Welcome to the 2010 World Series of Poker, Main Event.
Many of you have followed me over the last several years as I head to Las Vegas every summer for the WSOP. So, back by popular demand, starts this year's version.
For the last four years, I've plunked down my $10,000 to buy a seat at the "Greatest Poker Tournament in the World." Fortunately, I have a very understanding wife and family as well as two weeks in early July off from work to make this an annual occurence. Plus, cashing in my first two attempts has helped pay for these further endeavors!
Anyway, in the past, I've sent out long E-mails describing my action at the tables. Many have found the reads interesting and look forward to the annual update. By the way, I've included all of those past E-mail accounts on this blog under June - ARCHIVES - so - if you feel the need - take a look. However, as it's now well into the 21st century, I've finally turned to Blogging and Tweeting for those WSOP updates. Since I'm in my 40s, this "social networking" thing is quite a foreign experience, so bear with me as I fumble through it.
I plan on chiming in with a Twitter update at every break or so during play. Also, at the end of a day, I plan on blogging my usual report here on blogspot.
So ... I can be followed @WeilatWSOP on Twitter and here at WSOP-GoTime.blogspot.com.
I hope it's a long blog that goes on for days and days as I fight with about 7000 others aiming for the big prize.
Feel free to join me on this ride and pass it on to others who might be interested.
Jeff
ARCHIVES - 2009 Day 3
Day 3: July 9, 2009
So I finally moved to a different table. I was at table Red 128, Seat 3 and ready to go. I had a slightly below average stack of 80,000 and got off to a very slow start. Blinds were 600/1200 with a 200 ante so just a couple of laps took their toll. I had a tough loss when my AQ lost to AK with an A on the turn. I lost when AJ didn’t improve over a pair of tens. I had a pair of 7s that lost to a pair of 5s when a 5 hit the turn. All-in-all, my stack dwindled quickly to about 46,000 by the first break.
The 2nd round of the day started a little better. I had aces in the small blind and won a small pot. I was able to squeeze (reraising over a prior raise and call) from the button with KQ suited. Things came to a head though a few hands later. With about 45,000 in chips, I got tens in late position. The monster stack at our table raised to 4500 under the gun and I called. We both saw a 4 6 7 flop with two spades. He checked and raised my 5000 bet all in. I didn’t have a whole lot of chips left, and decided to call. Sure enough, he had pocket 7s himself and had flopped a set. So I was way behind and in serious jeopardy. I got an 8 on the turn giving me some chances of a lucky survival – a 5 and he and I both have a straight to the 8, a 9 and I have a straight to the 10, or a miracle 10 for my set. The river blanked though and it was over. It would have been tough for me to find a fold there with the overpair. This guy could really have pushed me in with a spade draw or even a hand like a pair of 5s with his straight chances – so I was kind of stuck. Oh well, it was a pretty good run. There were about 1500 left as I bowed out of the WSOP Main Event - 2009 edition.
To console myself, I played some craps at Casino Royale (20x odds) and took them for $800. I also played a very juicy 5/10 NL ring game at the Rio where an aggressive Euro dumped/bluffed about $2000 into my lap over a period of about 90 minutes. So all of that certainly softened the blow. My friend (Sean Lew for those tracking progress on line) is still alive and headed into Day 4. He has 295,000 chips (avg is about 240,000). 810 are left and they’ll play down into the money (top 648) tomorrow. I have 10% of his win if he makes it in, so I may still come out OK! I wish him well.
I hope I didn’t bore you to death with all the details – but your feedback is usually positive. I certainly wish I had better news to report from Day 3. Getting knocked out of the WSOP is always very disappointing.
UPDATE: My friend Sean, however, finally had a good run. He played well into Day 5 finishing 269th and earning $32,963. The two of us have played in four consecutive WSOPs and between us have finished in the money in three of them. Not bad. Would be nice to both finish in the money and go deep in 2010!
So, until next year ….
Jeff
So I finally moved to a different table. I was at table Red 128, Seat 3 and ready to go. I had a slightly below average stack of 80,000 and got off to a very slow start. Blinds were 600/1200 with a 200 ante so just a couple of laps took their toll. I had a tough loss when my AQ lost to AK with an A on the turn. I lost when AJ didn’t improve over a pair of tens. I had a pair of 7s that lost to a pair of 5s when a 5 hit the turn. All-in-all, my stack dwindled quickly to about 46,000 by the first break.
