I finished in 89th, just outside the money, and it was a pretty miserable day for me from the start. Definitely not my best poker as everything I tried to do seemed to backfire. Just one of those days I guess.
During the first orbit of the day, I open raised to 4,800 (blinds at 800/1,600, 200 ante) with 88 from early position. The button, a European player with a healthy stack, smooth called and we took the flop heads up. The flop came down Kd,9h,5s. I probably should have continuation bet here, but decided to check instead, hoping to get a read from my opponent's action. He delayed and then checked behind, and I immediately thought to myself, he has AQ. Sure enough, the turn was a Q. Rather than check and go with my read, however, I led for 6k (hoping instead that it was AJ), but my fears were comfirmed when my opponent smooth called. The brick river went check check and my opponent tabled AQ and shipped the pot. I misplayed this hand pretty badly (first by not leading on the flop and second by betting the turn) and it cost me as I was down to 41k after the first orbit...The next hand I played, still in the same level, I had AdQd in middle position and open raised again to 4,800. This time, the cutoff smooth called, and then the small blind made it 14,000 to go. I really thought about reraising all-in here as I have played with the small blind before and he is a tough/aggressive pro whose range in this spot definitely includes air (as well as KQ and any pair). I decided to muck instead as he could also easily have AK (or AA-QQ) here and I would be drawing thin with my tournament life on the line (really not sure if this was the right decision). After a few more orbits, the blinds and antes had widdled my stack down to 32k, and I again tried raising to 4,800 from middle position, this time with KcQc. It folded around to the big blind, a super tight player who I played with for much of the day yesterday, and continuing the trend of the day, he reraised me, and I had an easy fold. And just like that, after the first level, my stack was cut in half down to 27k.
With the blinds and antes going up (1,000/2,000, 300), it was time for me to shift into all-in preflop mode. Early in level 2, I won just my second pot of the day (the first was a blind battle) when an aggressive player made it 5,000 to go in middle position and I reraised all-in from the button with AK. The original raiser mucked and I was back up to 38k. I couldn't find a good spot during the next orbit to do anything besides fold, and when I found myself back on the button I was down to 33k. The action folded around to me and I looked down at KQ. The small blind had ~35k and the big blind had ~150k. Given that I was making a button raise, I thought that if I raised small (to 5k or so), a resteal was likely with a wide range of hands from either player (in which case the pressure would be on me to make a big call for my tournament life). Not particularly liking this contingency, I decided instead to put the pressure on my opponents, and I shoved all-in despite the fact that I was 17bb's deep (and I definitely did not care that we were down to 89 players). The small blind folded, and the big blind tanked and called with A10s. I saw an ace in the window, and I didn't get any help. I was drawing dead by the turn, and like that, I was gone.
Another disappointing Day 2, especially considering how good I felt about the way I played yesterday. Really felt like this was going to be the one. I guess I'm just saving up for the Main Event.
There is not a lot left on the schedule that excites me (except for the Main Event of course), and with my brother coming in town this weekend, I might skip a few of the smaller buy-in remaining events. I will most likely play one more preliminary event before the main event, which starts next Thursday.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Still Alive in the Rebuy
I took Monday and Tuesday off and was definitely ready to play today's event, the 1k No Limit Hold'em Rebuy. I rebought once (lost 88 against A10, all-in pf on the very first hand of the day) and added-on.
879 people entered and there were an additional 2,508 rebuys and add-ons, making the average stack after the rebuy period ~8k (total prize pool ~$3.2 million). From the original 879 players, we are down to 115 after Day 1. The average stack heading into tomorrow is ~59k and I have 54,100.
81 players (standard 9% of the player pool at WSOP) will make the money, but I have every intention of staying aggressive (especially early), and if I bubble as a result, so be it.
The biggest hand of the day for me occurred in Level 10, 30 minutes before the end of the night. I started the hand with 24,600 in chips and with blinds at 600/1,200 and antes of 100, I open raised from under the gun with 8c9c to 3,600. I had a fairly tight image at the table at this point, and I was trying to steal the blinds from under the gun (knowing that the other players would have to respect my raise from out of position). The button, who had recently gone on a rush from 30k to over 110k, smooth called. This was definitely unusual at this point of the tourney (it was normally either raise and win the blinds, or get reraised), but I didn't sense from his body language that he was trapping me with a big pair. Instead, I thought he likely had a hand like AJ,KQ or a mid pair, and wanted to see a flop in position. As such, my intention was to stay aggressive post flop and try to force him off his hand. The flop came down Jd,9s,3d, giving me midpair. I shuffled my chips for a good 90 seconds and was considering making a continuation bet. The stack sizes, and the fact that I had flopped midpair, however, made checking the better move. If I led for 6k, and he had nothing, he would just fold and I would get no value for my hand. If he got a piece of the flop (or sensed weakness), he would raise me all-in and I would have to fold. Whereas if I checked, I knew that he would lead with a wide range of hands, many of which I was ahead of, and if I thought that he was weak, I could check raise all-in, getting value and protecting my hand...I checked and I could tell that he was a little bit surprised, as he was definitely expecting me to fire out. In a lot of ways, it looked like I had given up on the hand with a hand like AK or AQ. He waited another 2 or 3 seconds, and then announced all-in (a 21,000 chip bet into a 9k pot). Not exactly and ideal spot for me with midpair and my tournament life on the line, but everything about his body language suggested to me that he already regretted his bet. It could have been him protecting his hand with AA or Jx, but it felt more like KQ (gut shot and two overcards), a flush draw, or a medium or low pair...I tanked for a good minute or so, but ended up going with my gut and made the call. He flipped up 44, and I faded his two-outer on the turn and river to double up. Hands like this are why I love poker. In one situation, top two pair is no good and you have to make a big lay down, but in another, mid pair is good, and you have to make a big call with your tournament life on the line.
The tourney gets going tomorrow at 2, which means I will unfortunately miss the 5k 6-handed event.
879 people entered and there were an additional 2,508 rebuys and add-ons, making the average stack after the rebuy period ~8k (total prize pool ~$3.2 million). From the original 879 players, we are down to 115 after Day 1. The average stack heading into tomorrow is ~59k and I have 54,100.
81 players (standard 9% of the player pool at WSOP) will make the money, but I have every intention of staying aggressive (especially early), and if I bubble as a result, so be it.
The biggest hand of the day for me occurred in Level 10, 30 minutes before the end of the night. I started the hand with 24,600 in chips and with blinds at 600/1,200 and antes of 100, I open raised from under the gun with 8c9c to 3,600. I had a fairly tight image at the table at this point, and I was trying to steal the blinds from under the gun (knowing that the other players would have to respect my raise from out of position). The button, who had recently gone on a rush from 30k to over 110k, smooth called. This was definitely unusual at this point of the tourney (it was normally either raise and win the blinds, or get reraised), but I didn't sense from his body language that he was trapping me with a big pair. Instead, I thought he likely had a hand like AJ,KQ or a mid pair, and wanted to see a flop in position. As such, my intention was to stay aggressive post flop and try to force him off his hand. The flop came down Jd,9s,3d, giving me midpair. I shuffled my chips for a good 90 seconds and was considering making a continuation bet. The stack sizes, and the fact that I had flopped midpair, however, made checking the better move. If I led for 6k, and he had nothing, he would just fold and I would get no value for my hand. If he got a piece of the flop (or sensed weakness), he would raise me all-in and I would have to fold. Whereas if I checked, I knew that he would lead with a wide range of hands, many of which I was ahead of, and if I thought that he was weak, I could check raise all-in, getting value and protecting my hand...I checked and I could tell that he was a little bit surprised, as he was definitely expecting me to fire out. In a lot of ways, it looked like I had given up on the hand with a hand like AK or AQ. He waited another 2 or 3 seconds, and then announced all-in (a 21,000 chip bet into a 9k pot). Not exactly and ideal spot for me with midpair and my tournament life on the line, but everything about his body language suggested to me that he already regretted his bet. It could have been him protecting his hand with AA or Jx, but it felt more like KQ (gut shot and two overcards), a flush draw, or a medium or low pair...I tanked for a good minute or so, but ended up going with my gut and made the call. He flipped up 44, and I faded his two-outer on the turn and river to double up. Hands like this are why I love poker. In one situation, top two pair is no good and you have to make a big lay down, but in another, mid pair is good, and you have to make a big call with your tournament life on the line.
The tourney gets going tomorrow at 2, which means I will unfortunately miss the 5k 6-handed event.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
AK < AQ
I finished in 60th, getting cracked within the first orbit at the table. I still had 21,600 when I looked down at AK on the button (had a walk in the bb and folded my sb). A young European player (who started the day with about 25k and already was up to over 60 after rivering a straight and then doubling through with Aces), open raised to 5,400. It folded around to me and I reraised the pot making it 18,600 to go. He shoved and I obviously called. He flipped up AQ, which is exactly what I wanted to see. The first card off the deck, however, was a Q and I was quickly drawing slim to three outs. The turn and river were blanks and I was out. Just so sick. I would have been up to 45,600 and been in real contention, but I just can't seem to win 70/30's right now let alone flips. Really really frustrating as it is really tough to go deep in a tourney and have a real chance to make a final table. My luck has to turn eventually.
I have a friend in town so my schedule is kind of up in the air. Definitely taking the rest of the day off, but I might play the mixed hold'em event tomorrow at 5. I have Monday and Tuesday off as well, so might not have a lot to report over the next few days.
I have a friend in town so my schedule is kind of up in the air. Definitely taking the rest of the day off, but I might play the mixed hold'em event tomorrow at 5. I have Monday and Tuesday off as well, so might not have a lot to report over the next few days.
Hanging Around
Still alive in the Pot Limit Hold'em event. 600+ entrants and we played down to the money (looong bubble) and there are now 63 people still in. The average stack is about 38k and I have 21,600. Action starts up again tomorrow at 2.
