Tony G pulls up in a car with the license plate Tony G.  Classy!

Tony is ready for the day and says, “It’s going to be a fun day, you know?”

Tony says he’s going to take a few chances because he’s got a plane on standby for tomorrow night for Moscow.  Tony shows his seat ticket.

Rikard asks Tony how he will play today, if he’ll play pretty relaxed.

Tony says that he’s going to play pretty fast.  He’s anticipating the big game back in Moscow.  Tony says if he gets a good run, he’ll be alive for day 2.

The T6 girls stop by to say HI!  And two more girls stop by - apparently they are players in the tournament.

Tony says he is off to make a few crazy moves, he figures to either bust or win.

More news later!

Tony has been in Moscow, he just flew in last night and he’s getting used to the atmosphere.

Rikard and Tony talk about the difference in temperature and Tony says Moscow is warmer.

Tony says he’s been playing in Moscow but all things are good.  He lost a little bit of money there this trip - somewhere around $400K total - not much according to Tony.  Tony says he won around $2M last month and April hasn’t been good but he hasn’t played many days.

San Remo, Moscow, and now Monte Carlo - Rikard asks Tony what he thinks of this tournament.  Tony says it is very nice and believes there will be 1,000 players.  Tony says it will challenge the World Series one day.

Tony and Ricard talk about the places the tournaments are held and how incredible they are.

Ricard inquires about how tough the field is for this tournament and Tony agrees that it is tough but if you get a good table early, and a stack, you have a good shot.

Ricard nods at Tony’s shirt logo and asks if Tony is here with “the team?”

Tony says that T6 Poker brought 25 players - just from Russia - and they had a full plane of players. Ricard questions Tony if it was a big plane…Tony says it was a private plane.  They talk about the speed of the plane and the length of time the flight took.  Tony says he relaxed on the plane, chatted, took a nap, and when they landed he walked straight through - he recommends flying private planes and says they are much easier.

Rikard says everyone is playing tomorrow and wants to know how Tony is going to play this one.  Tony says he is just going to enjoy himself and he doesn’t care if he wins or loses.  He says he wants to have fun and if he does well on the first day, then he’ll start taking the tournament seriously.

Tony will be updating his blog daily, check back.

I am back today, writing from San Remo Italy where the EPT is going to be played. It’s a 5k buy-in EURO event and it was quickly sold out.   500 tickets were sold, and then they made it a little bigger to 600, and now 660.  It’s amazing how good the EPT is. Imagine IF the same people that run the EPT ran the WPT. The way it is the EPT is many times bigger and better than any other tour in the world. The forces behind the EPT are people we can learn from.  I said to Perry once, “You’re not somebody to learn from.”  LOL

I hope to play well and last longer than 1 day.  I feel I am in good form and if I can get a few fat fish around my table, I will devour them all.

The weather here is OK.  I am hoping for better though so that I can hit the beach and maybe do some fishing.  Otherwise I mainly plan to spend time drinking wine and eating at good restaurants. I drove down here from Vienna where I have been for a few days.  There is a new poker club that opened in Vienna called Card Casino Movie.  It’s a nice place and I have been playing there.  It seems much nicer than the big place they had in Vienna years ago.

I plan to get a flight from here to Moscow and jump back in the big game. The news from Russia is that I had one day where I won 1.8m, but not really as I have not been playing big there.  I’m just relaxing and playing below 500-1000, usually 100-200 or so PLO most days and that action is not much fun to write about since there is heaps of it online - even for the ones that have the heart and commitment to the game.

I been staking many players on T6 and even had a guy from Australia that won it www.pokernetwork.com but it’s good value for everyone. I hope somebody from overcards.de site wins the T6 main event. The guy from pokernetwork that won it got a contract for T6 worth 75k for 2008.  If somebody wins from overcards,I am sure I will get him a deal to go and play poker full time.

Tony says, “…the top tip on reads is when people talk a lot they usually have a better hand and they feel more confident. People that are usually quiet and they are more talkative, it’s a sign that there’s some problems…”

CAPTION: Top Tip Number 2 - Don’t Tilt!!

