Forget the women, I want the F430 or the R8.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wowowillie's wheels
Can't knock this dude's hustle. He's loaded.
Forget the women, I want the F430 or the R8.
Forget the women, I want the F430 or the R8.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Spending spree
Been into a spending frenzy over the past several days. You know what they say, "You gotta spend money to make money."
Word.
Word.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
ABL 2010: Team Millar books a semifinal seat
Our opponent for our last game didn't show up so we get the win by default, bumping us up to third seed with a 4-3 record at the end of the elimination round.
The semifinal knockout phase starts on March 7 and we play against the only team we haven't beaten this season, Team Alcantara. We're 0-2 against them.
Hopefully, the third time's a charm.
The semifinal knockout phase starts on March 7 and we play against the only team we haven't beaten this season, Team Alcantara. We're 0-2 against them.
Hopefully, the third time's a charm.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Stopwatch
Eleventh hour hiccups by some online stores prevented me from copping a watch. Not sure if I should be pissed because I really wanted to get it, or be relieved that I saved myself a ton of cash.
Monday, February 15, 2010
2010 NBA ASG at NSG
I watched the 2010 NBA All-Star game at NSG Greenbelt today. It's been a while since I last ate there so I was looking forward to having a good meal.
Or so I thought.
Maybe it's just me but I think they dropped in terms of quality.
Perhaps I'm scratching them off of my list of favorite restos.
Or so I thought.
Maybe it's just me but I think they dropped in terms of quality.
Perhaps I'm scratching them off of my list of favorite restos.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
ABL 2010: Team Millar drops to 3-3
We lost to the number one seeded team again earlier today. We were down big, about 18 points at the half, but we were able to creep within 2 points halfway in third quarter.
Missed baskets and bad decisions down the stretch ultimately cost us the game. Final score was 69-76.
We get a guaranteed spot in the playoffs if we win our last elimination round game this weekend. Signs are looking real good as we play the only winless team in the division.
Missed baskets and bad decisions down the stretch ultimately cost us the game. Final score was 69-76.
We get a guaranteed spot in the playoffs if we win our last elimination round game this weekend. Signs are looking real good as we play the only winless team in the division.
Monday, February 08, 2010
Watch my problem
It has been about a week and I'm still undecided on what watch to get. I freaking need to make a decision soon.
Pretty problem to have though. LOL.
Pretty problem to have though. LOL.
Mile High Relief
Someone just posted a photo of a Cathay Pacific lavatory on Facebook and it just dawned on me that I've never used an airplane john in a long time. To think I've had about 20 or so flights the past couple of years.
Weird.
Weird.
Super Bowl XLIV
I'm taking the Saints(+4.5) and the under (56.5). I kinda feel stupid for going against Peyton Manning though.
Sunday, February 07, 2010
ABL 2010: Team Millar gets 3rd win
After a 2-game losing skid, we finally got our bearings back and notched our third win of the season earlier tonight against Team Garcia. Our record now stands at 3-2 with two games left.
One more win assures us of a playoff spot. I'm confident we'll make it.
One more win assures us of a playoff spot. I'm confident we'll make it.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Ballin'
You know you're doing well and living the life when you can turn down job offers even while unemployed.
Life doesn't get any better than that.
Life doesn't get any better than that.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
The Stone vs the iPad
Not a lot of difference...
Except for the exhorbitant $800 price on the seemingly useless yet overhyped iPad. Of course, the Apple fanboys would disagree and proclaim this the next best thing.
Monday, February 01, 2010
Laptop is alive
I finally tried turning on my laptop a week after it got spilled with Coke.
It worked. I swear I had never been this nervous recently and I just breathed a huge sigh of relief. Anyhow, i'm still taking it to Lenovo to get the internals cleaned up.
It worked. I swear I had never been this nervous recently and I just breathed a huge sigh of relief. Anyhow, i'm still taking it to Lenovo to get the internals cleaned up.
Dolphy is pure comedy, so is Manny
Dolphy is endorsing Senator Manny Villar for president. We all know he's the King of Philippine Comedy so we shouldn't take him seriously.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
ABL 2010: Another blowout loss
We got murdered on the court for the second straight week. LOL. We've dropped two straight, after winning our first two games. Our record stands at a middle-of-the-pack 2-2.
Anyway, we had our asses whooped so bad yesterday morning that I didn't bother checking the final score.
It kinda makes me want to reconsider watching the games since it can be a hassle going to the venue and see my team lose big.
No wonder they're starting to miss the services of their star guard. *hint hint*
LMAO.
Anyway, we had our asses whooped so bad yesterday morning that I didn't bother checking the final score.
It kinda makes me want to reconsider watching the games since it can be a hassle going to the venue and see my team lose big.
No wonder they're starting to miss the services of their star guard. *hint hint*
LMAO.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Sorry, it's a NO for now
I turned down a job offer today simply because I haven't had the time to fully go over it.
The company gave me less than 24 hours to decide and I felt really rushed. I had asked if I could mull over it during the weekend so I don't have to make a hasty decision but to no avail.
Who knows? I may have accepted it had they given me more time. But since they wanted a quick response then I had no other choice but to politely decline.
The company gave me less than 24 hours to decide and I felt really rushed. I had asked if I could mull over it during the weekend so I don't have to make a hasty decision but to no avail.
Who knows? I may have accepted it had they given me more time. But since they wanted a quick response then I had no other choice but to politely decline.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Lenovo leak
My mom spilled Coke on my laptop several nights ago. I'm going to try to turn it on over the weekend and I hope and pray that it will still work.
I'd be more confident had it been just water. Oh well, shit happens.
Two more days before I test the damn thing.
I'd be more confident had it been just water. Oh well, shit happens.
Two more days before I test the damn thing.
Monday, January 25, 2010
ABL 2010: Team Millar gets routed
My team got bushwhacked yesterday at the Meralco Gym, losing to division-leading Team Alcantara, 59-30.
I didn't wake up in time so I arrived at the game just before the start of the 4th quarter and we were already down big.
Had I known it was pretty much over, I would've stayed in bed. SMH.
I didn't wake up in time so I arrived at the game just before the start of the 4th quarter and we were already down big.
Had I known it was pretty much over, I would've stayed in bed. SMH.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
No shit, Sherlock
I watched Sherlock Holmes last night and to my surprise, it was better than I had anticipated.
The tandem of Robert Downey, Jr and Jude Law was excellent. I doubt the film would've had the same impact and success had it been other actors portraying the lead roles.
The tandem of Robert Downey, Jr and Jude Law was excellent. I doubt the film would've had the same impact and success had it been other actors portraying the lead roles.
All about the Aguilars
I don't know if it's just me but I find the Aguilar brood (of Ka Freddie) somewhat weird, eccentric and unstable.
Seriously. Freddie and Maegan. Marlene and Jason Ivler.
Must be the genes.
Monday, January 18, 2010
The fall of Jason Ivler
Good to hear fugitive Jason Ivler was finally caught by NBI operatives after a shootout inside his mother's Blue Ridge home.
The former US soldier has been the subject of a nationwide manhunt since November last year.
Trapped in a corner, he engaged the authorities in a brief firefight armed with an M4 carbine and a 45-caliber pistol. He was hit twice.
Harsh as it may seem, I wish the NBI agents pumped more bullets into him though.
The former US soldier has been the subject of a nationwide manhunt since November last year.
Trapped in a corner, he engaged the authorities in a brief firefight armed with an M4 carbine and a 45-caliber pistol. He was hit twice.
Harsh as it may seem, I wish the NBI agents pumped more bullets into him though.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
ABL 2010: Team Millar wins 2nd straight
Despite missing a number of key players, we managed to hold on to a 61-58 win over Team Hontiveros yesterday at the Meralco Gym.
With the victory, we improve our record to a division-best 2-0. We play Team Alcantara, perhaps the best team in our division, next week.
With the victory, we improve our record to a division-best 2-0. We play Team Alcantara, perhaps the best team in our division, next week.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
POP! Goes my knee again
I just did a Michael Redd. Good thing it wasn't a Shaun Livingston though.
I fuckin' blew out my left knee again, the second time in the last 4 months, during the last play of our game last night. Leading by 11 with about 2 seconds left, I went up for an irrelevant rebound and landed awkwardly on my left leg, causing my knee to buckle and give way. For the third time in my life, I heard another of them infamous pops.
I'm out for the rest of the young season and will get surgery done probably by February.
I fuckin' blew out my left knee again, the second time in the last 4 months, during the last play of our game last night. Leading by 11 with about 2 seconds left, I went up for an irrelevant rebound and landed awkwardly on my left leg, causing my knee to buckle and give way. For the third time in my life, I heard another of them infamous pops.
I'm out for the rest of the young season and will get surgery done probably by February.
Saturday, January 09, 2010
ABL 2010: Team Millar wins opener
We won our season opener earlier, 77-66, despite a dreadful start. We fell behind by double-digits early before settling for a 30-40 halftime deficit.
We got our bearings going in the third quarter with a series of runs and defensive stops. We managed to get a 51-50 lead going into the fourth with a 26-foot trey at the buzzer.
We pulled away towards the latter part of the fourth quarter for the 11-point win.