Lots of interesting hands, but I actually have a friend in town (Sinead) and we're off on a 1:45am run so have to keep this brief. Quick summary is that I nursed a short stack pretty much the whole day after I folded QQ pre in level 1 with about half my stack in the pot (guy told me later he had bullets). I grinded from there and just refused to quit. Probably my best all around day of poker (took a sick beat with AJ against KJ all-in pre, but again refused to give up) since I've been out here. I did misplay QdJd in the last level when I bet myself off of a big draw, which I am still frustrated about.
Blinds start at 800/1,600 tomorrow so I have about 13 big blinds to work with. Feeling good about the way I'm playing and I just hope that I run well tomorrow.
Lots of interesting hands, but I actually have a friend in town (Sinead) and we're off on a 1:45am run so have to keep this brief. Quick summary is that I nursed a short stack pretty much the whole day after I folded QQ pre in level 1 with about half my stack in the pot (guy told me later he had bullets). I grinded from there and just refused to quit. Probably my best all around day of poker (took a sick beat with AJ against KJ all-in pre, but again refused to give up) since I've been out here. I did misplay QdJd in the last level when I bet myself off of a big draw, which I am still frustrated about.
Blinds start at 800/1,600 tomorrow so I have about 13 big blinds to work with. Feeling good about the way I'm playing and I just hope that I run well tomorrow.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Poor Tournament Showing, Big Cash Win
I had a mixed day today, which started with a very weak tournament showing, but ended with a big win playing cash games.
The tournament was particularly frustrating, because it started off so well. Within the first 45 minutes, I doubled up to 6k when I flopped the nut flush with AdQd and let my opponent bet it the whole way. It's pretty interesting. In cash games, I like to play very aggressively, keeping the pressure on my opponents, and assessing my next move based on how they react to my aggression. In these smaller buy-in tournaments, however, I have found that trapping (slow playing big hands) can often be more effective. Weaker players tend to overplay their hands, and due to the short starting stacks, commit themselves with hands like top pair. This isn't to say that being a calling station is good/solid play, but the occasional trap early in a tournament can be very effective.
After my double up, I just did not play good fundamental poker. There were 2,400+ entrants and I knew that I would have to accumulate chips quickly in order to stay ahead of the pack. I gave myself goals, like having 8k at the first break, and 15k at the second. Setting goals for where you'd realistically like your stack to be at certain points in a tournament is fine, but forcing the action and not waiting for opportunities to come to you is always dangerous. I artificially pressured myself to build my stack too quickly, and as a result, I lost my patience and started getting involved in pots I shouldn't have. One example, which ended up crippling me, occurred early in level 2. I raised with KJ from early position and ended up losing more than half my stack when the flop came down JJ2 and my opponent looked me up with AJ. It was a very unlucky flop for me, for sure, but the point is that I never should have played the hand to begin with. I lost a few more pots (making one terrible call), got super short, and ended up losing with A3 against K10 all-in preflop. I was out before the second break, and was extremely disappointed as I only had myself to blame.
I was frustrated enough at myself that I wanted to play more cards and redeem myself (always a dangerous thing to do, but I didn't feel like I was on tilt). I watched the cash games for a while, and there was an action-packed 25/50 NL game going, which had a mandatory straddle making the game 25/50/100. The average stack at the table was a bit over 20k and the typical preflop action was raise to 300, call, reraise to 1,100, call, call. The action at the 10/20 game looked good as well, but I thought that buying in short at 25/50 and playing a squeaky tight/aggressive game would be my most profitable strategy. I bought in for 5k, by far the shortest stack at the table, and literally folded and folded and folded. I decided to use the strategy I employed when I first started playing in the loose/passive games in NYC. I would only raise with A's - 10's, AK and AQ, and limp call with any other pair, hoping to flop a set. This strategy is normally not profitable, because people notice how tight you are playing and you get no action when you do pick up a hand. In a game with this much action preflop, however, I knew that I had to just wait around and pick up a hand in the right spot. In addition, my narrow starting range did not hurt me postflop, because my stack was not deep enough to allow opponents to force me off of hands. Not exactly the most interesting poker I've ever played as there was very little subtlety to it. Preflop reads were still important, but basically, it was wait around for a big hand and then shove a bunch of chips into the pot.
I ended up picking up two big hands in good spots, and ended the session up $9,200, one of my largest cash game wins ever. The first hand occurred about 45 minutes into the session. The player under the gun open raised to 300 (25/50/100), and the next player called. It then folded around to the cutoff who made it 1,300 to go. I looked down in the small blind at AA and shipped in my 5k stack after thinking for a good 15 seconds. Everyone folded and just like that I picked up 2k. Then, about an hour and a half later (I was up to about 7,200), I woke up to KK on the button. This time, the action started on the 4th player to act who made it 400 to go. The cutoff reraised to 1,500 and the action was on me. Both the raiser and the reraiser had deep stacks and had been playing quite aggressively preflop. I thought their ranges were pretty wide here, and I wanted to both get action from a smaller pair and at the same time protect my hand from Ax. As such, I tried to represent AK by making a big reraise all-in. I thought that this might induce action from a hand like JJ or QQ, and it would obviously get a hand like AQ or AJ to fold, which could easily outflop me. The original raiser folded and the reraiser tanked for a good 3 minutes. He finally called, and although we didn't have to, we flipped our hands face up and he showed AK. I am actually only ~72% favorite in this spot and I have a terrible history of losing huge pots with KK. Nevertheless, the cowboys held up on a J high board and I shipped a massive pot. I nitted it up for another two hours or so, not playing any sizable pots, and then ended the session.
Short-stacking is a highly volatile cash game strategy (because you have to reraise all-in a lot), but given the right table and a few starting hands (Aces and Kings helps), it can be a very effective strategy and one that is very frustrating to play against, because it disrupts the normal flow of the game (which is why there are minimum buy-ins to begin with).
I believe the tournament tomorrow is a Pot Limit Hold'em event, which should be fun. I have had some success with Pot Limit tournaments in the past which I hope to continue tomorrow.
The tournament was particularly frustrating, because it started off so well. Within the first 45 minutes, I doubled up to 6k when I flopped the nut flush with AdQd and let my opponent bet it the whole way. It's pretty interesting. In cash games, I like to play very aggressively, keeping the pressure on my opponents, and assessing my next move based on how they react to my aggression. In these smaller buy-in tournaments, however, I have found that trapping (slow playing big hands) can often be more effective. Weaker players tend to overplay their hands, and due to the short starting stacks, commit themselves with hands like top pair. This isn't to say that being a calling station is good/solid play, but the occasional trap early in a tournament can be very effective.
After my double up, I just did not play good fundamental poker. There were 2,400+ entrants and I knew that I would have to accumulate chips quickly in order to stay ahead of the pack. I gave myself goals, like having 8k at the first break, and 15k at the second. Setting goals for where you'd realistically like your stack to be at certain points in a tournament is fine, but forcing the action and not waiting for opportunities to come to you is always dangerous. I artificially pressured myself to build my stack too quickly, and as a result, I lost my patience and started getting involved in pots I shouldn't have. One example, which ended up crippling me, occurred early in level 2. I raised with KJ from early position and ended up losing more than half my stack when the flop came down JJ2 and my opponent looked me up with AJ. It was a very unlucky flop for me, for sure, but the point is that I never should have played the hand to begin with. I lost a few more pots (making one terrible call), got super short, and ended up losing with A3 against K10 all-in preflop. I was out before the second break, and was extremely disappointed as I only had myself to blame.
I was frustrated enough at myself that I wanted to play more cards and redeem myself (always a dangerous thing to do, but I didn't feel like I was on tilt). I watched the cash games for a while, and there was an action-packed 25/50 NL game going, which had a mandatory straddle making the game 25/50/100. The average stack at the table was a bit over 20k and the typical preflop action was raise to 300, call, reraise to 1,100, call, call. The action at the 10/20 game looked good as well, but I thought that buying in short at 25/50 and playing a squeaky tight/aggressive game would be my most profitable strategy. I bought in for 5k, by far the shortest stack at the table, and literally folded and folded and folded. I decided to use the strategy I employed when I first started playing in the loose/passive games in NYC. I would only raise with A's - 10's, AK and AQ, and limp call with any other pair, hoping to flop a set. This strategy is normally not profitable, because people notice how tight you are playing and you get no action when you do pick up a hand. In a game with this much action preflop, however, I knew that I had to just wait around and pick up a hand in the right spot. In addition, my narrow starting range did not hurt me postflop, because my stack was not deep enough to allow opponents to force me off of hands. Not exactly the most interesting poker I've ever played as there was very little subtlety to it. Preflop reads were still important, but basically, it was wait around for a big hand and then shove a bunch of chips into the pot.
I ended up picking up two big hands in good spots, and ended the session up $9,200, one of my largest cash game wins ever. The first hand occurred about 45 minutes into the session. The player under the gun open raised to 300 (25/50/100), and the next player called. It then folded around to the cutoff who made it 1,300 to go. I looked down in the small blind at AA and shipped in my 5k stack after thinking for a good 15 seconds. Everyone folded and just like that I picked up 2k. Then, about an hour and a half later (I was up to about 7,200), I woke up to KK on the button. This time, the action started on the 4th player to act who made it 400 to go. The cutoff reraised to 1,500 and the action was on me. Both the raiser and the reraiser had deep stacks and had been playing quite aggressively preflop. I thought their ranges were pretty wide here, and I wanted to both get action from a smaller pair and at the same time protect my hand from Ax. As such, I tried to represent AK by making a big reraise all-in. I thought that this might induce action from a hand like JJ or QQ, and it would obviously get a hand like AQ or AJ to fold, which could easily outflop me. The original raiser folded and the reraiser tanked for a good 3 minutes. He finally called, and although we didn't have to, we flipped our hands face up and he showed AK. I am actually only ~72% favorite in this spot and I have a terrible history of losing huge pots with KK. Nevertheless, the cowboys held up on a J high board and I shipped a massive pot. I nitted it up for another two hours or so, not playing any sizable pots, and then ended the session.
Short-stacking is a highly volatile cash game strategy (because you have to reraise all-in a lot), but given the right table and a few starting hands (Aces and Kings helps), it can be a very effective strategy and one that is very frustrating to play against, because it disrupts the normal flow of the game (which is why there are minimum buy-ins to begin with).
