I don't mean to list a bunch of bad beats -- no one wants to read about that. But rather I thought this time I might talk about a few hands I played at the WSOP APAC that in a way kind of challenge the whole definition of what a "bad beat" really is.

Hand No. 1: A Simple Story

First I'll describe a more traditional "bad beat" hand, just to establish a kind of baseline for comparison.

This was a hand in the six-max. event where I'd chipped up then got involved versus a short stack. He'd already shoved over my late position raises a couple of times and I'd folded, then came a spot where I picked up 88 in the cutoff and raised again. I looked at him and I could see instantly he was in a conundrum -- that he had an "in-betweener" hand with which it was hard to know whether he should just call or reraise or shove.

Finally he shoved, and I actually said to him "I think you got two sevens," and I called. And he said, "Wow... you're right," and flipped over his 77

So when a 7] came on the flop, that was definitely a bad beat. I was better than 4-to-1 when the chips went in, and unfortunately it didn't go my way. I can be happy about my read and action there, but really it's not too complicated -- just one correct decision, with the result being unlucky. We'll go ahead and call that a "bad beat."

Hand No. 2: Multiple Missteps

Now back in the first event (the "accumulator"), I was already double the average by the second level. There was a player at the table who was very aggressive and not very good. He'd gotten his chips in a crazy multi-way hand in which he'd shoved with 44 against two obviously strong players who happened to have KK and AA and the flop came TT4 for him.

Later he raised and I just called from the button with 99, then the flop came 982 rainbow, giving me top set. He bet and again I just called. The turn was a T and he bet again, and I raised him. He then went all in for a ridiculous amount -- we were the two big stacks at the table -- and I snap-called. He had an open-ended straight draw with one card to go, and when he hit it on the river it was sayonara for me.

Now that was a little more involved than the first hand, with more than one decision being made and really a couple of missteps by my opponent who ended up drawing out on me. I was again a little better than 4-to-1 when the chips went in, but in this case I had manipulated my opponent into multiple actions for us to get to that point. It's not simply a "bad beat" anymore, really, although again I experienced some misfortune after getting it in good.

Hand No. 3: Controlling a Creative Competitor; or, Miracle on 5th Street

But here's another hand -- also from the six-max. -- that was even more involved. And even further removed from a simple "bad beat," you might say.

A player raised on the button, and I called in the big blind with QJ. The flop came QQ2 with two diamonds. I knew he was going to continuation bet so I checked, and he bet 350, and I raised to 800. I also knew when I bet that amount that was going to make him think I didn't have a queen. And I knew as well with this particular player that betting as I did was going to make him try to steal the pot from me on a later street.

So he called my check-raise, and when the turn came an offsuit 6 I checked. Sure enough he bet again. I just called, knowing he didn't have anything and not wanting to scare him away. I also knew if a diamond didn't come on the river, he'd be betting the river, too. An offsuit 3 came on fifth street and I checked once more. He bet 2,500, I raised to 5,500 just in case he'd made a pair, and he made a crying call... with 5-4.

That's right. He made a runner-runner straight!

He was actually a signed pro with another site, and I knew him well enough to anticipate how my flop play would inspire him to get creative later in the hand. Later we reached the break and he actually apologized to me about the hand, but I told him there was no need. And in fact, to myself, I was thinking how everything in the hand had worked out as I wanted and had even planned for. After all, I'd gotten him to bet on a QQ2 board with 5-4 and no draw -- when he's only around 3% to win -- then put in more chips on that same street, and then put in even more chips after that!

So really there are varieties of "bad beats" and/or hands in which you find yourself on the wrong side of luck after playing well. Sometimes it's just a single action that got you there, and other times you've controlled a hand with a series of decisions to put your opponent in a very bad spot.

The bottom line, though, is to walk away from these kinds of hands -- be they simple or complicated -- knowing that you've played them well and not being discouraged by the unlucky consequences. In fact, such hands should be confidence builders in that they're examples of you making good decisions and making your opponents make bad ones.