We got our bearings going in the third quarter with a series of runs and defensive stops. We managed to get a 51-50 lead going into the fourth with a 26-foot trey at the buzzer.
We pulled away towards the latter part of the fourth quarter for the 11-point win.
2010 ABL season opener
Who would've thought I would be able to play our season opener today after blowing out my left knee last September?
Maybe I'm just lucky.. or stupid. Either way, I'm happy.
Maybe I'm just lucky.. or stupid. Either way, I'm happy.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Missing practice Vol. Allen Iverson
My annual alumni league opens this Saturday and my team scheduled it's one and only preseason practice last night at Club 650.
Well guess what? I missed it by two freaking hours. All the while I thought it was from 8-10pm, not aware that they moved it two hours earlier.
True enough, I was met with blank stares when I arrived a little before 8. LOL.
I was like, "Alright, I'll see you guys on Saturday then."
Well guess what? I missed it by two freaking hours. All the while I thought it was from 8-10pm, not aware that they moved it two hours earlier.
True enough, I was met with blank stares when I arrived a little before 8. LOL.
I was like, "Alright, I'll see you guys on Saturday then."
Twitter break
I was out and busy the whole day yesterday that I was off Twitter for almost one whole day. Can you fuckin' believe that?
LMAO.
LMAO.
Monday, January 04, 2010
Greenbelt turned Greenhills
My friend and I went to the Globe Platinum & Stores Specialists sale early yesterday morning at posh Greenbelt 4. We got in at around 9am and the mall was packed like a typical Greenhills tiangge.
It was utter pandemonium inside Gucci as there were about a hundred people trying to outhustle each other in sifting through the items on sale. Yeah, you could probably get a bargain but you'd go through hell doing it.
We didn't think it was worth all the sweat, not to mention the hassle, so we just left with the quickness.
It was utter pandemonium inside Gucci as there were about a hundred people trying to outhustle each other in sifting through the items on sale. Yeah, you could probably get a bargain but you'd go through hell doing it.
We didn't think it was worth all the sweat, not to mention the hassle, so we just left with the quickness.
Sunday, January 03, 2010
180 Carat Gold
I've never tried these on since I bought them in late 2006 and I wore them for the first time a couple of hours ago. It took me a while to decide but I'm finally unleashing them beasts out today.
Watch out.
As far as I know, I don't think anyone else has these Euro exclusives here in Manila. I can be wrong but I seriously doubt it.
Watch out.
As far as I know, I don't think anyone else has these Euro exclusives here in Manila. I can be wrong but I seriously doubt it.
Friday, January 01, 2010
So long 2000's, hello 2010
Can't believe it's been 10 years since the Y2K debacle. LMAO at all that hype.
Anyway, I'm wishing everyone to have a splendid 2010 and beyond.
Here's to a new decade of awesomeness....
Cheers!
Anyway, I'm wishing everyone to have a splendid 2010 and beyond.
Here's to a new decade of awesomeness....
Cheers!
Friday, December 25, 2009
Holidays 2009
It's the last of the decade, so I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!
Y'all enjoy the rest of the holidays.
Y'all enjoy the rest of the holidays.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Space Jam in Manila
December 23, 2009. 12 noon. Nike Park Bonifacio High Street.
This was, by far, the craziest shoe release I've gone to. Shoeheads and hakots lined up as early as 5 days before release day.
Congratulations to those who got their pairs by lining up, getting/paying someone to line up for you, or via the raffle.
They say it's all fair in love and war, and it works just the same for the sneaker game.
This was, by far, the craziest shoe release I've gone to. Shoeheads and hakots lined up as early as 5 days before release day.
Congratulations to those who got their pairs by lining up, getting/paying someone to line up for you, or via the raffle.
They say it's all fair in love and war, and it works just the same for the sneaker game.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Six years on NT
Today I mark my 6th year on NT. Wow, it's been that long and a lot of good memories, new friends and of course, sneakers along the way.
I swear internet would be boring without NT.
I swear internet would be boring without NT.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Fantasy island
Everyone's been raving about the six-star Bellarocca Resort and Spa in Marinduque. From the photos I've seen, saying it's beautiful is an understatement.
It just dawned on me recently that the resort was built on an island owned by the family of an old friend of mine.
It wasn't common knowledge but it wasn't a secret either that the Hiranos owned Fantasy Elephant Island. Back in our elementary days, we used to tease my friend Joji that they were so rich they actually had an island.
Anyway, I don't know if they still own it. My guess is they probably sold it for a a little fortune, a few hundred million pesos perhaps.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Tiger's costly trysts
It looks like Tiger Woods will one-up Michael Jordan yet again.
He's about to top the $168 million Jordan paid his ex-wife, Juanita, for their divorce settlement. According to estimates, Elin Nordegren stands to receive an amount north of $300 million.
Who would've though that a seemingly stupid one-car accident will trigger Tiger's downfall?
He's about to top the $168 million Jordan paid his ex-wife, Juanita, for their divorce settlement. According to estimates, Elin Nordegren stands to receive an amount north of $300 million.
Who would've though that a seemingly stupid one-car accident will trigger Tiger's downfall?
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Manila celebrates a decade of NT
NTPI held a mini-summit at Grappa's Greenbelt last night to commemorate Niketalk's 10th year.
I won't lie. I'm stoked that the folks I didn't want to see didn't show up. LMAO.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Ninja Assassin
It's the goriest film I've seen since John Rambo. Blood and body parts scattered everywhere.
Story was blah but the fight scenes were awesome. I love how the producers went old school when they casted ninja pioneer Sho Kosugi to play the lead villain role.
Story was blah but the fight scenes were awesome. I love how the producers went old school when they casted ninja pioneer Sho Kosugi to play the lead villain role.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Niketalk turns 10
10 December 1999 - 10 December 2009
Cheers and congratulations to the fam.
In true NT fashion, :hat :eek
Cheers and congratulations to the fam.
In true NT fashion, :hat :eek
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Gambling warlords
My good friend often shared a baccarat table with two of the infamous Ampatuans of Maguindanao, Zaldy and Sajid, at the Grand Regal casino in Davao.
My friend said they were actually nice and generous. They usually took care of the banker commissions of my friend and the other folks who played on the same table.
My friend said they were actually nice and generous. They usually took care of the banker commissions of my friend and the other folks who played on the same table.
Women are like swimming pools
They cost a great deal to maintain considering the amount of time you spend inside them.
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Stray cat
Via TXTS FRM LST NGHT
(703): Tiger just fucked it up for all of us... she grabbed my phone this morning and started asking questions.
If Tiger Woods, the celebrity-cum-athlete-slash-role-model who probably had the most squeaky clean image in the world, can stray and cheat, so can everybody else.
Seriously. He just fucked it up for all of us.
(703): Tiger just fucked it up for all of us... she grabbed my phone this morning and started asking questions.
If Tiger Woods, the celebrity-cum-athlete-slash-role-model who probably had the most squeaky clean image in the world, can stray and cheat, so can everybody else.
Seriously. He just fucked it up for all of us.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Tiger jokes
- What's the difference between golf and an Escalade?
Tiger can drive a golf ball north of 350 yards but can't muster 10 meters on his Escalade.
- What was Elin Woods doing out at 2:20 in the morning?
She was seen clubbing.
- Tiger just got baptized a new nickname. He is now known as Cheetah.
- Tiger drives well on a fairway but he doesn't fare well on the driveway.
LMAO
Tiger can drive a golf ball north of 350 yards but can't muster 10 meters on his Escalade.
- What was Elin Woods doing out at 2:20 in the morning?
She was seen clubbing.
- Tiger just got baptized a new nickname. He is now known as Cheetah.
- Tiger drives well on a fairway but he doesn't fare well on the driveway.
LMAO
Catch the Tiger by the tail
Tiger Woods is not an ordinary idiot. He's a billionaire idiot.
Seriously, Elin Nordegren-Woods is gorgeous. I'd wife her up with the quickness. I don't think I'll ever understand how and why Tiger could cheat on her with some ugly jumpoffs.
If I had his life, best believe I'd be more than contented.
Seriously, Elin Nordegren-Woods is gorgeous. I'd wife her up with the quickness. I don't think I'll ever understand how and why Tiger could cheat on her with some ugly jumpoffs.
If I had his life, best believe I'd be more than contented.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
NFL Week 12
Damn. I just missed out on one of the easiest weeks in the NFL. Coulda been up big time.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Ugly duckling
Dakota Fanning in New Moon looks way better than Dakota Fanning in real life. Seriously, that's already saying a lot since she was exponentially uglier when she was younger.
Don't get me wrong though, the ugly duckling is still no swan.
Don't get me wrong though, the ugly duckling is still no swan.
Fiction's worst female protagonist ever
Bella Swan is the dumbest, weakest, lamest, most pathetic, most loserish female fictional character of all time, bar none.
Seriously, this girl is a disgrace to the female of the species. She's a simp, a bitch and a whore all rolled into one.
Seriously, this girl is a disgrace to the female of the species. She's a simp, a bitch and a whore all rolled into one.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
We can be Heroes
I just caught the 2009 CNN Heroes special earlier. Wow, I'm speechless. These are all great people. They make the world a better place.
