Event # 3 No Limit Hold'em $500 + $50 (PSO Invitational)

PSO Invitational - if you are a member of www.PokerSchoolOnline.com and place the highest in this event you will win 250 Sponsorship points and one seat in the PSO Live Tour Grand Final Grand Final Jan 2006 - $50,000 worth of Sponsorships to WSOP and WPT events to be won on PSO

Today 15 members from PSO showed up to play in the $500 + $50 NLH event at the Harrahs New Orleans.
Dan Phillips (Wolfman) won the PSO Invitational and made it to battle it out at the final table. Another PSO member Ken Bryce (RocDoc) got to 40th out of 846 runners, so well done Ken.















Here are some photos of todays action and the PSO members, and i am sorry to any of those PSO members that i didnt get a photo of. Catch you at the next one.














The Final Table begins....Hold on to your hats folks, this one is gonna be fun. First of all, we have a PSO member at the last table. Dan Phillips “wolfman” hammered and clawed his way through 846 players to land at the final table of 10. We wish you best of luck Dan in this remarkable feat. Dan is a 33-year-old surgery assistant for his profession. He is experiencing his first major tournament final table and has been playing hold’em for only 2 years. Another huge scoop is Don Mullis making his 6th final table appearance out of 8 in the last two WSOP Circuit events. He is coming to the table short stacked this time, so it will be enjoyable to see how he pounds his way through this motley assembly of poker players. Perusing the group it looks like the average age has certainly increased over the past two days.

The game is on and the cards are flying like crazy. Lets see how it goes as they all vie for their piece of the $410,310.

Prize Pool Breakdown

1st $110,785
2nd $58,060
3rd $32,825
4th $28,720
5th $24,620
6th $20,515
7th $16,410
8th $12,310
9th $8,205
10th $4,515

The players today came to the table with this chip count.

1 Dan Phillips 44,000 Rainelle, WV
2 Harry Dugas 128,000 St. Martinville, LA
3 Sonny Perry 87,000 Nashville, TN
4 Jack Ward 104,000 Gulfport, MS
5 Don Mullis 77,000 Mooresville, NC
6. Timmy Flotte 171,000 New Orleans, LA
7 Jon Bachman 117,000 Skelltown, Sweden
8 Russ Sherrod 240,000 Opelousas, LA
9. Steve Presley 83,000 Southaven, MS
10 Adam Green 226,000 Washington DC

The competitors ended their day yesterday at 6am this morning. They began at 12pm. Eighteen hours is an awfully long time to sit and play. But, then, looking at the payouts, it looks a whole lot shorter. Upon starting today, they had several minutes left in their 17th round at 4000/8000 blinds and 1000 ante.



Harry Dugas just increased his stack by doubling through Russ Sherrod. Don Mullis, in the small blind, just reduced his stack to 33K by locking horns with Timmy Flotte in the big blind. Moving along, Timmy then went head to head with Jon Buchanan who was UTG. It was a mind game and Timmy prevailed. Timmy raised 15K from the small blind and Jon called. The flop came Qd 3d Qc. Tim nonchalantly bets 15K followed by Jon increasing it to 67K. This triggers an all in from Tim. Jon folds. I really wanted to see those cards. This increased Timmy’s stack considerably and he is sitting pretty flush with about 280,000 chips.

This game is so much different than yesterday’s event. The finesse seems greater, more thought is in progress and the all in hands appear to have more merit.

Harry and Jack Ward came to heads up blows in the first hand of the 5000/10000 round. Harry made it 20K to go and Jack reraised to 50K. Harry gives it a call. Jack has position on Harry. The flop is 4 5 8. Harry bets about 60K and Jack says “what the heck” and tossed the remainder of his bankroll in the middle of the table. Harry shows Kc Js and Jack the mighty tents, A A. Fourth and fifth streets do nada for Harry and Jack takes it down.


The first casualty has occurred. We have been in action for a little over an hour and Jon Bachman still reeling from dumping off chips to Timmy moves all in and Steve Presley gives him a call. Steve holds an AdQd and Jon the Ac4s. The board did nothing to help Jon and he heads back to Sweden with an extra $4515 and a 10th place finish in a WSOP Circuit event. Jon is a gardener and kebab salesman in Sweden. He can blow his own horn about his poker accomplishments because he has made a final table in a $10,000 event.

Don Mullis has adopted his nickname as “Final table”. I would like to add that this man has so much charisma and the luck of a leprechaun. Don’s stack has diminished to a shadow of what it was when he started. The blinds were breathing down his neck and he made his move. All in for 28K. Adam gave him a call. Don shows Ah 7c and Adam the Ad Jd. The flop gave them both an Ace, with A 3 9 and then, Don received his dream card on the turn and the rest was history. He doubled up.