I believe the tournament tomorrow is a Pot Limit Hold'em event, which should be fun. I have had some success with Pot Limit tournaments in the past which I hope to continue tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Nice Cash Game Session
I put in a 5-hour cash game session today at Rio, which was my first cash session since I've been out here. I have been avoiding cash games intentionally, focusing my energy on the tournaments instead, but decided that I needed a change of pace to get excited about poker.
I sat in a 10/20 NL game and bought in for 4k, which was about average at the table. It was definitely nice to be sitting with a deep stack for a change, 200 big blinds to work with. I played pretty tight my first two hours, as I eased into the game, but opened up my game as I felt out the table (and readjusted to cash game play). There were three players who were pretty weak at the table (two of which were on my right), and I made a point of trying to play as many pots with them as possible (especially when in position). The game was particularly soft, because the highest stakes cash game pros were playing 100/200 NL with an average buy-in of over 50k.
I ended up booking a nice win of $3,800 during the session. The largest and most interesting hand occurred after I had been playing for about 3 hours. I was up to about $4,800 and one of the weaker players, two to my right, was bleeding chips from his $2,500 stack.
He open raised to $70 from the cutoff, the button called, and I looked down at QdJd in the small blind. In a tournament, QJ is an auto-fold in most situations, but in a deep stacked cash game, it can be a nice speculative hand worth playing in a multi-way raised pot. I called and the big blind called and we took the flop 4-handed. The flop came down Ah, 10h, 8d, giving me a double bellybuster straight draw to the nuts (either a 9 or K would give me the nut straight) and a backdoor flush draw. The action checked around to the preflop raiser who made it $200 to go. I thought that he likely had a big ace and would likely pay me off if I hit my draw. I called and we went to the turn heads up. The turn was the perfect card, the Kd, giving me the nuts and a redraw. This card looked harmless enough to my opponent (not a heart), and if he had a big ace like AK, AQ or AJ, it actually would have improved his hand. I checked, knowing that my opponent would do the work for me. He led for 550 (leaving himself another $1,700 behind), and I decided to smooth call once again, wanting him to think I was on a heart draw. I knew that as long as the river was not a heart, he would almost definitely fire again on the river, commiting his stack to the pot. The river was the 2s and I checked again using all of my acting abilities to feign that I had missed my draw. My opponent bet $1,100 on the river and I check raised him all-in. He took a good two minutes, but eventually made a crying call for his last $600 and I quickly flipped up the nuts. He mucked face down, but later claimed that he had AA (which is possible, but I think he had something more like AQ).
It definitely feels good to book a win (I had almost forgotten what it feels like), and I am excited to get back to the tourneys tomorrow at noon. There is another $1,500 NL Hold'em event tomorrow, which means a short 3k starting stack (first two levels are key), and lots and lots of bad players (hopefully anyways).
I sat in a 10/20 NL game and bought in for 4k, which was about average at the table. It was definitely nice to be sitting with a deep stack for a change, 200 big blinds to work with. I played pretty tight my first two hours, as I eased into the game, but opened up my game as I felt out the table (and readjusted to cash game play). There were three players who were pretty weak at the table (two of which were on my right), and I made a point of trying to play as many pots with them as possible (especially when in position). The game was particularly soft, because the highest stakes cash game pros were playing 100/200 NL with an average buy-in of over 50k.
I ended up booking a nice win of $3,800 during the session. The largest and most interesting hand occurred after I had been playing for about 3 hours. I was up to about $4,800 and one of the weaker players, two to my right, was bleeding chips from his $2,500 stack.
He open raised to $70 from the cutoff, the button called, and I looked down at QdJd in the small blind. In a tournament, QJ is an auto-fold in most situations, but in a deep stacked cash game, it can be a nice speculative hand worth playing in a multi-way raised pot. I called and the big blind called and we took the flop 4-handed. The flop came down Ah, 10h, 8d, giving me a double bellybuster straight draw to the nuts (either a 9 or K would give me the nut straight) and a backdoor flush draw. The action checked around to the preflop raiser who made it $200 to go. I thought that he likely had a big ace and would likely pay me off if I hit my draw. I called and we went to the turn heads up. The turn was the perfect card, the Kd, giving me the nuts and a redraw. This card looked harmless enough to my opponent (not a heart), and if he had a big ace like AK, AQ or AJ, it actually would have improved his hand. I checked, knowing that my opponent would do the work for me. He led for 550 (leaving himself another $1,700 behind), and I decided to smooth call once again, wanting him to think I was on a heart draw. I knew that as long as the river was not a heart, he would almost definitely fire again on the river, commiting his stack to the pot. The river was the 2s and I checked again using all of my acting abilities to feign that I had missed my draw. My opponent bet $1,100 on the river and I check raised him all-in. He took a good two minutes, but eventually made a crying call for his last $600 and I quickly flipped up the nuts. He mucked face down, but later claimed that he had AA (which is possible, but I think he had something more like AQ).
It definitely feels good to book a win (I had almost forgotten what it feels like), and I am excited to get back to the tourneys tomorrow at noon. There is another $1,500 NL Hold'em event tomorrow, which means a short 3k starting stack (first two levels are key), and lots and lots of bad players (hopefully anyways).
Bubbling Sucks
I just went for a post-midnight sprint workout: nothing quite like bubbling for motivation.
I played for 11 hours today and outlasted 2,000+ people, just to get cracked right before the money. There were 2,304 entrants (paying 198 places) and with 230ish players remaining, I looked down to see AK on the button. I had 24k in front of me (average was about 30k - 3k starting stacks) and I made my standard open raise of 3,000 (500/1,000 blinds, 100 ante) when everyone folded to me. The small blind folded and the big blind, who started the hand with about 55k, shoved all-in and I snap-called, knowing that he was trying to force me off of my hand (because we were on the bubble - and I had been playing hyper agressively). Unfortunately, he had a small pair and flipped over his 66. I actually felt good after the J1010 flop (needing any J,Q,K or A), but the board bricked out 42 and I was out. I could have easily folded my way into the money, but due to the steep payout structure of tournaments (especially at the WSOP), I will always play to win (at the expense of cashing less).
Despite the extreme frustration of bubbling, it was actually a very enjoyable day of poker. My starting table draw was amazing (by far the weakest table I have been at), and despite a setback early, I felt comfortable from the start. My 3k starting stack dropped to 2,400 when I paid off a flopped flush (who slow played) when I turned a set (my river call was pretty bad as he bet 125% of the pot and I knew he wasn't bluffing). I continued to play agressively, however, and the deck finally cooperated. I rivered a full house with 1010 (my opponent slow played trip 7's on the flop) and was able to double up to almost 5k. From there, I just ran over my table, as I felt like I could hear my opponents thinking while playing against them. I was probably playing 5 hands every rotation. After the first hour, I was up to 6k, and two hours later, I was up to over 11k without playing a large pot (besides the 1010 hand early). It was so nice to build a stack early and have the chips to play my game.
After three hours, our table broke and I was moved to a much tougher table. I stayed agressive, but fluctuated up and down over the next couple of hours as my timing was just a little off. I open raised with KQ, 88 and 66 and got reraised by tight players and had to release my hand each time. I managed to keep my stack steady by picking off pots whenever I could. Then, early in level 5, I finally won a big flip. I reraised from the button with 1010 and was pot-committed when my opponent shoved all-in. He showed AK, but after a J6642 board, his 8k stack was shipped over to me and I was up to about 19k. From there, I tried to stay agressive, but the big blinds and short average stack made it an all-in fest and I went a bit card-dead for the next couple of levels. My stack continued to fluctuate winning pots with AA and J10, but losing with 99 and KQ. When the field got down to 250 players, I started to play hyper-agressively, raising 3-4 times per rotation, with very little resistance. I built my stack from 17k to 24k simply by stealing blinds. And then, in the midst of this agressive rush, I woke up to AK and it was all over.
I really want to play more poker tomorrow as I felt like I was really on my game today (I might even hit up the cash games). Unfortunately, there are only Omaha and Stud events tomorrow, which although tempting, I will stay away from. Will just have to gear up for the next event Thursday at noon.
I played for 11 hours today and outlasted 2,000+ people, just to get cracked right before the money. There were 2,304 entrants (paying 198 places) and with 230ish players remaining, I looked down to see AK on the button. I had 24k in front of me (average was about 30k - 3k starting stacks) and I made my standard open raise of 3,000 (500/1,000 blinds, 100 ante) when everyone folded to me. The small blind folded and the big blind, who started the hand with about 55k, shoved all-in and I snap-called, knowing that he was trying to force me off of my hand (because we were on the bubble - and I had been playing hyper agressively). Unfortunately, he had a small pair and flipped over his 66. I actually felt good after the J1010 flop (needing any J,Q,K or A), but the board bricked out 42 and I was out. I could have easily folded my way into the money, but due to the steep payout structure of tournaments (especially at the WSOP), I will always play to win (at the expense of cashing less).
Despite the extreme frustration of bubbling, it was actually a very enjoyable day of poker. My starting table draw was amazing (by far the weakest table I have been at), and despite a setback early, I felt comfortable from the start. My 3k starting stack dropped to 2,400 when I paid off a flopped flush (who slow played) when I turned a set (my river call was pretty bad as he bet 125% of the pot and I knew he wasn't bluffing). I continued to play agressively, however, and the deck finally cooperated. I rivered a full house with 1010 (my opponent slow played trip 7's on the flop) and was able to double up to almost 5k. From there, I just ran over my table, as I felt like I could hear my opponents thinking while playing against them. I was probably playing 5 hands every rotation. After the first hour, I was up to 6k, and two hours later, I was up to over 11k without playing a large pot (besides the 1010 hand early). It was so nice to build a stack early and have the chips to play my game.
