Ship it Holla Ballas - Professional Poker Players

Some Time Off

2008-04-27T02:39:58Z

The past two weeks were very busy for me at the Bellagio. The cash games were so good a few times, that I decided to take a shot and play bigger then ever before. I played so big I was sitting in Bobby's Room playing in a game with Sammy Farha, Patrik Antonius, and a few other top poker players. It was a real thrill and I cannot wait for the WSOP and another crack at the nosebleed stakes.

]]> I played in the $25,000 WPT Championship and I lasted into the middle of day 3 before busting out. IIt was a really tough one to swallow, as I had a lot of chips on day 2 and day 3. I have been so close a few times now and I really thought I was ready to win a WPT.

Since all summer is going to be non stop poker, I decided to head back to Michigan for a few weeks to spend time with family and friends. I have played so many hours online and live the past two months that I am burnt out. Hopefully a few weeks of relaxing with friends will put me in a great mindset for the WSOP, where I will be gunning hard to win a bracelet. Hopefully I can get a few golf rounds in and maybe a lesson while I am here as well. I went out to the range a few days ago and starting to improve already.

Right before leaving, I did the worlds fastest photo shoots for Cigar Aficionado, where I will be featured in an upcoming article in their July issue. The shoot was scheduled for late next week, but since I decided to skip town, we had to cram it in an hour before my flight. My good friend and neighbor Luke was also featured and did some shots as well. Lets just say that we both agreed we should stick to poker and drop our modeling aspirations.

My good friend Tom Dwan, had a very profitable Vegas trip, and lucky for me, I had a small piece of his action and made a nice amount as well. Thanks Tom! Tom also went really deep in the main event and has proven himself as not only a great cash game player, but solid tournament player as well.

Hope everyone is running well in life and poker

-Andrew Robl-

Making Money I am balla $$$$$$.

2008-04-02T10:35:55Z

Four years ago I was sitting in a friend’s basement, playing some .25/.50 poker and shooting some bullshit with my friends while watching Chris Moneymaker win the 2004 WSOP when I thought, “Wouldn’t this be a cool way to make a living?”. And a dream was born.

Since then poker has made me a millionaire. I’ve made (and am making) more money than I ever thought possible. But I’m starting to wonder, “Did I have the right dream?”

]]> Remember when you were a kid and you’d talk to your friends about what’d you do if you won the lottery? Most likely your dream included, a mansion, Lamborghini, private jet and lots of other toys (what they). Well I’ve met people who have all of these toys and on average they are just as insecure, unhappy and unfulfilled as those without them (of course many extremely wealthy people are also extremely happy but I don’t think it’s because of the toys) .

Now I’m not trying to sound holier-than thou. I love my car, my condo and having maids and assistants but I feel money should be means to an end; not an end in itself (which I feel it becomes for many gamblers).
With all that said I’m not leaving the poker world anytime soon. On any given day my If I had the choice (which I suppose I do), to do anything I wanted poker would be first on that list.

I’m not really sure where I’m going with this thought process. I guess I’ve just been thinking about what I want to do with my life when the least on my condo ends after the WSOP. Do I want to become the next Doyle Bruson or Chip Reese? Or is there another path in life I could take that would make me happier? I’d love to hear any constructive suggestions….

For now you’ll either find me sitting at my computer screen with 8 tables open or in Bobby’s Room….

Video Blog from Sky

2008-03-24T11:00:00Z

Deep In Wynn.

2008-03-18T08:35:05Z

Deep in Wynn Main event. 7th in Chips with 27 left. First place 700,000. Follow along at cardplayer.com

Looking good heading into day 2 of Bay 101 WPT

2008-03-12T18:37:49Z

I have $75,000 chips going into Day 2. Early during Day 1 I flopped bottom set on a Q J 2 board and got it all in against QJ. My hand held up and I steadily increased my stack the rest of the day.

One of the fun things about this tournament is that there are a few select Pros who have bounties on their heads. I knocked out Todd Brunson and received $5000 on the spot. Hopefully I can knock out a few more today and pick up some more cash.