The 2nd round of the day started a little better. I had aces in the small blind and won a small pot. I was able to squeeze (reraising over a prior raise and call) from the button with KQ suited. Things came to a head though a few hands later. With about 45,000 in chips, I got tens in late position. The monster stack at our table raised to 4500 under the gun and I called. We both saw a 4 6 7 flop with two spades. He checked and raised my 5000 bet all in. I didn’t have a whole lot of chips left, and decided to call. Sure enough, he had pocket 7s himself and had flopped a set. So I was way behind and in serious jeopardy. I got an 8 on the turn giving me some chances of a lucky survival – a 5 and he and I both have a straight to the 8, a 9 and I have a straight to the 10, or a miracle 10 for my set. The river blanked though and it was over. It would have been tough for me to find a fold there with the overpair. This guy could really have pushed me in with a spade draw or even a hand like a pair of 5s with his straight chances – so I was kind of stuck. Oh well, it was a pretty good run. There were about 1500 left as I bowed out of the WSOP Main Event - 2009 edition.
To console myself, I played some craps at Casino Royale (20x odds) and took them for $800. I also played a very juicy 5/10 NL ring game at the Rio where an aggressive Euro dumped/bluffed about $2000 into my lap over a period of about 90 minutes. So all of that certainly softened the blow. My friend (Sean Lew for those tracking progress on line) is still alive and headed into Day 4. He has 295,000 chips (avg is about 240,000). 810 are left and they’ll play down into the money (top 648) tomorrow. I have 10% of his win if he makes it in, so I may still come out OK! I wish him well.
I hope I didn’t bore you to death with all the details – but your feedback is usually positive. I certainly wish I had better news to report from Day 3. Getting knocked out of the WSOP is always very disappointing.
UPDATE: My friend Sean, however, finally had a good run. He played well into Day 5 finishing 269th and earning $32,963. The two of us have played in four consecutive WSOPs and between us have finished in the money in three of them. Not bad. Would be nice to both finish in the money and go deep in 2010!
So, until next year ….
Jeff
ARCHIVES - 2009 Day 2
Day 2: July 8, 2009
Oddly enough, despite the redraw of tables, I’m exactly where I was when Day 1 ended: Amazon Blue Table 4, Seat 3. Resetting the scenario as it ended before, I have below the starting 30,000 chips (26, 625) after taking a blow late on Day 1. So … I’m looking to make a move. Fortunately, the structure of this tournament is unbelievable. The blinds are still small (they’ll start at 250/500 with 50 blinds) and each level lasts 2 full hours.
Enough of the preamble, on to the hands. I was the big blind on the 2nd hand and got AK after a 1400 raise and call. I made it 4500 and won the pot uncontested. Good start! Just a few hands later, I had QQ UTG. I made it 1300 and got one caller. The flop was 9 8 6 with 2 clubs (my queens were red). I bet 2500 and was raised to 5500. My opponent on this hand had me covered (a bigger stack), but barely. I raised all-in and he took a long time making his decision. This was good for me because at least I knew he didn’t have 3 of a kind, and likely had a big draw. Sure enough, he had AJ suited in clubs and eventually called. Even though I’m ahead at this point, the actual odds of me winning the hand with the turn and the river still to come are only 55%. Fortunately, he misses his flush and misses his ace and I win a huge pot. This got me to about 60,000 right out of the gate! A few hands later in the round, I got AA and had a shorter stack go all-in with his tens. Too bad for him, but good for me. After one round of Day 2, I was significantly above the average stack with 71,500 chips.
Level 2 brought blinds of 300/600 with a 75 ante. There was a super short stack to my right who I tortured much of this level. As an aside, short stack play at the WSOP is for the most part atrocious. People let their stacks dwindle way too low. This guy was just that way. On at least two occasions he raised and I made a big reraise (once with 99, once with TT). He folded on both these occasions. In truth, his stack was so small that he should be pushing his whole stack in and not dinking around with raises at all. On one occasion, it was folded all the way around to him in the SB. This was the typical scenario where he really should have pushed all-in with any two cards. As it was, he showed me his 72 and folded. I turned over my cards and had 72 also! Ha! Well, I did eventually take him out completely when he pushed as the small blind into my big blind. I had ATs which was an easy call. However, he woke up with AJ and was ahead. But when a ten hit on the river, his chips were finally mine. Anyway, I cruised through the first two rounds heading to the dinner break with a whopping 91,600 chips – quite a jump from my starting 26K.
Level 3 was not quite as exciting. I had KK and won a nice pot. The hand I kept getting was Big Slick (AK). However, I couldn’t hit a flop. I ended up losing some chips on the whole with that damn hand. I probably had it 4 or 5 times. Still, I kept the chip count rising, peaking at about 95,700 at the break.
Level 4 brought blinds of 500/1000 with a 100 ante. I was totally card dead during this level. I think I stole the blinds a couple of times, but I really didn’t win a substantial pot. I simply bled blinds as my stack dwindled. We finally ended for the day at around 10:45 pm PST. I finished the day with 80,100. That’s slightly below average and likely close to a median stack overall. For those who know Sean, he’s cruising along quite nicely. He has 140,000 so far. We get tomorrow off (more golf) and resume Day 3 on Friday at Noon. There are roughly 2100 people left of the original 6494.
That’s all for now. As usual, it’s been a blast so far - but it will be nice to have a full day off. I still think that the money bubble won’t break until Saturday - we’ll see.
