack a cooler, our bathing suits, sunscreen, and a couple of towels. We toured the grounds of the Ritz-Carlton and the Hyatt Regency. Natalie picked up a small piece of artwork for the house, and we stopped at a lakeside cafe to get something to drink. Even though it was extremely hot, it was pretty nice. The lake was smaller than I had expected. I really wanted to rent a see-doo or a small boat, but they did not have any rentals at Lake Las Vegas.

Since we were right near Lake Mead, we decided to go over there. We drove around the south shore of the lake and stopped at every marina along the way looking for a good place to rent a boat for the day. At our third marina, we decided to cool off and get something to drink at the dockside bar. There were a few locals there and quickly we sensed that they were recognizing me. In fact, they had. Chuck and Marilyn Kruse introduced themselves and offered to take us on a boat ride. They seemed like really nice people, so we took their offer.

They had a really nice boat named Serenity Now. It was a fairly large, 2 bedroom yauht with all the bells and whistles you could think of. It even had autopilot! Chuck and Marilyn took us around the lake, and along the way ran into one of their friends, Gino. Gino had a 3 story houseboat with probably 50 people on it. They were having a blast in the hot tub, at one of the 2 bars, or over by the grill. Gino even had a couple of dogs on the boat. We swam in the cool lake water for a little while. The sunset over the lake and mountains was very pretty.

Everyone was so friendly and we had such a good time. Thanks again to Chuch, Marilyn, and Gino for such a great day.

American Casino

2005-05-23T08:55:00.000-07:00

The other day, Natalie and I headed out to Green Valley Ranch, where the Discovery Channel films the show, American Casino. We toured the property and had a couple of drinks by one of the pools. The staff was friendly and the place was done up real nice.

The hotel was getting ready for a beachside concert by Seal. We were filmed a bit, but I don't know that we will make a show. The spa's pool is being used as a set for some soap opera. Natalie tells me the name is Passions. So, needless to say there were camera men and cords all over the place. We enjoyed our brief visit and may go back and spend the night sometime when things are a little less busy.

Mirage PPT and our trip to the Wynn

2005-05-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

I played in the PPT at the Mirage the other day, and got knocked out by Vinny Vin.

Natalie and I went over to the Mirage yesterday at about 10 pm to check out the action. We watched two tables play some of the tightest poker I have seen in a while. I was actually more interested in the basketball game to see if my second half bet would pay off. We got some Pizza at the California Pizza Kitchen and some chocolate cheesecake at the Carnegie Deli. Then we went back to check out the action some more. Nothing major had happened After signing a few autographs, we decided to go check out the Wynn since we were in the neighborhood.

The Wynn was nice, but we were expecting something really inovative. Steve Wynn wowed Las Vegas when he did the Mirage, and changed the way casinos are designed with the Bellagio. I think he did just about everything that could be done between those two casinos. It was really nice at the Wynn, just too much like the Bellagio. The casino used more red and had a little asian look to it; there is a Ferrari Masarati dealership on the property; but other than that, it was very similar to Bellagio. There is a mall with two "underground" restaurants nearby. There is a bar that overlooks the water feature and a snack bar near the sportsbook and poker room.

We went downstairs to the bar called Parasol Down and watched the water show. I'll tell you a little about it without giving it all away. It was a big white wall with water runnning down it at the far end of a pond. A projector put images up on it while things popped up from behind and in front of the wall. We hadn't seen anything like it.

After the show, we checked out the poker room. Marcel Luske, Casey Kastle, Jim Miller, and Lou Asmos were there. The room is pretty large and has plush furnishings. About 2 or 3 am we decided it was time to go home.

Busy Day

2005-04-18T23:14:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, we found ourselves running hard and strong all day long. We started our day at Howard Lederer's house for a video shoot. The interviews and commentary is to be played at the Full Tilt hospitality suite during the WSOP. David Gray was already there when we arrived... so were Howard's three dogs. They quickly hit paydirt in the attention and petting arena. Before I new it, Natalie had perched herself on the chaise lounge in Howard's living room, with a 60 pound bassett hound lying on her feet and two pugs named Dixie and Goober lavishing her with kisses. David gave his interview without interruption. My interview did not go so well. I think everyone in Las Vegas decided to call during my filming session. Then Steve Brecher came over and one of the dogs did not like Steve, and was not afraid to let it be known. Finally, we got it done with about an hour to spare before our next photo and video shoot.

About 4pm, we headed to the Bellagio for a Poker Royalty shoot. They took video of me and photos of both Natalie and me. Wendy from Poker Royalty introduced me to a guy from Minnesota named Chuck. Chuck told me he was a big fan; and wanted to know what brand of hat I wore. When I told him Resitol, his eyes lit up like The Strip. The guy had a bit of a nervous demeanor before, but suddenly, he became really ancy. He then tells me that he knows a guy at Resistol who is a fan of mine, and who wanted me to wear thier hats. He gets on the phone and lands a hat deal - just like that! Of course, then I have to take a couple of photos with him. next is our photo session for Wendy's clothing line. Natalie changes clothes for Wendy and we get some photos for that. Since we are in the photo taking mood, the photo crew jumps in from the other side of the camera. After all of that, I'm pretty tired... But the day ain't over yet.