I am running a little late for Day 2, so gotta go. Wish me luck. Check out live updates here http://www.cardplayer.com/tour
naments/live_updates/14167

Busto in 30th place

2008-02-27T06:25:45Z

I busted out today in the WPT LA in 30th place for a cool $36,000. I shared the chip lead yesterday (Day 3) for most of the day with Phil Ivey, but lost a huge pot on one of the last hands of the night with AK vs KK. I had a very tough table all day which did not help the cause. Mike Wattel, Nam Le, SirWatts, Humberto Brenes were all to my left. The famous Jennifer Tilly was also at my table, to my direct right.

]]> I am driving back to Vegas as I type this. It seems like I was in Commerce for a month, but I think it was only ten days or so. I had heard so many great things about the cash games in LA, and decided to head out a few days early and test them out. Wow was I not disappointed. I played in some of the juiciest poker games I have ever seen. You know they are really good, when I am willing to play in a PLO / NL mix game. I even paid $2000 for a seat in a game one night, but I ended a 30k loser that day. Not quite sure what I was thinking,

It is quite frustrating to play poker all day for three days and only win $36,000, but I gave myself a shot at $1.5 million and eventually I will take it down. Now I will get back to making money online and save up for the EPT in Monte Carlo. Rumor is that they have legalized poker in Monaco and cash games should be huge!!

Andrew

Andrew "Good2cu" Robl VBlog #1

2008-02-07T07:54:57Z

Borgota

2008-01-25T21:06:12Z

The main event in Tunica was not too exciting. I was below average basically all day, but never gave up and survived the day. I was hoping that Day 2 would be a turn of events and I would catch some cards, but it did not happen. I went bust when Nam Le raised UTG+1 to 2300. The blinds were 400-800 and I looked down at JJ in the cut off. I only had 13,000 so I went all in. He took a long time and finally called with KQs. My tournament was over when the Queen flopped and I could not catch a miracle jack on the turn or river.

]]>
I played some $25-50 NL cash games in Tunica. I have heard a lot of stories about Tunica cash games, and how they are full of action. Well those rumors were spot on and I had one hand that I will never forget. Four people limped in and I was in the BB with 67 off suit. I gently tapped the table and almost fell out of my chair when the flop came 3 4 5 with two diamonds. The SB bet $100 and I called, then the guy UTG made it $400. The SB, Brad Berman then went all in for around $12,000. I had the stone cold nuts, so I could not call quick enough. We agreed to run it twice, and the board paired both times. Since we did not flip our hands up, I was certain that I had just lost both times. But my hand was good and I raked in a nice pot.

I arrived in Atlantic City tonight from Tunica. I have caught a nasty cold and have been very sick the past few days. I took a town car from Tunica to Memphis to catch my flight to Atlanta. From Atlanta I took an airline I have never heard of that got me into Atlantic City. I did not feel like another one hour car ride from airport to casino, so I was willing to risk it on a no name airline company.

The Borgata is a beautiful casino and the room is awesome. I am really looking forward to the next few days. I am most likely going to play the $5000 event tomorrow. It will be a great warm up for the main event and a chance to get some table time with some of the east coast players that I do not get to see very often in Vegas.

Jay is going strong still. I am fairly certain that Jay was outside the bathroom, as a number of 2+2's have been following closely. I am going to meet with Jay in person when I am done in Atlantic City and show him the evidence and see what he says. If we come to an agreement, I will make sure the proper person is paid.

Hopefully I run good tomorrow and can take down a tournament

WPT Tunica

2008-01-21T07:29:30Z

I made it to Tunica! I left Sky around 11am on Friday and since I have lost all concept of the value of money I paid some ridiculous price to fly first class. When I landed in Memphis I was greeted by one of those nice limo drivers who had “Robl” on a little whiteboard. I took the limo from the airport to Tunica which was a little over an hour away. I checked into the Gold Strike Casino, which is about as nice as Circus Circus.