Chad Brown is a member of Team PokerStars Pro

During the time I was active in modeling and just starting out as an actor, I found myself in Paris for a couple of weeks. I'd made some friends over there and they invited me to go to Gstaad, Switzerland to go skiing. Now Gstaad is a huge, beautiful ski resort, and my friends were also telling me about how they were sure they could get me invited to this big black tie party at the Hotel Gstaad Palace. So I couldn't pass that up, and before long I was in Gstaad.

While at the black tie party, Roger Moore arrived. This was the early 1980s, when Moore was James Bond, and he had a house not far from there. Moore showed up with his wife, Luisa, and Joan Collins, the famous actress, and I was introduced to all of them. They hadn't been in town when the invitations had gone out, and so they weren't actually invited to the party. They were just saying hello before they went to a different restaurant to have dinner.

This was right before the party was about to start, and Luisa asked me if I'd like to go to dinner at an Italian restaurant down the road with Roger and Joan. Now I knew Luisa was speaking on behalf of Joan who was newly single and who obviously was interested in me. She was on Dynasty at the time, which was one of the most popular shows on television. For an up-and-coming actor like myself, it was a situation where it probably wouldn't be bad to mix and mingle with someone like her.

The problem was, it would have been out of line for me to skip out on the black tie party, since my friends had to go to some trouble to get me invited to it, so I had to decline the invitation to go along. But Joan asked me if I'd like to go with them to another party the next night at a nearby ski chalet, and I said absolutely. They said they'd come pick me up at my hotel, and so we parted and I attended the black tie party that night as planned.

It was the next day that Roger Moore came to my hotel to pick me up. He actually came in and went to the desk to ask for me. I went with them and we had a wonderful time.

When I got back from the party, everyone who worked in the hotel wanted my autograph! After all, James Bond had come to ask for me... so I must be famous! I'll admit I got a kick out that, because I've always been a James Bond fan.

Actually, there's some follow-up to the story with Joan Collins. No, we never had any romance or anything, but we remained friends, and in fact at the time she invited me to contact her when in was in L.A. and she said she'd introduce me to the Dynasty producers. I did follow up, and while I was really too young at the time to be on that show, I very much appreciated her helping me out.

We kept in touch after that as well. In fact, one time when she was in New York later on she invited me to another event of hers -- she was debuting a new perfume, and Donald Trump was hosting the event. She was always very nice to me.

All of that was back in the 1980s, but many years later -- in 2005 -- there was a big premiere in New York for the film Memoirs of a Geisha. I was good friends with one of the producers, and so I was invited to a private screening and it just so happened Joan was there with her new husband. I went and said hello to her and asked if she remembered me, and she said she did.

I was there with a friend of mine, and we had some drinks from the limo ride over. Joan asked about whether or not they were serving at the showing, and they weren't, but I offered to have the driver come back around with some drinks for her and her husband. She said not to bother, but I called anyway and as the movie started I delivered a couple of drinks to them.

As she thanked me for going to the extra effort, I told her how much I appreciated her helping me back when I was a fledgling actor. It was nice after all those years to have a chance to let her know how grateful I was for her kindness.

So that's the story of the time James Bond came looking for me!

Did Roger Moore ask for "Brown... Chad Brown?" I can't say for sure, but I'd like to think he did.

Chad Brown is a member of Team PokerStars Pro

I started out with a few small roles including some soap opera work, then eventually had my first big movie role in a horror film called Blood Rage. I thought it might be interesting to share a little bit about that experience.

This was the 1980s, right in the middle of the "slasher" period in horror films. And as you might imagine, I get killed in the movie -- macheted just as I'm about to make love to my romantic interest!

I was about 25 years old at the time and was excited to have a big part in any movie. It's hard to explain, but when the director says "Action!" there's a kind of excitement that is just as thrilling as walking in to play the Day 1 of the World Series of Poker Main Event. You feel a kind of energy that gives you goose bumps, or at least that was the case for me.