Tony says the key is that you have to play much tighter than usual…the key is not to be busted out…so when you are really upset and angry, just fold…

CAPTION: Top Tip Number 3 - Money Management

Tony says, “…money management and bankroll management is the key to a successful person in life, poker, anything. Poker is a business…”

CAPTION: Top Tip Number 4 - Online vs. Live Poker

Tony says he uses online poker to be fit for live poker, because he gets a lot of practice and gets to see a lot of hands and see how things happen. Tony gives more insight into the differences between playing online and live.

CAPTION: Top Tip Number 5 - How to charm a lady?

Tony says the main thing is the heart and the commitment - that will charm any woman.

CAPTION: Top Tip Number 6 - check back soon

Eddy Scharf: “Tony as a player…as a person, are two different people…”

Jesse May: “Phil Hellmuth says it best…”

The Devil Fish: “He’s a great guy…I like the guy a lot…”

There are flashes between Eddy, Jesse, and the Devil fish as they continue their picture of Tony, what he represents, his playing ability, his style of play, and his generosity in donating part/or all of tournament winnings to different charities.

CAPTION: Let’s hear from the man himself…Tony on Tony

Tony G: “I’m an aggressive loose player that has a lot of fun.” Tony gives us a little peek inside his heart and head by stating that he makes mistakes, he wants to learn, and he tries continually to improve.

Tony says “Not much…I was playing online until about 3 a.m.” Tony was up about $100K and lost back about 80 but still up 20K. The conversation then goes to a general run of daily events, like food, shopping, more poker, and cricket, as Haas and Tony spend a few moments visiting.

CAPTION: You’re in joint first place. Who would you like to see at the final table with you?

Tony and Haas talk about the position in the tournament, the amounts of money, and Tony says he never worries about things that are out of his hands…he could be in a position where he has to score points in the last heat to make sure he’s in the top four.

CAPTION: You’re running late - you better run to the TV table…GL Tony!!

Tony points out a few of the players present, Marcel Luske, Alex Krachenko, the Devil Fish…as he and Haas move through different phases of getting to the tournament area. Tony arrives at the TV table set.

CAPTION; Don’t forget to check out the next Tony G. video blog.

Caption: Tony, can you explain how your day unfolds before a major event like the Party Poker Premier League…

Tony responds by saying that at the beginning of the day, after he wakes up, he has breakfast and tries to relax for a bit, usually playing online poker and waiting for the afternoon. Tony took a train and walked to the Premiere event. He really likes trains. He says he is feeling excited.

Caption: There’s normally a lot of hanging around TV sets - what’s it like?

Tony’s response is that you have to go through make-up and then wait for the event to start, he says it is a bit painful but he’s used to it and doesn’t worry about it too much. Sometimes the studios are really hot and really unprofessional but Match Room is a great company and they know what they are doing so everything is pretty smooth.

Caption: The modern poker player that plays on the TV has to be interviewed many times each day. How do you find it?

Tony replies that usually the interviewers aren’t prepared and aren’t really asking good questions. He hopes they get better. Tony said, “Sometimes it’s so strange, they don’t even know who you are. They give you a form to fill out and ask what tournament you’re playing…” He goes on to say that they need to be more professional about it and know who they are interviewing and know what poker is.

Caption: In your opinion what makes a good TV poker tournament?

Tony says that in tournaments, you need good players, you need personalities. The best players make the best tournaments…”You come and you challenge…”

Caption: Do you feel pressure to perform?

Tony says he’s not thinking about the event all day, all he knows is that he has to come and play; he isn’t thinking about strategy; he doesn’t have any pressure in the sense of performance.

Caption: You are renowned for being very busy. Do you have any exciting projects just now?

Tony says he has a lot of exciting projects going on, he’s heavily involved in the internet. He is looking forward to the future.

TONY G - THE MOST JET SET MAN IN POKER

This is the opening party, Tony just flew in from Africa for this and it’s something he’s been looking forward to.