After three hours, our table broke and I was moved to a much tougher table. I stayed agressive, but fluctuated up and down over the next couple of hours as my timing was just a little off. I open raised with KQ, 88 and 66 and got reraised by tight players and had to release my hand each time. I managed to keep my stack steady by picking off pots whenever I could. Then, early in level 5, I finally won a big flip. I reraised from the button with 1010 and was pot-committed when my opponent shoved all-in. He showed AK, but after a J6642 board, his 8k stack was shipped over to me and I was up to about 19k. From there, I tried to stay agressive, but the big blinds and short average stack made it an all-in fest and I went a bit card-dead for the next couple of levels. My stack continued to fluctuate winning pots with AA and J10, but losing with 99 and KQ. When the field got down to 250 players, I started to play hyper-agressively, raising 3-4 times per rotation, with very little resistance. I built my stack from 17k to 24k simply by stealing blinds. And then, in the midst of this agressive rush, I woke up to AK and it was all over.
I really want to play more poker tomorrow as I felt like I was really on my game today (I might even hit up the cash games). Unfortunately, there are only Omaha and Stud events tomorrow, which although tempting, I will stay away from. Will just have to gear up for the next event Thursday at noon.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Level 2 Bust
I played the 6-Handed No Limit event today and my fate came down to one critical hand early in level 2. My table (Nam Le and 4 internet pros) had been very agressive in Level 1 and I had built my stack to 5,600 from 5k with two well-timed reraises.
The player to my immediate right was particularly agressive and he had raised my big blind every time it folded to him in the small blind (probably 4 times in level 1). Ten minutes into level 2, the table folded around to him again and he made his standard raise to 275 (50/100 blinds). I looked down to see JcJd and I made it 850 to go. I watched my opponent closely as he decided what to do next (it was clear he was not folding). He shuffled his chips for a good 30 seconds and then reraised to 2,350 (he had over 10k in chips already), putting the pressure back on me. Typically, when there is a re-reraise preflop early in a tournament, QQ is rarely good (let alone JJ), but this was an unusual spot, because it was a blind battle in a 6-handed tournament against a hyper-agressive player.
Not an easy decision for me, but my instincts were telling me I had the best hand. First of all, as I watched my opponent contemplate what to do next (after I reraised to 850), he seemed to be genuinely thinking (which is often not the case), and he did not seem rock solid to me. In addition, the size of his re-reraise (to 2,350) and the fact that he raised at all (could have easily trapped here with AA or KK), all suggested to me that he wanted to win the hand preflop. As such, I was pretty confident that he did not have AA or KK, and thought that his likely range was AK-AJ and QQ-99, which I was well ahead of. Based on this read, I reraised all-in for another 3,250 and my opponent reluctantly called showing AQ.
We were off to the races and the flop came down KQ10. I still had life with a two-street 7-outer, but missed on the turn and river and was out just like that.
This is the 4th or 5th time I have flipped for the bulk of my chips at the WSOP. In general, I try to avoid flips (especially given the way I'm running right now), because I believe that over the course of a tournament, there will be better expected value spots to invest my chips. That said, given the small-starting stacks and agressive play in many of these tournaments, flipping is sometimes an unfortunate necessity. I will never fold a substantially positive expected value position (like today with JJ), just to avoid the possibility of a flip. As long as I am putting the pressure on my opponent, and not making desperation calls, I am ok with getting my chips in with a pair or two overcards...But god damn, I gotta start winning them on occasion.
Tomorrow at noon is a $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Event, which would be a good event to make a deep run in, because I am off on Wednesday either way.
The player to my immediate right was particularly agressive and he had raised my big blind every time it folded to him in the small blind (probably 4 times in level 1). Ten minutes into level 2, the table folded around to him again and he made his standard raise to 275 (50/100 blinds). I looked down to see JcJd and I made it 850 to go. I watched my opponent closely as he decided what to do next (it was clear he was not folding). He shuffled his chips for a good 30 seconds and then reraised to 2,350 (he had over 10k in chips already), putting the pressure back on me. Typically, when there is a re-reraise preflop early in a tournament, QQ is rarely good (let alone JJ), but this was an unusual spot, because it was a blind battle in a 6-handed tournament against a hyper-agressive player.
Not an easy decision for me, but my instincts were telling me I had the best hand. First of all, as I watched my opponent contemplate what to do next (after I reraised to 850), he seemed to be genuinely thinking (which is often not the case), and he did not seem rock solid to me. In addition, the size of his re-reraise (to 2,350) and the fact that he raised at all (could have easily trapped here with AA or KK), all suggested to me that he wanted to win the hand preflop. As such, I was pretty confident that he did not have AA or KK, and thought that his likely range was AK-AJ and QQ-99, which I was well ahead of. Based on this read, I reraised all-in for another 3,250 and my opponent reluctantly called showing AQ.
We were off to the races and the flop came down KQ10. I still had life with a two-street 7-outer, but missed on the turn and river and was out just like that.
This is the 4th or 5th time I have flipped for the bulk of my chips at the WSOP. In general, I try to avoid flips (especially given the way I'm running right now), because I believe that over the course of a tournament, there will be better expected value spots to invest my chips. That said, given the small-starting stacks and agressive play in many of these tournaments, flipping is sometimes an unfortunate necessity. I will never fold a substantially positive expected value position (like today with JJ), just to avoid the possibility of a flip. As long as I am putting the pressure on my opponent, and not making desperation calls, I am ok with getting my chips in with a pair or two overcards...But god damn, I gotta start winning them on occasion.
Tomorrow at noon is a $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Event, which would be a good event to make a deep run in, because I am off on Wednesday either way.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Half Time
I have taken the past few days off to spend time with the rents (who are headed home tomorrow morning), and I have to admit, it was a well-timed and much needed break. Frustration can definitely build after playing so many tournaments day after day, and it was great to just take a few days and not even think about poker.
I have been in Vegas for two weeks now and am pretty much at the midpoint of my trip. After just one min-cash in my first 7 events, it has definitely been a disappointing start. I feel like my play has been solid for the most part (a few poor decisions here and there have cost me - and learning how to win a flip occasionally would help as well), but I'm feeling reenergized and am ready to step it up to the next level over the next two weeks.
I took a look at the remaining schedule tonight, and although there are 10 remaining events (including the main event) which I have an interest in playing, I realistically only expect to play 7 or 8 more events given the multi-day scheduling conflicts. The second half starts tomorrow at noon with the $2,500 6-Handed No Limit Hold'em event.
I have been in Vegas for two weeks now and am pretty much at the midpoint of my trip. After just one min-cash in my first 7 events, it has definitely been a disappointing start. I feel like my play has been solid for the most part (a few poor decisions here and there have cost me - and learning how to win a flip occasionally would help as well), but I'm feeling reenergized and am ready to step it up to the next level over the next two weeks.
I took a look at the remaining schedule tonight, and although there are 10 remaining events (including the main event) which I have an interest in playing, I realistically only expect to play 7 or 8 more events given the multi-day scheduling conflicts. The second half starts tomorrow at noon with the $2,500 6-Handed No Limit Hold'em event.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Running Bad
I played the noon event today and was out of the tournament within the first orbit. Of the 1,200+ players in the tournament, I must have been one of the first ten out of the tournament.
I open raised three of the first five hands with AQ, AJ, and 99, winning the blinds twice and winning the third with a continuation bet on the flop. My 4k stack was up to 4,400 and I had established a nice agro-maniacal image, which I was hoping to exploit later on in the tournament. Then, just two hands later, I woke up to KK in the small blind. The player under the gun limped for 50 (25/50 blinds), the next player (a tourney pro who I've played with in AC and Foxwoods) limped, the cutoff limped and the big blind limped. It looked like a classic steal situation so I overraised to feign weakness. I made it 475 to go, hoping to get called or reraised by someone who just didn't believe me. The player under the gun called, and then the next limper (the east coast pro) made it 1,875 to go. This was exactly the move I was hoping for, because I knew that there was no chance this guy had limped behind the under the gun limper with Aces. I thought he probably had a hand like 77-99 or A10-AQ. I also noticed the under the gun limper grimace when the second limper raised, which was nice to see as I could now be sure that he did not have bullets either. The hand played itself at this point and I moved all-in for another 2,500. The under the gun limper quickly folded and the east coast pro called (as he was pot committed) with AQ. The flop came down A,J,4 and I never caught up...Obviously, it would have been nice to start the tourney with a 9k stack when the rest of the table had 4 (especially because I finally got a pretty good table draw), but instead I was cracked within the first twenty minutes.
My parents are in town (arrived last night), and they can attest to the fact that I was in a terrible mood for a good hour or so after the tourney ended. Still, by 2pm I put the beat behind me, and had a nice rest of the day with the rents. Having a short memory is definitely key as a tournament player, because failure is the norm (~91% of the time), and recent failures can cause you to question yourself and your instincts. As long as you play your best every day (assuming you are a skilled/winning player to begin with), and you do not allow recent failures to affect your decision making in future events, the results will be there in the long run.
The rents are in town until next Monday, so I am not sure of my schedule over the next few days.
I open raised three of the first five hands with AQ, AJ, and 99, winning the blinds twice and winning the third with a continuation bet on the flop. My 4k stack was up to 4,400 and I had established a nice agro-maniacal image, which I was hoping to exploit later on in the tournament. Then, just two hands later, I woke up to KK in the small blind. The player under the gun limped for 50 (25/50 blinds), the next player (a tourney pro who I've played with in AC and Foxwoods) limped, the cutoff limped and the big blind limped. It looked like a classic steal situation so I overraised to feign weakness. I made it 475 to go, hoping to get called or reraised by someone who just didn't believe me. The player under the gun called, and then the next limper (the east coast pro) made it 1,875 to go. This was exactly the move I was hoping for, because I knew that there was no chance this guy had limped behind the under the gun limper with Aces. I thought he probably had a hand like 77-99 or A10-AQ. I also noticed the under the gun limper grimace when the second limper raised, which was nice to see as I could now be sure that he did not have bullets either. The hand played itself at this point and I moved all-in for another 2,500. The under the gun limper quickly folded and the east coast pro called (as he was pot committed) with AQ. The flop came down A,J,4 and I never caught up...Obviously, it would have been nice to start the tourney with a 9k stack when the rest of the table had 4 (especially because I finally got a pretty good table draw), but instead I was cracked within the first twenty minutes.