Louise Lasser (Woody Allen's first wife) was the star of Blood Rage, a fellow named John Grissmer was the writer and director, and a woman named Marianne Kanter was the producer.

Marianne was probably about 50 years old, kind of small and thin and one of those Hollywood people who puts on a smile and might not appear so imposing but is in fact hard as nails. Not that I ever had any problem with Marianne -- she was always very nice to me and I got along pretty well with her and really with everyone. On the other hand, John, the writer-director, was one of the most easy-going guys in the world.

There's a scene early in the movie in which my character and some others have a tag football game. Now I played football before, and so John asked me to look over the script and let him know if all of the dialogue in the scene sounded okay and if not to make suggestions. So I did, and in fact made a little rewrite of the scene which John liked and we went with it.

Meanwhile, Marianne was arguing with John throughout, and I guess things like doing rewrites were slowing down the production. They were on a budget and had a deadline and needed to get shots done, and we had fallen a little behind schedule. Marianne would get mad and would yell at John in front of everyone, and finally John reached a breaking point and said he quit.

So Marianne had to take over as director, and one time when I wasn't on the set she and Louise got into a big argument. Now my impression of Louise was that she was quite sweet, but what probably happened was Marianne said one too many critical things to Louise and really got under her skin. And so Louise grabbed Marianne by the neck and started banging her head against the wall!

Talk about drama!

It was at that point that Marianne ended up calling John. She apologized and begged him profusely to come back to shoot the rest of the film, promising not to interfere from that point forward. And he did and we managed to finish the film.

We started having to shoot some very long days, probably to catch up with schedule. I'm remembering the day we shot the scene where I get killed. It took place on a diving board at an indoor pool, and by the time we got to the scene we'd been working something like 18 hours that day.

The actress who played my love interest got really upset about the long day of work and started complaining to me about it. Now even though I was a young actor, I realized that in order to do the scene well she was going to have to relax and get over her frustration. So I did my best to calm her down and she eventually did and I think the scene was better as a result.

Thinking back on that experience you might call it kind of a prequel to some of the skills I've needed in my poker career. After all, unpredictable things happen all of the time in poker, and you have to remain focused amid a lot of drama sometimes in order to do your job well.

I'm not doing so much acting anymore -- except at the poker table, you might say -- but I am playing baseball now and then. At the end of January I'll be participating again in a charity baseball game in Scottsdale, Arizona involving a lot of ex-big leaguers in which we raise money to buy baseball equipment for kids who can't afford it. It's a big event and a great thrill to participate and play alongside the MLB guys.

Chad Brown is a member of Team PokerStars Pro

Baseball wasn't the only game I played as a kid. In fact, my dad probably gave me the poker bug. He had his own poker club in those days. When he wasn't at the club, we'd play gin rummy against each other. Gin rummy was a popular game back then. It filled the same role for people that Chinese Poker does today. People would play gin rummy when they would wait for the poker game to start.

Very few people play gin rummy anymore, but my dad is still extremely competitive. It was only natural something would fill the void created by gin rummy. For him that thing was backgammon.
I don't remember how those matches started. I guess maybe at some point someone brought a backgammon set to the poker club and he learned the game. He was probably playing somebody for money. I'm pretty sure he was the one who introduced it to me and taught me the game.

Now we play backgammon against each other. Whenever I go back to New York, we have little competitions in backgammon. We play matches against each other and at the end of the match, the winner gets the bragging rights to say that he's the champ.

We're both competitive and very close. Playing backgammon against each other has become a fun, spirited, diversion that includes lots of good-natured trash-talking. At the end of the match, the winner gets the bragging rights to say that he's the champ. The trash-talking is all in fun, of course. We get into this bubble of backgammon, where we can have some fun with the understanding that nobody means any disrespect. Someone will make a move and the other guy will say, "You're really going to make me that move? Wow. You're begging for me to give you the cube because you've made such a bad move."