I'm sure there are a lot more of their kind who are doing their thing without much or any fanfare. Y'all keep it up.
*claps and sheds tears*
I'm sure there are a lot more of their kind who are doing their thing without much or any fanfare. Y'all keep it up.
*claps and sheds tears*
CNN's shameful act
What the fuck was CNN thinking when it interrupted their 2009 Heroes special for a live coverage on Tiger Woods' car accident?!?
Worse, it wasn't just an update. They stayed on the story for a good 30 minutes or so.
Seriously, that is so fucked up. There are a lot more important stories than Tiger stupidly ramming his Escalade on a tree/fire hydrant just outside of his Florida mansion.
Worse, it wasn't just an update. They stayed on the story for a good 30 minutes or so.
Seriously, that is so fucked up. There are a lot more important stories than Tiger stupidly ramming his Escalade on a tree/fire hydrant just outside of his Florida mansion.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Popularity contests
Filipinos seem to have a knack for winning anything and everything that's being decided via free online voting.
I remember there was a time Pinays would dominate the Miss Photogenic awards of major beauty contests primarily because the votes were cast on the web and one can actually vote unlimited number of times. That said, we have people who'd spend literally all day just casting votes.
With the Chinese government censuring almost everything on the internet, we got this online voting thing locked down for years to come.
Now if only the Nobel Prizes and Olympic Golds can be awarded this way...
I remember there was a time Pinays would dominate the Miss Photogenic awards of major beauty contests primarily because the votes were cast on the web and one can actually vote unlimited number of times. That said, we have people who'd spend literally all day just casting votes.
With the Chinese government censuring almost everything on the internet, we got this online voting thing locked down for years to come.
Now if only the Nobel Prizes and Olympic Golds can be awarded this way...
Friday, November 20, 2009
Kryptonite Krista
The Krista Ranillo issue just might be the start of Manny Pacquiao's downfall. She's way prettier than Jinkee, sure. But I don't think she's worth it.
I think the Pac-Man should straighten his act (or acts) before it's too late.
I think the Pac-Man should straighten his act (or acts) before it's too late.
Manny or money
Krista Ranillo is one high-class, educated whore. Her father, Matt Ranillo III, is sleazier than your opportunistic, dirty neighborhood gay pimp.
Money obviously talks and matters. Can't knock their hustle though.
Money obviously talks and matters. Can't knock their hustle though.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
UNC 2009-10 season
US college basketball season has started and I've been slacking on North Carolina posts. I'll try to get some Tar Heel news and updates soon.
The Pacquiao bandwagon
I'm all for Manny Pacquiao winning but there are just far too many stupid Pac-Man homers out there.
Everyone needs to hop off the bus and get a life. Seriously.
Everyone needs to hop off the bus and get a life. Seriously.
Rustan's and its shitty website
The Rustan's Department Store website is pure garbage. It looks nice but it's completely useless.
I was expecting something better.
Check it out and see for yourself.
I was expecting something better.
Check it out and see for yourself.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Bayless got paid
Referee Kenny Bayless was probably on the take.
We all know Miguell Cotto had no chance to snatch the win. But Bayless robbed those who bet Pac-Man to win by decision when he controversially stopped the fight in the 12th round.
One can argue that the Puerto Rican was still intelligently defending himself and could've finished the last two minutes of the fight.
Odds were +350 for Pacquiao to win by decision, and -170 for a KO victory. Sportsbooks would get crushed should Pacquiao go on to win by scorecards.
Obviously, Bayless sealed the deal for Vegas.
We all know Miguell Cotto had no chance to snatch the win. But Bayless robbed those who bet Pac-Man to win by decision when he controversially stopped the fight in the 12th round.
One can argue that the Puerto Rican was still intelligently defending himself and could've finished the last two minutes of the fight.
Odds were +350 for Pacquiao to win by decision, and -170 for a KO victory. Sportsbooks would get crushed should Pacquiao go on to win by scorecards.
Obviously, Bayless sealed the deal for Vegas.
Pac-Man punishes Cotto
Everybody wanted a knockout.
They got one albeit under controversial fashion.
Manny Pacquiao scored a 12th round TKO victory via stoppage when referee Kenny Bayless decided Miguel Cotto could take no more.
The Filipino was clearly on his way to a dominant win but I don't agree with the stoppage. Cotto wasn't in danger of being knocked out and could've continued on to finish the final two minutes.
I see Vegas wielded its power and influence yet again.
They got one albeit under controversial fashion.
Manny Pacquiao scored a 12th round TKO victory via stoppage when referee Kenny Bayless decided Miguel Cotto could take no more.
The Filipino was clearly on his way to a dominant win but I don't agree with the stoppage. Cotto wasn't in danger of being knocked out and could've continued on to finish the final two minutes.
I see Vegas wielded its power and influence yet again.
Value play in Pacquiao-Cotto
Value is definitely with Miguel Cotto at +280. Pacquiao, the heavy favorite, is expected to win this one but risking -400 is just not the smartest bet.
For Pacquiao backers, a KO win might be the best value play at -170 since everybody expects him to knockout the Puerto Rican.
The rest of the lines:
Over 9.5 rounds: +120
Under 9.5 rounds: -160
Pacquiao by KO: -170
Pacquiao by decision: +320
Cotto by KO: +320
Cotto by decision: +680
Draw: +1800
For Pacquiao backers, a KO win might be the best value play at -170 since everybody expects him to knockout the Puerto Rican.
The rest of the lines:
Over 9.5 rounds: +120
Under 9.5 rounds: -160
Pacquiao by KO: -170
Pacquiao by decision: +320
Cotto by KO: +320
Cotto by decision: +680
Draw: +1800
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Worshipping Pacquiao
I'm annoyed at all Filipinos who root for Manny Pacquiao just because he's Filipino. They're all saying he'll beat the shit out of Miguel Cotto.
Yes, it's indeed possible. However, true fight fans know the Puerto Rican has more than a puncher's chance.
People, especially Pinoys, need to step their horrendous boxing game up.
Yes, it's indeed possible. However, true fight fans know the Puerto Rican has more than a puncher's chance.
People, especially Pinoys, need to step their horrendous boxing game up.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Son of a gun
Who in their fuckin' right mind would name their kid Sig Sauer? What's next? Heckler & Koch? Kalashnikov?
The Chinese really have a way with atrocious names.
The Chinese really have a way with atrocious names.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
No to Noynoy
Noynoy Aquino has laughable, if not useless nor negligible, accomplishments as a member of both Senate and the House of Representatives.
If it weren't for his national hero father and her ex-president mother, he'd be non-existent. Throw in that publicity-deprived-and seeking psycho sister of his and all of a sudden, he's being annointed as the next great hope of the country.
Seriously. If he wins in 2010, all signs point to him being the next Erap.
If it weren't for his national hero father and her ex-president mother, he'd be non-existent. Throw in that publicity-deprived-and seeking psycho sister of his and all of a sudden, he's being annointed as the next great hope of the country.
Seriously. If he wins in 2010, all signs point to him being the next Erap.
Friday, November 06, 2009
The Empire Strikes Back
After nine long years, an eternity for the Yankees and their fans, the World Series trophy is back in the Bronx.
With their all-world roster mostly intact for the coming years, best believe they'll be winning more.
Do I hear number 28 next year?
Core four: since 1996
Mr. Kate Hudson & Mr. Minka Kelly
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Number 27
Ladies and gentlemen, your 2009 World Series Champions:
The New York Yankees.
*Bumps Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind"*
The New York Yankees.
*Bumps Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind"*
V for Visitors
V is back.
I loved watching the original V series when I was a kid. I'm stoked they're doing a modern remake.
Since it was definitely one of my favorites television shows during the 1980's, I can't wait to see how the 2009 version fares.
The lady is a tramp
If she dresses like a slut, don't approach her like a gentleman.
If she acts like a slut, don't treat her like a gentleman.
If she acts like a slut, don't treat her like a gentleman.
Machine does Maria
Los Angeles Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic, aka "The Machine," has finally done something right or worth applauding.
If reports are true, the Slovenian basketball player is currently dating Russian tennis superstar Maria Sharapova.
If reports are true, the Slovenian basketball player is currently dating Russian tennis superstar Maria Sharapova.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Fil-Ams in the US big leagues
I just found out that Texans RB Steve Slaton is Filipino-American. His maternal grandmother is pure Filipina.
Other popular Filipino-Americans currently playing in the major US professional leagues are:
Chris Gocong, Philadelphia Eagles LB (NFL)
Eugene Amano, Tennessee Titans OL (NFL)
Jason Bartlett, Tampa Bay Rays SS (MLB)
Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants SP (MLB)
The recently-retired Tedy Bruschi of the New England Patriots is perhaps the most successful Filipino-American in US professional sports having been a vital cog during the Patriots' three Super Bowl championships in the mid-2000's.
Other popular Filipino-Americans currently playing in the major US professional leagues are:
Chris Gocong, Philadelphia Eagles LB (NFL)
Eugene Amano, Tennessee Titans OL (NFL)
Jason Bartlett, Tampa Bay Rays SS (MLB)
Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants SP (MLB)
The recently-retired Tedy Bruschi of the New England Patriots is perhaps the most successful Filipino-American in US professional sports having been a vital cog during the Patriots' three Super Bowl championships in the mid-2000's.