My parents are in town (arrived last night), and they can attest to the fact that I was in a terrible mood for a good hour or so after the tourney ended. Still, by 2pm I put the beat behind me, and had a nice rest of the day with the rents. Having a short memory is definitely key as a tournament player, because failure is the norm (~91% of the time), and recent failures can cause you to question yourself and your instincts. As long as you play your best every day (assuming you are a skilled/winning player to begin with), and you do not allow recent failures to affect your decision making in future events, the results will be there in the long run.
The rents are in town until next Monday, so I am not sure of my schedule over the next few days.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Could Not Escape Bullets Twice
I took the day off yesterday and felt fresh and ready to go for today's NL Hold'em event which started at noon. The field was surprisingly large (731 players), but I managed to keep up my streak of terrible table draws: I was in seat 1, Kenny Tran in seat 2, Eric Cajelais ("straight or nothing") in seat 3, Layne Flack in seat 5, Scotty Nguyen in seat 7 and Huck Seed in seat 8.
I ended up getting cracked right before the end of Day 1 (around 215th out of 731), when I reraised all-in from the small blind with 99 and the open raiser from the cutoff insta-called with AA...I was a bit card dead on the day, but the table was playing squeaky tight (except for Huck), and I probably missed a few chances to pad my stack with just sheer agression.
A couple of really interesting hands from early in the day. I had KcKd in the cutoff and was facing an under the gun raise to 600 (100/200 blinds, 25 ante). I made it 2,000 to go (I had about 14,000 before the hand started) and Kenny Tran cold called my reraise from the button. The utg raiser called as well and we took the flop three handed. The flop came down 10c,10d,4c. The first player checked, I led for 3,000, and Kenny shoved all-in for 15k or so. I put Kenny on a huge hand preflop based on several factors: a) I had been playing super tight, b) I reraised an under the gun raiser, c) he had been playing super tight, d) he just smooth called, e) everything about his body language suggested strength...I was certain that Kenny would not make this move with QQ or JJ, and the only two hands I could put him on were AA or a big club flush draw. The key to the hand was the fact that I had the Kc, ruling out AcKc. I didn't think Kenny would call preflop with AcQc, so I decided it had to be Aces and I mucked...Kenny showed the Ac, and I am 90%+ confident that he had bullets, but I guess I'll never know.
During the same level, Layne limped for 200, the cutoff raised to 700, I called from the button with 6d6h and Layne called as well. The flop came down 10c,7d,4c and the preflop raiser made it 1,200 to go after Layne checked. I could tell from his body language that he was weak and I decided to call the flop with the intention of taking the hand away on the turn. To my surprise, Layne overcalled and we went to the turn still three-handed. The turn was the 2s and it checked around to me. This was the critical moment in the hand. I knew that the preflop raiser was done with the hand, because if he had a real hand (like an overpair), he would bet strong on the turn after getting two callers on the flop. The only question was Layne. I was pretty sure that Layne would not trap with a set on the flop, because he was up against two players and there was a flush draw on board. Instead, he would almost definitely go for a check raise. As such, I was pretty sure he had either a weak 10 (910 or J10), a mid pair (most likely higher than mine) or perhaps a flush draw. All hands which cannot stand much pressure on the turn. I didn't think Layne could call a big bet on the turn and it was highly likely that I would lose at showdown (or get bet off the hand on the river) if I checked. I made it 4,000 to go. Layne tanked, and folded and the preflop raiser mucked as well. I showed the bluff (to loosen up my image a bit) much to the frustration of Layne.
Another crazy hand, which I was not a part of, went like this: Layne open raises to 700, Scotty min reraises to 1,200, Huck tanks and folds, and Layne calls. The flop comes down 8,8,7. Layne takes a while and says something like, "against anybody else I would trap", and then shoves 10k plus into the middle putting Scotty all-in. Scotty insta-folds AA face up and Layne shows 77 for the flopped full house. The best part of the hand is that Huck folded 88 preflop to Scotty's min reraise. So, on the flop it would have been AA against 7's full against quad 8's.
I am playing the No Limit event tomorrow at noon.
I ended up getting cracked right before the end of Day 1 (around 215th out of 731), when I reraised all-in from the small blind with 99 and the open raiser from the cutoff insta-called with AA...I was a bit card dead on the day, but the table was playing squeaky tight (except for Huck), and I probably missed a few chances to pad my stack with just sheer agression.
A couple of really interesting hands from early in the day. I had KcKd in the cutoff and was facing an under the gun raise to 600 (100/200 blinds, 25 ante). I made it 2,000 to go (I had about 14,000 before the hand started) and Kenny Tran cold called my reraise from the button. The utg raiser called as well and we took the flop three handed. The flop came down 10c,10d,4c. The first player checked, I led for 3,000, and Kenny shoved all-in for 15k or so. I put Kenny on a huge hand preflop based on several factors: a) I had been playing super tight, b) I reraised an under the gun raiser, c) he had been playing super tight, d) he just smooth called, e) everything about his body language suggested strength...I was certain that Kenny would not make this move with QQ or JJ, and the only two hands I could put him on were AA or a big club flush draw. The key to the hand was the fact that I had the Kc, ruling out AcKc. I didn't think Kenny would call preflop with AcQc, so I decided it had to be Aces and I mucked...Kenny showed the Ac, and I am 90%+ confident that he had bullets, but I guess I'll never know.
During the same level, Layne limped for 200, the cutoff raised to 700, I called from the button with 6d6h and Layne called as well. The flop came down 10c,7d,4c and the preflop raiser made it 1,200 to go after Layne checked. I could tell from his body language that he was weak and I decided to call the flop with the intention of taking the hand away on the turn. To my surprise, Layne overcalled and we went to the turn still three-handed. The turn was the 2s and it checked around to me. This was the critical moment in the hand. I knew that the preflop raiser was done with the hand, because if he had a real hand (like an overpair), he would bet strong on the turn after getting two callers on the flop. The only question was Layne. I was pretty sure that Layne would not trap with a set on the flop, because he was up against two players and there was a flush draw on board. Instead, he would almost definitely go for a check raise. As such, I was pretty sure he had either a weak 10 (910 or J10), a mid pair (most likely higher than mine) or perhaps a flush draw. All hands which cannot stand much pressure on the turn. I didn't think Layne could call a big bet on the turn and it was highly likely that I would lose at showdown (or get bet off the hand on the river) if I checked. I made it 4,000 to go. Layne tanked, and folded and the preflop raiser mucked as well. I showed the bluff (to loosen up my image a bit) much to the frustration of Layne.
Another crazy hand, which I was not a part of, went like this: Layne open raises to 700, Scotty min reraises to 1,200, Huck tanks and folds, and Layne calls. The flop comes down 8,8,7. Layne takes a while and says something like, "against anybody else I would trap", and then shoves 10k plus into the middle putting Scotty all-in. Scotty insta-folds AA face up and Layne shows 77 for the flopped full house. The best part of the hand is that Huck folded 88 preflop to Scotty's min reraise. So, on the flop it would have been AA against 7's full against quad 8's.
I am playing the No Limit event tomorrow at noon.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Gave Myself a Shot
I gave myself a shot in the $1,500 NL Hold'em Shootout this afternoon, but in the end I lost a big flip and ended up coming in 3rd at my table.
I have very mixed feelings regarding the $1,500/$2,000 buy-in events in general. On the one hand, the structures are absolutely terrible (very short starting stacks, fast escalation of blinds) and the fields are huge and difficult to outlast. At the same time, however, the fields are incredibly soft with lots and lots of dead money. Thus, it is harder to win these events (why the name pros mostly play the 10k events), but the expected return is much much higher.
Anyways, the Shootout was capped at 1,000 people (to ensure three even rounds of 10-handed play), and in this type of tournament, I was not expecting to recognize a single player at my table. Instead, my table looked more like a 5k buy-in event, as I recognized 6 of the other 9 players including Pat Pezzin, Dan Shak, Chad Brown, and two other guys I only know as Persian Steve and Phil Onion.
Chad Brown is a world-class tournament player, but his head just wasn't in the tourney today. He doubled up early (knocking out one of the players I did not recognize) by calling an all-in raise on the flop with AQ on a board of 7,6,4, rainbow. The other player had JJ and Chad spiked an A on the river to scoop the pot. He then tried to run over the table and people picked him off one by one. He doubled up Dan Shak with A4 against QQ on a board of J,4,2 rainbow and doubled up Pat with AJ against AK, all-in pre.
I played squeaky tight the first two levels trying to feel out the table. I won a small pot with AA and 99 and a decent sized pot when I flopped trips with J6 (in the big blind) and turned a full house (I got Persian Steve to bluff the turn and river with 5 high). At the end of level 2, I had worked my stack from 3k to 4,100 and we were down to 7 players. During level 3, I opened my game up a little bit and stole a few pots preflop and on the flop when I sensed weakness. Then I really chipped up when I got my AK all-in preflop against Steve's AQ (he only had about 2k). My big slick held up and I was up over 7k. Dan Shak then won a monster pot, knocking out two players, with KK against AQ and JJ and we were down to 3 players, myself, Dan, and a young internet pro who I have played with before. We stole blinds back and forth for a while, occasionally seeing a flop, but rarely a showdown, until Level 5 began when play became much more agressive with the larger blinds. The internet pro open raised from the button (300/600 blinds, 75 ante) to 1,700 and I moved all-in from the big blind with KsJs for just over 7k. He thought for about a minute before calling with 55 (probably a good call against my range in this spot). I saw a king in the window, but my excitement was short-lived as the 5 of hearts was the second card off the deck. The board paired on the turn, but I missed my two outer on the river and was out in 3rd.
I played much much better than in the previous shootout and am happy about that. I feel like I probably gave myself ~1 in 4 chance of winning the table (rather than the 1 in 10 I started with), but still, there are no points for 2nd or 3rd place.
Not sure my deal for tomorrow. I might take the day off, but I am considering playing the 2k Limit Hold'em event at 5pm. If not, I will definitely play the No Limit Hold'em event Wednesday at noon.