My cousin friend Vinny
When I was a kid we played gin rummy for chores. Now we play backgammon purely for bragging rights. To give an example of how far my father takes it, my best friend from my childhood, Vinny, lives with his family in Westchester. My father is close with him too. When my father beats me in backgammon he says, "Make sure you let Vinny know who the champ is!"

I left as the champ this time around (a better result than that of my favorite baseball team, the New York Yankees, who were swept out of the ALCS by the Detroit Tigers). But the next time I go over to my dad's house for dinner, it could swing the other way. Win or lose, the competitive nature of the matches and the time spent with my dad make it all worthwhile.

Chad Brown is a member of Team PokerStars Pro. Read his bio here.

The reason for this is that I will be able to be in many spots where I just have way the best of it. So I don't want to risk losing a lot of chips when I feel I have small edges. An example of this would be to flat a raise when you have ace-king. Many times your opponent will be dominated and if you reraise you would be making them fold. Now the times when they have a big pair, you might get reraised, or even if they call you are making the pot bigger and putting more of your chips at risk vs flatting the raise, keeping the pot small and giving yourself a chance to win a very nice pot if say your opponent has a weak ace and the ace hits the flop.

These tourneys are not won on Day 1. Patience is what is needed. Another benefit with this is how your table image will be for the late levels of the day. You now have credit to three-bet when the blinds are big without a big hand and just take it down.

Here is an interesting hand that happened to me late on Day 1 in a WPT tourney. Four players limped, I raised on the buttong with [7d][8d]. The big blind called, as did all the limpers. The flop was [ad][6d][2d]. I flopped the flush. The big blind leads out. The other players fold. I raise it, and the big blind calls.

The turn paired the two. The big blind checked, I bet, and the big blind shows [kd][5d] for the nut flush...and open folds. I couldn't believe it, but one reason he did was because of the credit I earned throughout the day. He came to the decision I wasn't bluffing. Thirty minutes had gone by, and he finally asked me in front of the table if I would tell him what I had. I said I wouldn't tell him what I had, but promised him i wasn't bluffing.

He thanked me and said he thought I flopped a set of sixes. Having your table image as someone who is not bluffing in the late levels is a huge benefit. This is where I like to make my move to really build my stack. You will also know by this time the players who are willing to make good lay downs and the players who are stubborn. So you can pick and choose your spots carefully, and with a little luck you will have accumulated a lot of chips and have put yourself in a good position to get to the final table.

I hope this was helpful to you.

Follow Chad on Twitter: @Downtownchad

It's six weeks of hardcore poker, mostly tournaments for me, but also some great cash games, too. It's also nice to have home court advantage. Most of the time I'm travelling to another country to play tournaments. For some people, it can affect their sleep when they are on the road. My advice is to have melatonin with you.

Try to arrive at least a couple of days before you play so you can get on the right sleep schedule. The way I prepare for the WSOP is to train really hard for the two weeks leading up to it. So going into it, I'm in good condition and my body can endure the gruelling hours day in and day out. For the most part, I arrive at the Rio at noon and get home at either 2am or 3am. You need to be in good condition to do this for six weeks straight!

So far, I have two cashes with one being a final table. I came in 6th in the $10,000 7-card stud championship. My fellow PokerStars teammate ElkY won it. We were heads up in the hand that got him going and ended my chance for my 1st bracelet. I got him all in with one card to come. He had kings up with a flush draw and I had aces up. The pot was about 650,000. He hit the [5d] on the river to complete the flush. That left me with about 80,000, and I was out in five minutes after my nines didn't hold up. My opponent hit a second pair on the river.