At 10pm, we head over to the Bellagio for the WPT pre-championship party and red carpet at Caramel. We had some drinks and some more pictures taken of us. About midnight, we headed for the door. I At the valet lounge, we ran into Daniel Negreanu and chatted a bit about his work at the Wynn. Finally, we made it home to get rested up for the Championship.

Bellagio PPT

2005-04-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

I played the PPT and got knocked out by Steve Zolotow, aka "the Bald Eagle." I had pocket kings and he had pocket sixes. The flop came 6-7-9. I only had 2500 in the pot, but I pushed all in and he called. Needless to say, I got no help on the turn or river. It wasn't a total bust. Steve Lipscomb spoke to Natalie a couple of times before the tournament started. She got filmed sweating me in the tournament, and got interviewed after I busted out.

Now to get ready for Monday's action at the WPT Championship.

Lucky You

2005-04-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

We found out what the name of the movie is : Lucky You. It is about a poker player who runs into his long-lost father at the WSOP. We woke up about 5am to start getting ready to make our 7am casting call. When we got there, we looked for Matt Savage. Natalie had made him a gift basket and wanted to give it to him. They sent us to base camp to drop off the basket and get us some breakfast. We ran into Eric Seidel there, and instead of getting to eat, we were told that our clothes were not what poker players wear. LOL! They made us try on other shirts. Mine did not fit, Eric hated his, Natalie just flat out refused to change. After we all managed to get out of wardrobe, we were escorted to hair and makeup. Natalie and I got finished fairly quickly, but the women in the trailer decided that Eric needed a haircut. The production crew said that we needed to wait on Eric, so we did. 10 - 15 minutes later, Eric came out. Still with no breakfast, we were escorted back to the set and sat at a poker table with Karina Jett and Chris Ferguson - pretending to start the WSOP for the movie cameras. After several takes, they moved me to another table, and we simulated the start of the WSOP a few more times. Then they told me that I could go home. I found Natalie and we went over to the Golden Nugget to finally get something to eat. I was disappointed that I did not get to meet Robert Duvall. He is one of my favorite actors. Oh well. It was an experience that not many people get and I am thankful for the opportunity.

Tournament of Champions

2005-04-01T21:44:00.000-08:00

Natalie and I were figuring out our travel schedules and she was fooling around on the WSOP site. Lo and behold, she found out that I had made the TOC. That lifts a great burden off me. Maybe now I will be able to go back to the farm and relax for a little while sometime this month. needless to say, we are now still trying to figure out travel plans. We are probably not going to Lake Tahoe or New Orleans. That way I can get rested for the Bellagio Championship and the World Series.

Reno and the Movies

2005-03-31T21:16:00.000-08:00

Well, we made the almost eight hour trip back from Reno to Las Vegas. Natalie and I checked out messages. Matt Savage called and left a strange message. He said he had something going that I might be interested in. We called him and and got bad news: I had missed out on a $100,000 freeroll. The good news: Natalie and I are to report to the Horseshoe on Monday to appear in a movie that Matt is working on. Everything should be pretty quiet this weekend, so I'll write back after our trip to "Hollywood."

2004 US Poker Championship on ESPN

2005-03-27T09:23:00.000-08:00

Finally I got to see the footage from when the tv crew came out to the farm. I was pretty pleased with the final clip. I'm sure my family was real excited to be on tv. It is the first time any of them have ever been on tv... except for Mother. She has had virtually every newspaper in the area over to the house for an interview. A news station from Montgomery came over to have her give an interview, and I think it aired before the show on ESPN. It seems she may be enjoying her new found fame. I haven't heard any complaints.

Mike and Amy drove the Denali to Reno yesterday. They said that it was a real beautiful drive. I found myself wanting to go somewhere all day yesterday. I can only assume that is because I couldn't. I was trying to convince Natalie to call a cab and take us somewhere, but I didn't know where I wanted to go. Well, one more day cooped up in the house, and then a car will pick us up to take us to the airport on Monday. One we get to Reno, I'll be able to go wherever I want. Of corse, I probably won't want to go anywhere.

Figuring It All Out

2005-03-25T00:21:00.000-08:00

So, Natalie got me signed up on this web blog. I have no earthly idea what it is or how to work it. Natalie is typing everything I say, it is that foreign to me.

Her parents, Amy and Mike, have been here for about a week. They are going to drive the Denali to Reno on Saturday. Amy is going to play in the LIPS event on Sunday. Natalie and I will fly in on Monday for the main event.

I am really hoping to do better in this tournament. I made it to 6th in the PPT at Bay101. I busted out 26th at the Rio. Only 18 got paid, and I was a few players short of making it into the Tournament of Champions. I need to make it in the top 18 at a WSOP Circuit to get the seat in the TOC, and there are only 2 more chances.

I really enjoyed watching the US Poker Championship on ESPN earlier. I am supposed to have more TV time on Saturday, and am looking forward to it. Mother gave a very long interview when the TV crew came out. I couldn't hear all of what she said, so I am real curious to see what makes it on the show.

Well, I guess that is about it for my first shot.