Dan Phillips held on as long as he could. He was on the button, had only 20K left and only the blinds were in action. He made it the 20K to go and got called by both. Dan held the 45 suited, Harry the AT and Sonny Perry the 36 suited. The board pulled a suck out move but it was not for Dan unfortunately. J 9 J Q and the 3 gives Sonny two pair for the take down. For Dan’s first major event and final table, he takes home a 9th place and $8205. Way to go Dan!!!

Sonny took another player down after a raise and a re-raise. Adam Green who came to the table with 226,000 was the big blind and Sonny was down the table in middle position. The pot is now at about 90K. The flop comes 2 4 7 and Adam pushes all in. Sonny counters with the 93K call. Sonny shows a pair of nines and Adam a 64. The T and Q come on the end and leave Adam looking at felt. Adam is a numismatist coin dealer). He made a 3rd place in a $2000 WSOP Circuit event and says he has played poker forever (how long is that when only 39???). He enjoys tournament play ranging from $200 to $10000 buy ins. He makes 8th place today and takes home $12,310.

While Sonny is hammering the table, he goes ahead and takes out another contender. Harry was crippled and had to make a stab at making his live cards work. Sonny had not only live cards, but they were young, willing and able. Harry had a J 4 and Sonny a 6 7. The board was brutal for Harry, 4 6 7 Q 7. Harry accepted his 7th place win and $16,410 and left with a smile.

There are six left and they are on a break. Perusing the table, it is clear that Sonny is the chip leader with about 480,000. Jack Ward has about 80,000, Don nearing 90,000, Timmy holding 270,000, Russ up to 210,000 and Steve at about 180,000. The blinds are at 5000/15000 and 1000 ante.

Fresh from the break, Jack Ward makes his move with a pocket pair of threes. With a raise and re-raise, it ended up with Jack and Steve all in. Steve had K T and caught magic on the flop, 4 T Q leaving only 2 outs for Jack. No can do. It only brings a 9 and an A for a 6th place win for Jack and $20,515. Jack is an auto broker from Gulfport Mississippi. He has a few first place finishes to his credit and intends to continue to play 3-4 major tournaments a year.

It looks to me that no one really wants to tangle with Don Mullis. Perhaps it is the aura of success around him. He raises and all you hear is fold fold fold…. Ha, usually they call me from other States. He just got involved in another3-way pot while UTG with Steve in the little blind and Sonny in the big blind. All 3 players were in for the big blind of 15K. The flop came J 4 7 and all 3 checked around. The turn came another 4. Steve then Sonny checked and left Don wide open to bet which he did. He place 25K in the middle and took back about 75K. He looked over at me and said, “I’m growin’ this stack”. Right behind that he and Timmy took it to outside and battled down to the turn. Don was small and Timmy big. Don raises 20K more preflop and Tim calls. The flop comes K K 2. Both players casually check. The turn comes the Js and Don bets 15K with Tim raising 40K. Don then pushes all in for another 40K with Tim folding. Looks like Tim might have taken a stab at a little bluffing exercise and got caught. The pot was about 170K and Don took his stack up to about 210K and is a definite contender at this point. Well, Don just got tied up with Timmy and gave some back. Don tried the raise and Sonny pushed all in. Don tossed his KQ after losing 55K to the pot. Don and Tim are just trading punches now seeing who can take the heat. They were in the blinds again with Don limping. The flop of QQ9 brought a check check and the turn brought another 9. At this point Don lead with a 30K bet and took the chips back into his possession.

I heard the Thievery bell go off. It is at this time everyone starts the incredible line of BS betting and storytelling. Sonny just got caught against Russ and turned Russ into the new chip leader. Don’t you hate it when you represent the nuts and bet right into them? Gives me the shivers to think about it. The chips are moving around at lightening speed now. Sonny seems to have lost ground and command. Sonny, Don and Russ all made the flop with the 15K initial bet. The flop comes 6h 7h Qd. All three check. The 6s turns and Sonny makes a 25K crack at the pot. Don doesn’t allow it at all and calls his 25K. The river comes a 4h. This time Sonny checks and Don bets 50K. Sonny got the burn this time. Don declares that if Sonny has the flush it is all his as he shows a K 6 for three of a kind. Sonny says “good hand” and tosses his cards. Preceding the river he looked at Don and said “they warned me about you”. Sonny has been playing poker for only a year and plays online. This is his second live tournament. He says that usually he goes to casinos and just plays blackjack. I think he will now changed his mind and will share a little time with the poker rooms.

The blinds are up to 10,000/20,000. Sonny has 235,000, Don has 304,000, Tim has 161,000, Russ 340,000 and Steve has 161,000.