I have very mixed feelings regarding the $1,500/$2,000 buy-in events in general. On the one hand, the structures are absolutely terrible (very short starting stacks, fast escalation of blinds) and the fields are huge and difficult to outlast. At the same time, however, the fields are incredibly soft with lots and lots of dead money. Thus, it is harder to win these events (why the name pros mostly play the 10k events), but the expected return is much much higher.
Anyways, the Shootout was capped at 1,000 people (to ensure three even rounds of 10-handed play), and in this type of tournament, I was not expecting to recognize a single player at my table. Instead, my table looked more like a 5k buy-in event, as I recognized 6 of the other 9 players including Pat Pezzin, Dan Shak, Chad Brown, and two other guys I only know as Persian Steve and Phil Onion.
Chad Brown is a world-class tournament player, but his head just wasn't in the tourney today. He doubled up early (knocking out one of the players I did not recognize) by calling an all-in raise on the flop with AQ on a board of 7,6,4, rainbow. The other player had JJ and Chad spiked an A on the river to scoop the pot. He then tried to run over the table and people picked him off one by one. He doubled up Dan Shak with A4 against QQ on a board of J,4,2 rainbow and doubled up Pat with AJ against AK, all-in pre.
I played squeaky tight the first two levels trying to feel out the table. I won a small pot with AA and 99 and a decent sized pot when I flopped trips with J6 (in the big blind) and turned a full house (I got Persian Steve to bluff the turn and river with 5 high). At the end of level 2, I had worked my stack from 3k to 4,100 and we were down to 7 players. During level 3, I opened my game up a little bit and stole a few pots preflop and on the flop when I sensed weakness. Then I really chipped up when I got my AK all-in preflop against Steve's AQ (he only had about 2k). My big slick held up and I was up over 7k. Dan Shak then won a monster pot, knocking out two players, with KK against AQ and JJ and we were down to 3 players, myself, Dan, and a young internet pro who I have played with before. We stole blinds back and forth for a while, occasionally seeing a flop, but rarely a showdown, until Level 5 began when play became much more agressive with the larger blinds. The internet pro open raised from the button (300/600 blinds, 75 ante) to 1,700 and I moved all-in from the big blind with KsJs for just over 7k. He thought for about a minute before calling with 55 (probably a good call against my range in this spot). I saw a king in the window, but my excitement was short-lived as the 5 of hearts was the second card off the deck. The board paired on the turn, but I missed my two outer on the river and was out in 3rd.
I played much much better than in the previous shootout and am happy about that. I feel like I probably gave myself ~1 in 4 chance of winning the table (rather than the 1 in 10 I started with), but still, there are no points for 2nd or 3rd place.
Not sure my deal for tomorrow. I might take the day off, but I am considering playing the 2k Limit Hold'em event at 5pm. If not, I will definitely play the No Limit Hold'em event Wednesday at noon.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
76th
I finished in 76th in the Limit Event holding on just long enough for my first cash (81 spots paid). Not a bad showing and nice to get a cash under my belt at the WSOP, but always frustrating to get deep in a tourney and not capitalize. Still, the fact that I have gone deep in 3 of 4 tourneys is a pretty positive sign overall. Just need to keep grinding and hope that things come together at the right time in one of these events...
I had a rollercoaster day today with a big upswing in Level 1. I hit a huge rush of cards in the first 45 minutes of play, picking up three big pairs, and hitting trips twice with KQ and AQ. I had to fold KK on the turn, but I won the other 4 pots and got paid off nicely. After Level 1, my stack was close to 35k and I was probably in the top 20-25 stacks at the time. Unfortunately, as well as I was hitting flops in Level 1, I could not make a hand in Level 2 or 3. I three-bet an early position raiser once with JJ and another time with 99, bet the flop, and ended up losing to A8 and KQ when the turn brought an A in the first pot and the river brought a K in the second. Still, I stayed agressive and picked up a few uncontested pots and managed to keep my stack right around 30k through level 3.
Level 4 was a nightmare. With blinds at 800/1500 (betting rounds of 1,500/3,000), and the average stack below 30k, every hand was literally critical to every player. I lost two large pots and that's all it took to take my stack from 30k and in contention to 7k and on life-support. In the first hand, I 3-bet an agressive young online French pro who had been raising a lot of pots with 88. He called and the flop came down 10h,10d,2h. He led, I raised, and he called. Limit is a crazy game because his range in this spot is literally anywhere from quad 10's to two overcards. I thought his most likely hand, at this point, was a mid pair lower than mine or a flush draw. The turn was a 4d and he checked again. Normally, I would bet again here (for value and to protect my hand from overcards), but I really felt (based on his quick check and body language) that I was going to get check raised. I checked, and the turn was another 2, putting two pair on board. He led on the river and I have to admit, I wasn't sure where I stood in the hand. My check on the turn kind of made it look like I had given up on the hand, and I thought he could be value betting any pair (or even A high), or bluffing with a missed heart draw. I wasn't thrilled, but given the 7:1 pot odds, it was kind of a no-brainer call. He showed A10 and my stack was down to 18k. In the second pot, I open raised from the cutoff with AQ and the big blind called. The flop came down A,J,6 rainbow. The big blind checked, I led, and he called. After my opponent just smooth called, I felt very comfortable that he had a weak A or a decent J and was trying to show the hand down thinking I was making a move. The turn was an 8 and again it went, check, bet, call. At this point, I thought my opponent most likely had A10 or A9 and I had decided to value bet any river unless my opponent led into me in which case I would just call. The river was a 2, and for the third time, it went check, bet, call. I turned over AQ quickly (confident that I was scooping a big pot), but my opponent tabled AK. I am still shocked by how this hand played out. To not see a raise preflop or on the flop or turn is unbelievable. To be honest, I probably got off cheap in this pot, but it still crippled me. After the hand, I had 7k in chips, and with 90+ players left, I was in real jeopardy of not even cashing. The game slowed down a lot during the bubble, and despite being card dead, I hung on just long enough to sneak into the money. After the bubble burst, I ended up getting my super-short stack all-in 3 ways with 10d7d against 66 and 84. The 6's flopped a set and I missed my gut shot and was cracked.
Tomorrow I have the day off and my next event will most likely be the $1,500 NL Hold'em Shootout starting Monday at noon.
I had a rollercoaster day today with a big upswing in Level 1. I hit a huge rush of cards in the first 45 minutes of play, picking up three big pairs, and hitting trips twice with KQ and AQ. I had to fold KK on the turn, but I won the other 4 pots and got paid off nicely. After Level 1, my stack was close to 35k and I was probably in the top 20-25 stacks at the time. Unfortunately, as well as I was hitting flops in Level 1, I could not make a hand in Level 2 or 3. I three-bet an early position raiser once with JJ and another time with 99, bet the flop, and ended up losing to A8 and KQ when the turn brought an A in the first pot and the river brought a K in the second. Still, I stayed agressive and picked up a few uncontested pots and managed to keep my stack right around 30k through level 3.
Level 4 was a nightmare. With blinds at 800/1500 (betting rounds of 1,500/3,000), and the average stack below 30k, every hand was literally critical to every player. I lost two large pots and that's all it took to take my stack from 30k and in contention to 7k and on life-support. In the first hand, I 3-bet an agressive young online French pro who had been raising a lot of pots with 88. He called and the flop came down 10h,10d,2h. He led, I raised, and he called. Limit is a crazy game because his range in this spot is literally anywhere from quad 10's to two overcards. I thought his most likely hand, at this point, was a mid pair lower than mine or a flush draw. The turn was a 4d and he checked again. Normally, I would bet again here (for value and to protect my hand from overcards), but I really felt (based on his quick check and body language) that I was going to get check raised. I checked, and the turn was another 2, putting two pair on board. He led on the river and I have to admit, I wasn't sure where I stood in the hand. My check on the turn kind of made it look like I had given up on the hand, and I thought he could be value betting any pair (or even A high), or bluffing with a missed heart draw. I wasn't thrilled, but given the 7:1 pot odds, it was kind of a no-brainer call. He showed A10 and my stack was down to 18k. In the second pot, I open raised from the cutoff with AQ and the big blind called. The flop came down A,J,6 rainbow. The big blind checked, I led, and he called. After my opponent just smooth called, I felt very comfortable that he had a weak A or a decent J and was trying to show the hand down thinking I was making a move. The turn was an 8 and again it went, check, bet, call. At this point, I thought my opponent most likely had A10 or A9 and I had decided to value bet any river unless my opponent led into me in which case I would just call. The river was a 2, and for the third time, it went check, bet, call. I turned over AQ quickly (confident that I was scooping a big pot), but my opponent tabled AK. I am still shocked by how this hand played out. To not see a raise preflop or on the flop or turn is unbelievable. To be honest, I probably got off cheap in this pot, but it still crippled me. After the hand, I had 7k in chips, and with 90+ players left, I was in real jeopardy of not even cashing. The game slowed down a lot during the bubble, and despite being card dead, I hung on just long enough to sneak into the money. After the bubble burst, I ended up getting my super-short stack all-in 3 ways with 10d7d against 66 and 84. The 6's flopped a set and I missed my gut shot and was cracked.
Tomorrow I have the day off and my next event will most likely be the $1,500 NL Hold'em Shootout starting Monday at noon.
Grinding the Limit Event
It is past 3am here and I literally played 14+ hours of poker today, so I am going to keep this update short.