HANGS OUT WITH HIS PALS AT YET ANOTHER POKER PARTY

Tony finds Phil Hellmuth at a poker party. Tony says you don’t even have to interview Phil, Phil will do the interview himself. And Phil said he wants to be remembered as the greatest poker player that ever lived. Phil and Tony spend a moment of camera time where Phil does what Phil does best - commands attention and actually manages to out talk Tony.

A MAN SO MASCULINE HE’S NOT AFRAID OF HIS FEMININE SIDE

Tony relaxes and chats through a make-up session. He’s prodded by the Haas about “doing something very masculine right now.” Of course Tony’s undergoing the session for the TV cameras and Haas says, “No one wants a shiny man on TV.” They talk about the field and the tournament and Tony says, “Whoever wins this event; the first one is going to be a big favorite to win the whole tournament.”

NEVER HAS A WISER WORD BEEN SPOKEN

Tony says he really wanted to win the first heat, he was crippled early on but bounced back. He feels he played really well and if he can win one more heat, he’ll be in the top four. He really wants to win the next heat and see where it goes from there.

WILL TONY TAKE IT DOWN? FIND OUT TOMORROW BY CHECKING BACK.

It’s completely unreal.  I took a small plane to this place about 800km from Johannesburg and we were picked up on an air strip by a jeep.  On the way to the lodge we saw a herd of elephants just taking it easy. Later I was 2m away from a lion.  It’s something!  They don’t attack you when you are in the Land Rover but there are no windows.  It’s open air and it’s an experience knowing there is nothing between you and them.

I saw the big 5 (lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo, elephant) and more on this safari. Danger is right there, in your face.   In the middle of the night, a 70 year old woman from our lodge got dragged out by a Hyena but was saved and survived.   One guy from Lithuania got Malaria and died but that was after he went home so it’s not a place for the faint hearted.

We took walks as well and that is dangerous.  While animals don’t attack when you are in a vehicle, they do when you are on foot quite a lot.  We heard that lots of people are attacked and eaten by leopards, etc. Anyway it’s something.  If you are ever in a position or have the opportunity to go, you are missing an incredible part of life if you don’t make the trip.

Now I am in Monte Casino Johannesburg.   It’s very nice and I made the final table to the PLO but got unlucky and went out 5th losing with my A-A.   Sick! Sick! My A-A was attacked by a civilized Hyena, only there was no escape and my chips did not survive.  And that is poker.

I have been killing them on T6 Poker.  The games are really good.  T6 Poker is the best site right now for tourneys and big cash games.

Join me here for some fun reading and comments, it requires a log-in to access the page, but it’s worth it.

Any way take care everyone.  I am off to London soon for the Premier League.

]]> http://tonyg.pokerworks.com/2008/02/african-safari.html/feed/ http://tonyg.pokerworks.com/2008/02/south-africa-safaris-and-poker.html http://tonyg.pokerworks.com/2008/02/south-africa-safaris-and-poker.html#comments Sat, 02 Feb 2008 10:42:36 +0000 Tony G Tournaments http://tonyg.pokerworks.com/2008/02/south-africa-safaris-and-poker.html I have been exploring South Africa. Right now I am in Cape Town and I am overwhelmed by how beautiful it all is. I have spent two days as a tourist and if there is any way, for any of you to make the trip, you need to see the country.
I never get to far away from poker, no matter how beautiful or intriguing the country is, and tonight I will check out a private game. I expect to have a lot of fun.

In a few days I will go on a safari in the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve. After that I will travel to Johannesburg to play the South African Open.

I have been playing a lot at T6Poker against a player called 4color. We have been playing 100-200 Euro PLO and lately we stepped up to 200-400 PLO. That is the limit that I have done the most damage to 4color in. The guy is a good player but I am playing just a little bit better and have taken his money so far. The value at T6Poker is huge. The tournaments have an amazing overlay, and yes, everyone gets paid so it’s encouraging. I am very, very happy with my deal with T6Poker.

Next week I go to London to play the Premier League with Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth. That should be something to be locked up with Hellmuth for one week. I might also nail him in some cash games.