Blair Witch Project
About 12-15 years from now, there will be a ton of teenage girls roaming around the world named Blair and blame it all on Gossip Girl.
How messed up can the world be?
SMFH.
How messed up can the world be?
SMFH.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
All Saints' Day
I still don't get why most people visit their dead relatives every November 1st. Since when did their dead become saints?
SMFH.
SMFH.
Gridiron Bomb Squad
Ready to blow up.
Nike should add Colston, Roddy, Miles and DeSean to the squad too.
Nike should add Colston, Roddy, Miles and DeSean to the squad too.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Stern allegations
Click the link for excerpts from convicted felon and former NBA referee Tim Donaghy's unpublished book, "Blowing the Whistle."
These may not all be factual but I'm sure there's some truth to at least half of what he's saying.
Yes, to some extent, I believe the NBA is fixed.
These may not all be factual but I'm sure there's some truth to at least half of what he's saying.
Yes, to some extent, I believe the NBA is fixed.
The Tiger Woods of Poker
What an absolutely awesome read. This is the life I want.
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4 days, 3 nights and $1 million
Spend some time with the world's best poker player
By Chad Millman
ESPN The Magazine
This article appears in the Nov. 2 issue of ESPN The Magazine
Phil Ivey is the best poker player in the world. This is a statement of fact, undisputed by anyone who would be considered the best poker player in the world if not for Phil Ivey. And poker players -- at least the best of them -- credit their success to an ability to live in the moment. What is the one move that this situation demands? Call. Check. Raise. Fold. They do not, cannot, consider the stakes or the consequences. The best poker move is the best poker move, and each decision reveals a truth about the player who makes it. "That's why this is the greatest game," Ivey says. "Every day that I play, I learn -- about it and myself."
Given that poker players live in the moment, and given that the 32-year-old Ivey is the best player in the world, the following statement should also be true: Phil Ivey is as good as anyone at living in the moment.
I set out to prove it.
The Mag asked me to peek into Ivey's life in advance of his sitting at the final table of the World Series of Poker, beginning Nov. 7. And on Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 5 p.m. I got a call from Phil's manager, Chris "Gotti" Lorenzo, better known as the co-founder, with brother Irv, of hip-hop label The Inc. "Tomorrow, Phil is taking his jet from Los Angeles to Connecticut, then to Montreal and Austria, to do some gambling," Lorenzo told me. "Shoot me your passport number if you can go."
I did.
Sept. 9, 8:35 p.m., Grand Pequot Tower at Foxwoods Casino, Mashantucket, Conn.
Yes, Phil Ivey is a poker pro, but to call him that limits the scope of his game. It's like saying Jay-Z is just a rapper. Ivey is an all-around player, a man with the need and nerve to wager obscene amounts on poker, pro and college sports, craps or his own golf game. The kind of guy whose rep precedes him wherever he goes.
"Who wants their kid to be a gambler?" says Ivey's mom, Pamela. "Only sin can come from living your life in a casino."
As soon as he learned Ivey was headed his way, Allen Samuels, a Foxwoods exec whose job it is to keep the "whales" happy, set about preparing the Grand Pequot's two-story Mashantucket Suite. A butler cracked a lobster and splayed it onto a silver platter beside bushels of grapes. A fireplace was lit. Enough flowers to tip a luggage cart arrived. "You cannot pay to stay here," Samuels explains. "It is reserved for our most special customers."
Like Ivey. At 8:35, his Foxwoods-provided limo pulls up to the hotel. Three bellhops, a butler and Samuels stand sentry, hands clasped in front of them, smiles on their faces. I will soon know that this happens a lot when Ivey arrives at a casino. Samuels shakes his hand and says, "We have a spot ready."
"Let's go," Ivey says.
Wherever he goes, Ivey counts on his manager, Lorenzo (far right), and his pack of friends to ground him. He isn't here to play poker. This is the start of what Lorenzo is calling a dice tour, craps. High rollers don't gamble on the main casino floor. They work in private rooms, away from the squares and lowball players. So Ivey ambles toward the elevator. He is close to 6'3" and moves slowly, with a bit of a strut. In his gambling suite, a craps table is manned by a stickman who controls the dice, a couple of dealers who will handle the chips and a supervisor. I follow Ivey, along with Lorenzo and two TV producers for E:60. "Does anyone want wine?" Ivey asks. Then, to the butler, "Please bring the best bottle in the house," as he unleashes a cheeky smile.
The room settles. Ivey palms a pair of dice and casually tosses them like horseshoes in high, looping arcs. They tumble onto the table. The game has begun.
Here is how this scene plays out in the movies: A suave gentleman in a tux leans on the bumper of a table, chips pile higher, glamorous women swoon, onlookers scream, drinks spill. The excitement is palpable as the casino breaks.
Here is how it goes in real life: silence, as if the game had broken out in a library. Chips clink, dice softly hit the felt, the stickman announces the point rolled, and everyone keeps very still. "This is serious," Lorenzo had warned earlier. "It's real money."
Yes, it is. Ivey throws a six and puts $50,000 on six. He rolls a nine and bets $40,000 on nine. Then he rolls a seven, and the chips disappear. Lorenzo takes a turn. He throws a nine. Ivey puts $40,000 on that number. A four: $30,000 on four. A six: $50,000 on six. Nine. Ivey gets paid. Four. Ivey gets paid. Seven. The chips disappear. And on it goes. He wins, he wins, he loses.
The Breakdown: Phil Ivey The best player in the world has made it to the final table of the biggest tournament in the world. Will Phil Ivey be able to take his seventh-place chip stack and turn it into a WSOP bracelet?
Key stats:Age: 32
Current position: 7th
Chip count: $9.76 million
Tournament winnings: $12,096,302
WSOP bracelets: 7
WSOP cashes: 36
Ivey's pile grows slowly, but win or lose, his expression is unchanged, a warmer version of suspended animation. Away from the table, his default tone is sarcasm, followed by a quick, broad grin to let you know he's kidding. He likes ripping friends. He likes getting ripped. But his game face lacks any invitation for analysis. Move along, it says. Nothing to see here. It is a handy trait for a poker player.
The dice, though, are not so easily psyched out. After 25 minutes, Ivey rolls another seven and craps out. "That's it," he says. "Let's go." It's 9:05. Ivey is up $185,000. As he leaves, the butler finally returns with the wine, a 1986 Chateau Latour. Cost: $2,100. We get it to go.
Sept. 9, 11:45 p.m., Groton-New London Airport, Groton, Conn.
Apparently, flying from Vegas to Los Angeles to Connecticut before submitting a flight plan for Canada in a 36-hour span raises certain red flags. Which is why, at the moment, rather than jetting off for Montreal, we are grounded. Our bags are being searched, and we're being questioned in a hangar filled with Gulfstreams. As a customs agent checks my toiletries, I hear another one ask Ivey, "Have you ever been to Morocco?"
"Huh?" Ivey asks
In fact, poker has taken Ivey to places he never dreamed of when he was growing up in northern New Jersey. His grandfather Bud, who lived in the same house, taught him the game. "I'd beg him," Ivey says. "He'd cheat to beat me because he didn't want to encourage me."
Ivey was so competitive that he'd get mad when friends beat him out of 100-penny pots. Shortly after he graduated from high school, he told his parents -- mom Pamela, who worked in an insurance office and now lives in Vegas; and dad Phil Sr., a construction worker who passed away in 2005 -- that he wanted to be a professional poker player. Naturally, they blanched. "Who wants their kid to be a gambler?" says his mom. "Only sin can come from living your life in a casino."
His folks saw the potential for loss where he saw opportunity. And for a while, they were right. At 19, Ivey moved out and took a job as a telemarketer. Every weekend, carrying a fake ID with the name "Jerome," he took a bus two hours south down the Garden State Parkway to Atlantic City, to blow his paycheck at the Tropicana poker tables. He spent so much time at the Trop -- 18 hours a day -- that the dealers began to call him No Home Jerome. When he went broke and missed the last bus home, he'd sleep under the boardwalk. That is the cycle his parents worried about, the one they feared would eventually lead him back home, busted and lost. To them, the game never led to where Ivey is now: waiting in a small airport for his Gulfstream to be cleared for takeoff.
The airport manager approaches, carrying a poker magazine with Ivey on the cover. "I guess they don't know you," he says. "Would you mind signing?" Ivey cheerfully grabs a pen and signs. And two hours later, when our plane is finally freed, he pulls $1,000 from his pocket, hands it to Lorenzo and says, "Can you give this to the manager? I feel bad he had to stay open so late."
Phil Ivey knows what it's like to work.
Sept. 10, 12:30 p.m., Casino de Montréal
"Hi, this is Phil Ivey," he says into his phone, from the back of a limo sent by Casino de Montréal. "I need you to transfer $1 million from my account, please."
There is no self-consciousness, no hint of understanding that the rest of the world doesn't make requests like this. "I know it's a lot of money, but I like to gamble," Ivey says. "It's just in me. I try to manage what I do playing craps or blackjack. At the end of the year, I don't want the amount I gamble there to be bigger than what I win playing poker."