]]> Everything was going smooth until I got to the room and realized that I had been duped. I heard my assistant ask the hotel when he made reservations if there was high speed internet in the rooms. He even called the poker room manager to confirm that there was internet. Well the only internet in my room is dial up and I was pretty sure that dial up was deemed illegal and a felony violation a few years ago.
Since I could not play online, I checked out the poker room and there was a $50-100 NL game going with the average age of players around 22 years old. Since I only practice the best in game selection I decided I must jump in.
Back in Las Vegas, I am sad to say that Jay is still in the bathroom. It is starting to smell in that room, not just the bathroom, but the whole room. Today Jay had a double quarter pounder meal from McDonalds with no pickles or onions. His drink of choice is HI-C and for dessert, two apple pies. He has tons of trash which builds up right outside the bathroom door until his cousin comes and removes it. I do not want to say I am nervous, but I would really like him to quit sooner than later because I have no interest in losing this bet, there really is a lot of money riding on this.

SNGICONS.COM has put a banner up in the room, so check it out. Ship it Holla member Jonathon Little is an instructor on the site and probably the best MTT player in the world right now. If only he did not run so bad, poor John.

I mentioned it once before in my blog, but if you are a real balla, check out www.finestclubs.com I am a member and have access to the best clubs all around the world. They are constantly adding new clubs and hotels and offer incredible benefits. I am really looking forward to the next trip to Barcelona.

WPT Tunica starts in about ten minutes and I am already pumped to play. I have been working hard on my poker game and physical fitness and ready to make things happen. I am going to play my best and hopefully I can run good at the right times.

Prop Bet Day 5

2008-01-17T06:53:06Z

Day 5

I really did not think Jay would last this long, but my hat is off to his perserverence. This bet is really a fascinating phsyscological study. Since I get to see Jay for a very short period on most days I have seen his mood go from super confident to almost depressing. My assistant went in today to fix the webcam and ShipitHolla poster and said Jay was desperate for conversation. I am sure he craves human contact and unfortunately he is not going to be getting much for the rest of this bet.

]]> Today Jay had two Pizza Hut pizzas for lunch, those mini pizzas they sell at their fast food chains. Lets just say Jay's diet is not doctor approved, I do not think I have seen one healthy thing go in or out of the room. He eats McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and Arbys for all meals. He snacks on cookies, chips, and Capri Suns.

Hopefully Jay uses some of those precious cell phone minutes and calls me soon and gives up on the bet. I just cannot imagine him making it another 25 days. My assistant at first thought Jay had no chance, but after two days, he was convinced Jay was going to win. Then after stopping and visiting Jay today, he told me Jay has no chance. Hopefully he is right and there will be a nice celebration at the Rhino and I will make sure Jay gets a few lapdances from the best looking girl in there.

I was very impressed with how well the Cardplayer video turned out. http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/article/10605/the-wonderful-world-of-prop-betting They are a great group and it was a ton of fun hanging out and they got a kick out of the milk prop bet. I think I luckboxed my way through that one, because we tried a few other servers and they had no clue what I was talking about. Cardplayer might be coming out to shoot a similar episode at my house, which will be a lot of fun and maybe Lizzy will break up with her Fiance by then. Just kidding!

If anyone is interested in advertising on the wall where the ShipitHolla sign is, let me know and we can get your ad up there.

Will be back tomorrow for another "Bellagio Jay update."

Andrew "Good2cu" Robl

Cardplayer Article on Propbet

2008-01-16T04:47:24Z

Cardplayer's version of cribs, high stake living stopped in with me to check out Jay's crib. Check it out here: http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/article/10605/the-wonderful-world-of-prop-betting

High Stakes Prop Bet

2008-01-14T01:47:38Z

The other day I was talking with Bellagio cash game veteran "20k Jay" and traheho about crazy prop bets. Jay ended up claiming he could live inside a Bellagio hotel room bathroom for thirty days (without leaving). My initial reaction was that there is absolutely no chance it and I’m one to put my money where my mouth is. I gave Jay 2-1 odds on the bet and he quickly agreed.

]]> We were in the room tonight preparing and Jay had a hop in his step singing "easy money" over and over. But his tune quickly changed as he inflated his air mattress and watched the bathroom shrink in size. Imagine a standard hotel bathroom with a bath, shower, and toilet. There is not much room to maneuver. Now imagine a twin size air mattress in the middle. The bet officially started a few minutes ago, in the early stages of Saturday January 12th. Jay's first DVD of choice was Season 1 of Sex in the City, my assistant immediately whispered to me that Jay is already going crazy, watching that show.