I was very happy for ElkY as he completed the "Triple Crown." One of the things that make ElkY great is his focus on his goal. Many first timers that come to Vegas get overwhelmed with all the excitement here. If your goal is to perform well in the tournaments you plan to enter, you need to avoid going to the parties and drinking. Also avoid playing in cash games all night if you know you play the next day. Make sure you get the proper rest so you're at your best. For me, taking a bad beat is one thing, but if I go bust because I played badly, there's no excuse for that.

Remember, the WSOP only comes around once a year. It's worth it to make some sacrifices to perform your best. One other piece of advice to the first timers: have a game plan with your bankroll. I see many players see a big cash game that looks juicy, but is higher than their bankroll allows. If you're not disciplined, you could be broke in the first week you get here. Don't let your ego get the best of you.

I wish you all the best of luck!

Follow Chad on Twitter: @Downtownchad

Hi Chad,
Big fan of yours from Rome, Italy. Just a question if you could, I see you frequently if not always get by Day 1 in all the tourneys you attend... could you give a little tip or advice on
your play strategy on Day 1. Thank you for your time and GL for future tournaments.
Ciao Franco

Well, one important strategy is not to gamble too much on Day 1. It is less important to be chip leader than it is to survive. One example from my play yesterday was there were five players in pre-flop. I had [10d][jd] and the board came nine high with two diamonds. A player bet and the pre-flop raiser raised to 15,000. I had 59,000 at the time and at that point there was about 49,000 in the pot.

There are only two options here, raise all-in, or fold. If I re-raise all-in and get called, I would be getting almost 3-1 on pot odds. In a cash game, that would be the right play, but just because I am getting good odds (I am less than a 2-1 dog vs. an over pair) I would be knocked out of the tourney about two times out of every three tourneys I do that in.

The time I win, I would be more than double chip average, but that's not as important on Day 1 as surviving in my opinion.

I hope this helps you and best of luck.

I really enjoy Christmas. It is the time of the year I get to spend with my family, and after traveling all over the world, it's great to have a couple of weeks to just chill. Now, after having two weeks of relaxing, I'm really looking forward to going to the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

This year they have many more side events, more then ever before. If you're playing poker day in day out, it can burn you out - it can take away the winning edge. These two weeks help to rest up and re-energize.

The PCA is a great way to start of the New Year on the right foot. And if i get knocked out of the main event, I can jump right into another tournament the next day.

I wish all of you a happy and prosperous New Year - and hope to see you all in the Bahamas.

Here's what he had to say upon his return from the American Gulf Coast.

by Chad Brown

Taking a short break from WCOOP, Vanessa and I were the hosts of the Gulf Coast Poker Championship. Vanessa was also teaching a poker boot camp the day before the main event. So I decided to play in the PLO rebuy tourney.

I arrived in Gulfport at 4:45pm. I called my friend Mark Davis and asked how much time I had left to enter the tourney. He told me only 10 minutes. I asked him to buy me in and that I should be there in 30 minutes. He did and I arrived and started to build my stack back up.

At the end of the rebuy period, I had not rebought, but decided to do a double add-on. It was a good decision as I coasted to the final table as the chip leader and was never challenged. I won the event and received $32,000, a white gold bracelet, and a Beau Rivage trophy. It was my 2nd straight final table in Mississippi. The month before I made the final table in the World Poker Open in Tunica, with fellow PokeStars Pro teammate Chris Moneymaker. I finished fourth place in that and Chris came in third.

Feeling great about my chances going into the main event, I had a goal of doing something I had never done in my poker career: win back to back events. I had made three final tables in a row before. In 2006 when I won Bluff Magazines' Player of the Year, I made the final table in the EPT London, won the 5k WCOOP HORSE event on PokerStars and then final tabled the 5k no-limit hold'em at the Bellagio.

The day didn't start out well as I took beat after beat and lost numerous pots on the river. But with good pot management and a great structure I was able to survive. A key to this tournament was when I had about 13 big blinds left and I had raised under the gun with A-J suited.