I played the noon No Limit Hold'em Shootout (Single Table Satellite Structure), and was not very happy with the way I played. According to CardPlayer, my table (along with many others) was stacked: John "craniac" Kranyak (1), Vivek "psyduck" Rajkumar (2), Jennifer Tilly (4), Burt Bouton (5), Shawn Deeb (6), Harry Demetriou (8), Rafe Furst (9). I was in the 7 seat and only recognized psyduck, Burt, Jennifer and Rafe and I actually thought that I had a fairly good table draw considering the event. Anyways, I kind of forced the action a little bit early and didn't let things come to me. I still grinded and fought hard, but this was definitely the worst event I've played in terms of the quality of my play. I ended up getting cracked in a pretty tough spot with Aces. Burt Bouton button raised to 600 (100/200 blinds) and I woke up to AA in the big blind and made it 1,700 to go. I started the hand with just over 8k in chips (starting stack of 10k) and was desperately hoping for Burt (who already had over 25k) to double me up. He called and the flop came Jh,7h,4d. I led for 2,200 and Burt smooth called. I did think his call was a little fishy, but given the button raise, big blind reraise structure of the hand, I thought he might just be trying to slow me down with a mid-pair, any J, or even AK or AQ. The turn was a blank 2d and I jammed for my remaining 4,500 or so. Burt insta-called with JJ and I was drawing to two outs on the river which I missed. I finished in 7th, 4 hours into the event, just in time to sign up for the 5pm $1,500 Limit Hold'em tournament.
After the first 8 levels of the Limit event, the 880 person field is down to 181 players and I have grinded my way up to 13,000 in chips (average is just over 14,000) from a starting stack of 3,000. I was up over 16k at my peak but I missed a big draw in the last level which cost me. The event picks up tomorrow at 3pm, and although I essentially have an average stack, I only have 10 big bets with the blinds at 300/600 and betting rounds of 600/1,200, so the first level will be critical. Hopefully I will go on a rush early and have good news to report tomorrow.
I played the noon No Limit Hold'em Shootout (Single Table Satellite Structure), and was not very happy with the way I played. According to CardPlayer, my table (along with many others) was stacked: John "craniac" Kranyak (1), Vivek "psyduck" Rajkumar (2), Jennifer Tilly (4), Burt Bouton (5), Shawn Deeb (6), Harry Demetriou (8), Rafe Furst (9). I was in the 7 seat and only recognized psyduck, Burt, Jennifer and Rafe and I actually thought that I had a fairly good table draw considering the event. Anyways, I kind of forced the action a little bit early and didn't let things come to me. I still grinded and fought hard, but this was definitely the worst event I've played in terms of the quality of my play. I ended up getting cracked in a pretty tough spot with Aces. Burt Bouton button raised to 600 (100/200 blinds) and I woke up to AA in the big blind and made it 1,700 to go. I started the hand with just over 8k in chips (starting stack of 10k) and was desperately hoping for Burt (who already had over 25k) to double me up. He called and the flop came Jh,7h,4d. I led for 2,200 and Burt smooth called. I did think his call was a little fishy, but given the button raise, big blind reraise structure of the hand, I thought he might just be trying to slow me down with a mid-pair, any J, or even AK or AQ. The turn was a blank 2d and I jammed for my remaining 4,500 or so. Burt insta-called with JJ and I was drawing to two outs on the river which I missed. I finished in 7th, 4 hours into the event, just in time to sign up for the 5pm $1,500 Limit Hold'em tournament.
After the first 8 levels of the Limit event, the 880 person field is down to 181 players and I have grinded my way up to 13,000 in chips (average is just over 14,000) from a starting stack of 3,000. I was up over 16k at my peak but I missed a big draw in the last level which cost me. The event picks up tomorrow at 3pm, and although I essentially have an average stack, I only have 10 big bets with the blinds at 300/600 and betting rounds of 600/1,200, so the first level will be critical. Hopefully I will go on a rush early and have good news to report tomorrow.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Shut Out
So frustrating. I showed up at the Registration Cage at 11:45am ready to buy into the $1,500 6-max event. I typically register the night before events, but since no WSOP event has sold out in the past two years, I felt comfortable showing up morning of for this one. Sure enough, the event sold out while I was standing in line. Apparently the Rio only has 206 tables for the WSOP, and because this was a 6-max event, they capped the event at 1,236 players. I feel like they could have allowed alternates as 25%+ of the field will be gone in the first two hours, but they decided not to...I certainly won't make this mistake again and will register for all events the night before.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Out of the 2k
I played the 2k No Limit Hold'em event today and it was downhill from the start. With only 4k in starting chips, the pressure is on from the very first hand and there is very little room to maneuver.
About 15 minutes into the event, I played my first meaningful hand. An agressive young player open raised from under the gun to 200, and three players called the raise in front of me. I looked down to see JJ on the button and decided to try to win the already sizable pot preflop. I made it 950 to go, knowing I only had to sweat the original raiser. The original raiser tanked for about 3 minutes before shoving his starting stack all-in. I felt like his range at this point in the tourney was AA,KK,QQ, and AK and it was a fairly easy fold. He told me later that he had QQ and I believe him. So right from the start, I was down to 3,000.
Over the next 90 minutes, I had only three playable hands (besides a couple of steals and limps from late position) and all three were very difficult to play. I had 9's twice and 8's once, and each time there was a standard early position raise in front of me. These are very difficult hands to play in a short-stack event when there is a raise in front of you from early position. No option is ideal as the stacks are not deep enough to just call for a set, reraising exposes much too much of your stack, and folding mid-pairs to one raise makes your overall play too tight and weak. As a result, the proper play is highly read dependent. I reraised with 9's once (sensing weakness), called with 9's the other time, folding to a cb on a 10 high board (sensing strength), and called with 8's, raising the cb on the J high flop (again, sensing weakness). After these three hands, I was back to my starting stack of 4k, and felt like I had a pretty good read on the table and just needed a few hands to do some damage. Finally, just before the end of level 2, I woke up to AdAh under the gun. I limped (as the table had been very agressive) and the player immediately behind me made it 450 to go (blinds of 50/100). My plan was to trap with a smooth call preflop and a check raise on the flop, but the small blind reraised to 1,200 before the action ever got back to me. I didn't want to play the pot 3-handed so I reraised all-in. The original raiser folded and the reraiser insta-called. I turned up my bullets and he said "no good", showing the AcAs. Ridiculous. I turned a diamond flush draw, but missed on the river and we chopped it up. At the first break I had about 4,500, which was a bit below average as we had lost almost 400 players from the original starting field of 1,600 (which is a good indicator of how much pressure there is right from the start).
Level 3 was tough for me as I couldn't buy a hand, and when I did try to make something happen (with AQ once and 8d9d another time), I ran into real hands and got reraised. My stack dwindled back down below 3,000, but I was determined to tighten up and keep fighting. I built some momentum during level 4 as I semi-bluffed a weak lead in a 4-way limped pot and then reraised an early position raiser with QQ, taking both pots down without resistance. I started attacking limps and weak raises more agressively, and by the end of level 4, I had built my stack up to 5,800 without showing down a single hand. I took a look at the tournament board and noticed we were already down to ~700 players (average stack of around 9k), but I felt good about where I stood heading into the second break. Unfortunately, my second break was a bit extended. In the last hand of Level 4, I had AK in early position and made a standard raise to 650 (blinds of 100/200, 25 ante), and it folded around to the sb who went all-in for about 7k. I called pretty quickly as I didn't think he would overraise so much with A's or K's, and I felt like I was way ahead of his range. He sheepishly showed 55 (a pretty terrible play in my opinion), and we were off to the races. He flopped a 5 and I was drawing dead on the turn. The unfortunate reality about tournament poker is that you have to run well to go deep against good players (especially if you can't build a big stack early). I never really got things going today (as my high point was 5,800 before getting cracked), but I was proud that I didn't give up with my short-stack, which dipped below 2,500 on two separate occasions. Two pros at my table (one online and one live), essentially gave up after losing most of their stacks in tough pots. The online pro reraised his remaining 2k all-in with J9 (knowing he was going to get called), and the live pro shipped it in with AJ over a reraise (not as bad, but still bad) and was insta-called by KK. It is very easy to make plays like this after losing momentum in a tournament, but every time you do, you lower your long-term expected return (which is why mental focus is so key).
Next up is the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em 6-handed event. The good news about this event is that I feel very comfortable playing 6-handed, and believe I have a bigger edge against my opponents in this structure (my standard online cash games are 6-max). You have to open up your game in this format and weaker players will make more mistakes as a result, which can be capitalized upon. The bad news is that the starting stacks are even shorter tomorrow with 3,000 chips from the get-go, so the play early will be critical once again.
About 15 minutes into the event, I played my first meaningful hand. An agressive young player open raised from under the gun to 200, and three players called the raise in front of me. I looked down to see JJ on the button and decided to try to win the already sizable pot preflop. I made it 950 to go, knowing I only had to sweat the original raiser. The original raiser tanked for about 3 minutes before shoving his starting stack all-in. I felt like his range at this point in the tourney was AA,KK,QQ, and AK and it was a fairly easy fold. He told me later that he had QQ and I believe him. So right from the start, I was down to 3,000.
Over the next 90 minutes, I had only three playable hands (besides a couple of steals and limps from late position) and all three were very difficult to play. I had 9's twice and 8's once, and each time there was a standard early position raise in front of me. These are very difficult hands to play in a short-stack event when there is a raise in front of you from early position. No option is ideal as the stacks are not deep enough to just call for a set, reraising exposes much too much of your stack, and folding mid-pairs to one raise makes your overall play too tight and weak. As a result, the proper play is highly read dependent. I reraised with 9's once (sensing weakness), called with 9's the other time, folding to a cb on a 10 high board (sensing strength), and called with 8's, raising the cb on the J high flop (again, sensing weakness). After these three hands, I was back to my starting stack of 4k, and felt like I had a pretty good read on the table and just needed a few hands to do some damage. Finally, just before the end of level 2, I woke up to AdAh under the gun. I limped (as the table had been very agressive) and the player immediately behind me made it 450 to go (blinds of 50/100). My plan was to trap with a smooth call preflop and a check raise on the flop, but the small blind reraised to 1,200 before the action ever got back to me. I didn't want to play the pot 3-handed so I reraised all-in. The original raiser folded and the reraiser insta-called. I turned up my bullets and he said "no good", showing the AcAs. Ridiculous. I turned a diamond flush draw, but missed on the river and we chopped it up. At the first break I had about 4,500, which was a bit below average as we had lost almost 400 players from the original starting field of 1,600 (which is a good indicator of how much pressure there is right from the start).