Ivey doesn't classify himself as a numbers guy: "At the level I play, it becomes more psychological than mathematical."
Ivey is wealthy, which has always been a career goal. When he told his parents about his poker aspirations, he added that he didn't want to be a stiff working 40 hours a week. He wanted to be rich. And he is. Rich enough to drive an SLR McLaren ($500K) and a Rolls-Royce Phantom ($400K) and live with his wife, Luciaetta, in a big house on a Las Vegas golf course. Rich enough to fly private. Rich enough to put his sister through grad school and law school. Rich enough to, on a whim at a charity auction in DC, offer round-trip airfare for two to Vegas, five nights in a suite at the Bellagio and a $5,000 shopping spree to the highest bidder. Rich enough that his eyes widen when I ask him about his wealth. All he says is, "I pay a lot in taxes."
And rich enough that he is escorted to a back room at the Casino de Montréal, where a craps table, with a plaque engraved with his name on top of it, awaits. The casino paid $40,000 to have the table custom-made, just for him.
Ivey writes a $1 million check and is handed a heaping pile of chips and a pair of dice. Ivey's toss flies high, nearly touching the dove's wings on the ceiling fresco. He wins, he loses. After just a few minutes, he's down $360,000. The room is still.
Lorenzo takes over. He rolls a four. Ivey puts $30,000 on four. He rolls an eight. Ivey puts down $50,000 on eight. Nine: $40,000 on nine. Four. Winner. Six: $50,000. Nine. Winner. Eight. Winner. It's a real live run. Ivey is getting paid in multiples of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The dealer can't count fast enough. I can barely follow the action. If we were on the floor, gamblers would be rushing the table. Here, only the stickman speaks. When Lorenzo finally loses, Ivey has $2.5 million in chips. After paying off his marker, he's up $1.5M. He's been gambling for 20 minutes.
And then he asks me if I want to roll. I don't, but before I can decline Lorenzo moves from his spot and the stickman pushes me the ruby-red dice. I try to look relaxed, but I'm so tight I can hardly bend my waist. I roll a six. Ivey puts down $50,000 on six. I roll a nine. He bets another $40,000 on that. Eight: $50,000. Five: $40,000. Four: $30,000. Ten: $30,000. There's $240,000 of his chips covering the numbers. I'm feeling better. I haven't cost him. Then again, I haven't paid him yet, either. The next roll is for the money. Or I can lose it all.
I roll a seven. Busted. "Man," Ivey mumbles, tapping the table. "I knew you were unlucky." As the chips are cleared, I want to click my heels and disappear too. After my roll, Ivey takes a turn and loses. Lorenzo does the same. I've killed the moment. I am the freaking Cooler. "That's it," Ivey says. "Let's go." He's up $752,000.
"Not bad," Lorenzo says on our way out. "That's nearly a million bucks in less than 24 hours."
Sept. 10, 4:13 p.m., rue de la Montagne, Montreal
"I've got an idea," Ivey says in the limo, the one headed to the airport and a flight to Salzburg, Austria. "Let's go to Amsterdam." He picks up his phone. "Hi, it's Phil. We're supposed to be going to Austria, but could we go to Amsterdam instead?" He is talking to whomever manages the plane. "Our options are where? Dublin? London? Oh, and Amsterdam? Great. Thanks."
There are seven of us in the car. "Let's vote," Ivey says. He opts for Dublin because he's never been. So do two others. But four of us stay strong for Amsterdam. "Okay," he says. "Democracy wins."
He redials. "We'll stop in Amsterdam. Thanks."
When he hangs up, I ask, "How did you know I was unlucky?"
"I could see it," he says. "You looked tense."
Ivey sees tics and tells the rest of us don't. This is one of his gifts. When he sits at the table unsmiling, headphones over his ears, he's like a cyborg computing the vulnerabilities of his opponents. While some poker pros calculate the odds of hands, Ivey doesn't classify himself as a numbers guy. "At the level I play, it becomes more psychological than mathematical," he says. "You really have to get in your opponents' heads and figure out what they're trying to do to you in pots and what they're saying and why, what is the meaning behind it all."
He thinks about everything and gives away nothing. "You don't gamble much," he says to me during the ride.
"Not in casinos," I say. "I'm afraid to lose."
"But," he says, "you could win."
Art StreiberBetween building a stack to $750K and greeting the masses at a fanfest, a man needs a soft spot to crash. Ivey believes in luck, the mysticism of dice and cards, and the karma of the person throwing or playing them. At Foxwoods, I asked Ivey why he'd walked away from the table after only 20 minutes, even though he was up nearly 200 grand. "I see what the dice are going to do," he said. "It's a feeling I believe in. Is that sick?"
No, not really. Ivey is a gambler, and gamblers are as tied to cosmic forces as astronauts are. But his faith in the stars fades when it comes to poker, which he contends is not a game of chance at all. And he may be right. Last spring, two researchers from the University of Hamburg published a paper that backs him up. Ingo Fiedler and Jan-Philipp Rock studied millions of online hands of no-limit Texas hold 'em played by 51,761 players. They found that the results of an average player who's a heavy loser fail to improve after 1,000 hands, due to a lack of skill rather than the randomness of the deal. The ability to learn, not the cards, makes the player. "The question is not whether [this] is a game of skill or chance," the researchers concluded, "but when it does become a game of skill."
Ivey's biggest challenge to his bankroll, then, will never be bad luck. It will be the kid who's online 18 hours a day, playing hand after hand after hand, working to be the next Phil Ivey.
Sept. 11, 8:22 a.m., Spuistraat, Amsterdam
After an overnight flight, Ivey and I walk along Amsterdam's cobblestoned alleys. It's a cool morning. Swarms of bundled cyclists pedal by.
Ivey has never publicly discussed the Internet tales about how he lives -- and how he gambles -- that have led to his cult status among a certain group of fans. To him, time spent working has a precise value, not just in money earned but in progress made. But now that he's made the WSOP's final table, Lorenzo has pushed him to pull back the curtain a bit. He's an A-list celeb among A-list celebs, texting with Michael Phelps about attending DC charity events, going backstage with Jay-Z, golfing with Michael Jordan. He's finding that it's not easy to be a private man anymore. "I don't know if you can be a celebrity and the world's best player," says Ivey's pal, poker vet Howard Lederer.
Ivey wants to know how doing interviews in this moment will help him play better poker in the moments that really matter. And the fact that he's spent more time buying in than selling out is why he's well liked by his peers despite his being the stone-cold face of the game. "He is a poker player's poker player, and he's the best in the world," says Lederer. "The debate is over. This is a combat sport; to win you have to inflict pain. And Phil has a desperate need to be the best, combined with a tremendous fearlessness. You can't hurt him."
Ivey's office is wired so that he doesn't have to go far to find the action. In 2000, when he was 23, Ivey won his first WSOP bracelet in one of the 23 tournaments before the Main Event. In 2002, he won three more. In 2003, he finished 10th in the Main Event. In 2005, he snagged another bracelet. This past year he earned two more, giving him seven total, the sixth most all-time. And when the final table begins, despite the fact that he'll have just the seventh highest chip total out of nine players, he's still being touted as one of the favorites to win it all. "Everyone dreams of winning the Main Event; anyone who plays poker and tells you differently is lying," says Ivey. "It would by far be my biggest accomplishment in poker."
But his real money is won in the straight cash games he plays on the side. In 2006, billionaire Andy Beal, a mathematical whiz, challenged a group of poker players known as the Corporation to a series of heads-up Texas hold 'em matches. A team of about 15 poker legends took turns facing Beal one-on-one and found themselves in a $10 million hole. Then Ivey sat down. Over three days, he won $16,600,000 from Beal, who quit the match and walked away from poker entirely. Ivey has hardly stopped making bank. Last year, he reportedly won more than $7 million online. And while he has already won $1.2 million for making the final table -- and stands to earn $8 million more if he wins it all -- he's made side bets worth another $4 million with people who doubt him. And that is Ivey at his core: He wants the money. But he also wants those he's taking it from to feel it burn.
Sept. 11, 12:30 p.m., Prins Hendrikkade, Amsterdam
Phil: "Do you feel bad losing me $240,000?"
Me: "I do, I really do."
Phil: "I believe you."
Sept. 12, 2:58 p.m., Salzburg Arena
A dozen of the planet's top poker players stand single file behind a curtain on the second floor of the arena, waiting for a fan meet and greet sponsored by Full Tilt, the online poker site. A smoke machine shoots a gauzy haze as a spotlight shines. Synthesized versions of classical music blare from the speakers. It feels like the beginning of a UFC fight. "I really like your theme song," I tell Ivey. He stares me down, then smiles real big. One by one the players are introduced, and they walk through the smoke to the cheers of 5,000 fans. Ivey's name is called last.
Fans surround the stage, snapping pics on cell phones. During our walk in Amsterdam, Ivey had said he felt as if the E:60 cameras were "stealing his soul." He was half-joking. Now, thousands of camera phones are finishing the job.
After a brief Q&A with all 12 pros, Ivey is one of four asked to stay for an autograph session. A fan tells him about a French website on which fans have Photoshopped his face into different scenes of their lives. This is his world now. As the session ends, a fan screams, "Phil Ivey is king!"