We had a little debate about how we wanted to escrow the money. We finally decided to keep the money in Jays box and I keep the key to the box.

So here are the Rules of the Bet. It was a knock down drag out fight trying to agree on the final rules, but here they are.

1. No computer
2. 400 minutes of cell phone use for the 30 days
3. A small DVD player will be allowed into the bathroom
4. No one is allowed in the hotel room except for Room Service. A friend of Jays can drop off food and supplies but cannot talk to Jay
5. Room service can deliver food no more than 4 times in a 24 hour period
6. Jay can not use any drugs.
7. Curtains to the room are closed. He is allowed to open/close the door.

If you are interested in taking a piece of the bet or betting against me please contact me within the next 24 hours. All money must be escrowed.
There will be a 24 hour a day live stream facing the bathroom, if you see Jay step outside the bathroom or break any rules, please contact me. I will pay a $500 reward to the person who notifies me first that Jay has given up on the bet.

Live feed of outside the bathroom: http://www.stickam.com/profile/bellagiojay
Live feed of inside the bathroom coming soon.

Happy New Year

2008-01-04T10:33:46Z

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Holiday season. I flew back to Michigan to spend Christmas with the family. What became clearly obvious to me on my trip is that there are millions of stupid people living in the Mid-West. What are these people thinking, it was so cold and miserable I do not know how I lived there for 20 years.

]]> I hope everyone had a happy and safe Holiday season. I flew back to Michigan to spend Christmas with the family. What became clearly obvious to me on my trip is that there are millions of stupid people living in the Mid-West. What are these people thinking, it was so cold and miserable I do not know how I lived there for 20 years.

I had a fun time back in Michigan hanging out with old friends. We hit up a local bar and were living it up pretty well. We probably had around 25-30 beers and drinks, and I was expecting a large tab. I quickly became the man of the hour when I picked up the whole bar tab for our group. I have grown accustomed to the large bills at Las Vegas clubs, because when I saw the bill for a $100 and change, after having about 30 drinks among us, I could not believe it.

I got back to Vegas on the 27th and the next day my good friend Alec “Traheho” came into town and crashed at my place for a few days. He just came from a month long culinary camp where he learned how to cook. He had my assistant running all over town picking up different supplies so he could put together a morning feast for us. The training paid off and I was impressed. Although I feel very strongly that the true balla does not cook his own food, but rather has a team of chefs prepare all meals for him.

We hit the Kanye West concert on New Years at the Palms and it was amazing. We were expecting a young gangster type crowd and showed up in jeans and shirts, everyone else was dressed to impress in gowns and suits. There is nothing better than that akward feeling of being totally out of place, but we managed and Kanye was amazing.

The moving company that I hired to move my stuff from Michigan to Vegas has to be the worst moving company in America. The delivery date was no later than December 15th, and after unsuccessfully calling them for two weeks, they finally told me due to the Holidays that the truck would not leave until the 27th. WTF!!

A few days before Christmas, Alan “Usher” Sass and I went to a local liquor store because I wanted to stock my bar. We turned a lot of heads with our purchases which in the end set me back a little under $9000. Ship it! I bought a box of 1999 Dom Perignon and quite a few red wines; I am becoming a wine connoisseur in my late years. Other than that, I made sure I have every single type of alcohol there is. There will be no disappointed customers at the Robl residences.

Hope everyone had a great New Years and good luck in 2008

-Good2cu-

PS. I just booked two $20,000 prop bets today, I will explain in the next blog.

Good Habits

2008-01-02T19:04:10Z

I am a firm believer that humans are creatures of habit. Success and happiness are achieved by forming good habits and carrying them out on a daily, weekly and yearly basis. As Arositle put it, “"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.".

]]> Having just moved to Las Vegas I feel I have a unique chance to change my life by implementing a totally new set of habits and to a lesser extent a new social circle. I believe the next few weeks will be crucial in determining my success and happiness over the next year of my life. By realizing that my habits will be more instrumental than anything else in determining the quality of my life I feel if I set good ones I will be in control of my own destiny.

Before I describe and ask for input on what habits I should Implement I feel I should first describe some of my goals (that these habits will help me achieve).