Level 3 was tough for me as I couldn't buy a hand, and when I did try to make something happen (with AQ once and 8d9d another time), I ran into real hands and got reraised. My stack dwindled back down below 3,000, but I was determined to tighten up and keep fighting. I built some momentum during level 4 as I semi-bluffed a weak lead in a 4-way limped pot and then reraised an early position raiser with QQ, taking both pots down without resistance. I started attacking limps and weak raises more agressively, and by the end of level 4, I had built my stack up to 5,800 without showing down a single hand. I took a look at the tournament board and noticed we were already down to ~700 players (average stack of around 9k), but I felt good about where I stood heading into the second break. Unfortunately, my second break was a bit extended. In the last hand of Level 4, I had AK in early position and made a standard raise to 650 (blinds of 100/200, 25 ante), and it folded around to the sb who went all-in for about 7k. I called pretty quickly as I didn't think he would overraise so much with A's or K's, and I felt like I was way ahead of his range. He sheepishly showed 55 (a pretty terrible play in my opinion), and we were off to the races. He flopped a 5 and I was drawing dead on the turn. The unfortunate reality about tournament poker is that you have to run well to go deep against good players (especially if you can't build a big stack early). I never really got things going today (as my high point was 5,800 before getting cracked), but I was proud that I didn't give up with my short-stack, which dipped below 2,500 on two separate occasions. Two pros at my table (one online and one live), essentially gave up after losing most of their stacks in tough pots. The online pro reraised his remaining 2k all-in with J9 (knowing he was going to get called), and the live pro shipped it in with AJ over a reraise (not as bad, but still bad) and was insta-called by KK. It is very easy to make plays like this after losing momentum in a tournament, but every time you do, you lower your long-term expected return (which is why mental focus is so key).
Next up is the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em 6-handed event. The good news about this event is that I feel very comfortable playing 6-handed, and believe I have a bigger edge against my opponents in this structure (my standard online cash games are 6-max). You have to open up your game in this format and weaker players will make more mistakes as a result, which can be capitalized upon. The bad news is that the starting stacks are even shorter tomorrow with 3,000 chips from the get-go, so the play early will be critical once again.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Short Day 2
The day started off well with the button being placed in the 9 seat, which is where I was seated after the redraw. Looking around my new table, I only recognized Ted Forrest in the 8 seat and Michael Binger in the 2 seat.
Unfortunately, my good fortune did not last long. On the very first hand of the day, it folded around to me in the button and I open raised to 3,000 (800/1,500 blinds) with Qs9s. The small blind folded and Binger 3-bet from the big blind. Obviously, I was hoping just to take down the blinds or get a passive call from the big blind, but I knew that Binger's range was quite wide here and I was happy to play the pot against him in position. I called the additional 1,500 and we saw a flop of Qd, Jh, 6s. Binger led (for 1,500), which I knew he would on almost any flop, and I raised knowing that I was well ahead of his range. Binger's tentative call of my raise confirmed my read that I was ahead. I thought his most likely hands at this point were AK, A10, 910, a mid pair, or some big J. The turn was the Jd and Binger checked. It looked like a weak check to me, and I led again (for 3,000) to protect my hand. Binger smooth called again and I was now convinced that he was drawing. The river was the Ac, a very ugly card for my hand, and Binger led right out. I knew that I was likely beat on the river, but the pot was now laying me 24,800 to 3,000 to make the call, and I thought that Binger could possibly be leading out with a Q or even making a desperation play with 910. I made the crying call and Binger flipped up A10. Stupid limit poker. The crazy thing is, looking back over the hand, I actually think that both of us played the hand exactly as we should have. That's just the way limit poker goes. You need to pound away when you have the best of it and hope that your hands hold up. If Binger had missed his 7-outer on the river I would have been up to 30k and well on my way. As it stood, I was down to 3,600 and on life-support. The very next hand, it folded to me in the cutoff and I decided to raise with A7 off as I figured this was going to be my best opportunity to get it in there with the best of it. Binger 3-bet from the small blind putting me all-in for my last 600. I called and he showed KQ. The flop of A, J, 5 rainbow looked promising enough, but the 10 on the turn sealed the deal, and I was done after just two hands.
Very very disappointing to say the least. I'm not unhappy with the way I played in this event, but I was all ready to put in a long day today and make a deep run in my first event, but it just wasn't meant to be I guess. Due to the 3pm start, I missed the noon $1,000 rebuy NL Hold'em event, which would have been a fun event to play with guys like Negraneau and Ivey just spraying chips everywhere. I almost bought in to the $1,500 5pm Omaha event, just because today was so unsatisfying, but I exercised a little self-control and thought better of it. I am definitely negative expected value against the best Omaha players in the world. Next up is the 2k NL Hold'em event tomorrow at noon. This should be a large and relatively weak field and I will most likely employ a solid/straight forward approach in this type of event. Unfortunately, the starting stacks in the noon tourneys are substantially smaller (in order to cut down the large fields), which makes the first few hours of play critical. I will keep the updates coming and hopefully will have a deep run to report some time soon.
Unfortunately, my good fortune did not last long. On the very first hand of the day, it folded around to me in the button and I open raised to 3,000 (800/1,500 blinds) with Qs9s. The small blind folded and Binger 3-bet from the big blind. Obviously, I was hoping just to take down the blinds or get a passive call from the big blind, but I knew that Binger's range was quite wide here and I was happy to play the pot against him in position. I called the additional 1,500 and we saw a flop of Qd, Jh, 6s. Binger led (for 1,500), which I knew he would on almost any flop, and I raised knowing that I was well ahead of his range. Binger's tentative call of my raise confirmed my read that I was ahead. I thought his most likely hands at this point were AK, A10, 910, a mid pair, or some big J. The turn was the Jd and Binger checked. It looked like a weak check to me, and I led again (for 3,000) to protect my hand. Binger smooth called again and I was now convinced that he was drawing. The river was the Ac, a very ugly card for my hand, and Binger led right out. I knew that I was likely beat on the river, but the pot was now laying me 24,800 to 3,000 to make the call, and I thought that Binger could possibly be leading out with a Q or even making a desperation play with 910. I made the crying call and Binger flipped up A10. Stupid limit poker. The crazy thing is, looking back over the hand, I actually think that both of us played the hand exactly as we should have. That's just the way limit poker goes. You need to pound away when you have the best of it and hope that your hands hold up. If Binger had missed his 7-outer on the river I would have been up to 30k and well on my way. As it stood, I was down to 3,600 and on life-support. The very next hand, it folded to me in the cutoff and I decided to raise with A7 off as I figured this was going to be my best opportunity to get it in there with the best of it. Binger 3-bet from the small blind putting me all-in for my last 600. I called and he showed KQ. The flop of A, J, 5 rainbow looked promising enough, but the 10 on the turn sealed the deal, and I was done after just two hands.
Very very disappointing to say the least. I'm not unhappy with the way I played in this event, but I was all ready to put in a long day today and make a deep run in my first event, but it just wasn't meant to be I guess. Due to the 3pm start, I missed the noon $1,000 rebuy NL Hold'em event, which would have been a fun event to play with guys like Negraneau and Ivey just spraying chips everywhere. I almost bought in to the $1,500 5pm Omaha event, just because today was so unsatisfying, but I exercised a little self-control and thought better of it. I am definitely negative expected value against the best Omaha players in the world. Next up is the 2k NL Hold'em event tomorrow at noon. This should be a large and relatively weak field and I will most likely employ a solid/straight forward approach in this type of event. Unfortunately, the starting stacks in the noon tourneys are substantially smaller (in order to cut down the large fields), which makes the first few hours of play critical. I will keep the updates coming and hopefully will have a deep run to report some time soon.
Day 1
I arrived at my condo/apartment in Vegas a little late this afternoon, and had no choice but to play the 5k Mixed Hold'em event at 5 rather than the noon pot-limit tourney (I was leaning that way anyways). The field was very tough (as I expect all of the 5pm tournaments to be) and I literally drew the worst starting seat in the entire tournament. To my immediate left, Phil Ivey, to his left, Hasan Habib, and to his left, Gavin Smith. Brandon Adams, Doug Lee, and a couple of tough online pros were also at the table. After 4 hours of play our table broke and I moved to another table, which included Phil Hellmuth, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, David "Devilfish" Ulliot, Hoyt Corkins, and Humberto Brenes. Needless to say, terrible terrible table draws (at least from a poker perspective - both were highly entertaining tables to play at).
Despite the two tables of death, I managed to survive the day. After 8 hours of switching back and forth between limit and no-limit, the starting field of 332 is down to ~95. I have 17,100 chips heading into day 2, with the average stack right around 35k. Unfortunately, limit is first and with small and big bets of 1,500/3,000, I will have to be very selective and likely commit myself to any hand I play.
Overall, I felt like I played good/solid poker today. I made a few poorly timed moves, but overall, my instincts were on target. Limit hold'em was an interesting challenge, as I have not played it with any consistency since I was 21 years old, playing 3/6 at the Taj Mahal. Knowing my limitations, I employed a tight/agressive approach which worked surprisingly well for me. It didn't hurt that I was hitting flops early. There were many many interesting hands from the 8 hours of play, but I am too exhausted to review them right now (I have been up for 23 straight hours and can barely see straight). I will give the full update when I'm done playing tomorrow.
Despite the two tables of death, I managed to survive the day. After 8 hours of switching back and forth between limit and no-limit, the starting field of 332 is down to ~95. I have 17,100 chips heading into day 2, with the average stack right around 35k. Unfortunately, limit is first and with small and big bets of 1,500/3,000, I will have to be very selective and likely commit myself to any hand I play.
Overall, I felt like I played good/solid poker today. I made a few poorly timed moves, but overall, my instincts were on target. Limit hold'em was an interesting challenge, as I have not played it with any consistency since I was 21 years old, playing 3/6 at the Taj Mahal. Knowing my limitations, I employed a tight/agressive approach which worked surprisingly well for me. It didn't hurt that I was hitting flops early. There were many many interesting hands from the 8 hours of play, but I am too exhausted to review them right now (I have been up for 23 straight hours and can barely see straight). I will give the full update when I'm done playing tomorrow.
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