An older man who was at my table and not doing anything crazy, min-raised me from early position. Everyone folded to me. Now normally I would just go all-in in this spot, but felt I was behind and decided to call. I missed the flop and the old man pushed all in. I mucked, thinking I could find a better spot.

I got moved to another table and was down to 2,500 in chips with the average at about 38,000. I got lucky and doubled up a couple of times. With me now holding 20,000 in chips, a wild player limped in under the gun and the next player min-raised. It was folded to me on the button and I woke up with pocket kings.

I decided to slow play, knowing there was a chance the under the gun player could come back over the top. He just called and we saw the flop. It was 5-5-2 rainbow and was checked to me. I bet half the pot, and the wild player shoved 45,000 all-in. The other player mucked and I called to see my opponent's A-2 offsuit. My kings held up and I was on my way to my third final table in a month.

A very talented young player named Tyler Smith became the monster chip leader at the table. After he busted most of the players there, we were heads up and I was playing for a chance at my first back-to-back victories. He held a 2.5 to 1 chip lead on me.

The key hand of the match was a hand that went like this:

He raised on the button and I called with K-9 off. The flop came 9 high and we both checked. The turn was a [Qs] putting up 2 spades. I checked and he bet. I raised him and he re-raised. I called.

The river was an ugly [As]. I checked and he bet around the amount of the pot 400,000. If I called and lost, the match would be essentially over. He would have had a 2.4 million to 400,000 lead.

I studied the situation for about three minutes and decided to go with my instinct that he was on a move.

I was right.

He had T-2 offsuit and now I had the chip lead.

After I chipped up to a dominating chip lead, the last hand went like this: Tyler limped on the button and I checked. The flop came 3-5-6 rainbow. I checked and he bet. I min-raised ( something I did often in this match) and he went all-in. I called...because I had the nuts: 4-7.

Tyler turned over 9-4 clubs. There was a club on board, but the turn and the river blanked out. I won the Gulf Coast Poker Championship and achieved my goal of back-to-back victories. Tyler played well and I believe we will hear a lot more from him.

Now, with another several days of WCOOP left, I plan on doing some serious damage.

Chad Brown is a member of Team PokerStars Pro

by Chad Brown

The World Championship of Online Poker is coming up and with my recent success at the WSOP (2 final tables) and another final table right after that in Tunica at the World Poker Open, I am really excited to play in WCOOP. In poker you go on streaks, both hot and cold. A lot of players take breaks when running cold. But when you're running hot, you just can't wait to play in the next big event and WCOOP has just what the doctor ordered.

I'm expecting record prize pools, as PokerStars has grown even bigger than the year before. And for you players that don't have the big bankrolls, there are plenty of tournaments with the smaller buy ins that still have big cash prize pools. And of course, there are always plenty of satellites for the bigger buy ins. What's more, you're going to be able to play with many members of Team PokerStars Pro.They will all be playing in many events and this gives you an opportunity to play and chat with some of your favorite players. So, even if your not at my table, please come to my table and say hi.

Best of luck to you all.

Chad Brown is a member of Team PokerStars Pro and plays on PokerStars under the name ChadBrownPRO.

by Chad Brown

The WSOP limit hold'em championship had all the best limit hold'em players in the world. I was playing very well on Day 1 and knew that there could be no mistakes with this tough competition. I made it through Day 1 with an above average chip stack and finished Day 2 in the money. I came back on Day 3 with the final table in sight.

With around 16 players left, there was a key hand that I did not play. There was a raise by a loose player in early position and Howard Lederer re-raised. It was folded to me in the small blind. I had pocket nines and I folded. Howard was heads up with the loose player and the flop came down with a 9-high board with two spades. I thought, wow, I would have flopped top set! But I live by the philosophy of not playing results. I know laying down the nines in this spot was the right decision. The turn and the river put up running spades and Howard won the hand with the nut flush, as he was holding two aces in his hand. If I would have played this hand, I would have left myself very short and probably would not have made the final table.