Goals:
Have deep and satisfying relationships.
Become one of the best all around poker players in the world.
Make a shitload of money.
Contribute something to society
Be a person of ingenuity.

Some other goals I’m debating:
Sleep with lots of hot sluttly women.
Become a poker celebrity.

If you asked me two year ago both of the above goals would have been towards the top of my list but my life experience has me doubting whether either of these things will add to my overall happiness. I haven’t been unsuccessful with women over the past two years of my life but I haven’t exactly been a mpua either. I’ve had several one night stands with girls while traveling and have slept with a few college girls. But my desire to be a ‘playa/pua whatever’ coupled with the fact I’m an asshole (especially when drunk), has managed to destroy every close relationship I’ve had with females over the past two years and although fun I’m not sure it has made me a happier person.

But the girls I’ve slept with are not of the same caliber as Las Vegas girls. These girls are fucking hot! And I feel if I don’t sleep with as many of them as possible I will regret it for the rest of the of my life. Coupled with the fact that I’m a fit, charismatic, average looking 21 year old male with a balla condo, balla car, designer cloths and tactful ice I’m pretty sure I could pull a few of these girls (my excessive confidence couldn’t hurt either). I mean this is Vegas we’ll talk about; people will do anything for money.

But I do not know if I am mature enough to handle everything that would go along with this lifestyle. I could feel myself easily falling into the trap of going clubbing five nights a week, drugs and alcohol, dropping more money than I can afford and not to mention all the messy emotional entanglements that come with leading this type of lifestyle. It’s nice to think that I could handle it all but I believe that would be wishful thinking (especially with my past history).

Anyways on to some habits I wish to implement:

-Do 30 minutes of cardio as soon as I wake up.
-Make a list of what I want to accomplish on said day
-Lift weights 5 times a week
-Play poker 50 hours a week
-Do some writing once a week
-Constantly review my poker play
-Avoid drugs and alcohol. (Beside an occasional drink/joint).

Here is what I picture my normal day being

9am: Wake up
9:15-10:00am: Go to gym downstairs and do some Cardio
10:00am-10:45am: Shower, Eat, Sanua steam room etc.
10:45-:5:00pm: Play online/live, read, run errands
5:00pm-7:00pm: Dinner with friends
7:00pm-10:00pm: Play more poker
10:00pm-11:00pm: Weight room
11:00pm-12:30am: Review hands, read, write
12:30am-9:15am: sleep

If I could follow this schedule 5 days a week I should be achieve my carrer goals while still having a fulfilling and pleasurable life (poker is still fun for me).

I realize since I lead the unstructured life of a professional gambler I could easily fall into some bad habits. In order to help me stick with my plans I plan on doing the following:

-See a personal trainer once a week. Have him design a good traning regiment for me diet etc.
-See a sports psychiatrist twice a month to help me continue playing my A game.
-Hire a experienced live pro/seek out experienced live pro to help me avoid the pitfalls that often befall poker players.

Anyways, leading the unstructed life of a professional gambler I could see myself easily falling into bad habits.

-Andrew Robl

Rhino Girls Love Early Bust Outs

2007-12-23T02:02:05Z

I moved into the Sky Condos right on the Las Vegas Strip on December 1st and it has been one royal pain in the ass getting everything set up. You have to have seven inspectors come to your place to make sure its ok to take a piss, unreal. I bought a 52 in flat panel plasma and a top of the line wall mount, but I cannot put it up until President Bush himself gives it the ok. Not to mention the water went out a few days ago and now when it came back on, the pressure is non existent. Other than that, the place is sick, I have a sweet view looking south on the Las Vegas Strip.

]]> The WPT Bellagio Five Diamond finished up a few days ago. It was a good series of tournaments for me. I final tabled a very tough $5000 event that JC Tran eventually went on to win. Sully Erna was at the final table, and rumor is that Phil Hellmuth has been coaching him the past few months. These rumors proved to be true when the man himself made an appearance at the final table. He casually walked around the table talking and giving Sully advice while we were trying to play the final table. If Raptor or Apathy showed up and tried this stunt they would probably be banned from the Bellagio. I don't care who Phil Hellmuth is, I called the floor man over and had him removed. No one tries to disrupt the flow of Good2CU. I eventually busted out when I went all in from the BB with A8 after David Williams raised from the cutoff and JC Tran called on the button. JC had AJ and knocked me out.