The king, though, is already headed for the door. His plane is waiting to take him to Munich for a high-stakes poker game. Wheels-up is 7:20; flight time is 17 minutes.
There's not a moment to lose.
Chad Millman is a senior deputy editor at ESPN The Magazine.
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4 days, 3 nights and $1 million
Spend some time with the world's best poker player
By Chad Millman
ESPN The Magazine
This article appears in the Nov. 2 issue of ESPN The Magazine
Phil Ivey is the best poker player in the world. This is a statement of fact, undisputed by anyone who would be considered the best poker player in the world if not for Phil Ivey. And poker players -- at least the best of them -- credit their success to an ability to live in the moment. What is the one move that this situation demands? Call. Check. Raise. Fold. They do not, cannot, consider the stakes or the consequences. The best poker move is the best poker move, and each decision reveals a truth about the player who makes it. "That's why this is the greatest game," Ivey says. "Every day that I play, I learn -- about it and myself."
Given that poker players live in the moment, and given that the 32-year-old Ivey is the best player in the world, the following statement should also be true: Phil Ivey is as good as anyone at living in the moment.
I set out to prove it.
The Mag asked me to peek into Ivey's life in advance of his sitting at the final table of the World Series of Poker, beginning Nov. 7. And on Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 5 p.m. I got a call from Phil's manager, Chris "Gotti" Lorenzo, better known as the co-founder, with brother Irv, of hip-hop label The Inc. "Tomorrow, Phil is taking his jet from Los Angeles to Connecticut, then to Montreal and Austria, to do some gambling," Lorenzo told me. "Shoot me your passport number if you can go."
I did.
Sept. 9, 8:35 p.m., Grand Pequot Tower at Foxwoods Casino, Mashantucket, Conn.
Yes, Phil Ivey is a poker pro, but to call him that limits the scope of his game. It's like saying Jay-Z is just a rapper. Ivey is an all-around player, a man with the need and nerve to wager obscene amounts on poker, pro and college sports, craps or his own golf game. The kind of guy whose rep precedes him wherever he goes.
"Who wants their kid to be a gambler?" says Ivey's mom, Pamela. "Only sin can come from living your life in a casino."
As soon as he learned Ivey was headed his way, Allen Samuels, a Foxwoods exec whose job it is to keep the "whales" happy, set about preparing the Grand Pequot's two-story Mashantucket Suite. A butler cracked a lobster and splayed it onto a silver platter beside bushels of grapes. A fireplace was lit. Enough flowers to tip a luggage cart arrived. "You cannot pay to stay here," Samuels explains. "It is reserved for our most special customers."
Like Ivey. At 8:35, his Foxwoods-provided limo pulls up to the hotel. Three bellhops, a butler and Samuels stand sentry, hands clasped in front of them, smiles on their faces. I will soon know that this happens a lot when Ivey arrives at a casino. Samuels shakes his hand and says, "We have a spot ready."
"Let's go," Ivey says.
Wherever he goes, Ivey counts on his manager, Lorenzo (far right), and his pack of friends to ground him. He isn't here to play poker. This is the start of what Lorenzo is calling a dice tour, craps. High rollers don't gamble on the main casino floor. They work in private rooms, away from the squares and lowball players. So Ivey ambles toward the elevator. He is close to 6'3" and moves slowly, with a bit of a strut. In his gambling suite, a craps table is manned by a stickman who controls the dice, a couple of dealers who will handle the chips and a supervisor. I follow Ivey, along with Lorenzo and two TV producers for E:60. "Does anyone want wine?" Ivey asks. Then, to the butler, "Please bring the best bottle in the house," as he unleashes a cheeky smile.
The room settles. Ivey palms a pair of dice and casually tosses them like horseshoes in high, looping arcs. They tumble onto the table. The game has begun.
Here is how this scene plays out in the movies: A suave gentleman in a tux leans on the bumper of a table, chips pile higher, glamorous women swoon, onlookers scream, drinks spill. The excitement is palpable as the casino breaks.
Here is how it goes in real life: silence, as if the game had broken out in a library. Chips clink, dice softly hit the felt, the stickman announces the point rolled, and everyone keeps very still. "This is serious," Lorenzo had warned earlier. "It's real money."
Yes, it is. Ivey throws a six and puts $50,000 on six. He rolls a nine and bets $40,000 on nine. Then he rolls a seven, and the chips disappear. Lorenzo takes a turn. He throws a nine. Ivey puts $40,000 on that number. A four: $30,000 on four. A six: $50,000 on six. Nine. Ivey gets paid. Four. Ivey gets paid. Seven. The chips disappear. And on it goes. He wins, he wins, he loses.
The Breakdown: Phil Ivey The best player in the world has made it to the final table of the biggest tournament in the world. Will Phil Ivey be able to take his seventh-place chip stack and turn it into a WSOP bracelet?
Key stats:Age: 32
Current position: 7th
Chip count: $9.76 million
Tournament winnings: $12,096,302
WSOP bracelets: 7
WSOP cashes: 36
Ivey's pile grows slowly, but win or lose, his expression is unchanged, a warmer version of suspended animation. Away from the table, his default tone is sarcasm, followed by a quick, broad grin to let you know he's kidding. He likes ripping friends. He likes getting ripped. But his game face lacks any invitation for analysis. Move along, it says. Nothing to see here. It is a handy trait for a poker player.
The dice, though, are not so easily psyched out. After 25 minutes, Ivey rolls another seven and craps out. "That's it," he says. "Let's go." It's 9:05. Ivey is up $185,000. As he leaves, the butler finally returns with the wine, a 1986 Chateau Latour. Cost: $2,100. We get it to go.
Sept. 9, 11:45 p.m., Groton-New London Airport, Groton, Conn.
Apparently, flying from Vegas to Los Angeles to Connecticut before submitting a flight plan for Canada in a 36-hour span raises certain red flags. Which is why, at the moment, rather than jetting off for Montreal, we are grounded. Our bags are being searched, and we're being questioned in a hangar filled with Gulfstreams. As a customs agent checks my toiletries, I hear another one ask Ivey, "Have you ever been to Morocco?"
"Huh?" Ivey asks
In fact, poker has taken Ivey to places he never dreamed of when he was growing up in northern New Jersey. His grandfather Bud, who lived in the same house, taught him the game. "I'd beg him," Ivey says. "He'd cheat to beat me because he didn't want to encourage me."
Ivey was so competitive that he'd get mad when friends beat him out of 100-penny pots. Shortly after he graduated from high school, he told his parents -- mom Pamela, who worked in an insurance office and now lives in Vegas; and dad Phil Sr., a construction worker who passed away in 2005 -- that he wanted to be a professional poker player. Naturally, they blanched. "Who wants their kid to be a gambler?" says his mom. "Only sin can come from living your life in a casino."
His folks saw the potential for loss where he saw opportunity. And for a while, they were right. At 19, Ivey moved out and took a job as a telemarketer. Every weekend, carrying a fake ID with the name "Jerome," he took a bus two hours south down the Garden State Parkway to Atlantic City, to blow his paycheck at the Tropicana poker tables. He spent so much time at the Trop -- 18 hours a day -- that the dealers began to call him No Home Jerome. When he went broke and missed the last bus home, he'd sleep under the boardwalk. That is the cycle his parents worried about, the one they feared would eventually lead him back home, busted and lost. To them, the game never led to where Ivey is now: waiting in a small airport for his Gulfstream to be cleared for takeoff.
The airport manager approaches, carrying a poker magazine with Ivey on the cover. "I guess they don't know you," he says. "Would you mind signing?" Ivey cheerfully grabs a pen and signs. And two hours later, when our plane is finally freed, he pulls $1,000 from his pocket, hands it to Lorenzo and says, "Can you give this to the manager? I feel bad he had to stay open so late."
Phil Ivey knows what it's like to work.
Sept. 10, 12:30 p.m., Casino de Montréal
"Hi, this is Phil Ivey," he says into his phone, from the back of a limo sent by Casino de Montréal. "I need you to transfer $1 million from my account, please."
There is no self-consciousness, no hint of understanding that the rest of the world doesn't make requests like this. "I know it's a lot of money, but I like to gamble," Ivey says. "It's just in me. I try to manage what I do playing craps or blackjack. At the end of the year, I don't want the amount I gamble there to be bigger than what I win playing poker."
Ivey doesn't classify himself as a numbers guy: "At the level I play, it becomes more psychological than mathematical."
Ivey is wealthy, which has always been a career goal. When he told his parents about his poker aspirations, he added that he didn't want to be a stiff working 40 hours a week. He wanted to be rich. And he is. Rich enough to drive an SLR McLaren ($500K) and a Rolls-Royce Phantom ($400K) and live with his wife, Luciaetta, in a big house on a Las Vegas golf course. Rich enough to fly private. Rich enough to put his sister through grad school and law school. Rich enough to, on a whim at a charity auction in DC, offer round-trip airfare for two to Vegas, five nights in a suite at the Bellagio and a $5,000 shopping spree to the highest bidder. Rich enough that his eyes widen when I ask him about his wealth. All he says is, "I pay a lot in taxes."