So, I make it to the final table and, with the exception of one player, everyone is world class at limit hold'em. I recognized that to win this bracelet, I would have to play my very best and catch some breaks. I think there were six players left when we saw the pot of the night.

There was a raise and a re-raise and the action moved to Daniel Alaei. Daniel was one of the chip leaders to start this hand and he cold called two bets on the button. The re-raiser, Pat Pezzin, plays a style very similar to Lederer. The big blind re-raised and Pat capped it. Daniel had pocket nines and, because of all the money in the pot, he had to play after the flop came up 5-6-8. He knew he was behind, but he had six likely outs to take the lead. The flop and the turn were capped. Daniel missed on the river and was able to lay it down. Pat, of course, had the rockets and won a massive pot. It crippled Daniel in the process. I felt he was one of the tougher players at the table. I'm sure Daniel realized it was a mistake to call Pat's re-raise under these circumstances, but it's that kind of mistake that can make the difference.

With three players remaining, I was facing Pat and Greg Mueller. I had won a bunch of small pots and had a big chip lead. Pat was the short stack, but was still okay. This tournament had a great structure and gave us a lot of play. Then came the hand of the tournament for me.

Pat had raised on the button and I called from the small blind with [Ad][2d]. Greg called in the big blind. The flop came queen-high with two diamonds and we all checked. The turn put up a seven and I bet. Greg raised and Pat mucked. I made the call drawing to the ace high flush, but I actually thought my ace might be good. I have played a lot with Greg and know he is capable of making a play there with a draw. Bingo, the [4d] fell on the river. If I won this pot, I'd have about 90% of the chips in play and am almost certain to win my first bracelet. I checked thinking that Greg would bet if he missed a straight draw and he could have hit a smaller flush. He bet just as planned. I raised, he re-raised, I re-raised and he re-raised. I stopped and look at the board. The [3d][5d] made a straight flush. I said aloud, "I can't believe you made a straight flush."

I should have mucked, but I paid off with the hope, not that he would be bluffing, but that there was a remote chance he misread his cards. That was the only hope there was, but he did indeed have the straight flush. I was crushed. That was the bracelet.

It wasn't over for me. I was still chip average, but I lost every hand after that, and in all of them--with the exception of the last hand--I had the best of it on the flop and would get sucked out on the turn or river. I finished in a disappointing third place, but to be honest, I was very proud of the way I played and thought I gave myself the best chance to win. Greg went on to victory and followed that up with yet another bracelet. They were his first and second bracelets and were well overdue.

by Chad Brown

Stud-8 tourneys are among the easiest to win. I already have a runner up finish in the same event at the WSOP and I actually won the Stud-8 event at the Bellagio Cup a few years back.

On the bubble in this year's World Series, I had well above chip average, so making the money wasn't a problem. ESPN's Norman Chad who has never cashed in a WSOP event was one of the very short stacks battling for his first-ever wsop cash. It took a while but he made it. We redrew and I got Norm at my table with 1,000 in chips. The antes were 200 with a 200 bring in. There was no money increase unless you moved up another ten spots, so Norm would have to be going all in soon. On the next hand Norm had an ace showing and the first three players mucked to him. But wait! Norm folded. What? Norm folded? Does he have a last longer with another short stack? I saw him at the WSOP Main Event and needled him about it. Lon was there and we had a good laugh. I think he must have been in shock that he finally cashed.

It was onto another final table for me. This time it is a very easy table. I had an above average chip stack. Three key hands determined how my final table turned out. In two hands I had a low draw, straight, and flush draw with a pair going to the river. The two other players in the hand were going high. Not only didn't I scoop, but didn't hit my low either. The third key hand was similar. The other players were going high. I made a wheel on sixth, but one of the players made a flush on the river and I only got half. I finished in fourth place and that was that.

Once again I was very happy with my play and did all I could do to win it.