I was really looking forward to the main event, with around $9 million up for grabs, I had dreams of my tournament victory and the subsequent party, days before the tournament even began. Everything went well on Day One as I drew a soft table and was able to run my stack up to 80,000. The only interesting hand I recall from day one goes as follows: A young aggressive Asian kid (not a pro, but probably plays 80 hours a week at Commerce) raises from the Cut Off, and I pick up 3d 5d In the BB and re-pop him.
There was around 4k in the pot when the flop came 2d 5c Ks. I led out for 2800, and he had the nerve to raise to 6k, obviously he had no idea who he was up against, and I shoved for 10k.

When he raised me on the flop I had a rather strong live read that we was weak/bluffing
and decided to make a move and shove all in (Plus there are not many hands he can
value raise on the flop). I was quite proud of myself as I’m starting to learn to trust my
instincts and go with my live reads (which is tough for online players).

On day 2 I drew a rather stacked table with Men The Master, Nam Le, Daniel Negreanu, Peter “Apathy” Jetten in the four seats to my left. Daniel N. asked me if I was an online pro and I decided to trick him by telling him I had qualified through a $5 satellite on Pokerstars. He laughed and told me that it would be a “great story for the local paper” and I smiled and told him, “Only if I cashed.” My level on Daniel didn’t last long though as he soon found out Peter and I were the founding members of the Ship It Holla Ballas. Daniel is one of the few famous poker players who is an all around great guy and Peter and I spent the afternoon joking with him and yelling ship it holla while I took all his chips ;). Men the Master is not a great guy. He spent the afternoon getting drunk and mercilessly berating the dealers. He also drunkenly celebrated everytime Peter won a pot because Peter is young and aggressive and stuff. This was really funny. I busted him. And I ended the day with 285k in chips.

I entered day three top ten in chips or the second day in a row I had Peter (Apathy) at my table who also had a huge stack. Our table was pretty though and neither one of us were able to get much going. I ended up having around 200k chips the whole day until I got it all in with TT vs. Shannon Shorr’s AQ to get my chips up to around 500k. After that I lost a few flips and busted on one of the last hands of the day when I got all in against Gus Hansens Jacks pre flop. My A9 could not out run his pair and I was sent to the rail. Gus plays so many crazy hands without any regard for position (opening with much wider ranges than any other pro), so it is very hard to put him on a hand.
I was really bummed after busting out of the main event despite the 38k I netted, but having a few solid results really motivated me to hit the tournament circuit hard in 2008.

I went straight to the bar with Durr, Apathy, and Bet2Win to drown my bust out blues. We started with double Vodka tonic shots with a few grandmothers. Unfortunately they were not up to the Ship It Holla standard so we decided to take the party over to the Wynn at Tryst. Durr and I partied at Tryst with an old friend of mine, who runs seminars on how to pick up chicks. He showed us a few of his moves, the good news, nothing I do not have in my arsenal, so we moved onto the Rhino; truly the only place that really knows how to treat the true "Balla.” I spent a few hours in the celebrity private room drowning my tournament blue sorrows. Thanks again Cristal, Starr, Krista, Candy, and Houston.

One of my top priorities here in Vegas is to be on first name basis with the top strippers in town. Learning their names should not be hard, since there are only around 5 or 6 stripper names, hopefully they learn mine quick.

Poker has been going well. I have logged quite a few hours at the Bellagio playing 50-100 NL. The action was great during the tournament. Online I took a couple shots at 50-100 NL when I saw some weaker players playing and it paid off. Mostly I have been putting a lot of hands in at 25-50 and using good game selection.

I am heading home to Michigan in a few days to spend Christmas with my family. When I get back to Vegas I have to decide what tournament I am going to first. Tunica looks like it could be an option. My new assistant called every hotel in Tunica, and only one or two have internet in the rooms. So I will stick it out in Tunica for a few days and then head to Borgota immediately after the main event.

Happy Holidays
Good2CU