Got a tip for a future 3-Bet? Drop a note in the comments and we'll gladly take a look.
Today in the 3-Bet we find Barry Greenstein wondering what might have been with his 300-yard golf drives, JC Tran lingers in the final 24 at his hometown WPT Rolling Thunder in Sacramento and we get inspired by Jimmy V and the NC State Wolfpack one more time.
1) Greenstein: Honor in Poker
First off: We need more Barry Greenstein in the poker media again.
Always one of the most open and thoughtful interviews on the poker circuit the "Robin Hood of Poker," although still a PokerStars pro, has faded from the spotlight a bit over the last few years.
Popping up for a third-place finish and $100k score at last year's WSOP it's still been a relatively quiet couple of years tournament-wise for Barry G., but let's not forget just how critical he's been to the development of the game.
Simply put: he's one of the best, most popular players ever and a more than worthy Hall of Famer. He's also one of poker's best storytellers so it was great to see a new post today about his hit-and-miss relationship with the game of golf.
Surprisingly capable of driving the ball 280 yards, he says, Greenstein narrowly missed on what might have been a career with the flatsticks. In the end he found a bit more honor in his fellow poker players and, thankfully, turned his back on golf.
It's a great read; check it out here.
2) JC Tran Charging at WPT Rolling Thunder
As we've said before there aren't too many poker players we've rooted for more than JC Tran at the 2013 WSOP Main Event.
As we also all know things didn't go quite as planned and Tran had to settle for fifth place and a (still very pleasant) $2.1m payday.
As the ninth-leading American money winner of all-time, thougn, we knew it wouldn't be long before we saw him back in contention for a major prize. Even better, this time it's on his home turf at the Rolling Thunder casino in Sacramento.
The local legend came into the final 24 with a relatively short stack but has already hit a key double up to put him back in contention for the $300k prize and WPT title.
He's sitting on 650,000 right about now, in the top six and just under average stack as they play down to the final table today.
Check the WPT Live Updates here for live reports; the top six and chip counts:
1. James Calderaro 2,250,000 2. Quoc Pham 1,700,000 3. Preston Harwell 1,300,000 4. Chad Eveslage 1,218,000 5. Ken Jorgensen 1,080,000 6. JC Tran 650,0003) Survive & Advance Amazing, Great Poker Mantra
With the NCAA basketball tournament set to kick off we've naturally been scrutinizing our brackets (Iowa St, we feel you) and rewatching some of the greatest moments in college basketball history.
If you haven't seen the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on Coach Jim Valvano and NC State's unbelievable run to the 1983 championship, please do so now.
Apologies in advance for the two hours that'll disappear like that but we assure you it's worth it. It might even help your grind the next time you find yourself short-stacked and on the way out the door.
Also: Clyde Drexler, OMG.
Visit www.pokerlistings.com