That's poker.

by Chad Brown

Going into this event I felt very confident about doing well. I started the day at the gym and got in a nice workout before the tourney. I arrived on time and feeling good after my work out. I bought a chicken wrap and started the tournament. After two hours of play I was 1,000 above chip average and I started to feel ill. I believed it was from the chicken wrap. I made a couple of visits to the bathroom and thought I would start to feel better, but I only started to feel worse.

We were approaching the dinner break and I asked a floor man if I could resign from the tournament and get my buy-in back, since I was 1,000 above average. He checked for me, but said they couldn't do anything. I figured on the dinner break I would go out to the pool, rest, and hopefully feel better afterwards.

As I was walking back, I felt like I could pass out. My friend Mike Ross saw me and thought I looked so bad he wanted to take me to the hospital. I declined, determined to finish what I started. I was at the table with my head down between hands trying to rest. When we got to the 400-800 level, I started to get the chills badly. I text a friend of mine who was staying in the Rio and asked him to bring me sweat pants and jacket. I decided my best option was to skip this level (even though I was only chip average ) and go out to my car and rest with the heater on to warm up. Thankfully, this plan worked and I felt well enough to continue. I got back and was now half chip average, but was able to pick up a couple of pot and come back on Day 2 in the top five in chips.

I felt much better on Day 2 after what I still think was food poisoning. After getting into the money, I felt I had a really good shot at winning the tournament. There weren't many good players left. One of the really good players was Phil Ivey, but he was a little below average. We re-drew when we were down to 16. I had Carlos Mortensen at my table. I think Carlos is one of the best No-Limit Hold'em players in the world. In OE, I like having him at my table.

The first hand I played with Carlos was in Stud-8. I raised on third street with a five door card. I had aces in the hole and Carlos re-raised me with a king. Everyone folded and I just called. I caught an ace on fourth giving me three hidden aces. I bet out and Carlos called.

On fifth. I pulled a jack and checked. I wanted to disguise my hand to get the most value on it. Carlos also checked. On sixth, we both caught an eight. I bet and he called. Going into the river, I bet blind and he called blind, leading me to believe he was drawing dead. I told him before I looked that I had three aces. He said he had two kings and two eights. He squeezed his last card to find the case eight. I checked my river, realized I hadn't filled up, and conceded the hand.

We moved to Omaha, and without describing each hand, suffice it to say I lost the next two hands in row to Carlos and he had to once again hit runner-runner to beat me. I finished in 14th place. Phil Ivey went to the final table short and was able to capitalize on an easy final table to win his 2nd bracelet for the 2009 WSOP.

It was almost a storybook finish, but I was happy to do as well as I did in light of the circumstances from the night before.

WCOOP will be starting Friday, and I for one will be looking forward to it.

Two years ago in the then biggest buy-in of online poker history--the first $5,000 HORSE event--I was fortunate to come in 1st place, winning about $225,000. It was very exciting moment in an already-great year. I went on to win Bluff Magazine's Player of the Year. I think that was the year that PokerStars really started to separate itself from everyone else as the best in the world in online tournaments.

I cashed in the WCOOP Main Event in the following year. Better than that, my fianceé Vanessa Rousso came in 2nd place winning more than $700,000. What was memorable about that was we were in Phoenix, AZ for a baseball tournament I was playing in. Outside of poker, baseball is my passion. During part of the tournament, Vanessa was actually playing in our dugout and all my teammates were rooting her on. My team made it to semifinals, falling short of our goal of winning the championship, but to all my my friends there,it was amazing how much money Vanessa won playing part of the time in the dugout. They thought it was the coolest thing in the world.

So with WCOOP coming up, whether you're playing in a baseball tournament or your passion is safaris in Africa, bring your laptop and don't miss out on PokerStars' new record-breaking buy-ins this year. Who knows? Maybe you will impress your friends and bring home a big check.

The PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker begins this Friday, September 5 at PokerStars.com. Chad Brown is a member of Team PokerStars Pro.