First hand after the break brings a raise of 20K from Sonny on the button. Don calls. The flop is 7h 2s Th. Don checks and Sonny bets 100K leading Don to fold. Every hand at this point will be crucial. The tournament has been running for three and a half hours now.

We just lost another player. The blinds got into a fracas with one another. Steve Presley was the small blind and Sonny the big. Steve raises 30K and Sonny gives him a jingle. The flop come Q 5 3. Steve checks and Sonny gives it an 80,000 bet. Steve moves all in and Sonny calls. Sonny shows a set of threes and Steve the KQ. The turn and river provide a pair of twos and gives Sonny the full boat and sends Steve to the cashier for 5th place and $24,620 for his piece of the pie.

The chip count has now gone all askew as Don just took Timmy out with big slick. Tim raised and Don moved all in. Tim called and showed the AQ. Nothing materialized for Timmy as the case Ace hit the board on the flop of A A 8 followed by a 5 and a 3. Timmy takes 4th and $28,720. Timmy Flotte is quite a character at age 30. He is apparently loved by a lot of people because he had an entire crew of his friends here cheering him on. Being from New Orleans he comically states he is a pole dancer. It would have to be a pretty big pole if you ask me.

Now the final three battle it out. Don has about 500K in chips and Sonny follows him closely with about 450K. Russ still holds about 280K so nothing is truly obvious yet as to who will take the ring and the 1st place win. The bravado is in effect as the button seems to command all the power. Around and around and around we go. We shall wait ‘til someone bites a big one and makes an error in judgment. The blinds are now 15,000/30,000 with a 3,000 ante. It’s 9pm and we have sat through over 16 hands. A couple are memorable. For instance, Don is the button and Russ decides to hobble in. Sonny acts on that and raises 50K more. The flop is As Ks 4d. Russ bets 100K and Sonny folds. Russ shows a T high. He says it is the only bluff of the day for him. Russ also has some oceanfront property in Arizona if anyone is interested.

Sonny tried to trap when he flopped a full house but no one took the bait. He only picked up the blinds and antes and had to be happy with that.

Big slick let Don Mullis down in his final attempt of the day. Sonny was on the button and opted to get out when Russ and Don played for keeps. For all the marbles, Don had the best of it preflop with the AcKc. Russ had the A 3 off suit and found a 3 on the flop. The rest was history. The 3 made a winner out of Russ and made Don the 3rd place winner today for $32,825. My hero. All around hero. It will be exciting to see how many more you make this week Don. Kudos and smiles for you and your wife. Also, thank you for everything you have said and done. Welcome to the world of professional poker.


I can hear Nolan’s tummy growling way over here now. Or is it mine? This is the first day I have not brought a salad to munch on and I am sorely regretting it. The fruit I had at 11am is so long gone. I walked or sweated it off down in the French Quarter today. My o’my it is hot and humid.




OK. Back to the game. At this point Sonny has taken a boatload of chips off of Russ. He is sitting pretty with about a million in chips now and Russ is checking for felt under his 100 grand or so. One of the hands that made a turn around for Sonny was when Russ raised 60K preflop and Sonny called. The flop came J 9 6 and Russ came out firing with a bet of 80K. Sonny said fine and raised it 120K. Russ found himself in a bit of a jam and had to lay his hand down.

I ran to the a little room outside and when I got back I see Russ has won a few major pots and made the competition a little more intriguing. He now has about 630K and so does Sonny. Now the fun begins. Russ had a nice string of cards but they seemed to have fizzled out on him. At 10:30pm the last hand of the evening unfolded like this. Sonny was the big blind and calls Russ. Russ checks and we see a flop of 6s 7c 4s. Russ bets 40K and Sonny raises it to 120K giving Russ the signal to move it all in for 210,000 more chips. Sonny took a really long time thinking and trying to get a read on Russ. He finally makes the decision to call. Russ shows the 5s 9s giving him 9 flush cards and 6 straight cards. Sonny shows the Ad 6c for a pair. The turn brings a 6d making Sonny three of a kind and a Kh on the river for the nail in the coffin. Russ took 2nd place for $58,060 and Sonny took the ring and 1st for $110,785.




Sonny was most excited about winning the ring because all his friends back in Nashville said he might as well just give them the $500 cuz he had an icebergs chance of winning. It is a matter of pride for Sonny now. The money is nice, but he will just give it to his wife of 40 years. Of course being content she has all she wants in life and will pass it right along to the kids and grandchild. Sonny has tried to give her nice things but she doesn’t really want them. It gives her the most pleasure to share with her children. After marrying his 16-year-old bride, the 23 year old completed his stint with the Navy and went on to the field of construction. Life has been sweet for Sonny. After retirement he began hearing a lot about online poker and decided to give it a go. From there we have a champion. Well done Sonny and have an absolute blast spending that $110 grand Mrs. Perry!