And rich enough that he is escorted to a back room at the Casino de Montréal, where a craps table, with a plaque engraved with his name on top of it, awaits. The casino paid $40,000 to have the table custom-made, just for him.
Ivey writes a $1 million check and is handed a heaping pile of chips and a pair of dice. Ivey's toss flies high, nearly touching the dove's wings on the ceiling fresco. He wins, he loses. After just a few minutes, he's down $360,000. The room is still.
Lorenzo takes over. He rolls a four. Ivey puts $30,000 on four. He rolls an eight. Ivey puts down $50,000 on eight. Nine: $40,000 on nine. Four. Winner. Six: $50,000. Nine. Winner. Eight. Winner. It's a real live run. Ivey is getting paid in multiples of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The dealer can't count fast enough. I can barely follow the action. If we were on the floor, gamblers would be rushing the table. Here, only the stickman speaks. When Lorenzo finally loses, Ivey has $2.5 million in chips. After paying off his marker, he's up $1.5M. He's been gambling for 20 minutes.
And then he asks me if I want to roll. I don't, but before I can decline Lorenzo moves from his spot and the stickman pushes me the ruby-red dice. I try to look relaxed, but I'm so tight I can hardly bend my waist. I roll a six. Ivey puts down $50,000 on six. I roll a nine. He bets another $40,000 on that. Eight: $50,000. Five: $40,000. Four: $30,000. Ten: $30,000. There's $240,000 of his chips covering the numbers. I'm feeling better. I haven't cost him. Then again, I haven't paid him yet, either. The next roll is for the money. Or I can lose it all.
I roll a seven. Busted. "Man," Ivey mumbles, tapping the table. "I knew you were unlucky." As the chips are cleared, I want to click my heels and disappear too. After my roll, Ivey takes a turn and loses. Lorenzo does the same. I've killed the moment. I am the freaking Cooler. "That's it," Ivey says. "Let's go." He's up $752,000.
"Not bad," Lorenzo says on our way out. "That's nearly a million bucks in less than 24 hours."
Sept. 10, 4:13 p.m., rue de la Montagne, Montreal
"I've got an idea," Ivey says in the limo, the one headed to the airport and a flight to Salzburg, Austria. "Let's go to Amsterdam." He picks up his phone. "Hi, it's Phil. We're supposed to be going to Austria, but could we go to Amsterdam instead?" He is talking to whomever manages the plane. "Our options are where? Dublin? London? Oh, and Amsterdam? Great. Thanks."
There are seven of us in the car. "Let's vote," Ivey says. He opts for Dublin because he's never been. So do two others. But four of us stay strong for Amsterdam. "Okay," he says. "Democracy wins."
He redials. "We'll stop in Amsterdam. Thanks."
When he hangs up, I ask, "How did you know I was unlucky?"
"I could see it," he says. "You looked tense."
Ivey sees tics and tells the rest of us don't. This is one of his gifts. When he sits at the table unsmiling, headphones over his ears, he's like a cyborg computing the vulnerabilities of his opponents. While some poker pros calculate the odds of hands, Ivey doesn't classify himself as a numbers guy. "At the level I play, it becomes more psychological than mathematical," he says. "You really have to get in your opponents' heads and figure out what they're trying to do to you in pots and what they're saying and why, what is the meaning behind it all."
He thinks about everything and gives away nothing. "You don't gamble much," he says to me during the ride.
"Not in casinos," I say. "I'm afraid to lose."
"But," he says, "you could win."
Art StreiberBetween building a stack to $750K and greeting the masses at a fanfest, a man needs a soft spot to crash. Ivey believes in luck, the mysticism of dice and cards, and the karma of the person throwing or playing them. At Foxwoods, I asked Ivey why he'd walked away from the table after only 20 minutes, even though he was up nearly 200 grand. "I see what the dice are going to do," he said. "It's a feeling I believe in. Is that sick?"
No, not really. Ivey is a gambler, and gamblers are as tied to cosmic forces as astronauts are. But his faith in the stars fades when it comes to poker, which he contends is not a game of chance at all. And he may be right. Last spring, two researchers from the University of Hamburg published a paper that backs him up. Ingo Fiedler and Jan-Philipp Rock studied millions of online hands of no-limit Texas hold 'em played by 51,761 players. They found that the results of an average player who's a heavy loser fail to improve after 1,000 hands, due to a lack of skill rather than the randomness of the deal. The ability to learn, not the cards, makes the player. "The question is not whether [this] is a game of skill or chance," the researchers concluded, "but when it does become a game of skill."
Ivey's biggest challenge to his bankroll, then, will never be bad luck. It will be the kid who's online 18 hours a day, playing hand after hand after hand, working to be the next Phil Ivey.
Sept. 11, 8:22 a.m., Spuistraat, Amsterdam
After an overnight flight, Ivey and I walk along Amsterdam's cobblestoned alleys. It's a cool morning. Swarms of bundled cyclists pedal by.
Ivey has never publicly discussed the Internet tales about how he lives -- and how he gambles -- that have led to his cult status among a certain group of fans. To him, time spent working has a precise value, not just in money earned but in progress made. But now that he's made the WSOP's final table, Lorenzo has pushed him to pull back the curtain a bit. He's an A-list celeb among A-list celebs, texting with Michael Phelps about attending DC charity events, going backstage with Jay-Z, golfing with Michael Jordan. He's finding that it's not easy to be a private man anymore. "I don't know if you can be a celebrity and the world's best player," says Ivey's pal, poker vet Howard Lederer.
Ivey wants to know how doing interviews in this moment will help him play better poker in the moments that really matter. And the fact that he's spent more time buying in than selling out is why he's well liked by his peers despite his being the stone-cold face of the game. "He is a poker player's poker player, and he's the best in the world," says Lederer. "The debate is over. This is a combat sport; to win you have to inflict pain. And Phil has a desperate need to be the best, combined with a tremendous fearlessness. You can't hurt him."
Ivey's office is wired so that he doesn't have to go far to find the action. In 2000, when he was 23, Ivey won his first WSOP bracelet in one of the 23 tournaments before the Main Event. In 2002, he won three more. In 2003, he finished 10th in the Main Event. In 2005, he snagged another bracelet. This past year he earned two more, giving him seven total, the sixth most all-time. And when the final table begins, despite the fact that he'll have just the seventh highest chip total out of nine players, he's still being touted as one of the favorites to win it all. "Everyone dreams of winning the Main Event; anyone who plays poker and tells you differently is lying," says Ivey. "It would by far be my biggest accomplishment in poker."
But his real money is won in the straight cash games he plays on the side. In 2006, billionaire Andy Beal, a mathematical whiz, challenged a group of poker players known as the Corporation to a series of heads-up Texas hold 'em matches. A team of about 15 poker legends took turns facing Beal one-on-one and found themselves in a $10 million hole. Then Ivey sat down. Over three days, he won $16,600,000 from Beal, who quit the match and walked away from poker entirely. Ivey has hardly stopped making bank. Last year, he reportedly won more than $7 million online. And while he has already won $1.2 million for making the final table -- and stands to earn $8 million more if he wins it all -- he's made side bets worth another $4 million with people who doubt him. And that is Ivey at his core: He wants the money. But he also wants those he's taking it from to feel it burn.
Sept. 11, 12:30 p.m., Prins Hendrikkade, Amsterdam
Phil: "Do you feel bad losing me $240,000?"
Me: "I do, I really do."
Phil: "I believe you."
Sept. 12, 2:58 p.m., Salzburg Arena
A dozen of the planet's top poker players stand single file behind a curtain on the second floor of the arena, waiting for a fan meet and greet sponsored by Full Tilt, the online poker site. A smoke machine shoots a gauzy haze as a spotlight shines. Synthesized versions of classical music blare from the speakers. It feels like the beginning of a UFC fight. "I really like your theme song," I tell Ivey. He stares me down, then smiles real big. One by one the players are introduced, and they walk through the smoke to the cheers of 5,000 fans. Ivey's name is called last.
Fans surround the stage, snapping pics on cell phones. During our walk in Amsterdam, Ivey had said he felt as if the E:60 cameras were "stealing his soul." He was half-joking. Now, thousands of camera phones are finishing the job.
After a brief Q&A with all 12 pros, Ivey is one of four asked to stay for an autograph session. A fan tells him about a French website on which fans have Photoshopped his face into different scenes of their lives. This is his world now. As the session ends, a fan screams, "Phil Ivey is king!"
The king, though, is already headed for the door. His plane is waiting to take him to Munich for a high-stakes poker game. Wheels-up is 7:20; flight time is 17 minutes.
There's not a moment to lose.
Chad Millman is a senior deputy editor at ESPN The Magazine.
----------------------
Monday, October 26, 2009
Surrender Sundays
The NFL's "Any Given Sunday" mantra apparently does not pertain to the Rams, Buccaneers, Browns, Raiders and Lions.
If you've seen any of these teams play, you'd know what I mean.
If you've seen any of these teams play, you'd know what I mean.
Autumn over Summer
I watched "500 Days of Summer" last weekend. All I can say is Minka Kelly is way prettier than Zooey Deschanel by a long mile.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Effin lousy joke
Just stumbled upon something a well-known local writer/author wrote on her blog.
http://bit.ly/j6EYr
Tangina, ang baduy. Seriously, was she tying to be funny? I doubt anyone laughed, except perhaps at her.
http://bit.ly/j6EYr
Tangina, ang baduy. Seriously, was she tying to be funny? I doubt anyone laughed, except perhaps at her.
Roll out the Rolexes
The Rolex store in Greenbelt 5 was robbed in broad daylight last Sunday noon. Reports say the robbers took off with about 60 of the low-to-mid-end watches.
Some folks were wondering why Rolex was the target and not nearby IWC or Patek Philippe. Well, Rolexes are quite easy to dispose even without the proper documents. Plus, they're cheaper too so there are infinitely more potential buyers than the ultra-luxurious brands.
That said, expect the gray market to flood with a lot of Datejusts, Daytonas and Submariners within the next few weeks.
Who knows? Maybe I can score a Yachtmaster on the low.
LOL.
Some folks were wondering why Rolex was the target and not nearby IWC or Patek Philippe. Well, Rolexes are quite easy to dispose even without the proper documents. Plus, they're cheaper too so there are infinitely more potential buyers than the ultra-luxurious brands.
That said, expect the gray market to flood with a lot of Datejusts, Daytonas and Submariners within the next few weeks.
Who knows? Maybe I can score a Yachtmaster on the low.
LOL.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Balloon baloney
By now I'm sure everyone has heard of Balloon Boy. Reports have surfaced that it's all one big fat hoax and that the parents of Balloon Boy, Richard and Mayumi Heene, have known to be chasing publicity and fame to garner reality television interest.
Felony charges are being drummed up for the couple and I hope they both get locked up in jail for a long time.
Modern day, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" stories like this cannot and should not be tolerated.
Felony charges are being drummed up for the couple and I hope they both get locked up in jail for a long time.
Modern day, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" stories like this cannot and should not be tolerated.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Men and yoga
Can't knock this man's veteran moves. LOL.
Copping-a-feel-cum-I'm-just-helping-you-stretch.
Cowboy sex
Caught inside a restroom during the first NFL game at the new Dallas Stadium a few weeks ago.
Anyway, girl should've been on top true-cowboy-style. Missionary ain't doin' it.
Anyway, girl should've been on top true-cowboy-style. Missionary ain't doin' it.
Amen to ASN
I finally got my subscription to the All Sports Network (ASN) on SkyCable premium. Should be enough to feed my NFL fix and then some.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Black Prize
If Barack Obama weren't the first black US president, he wouldn't winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
Seriously. Had McCain won the presidency, no way he nor Barack will be winning that.
Seriously. Had McCain won the presidency, no way he nor Barack will be winning that.
Sleepy hollow
My sleeping pattern has gone awry and I think I've gone insane along with it.
On a number of occasions recently, I woke up not knowing where I was nor how I got there. I also don't remember falling asleep too.
Weird much, eh?
On a number of occasions recently, I woke up not knowing where I was nor how I got there. I also don't remember falling asleep too.
Weird much, eh?
Flushed out
A couple of weeks after it devastated Manila and other nearby provinces, Typhoon Ondoy did what no one could ever do before. It cleared most, if not all, informal settlers or squatters away from public and private properties.
It wasn't a pretty sight but it is a wonderful thing. They are one of the major reasons why our drainage and sewerage systems get clogged and our waterways are polluted. It was high time nature delivered a strong, yet unfortunately, deadly message.
I hope they don't go back or else they're in for another lethal awakening.
It wasn't a pretty sight but it is a wonderful thing. They are one of the major reasons why our drainage and sewerage systems get clogged and our waterways are polluted. It was high time nature delivered a strong, yet unfortunately, deadly message.
I hope they don't go back or else they're in for another lethal awakening.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Opportunistic politicking
I've said it once and I'll say it again.
Noynoy Aquino has got to be the most opportunistic politician in the country today. If it weren't for his mother dying, he will not be running for president in 2010. I can already see his father Ninoy's legacy getting tarnished.
Mar Roxas would follow as the second most opportunistic politician. He discarded his presidential ambitions to ride shotgun to Noynoy on the Aquino bandwagon.
Noynoy Aquino has got to be the most opportunistic politician in the country today. If it weren't for his mother dying, he will not be running for president in 2010. I can already see his father Ninoy's legacy getting tarnished.
Mar Roxas would follow as the second most opportunistic politician. He discarded his presidential ambitions to ride shotgun to Noynoy on the Aquino bandwagon.
Friday, October 09, 2009
Double repeat
Congratulations to the Ateneo Juniors (HS) and Seniors (College) teams for capturing their second straight UAAP basketball championships yesterday at the Araneta Coliseum. Both teams won their best-of-three series by taking Games 1 and 3.
The Juniors team, led by HS junior Kiefer Ravena, defeated top-seeded De La Salle Zobel in Game 3, 61-56. Ravena was named the Finals MVP.
The Seniors routed an uninspired UE squad, 71-58, in their rubber match. Ateneo senior center Rabeh Al-Hussaini took the Finals MVP trophy. Rabeh, senior guard Jai Reyes and senior forward Nonoy Baclao end their collegiate careers in amazing fashion: 32 wins against only 3 losses with two championship rings the past two years.
The Juniors team, led by HS junior Kiefer Ravena, defeated top-seeded De La Salle Zobel in Game 3, 61-56. Ravena was named the Finals MVP.
The Seniors routed an uninspired UE squad, 71-58, in their rubber match. Ateneo senior center Rabeh Al-Hussaini took the Finals MVP trophy. Rabeh, senior guard Jai Reyes and senior forward Nonoy Baclao end their collegiate careers in amazing fashion: 32 wins against only 3 losses with two championship rings the past two years.
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
DLSZ forces rubber match
We could smell the aroma of victor already with Ateneo dominating pretty much the entire game. Too bad they couldn't hold on to an 8-point lead late in the fourth period as they fell to the Junior Archers, 53-57.
The Blue Eaglets seemed comfortably ahead, 51-43, midway through the final quarter but they went cold after that. The kids from Zobel outscored Ateneo 14-2 in the last 4 minutes.
Game 3 is on Thursday, just a few hours before the Ateneo seniors team meets UE in another winner-take-all affair.
The Blue Eaglets seemed comfortably ahead, 51-43, midway through the final quarter but they went cold after that. The kids from Zobel outscored Ateneo 14-2 in the last 4 minutes.
Game 3 is on Thursday, just a few hours before the Ateneo seniors team meets UE in another winner-take-all affair.
Sunday, October 04, 2009
UE routs Ateneo in Game 2
SMH at Ateneo shitting the bed today. Can't believe they got blown out by 20 in Game 2.
Oh well, should be a great rubber match on Thursday. Payback time for the Blue Eagles.
Oh well, should be a great rubber match on Thursday. Payback time for the Blue Eagles.
Unloyal Mega
I was surprised to see Sharon Cuneta in various ads for telecom giant Smart Communications. Apparently, the Megastar, also known as the SuperFerry for her cruise-liner figure, doesn't value brand loyalty as she used be the chief pitchwoman for Smart's biggest rival, Globe Telecom.
Money talks indeed, even for the mega-rich. I guess she's trying to get back the title as most bankable celebrity endorser after Manny Pacquiao and Kris Aquino took over the past few years.
Money talks indeed, even for the mega-rich. I guess she's trying to get back the title as most bankable celebrity endorser after Manny Pacquiao and Kris Aquino took over the past few years.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Eaglets take Game 1
The Ateneo Blue Eaglets came closer to their bid for back-to-back UAAP high school basketball championships with an 80-73 'upset' win over rivals De La Salle Zobel. It's deemed an upset because the Junior Archers are seeded number one after the eliminations while the Ateneans were third.
Ateneo junior guard Kiefer Ravena was spectacular yet again with his all-around play. He finished the game with a game-high 33 points along with 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks.
Game 2 is set on Tuesday at the San Juan Arena. Ateneo leads the best-of-three series, 1-0.
Ateneo junior guard Kiefer Ravena was spectacular yet again with his all-around play. He finished the game with a game-high 33 points along with 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks.
Game 2 is set on Tuesday at the San Juan Arena. Ateneo leads the best-of-three series, 1-0.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Blue Eagles draw first blood
The Ateneo Blue Eagles won its 12th straight game by defeating the UE Red Warriors, 78-71, to take Game 1 of their best-of-three championship series.
Ateneo senior center Rabeh Al-Hussaini waxed hot from the field, delivering 28 points and 14 rebounds, bringing the Eagles closer to their second straight UAAP seniors division championship. Senior guard Jai Reyes pumped in 17 points, while nailing 5 three-pointers in the second half.
Ateneo will try to gun for the title via a series sweep in Game 2, scheduled this Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum.
Ateneo senior center Rabeh Al-Hussaini waxed hot from the field, delivering 28 points and 14 rebounds, bringing the Eagles closer to their second straight UAAP seniors division championship. Senior guard Jai Reyes pumped in 17 points, while nailing 5 three-pointers in the second half.
Ateneo will try to gun for the title via a series sweep in Game 2, scheduled this Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum.
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