More later.
Jeff
Oddly enough, despite the redraw of tables, I’m exactly where I was when Day 1 ended: Amazon Blue Table 4, Seat 3. Resetting the scenario as it ended before, I have below the starting 30,000 chips (26, 625) after taking a blow late on Day 1. So … I’m looking to make a move. Fortunately, the structure of this tournament is unbelievable. The blinds are still small (they’ll start at 250/500 with 50 blinds) and each level lasts 2 full hours.
Enough of the preamble, on to the hands. I was the big blind on the 2nd hand and got AK after a 1400 raise and call. I made it 4500 and won the pot uncontested. Good start! Just a few hands later, I had QQ UTG. I made it 1300 and got one caller. The flop was 9 8 6 with 2 clubs (my queens were red). I bet 2500 and was raised to 5500. My opponent on this hand had me covered (a bigger stack), but barely. I raised all-in and he took a long time making his decision. This was good for me because at least I knew he didn’t have 3 of a kind, and likely had a big draw. Sure enough, he had AJ suited in clubs and eventually called. Even though I’m ahead at this point, the actual odds of me winning the hand with the turn and the river still to come are only 55%. Fortunately, he misses his flush and misses his ace and I win a huge pot. This got me to about 60,000 right out of the gate! A few hands later in the round, I got AA and had a shorter stack go all-in with his tens. Too bad for him, but good for me. After one round of Day 2, I was significantly above the average stack with 71,500 chips.
Level 2 brought blinds of 300/600 with a 75 ante. There was a super short stack to my right who I tortured much of this level. As an aside, short stack play at the WSOP is for the most part atrocious. People let their stacks dwindle way too low. This guy was just that way. On at least two occasions he raised and I made a big reraise (once with 99, once with TT). He folded on both these occasions. In truth, his stack was so small that he should be pushing his whole stack in and not dinking around with raises at all. On one occasion, it was folded all the way around to him in the SB. This was the typical scenario where he really should have pushed all-in with any two cards. As it was, he showed me his 72 and folded. I turned over my cards and had 72 also! Ha! Well, I did eventually take him out completely when he pushed as the small blind into my big blind. I had ATs which was an easy call. However, he woke up with AJ and was ahead. But when a ten hit on the river, his chips were finally mine. Anyway, I cruised through the first two rounds heading to the dinner break with a whopping 91,600 chips – quite a jump from my starting 26K.
Level 3 was not quite as exciting. I had KK and won a nice pot. The hand I kept getting was Big Slick (AK). However, I couldn’t hit a flop. I ended up losing some chips on the whole with that damn hand. I probably had it 4 or 5 times. Still, I kept the chip count rising, peaking at about 95,700 at the break.
Level 4 brought blinds of 500/1000 with a 100 ante. I was totally card dead during this level. I think I stole the blinds a couple of times, but I really didn’t win a substantial pot. I simply bled blinds as my stack dwindled. We finally ended for the day at around 10:45 pm PST. I finished the day with 80,100. That’s slightly below average and likely close to a median stack overall. For those who know Sean, he’s cruising along quite nicely. He has 140,000 so far. We get tomorrow off (more golf) and resume Day 3 on Friday at Noon. There are roughly 2100 people left of the original 6494.
That’s all for now. As usual, it’s been a blast so far - but it will be nice to have a full day off. I still think that the money bubble won’t break until Saturday - we’ll see.
More later.
Jeff
ARCHIVES - 2009 Day 1
So it’s Day 1 at the 2009 WSOP. Chad Norman and Lon McEachern (the ESPN poker announcers) get the honor of announcing those famous words for the start of any tournament “Shuffle up and deal!!” – and Day 1D of the WSOP is under way.
My table this year was very strange. It was a very passive table. Almost no reraising, lots of limped pots. Pots were generally small. Only a few monster hands. No recognizable pros were at my table. In fact, for the whole night, only 1 player at my table was busted out (spoiler alert: it wasn’t me!). Also, the number of total entries grew so much over the last two Day 1s that Days 1C and 1D were played for a whole 5 rounds after all – to thin the field. They’ll make it up to us by having Day 2A go for 5 rounds while we all will go for just 4 rounds on our Day 2B tomorrow (Wednesday). So we did play ‘til 1 am after all.
OK, on to the hands. On the very, very, very first hand of the tournament, I was dealt 44 UTG (under the gun i.e. very first to act after the blinds). I like to make a small raise here to help build a pot should I hit a nice 4 on the flop. Only the guy after me called. We then saw an A Q x flop with two spades. I then will often represent an ace, so I bet out 350 and got called. We both checked when another spade hit the turn. Then the river was a 4th spade. I realized here that I definitely don’t have the best hand (no 4 of spades), so the only way to win is to bet as if I have a decent spade. I make it 750 on the river. He sighs, then folds. Whew! I hate to outright bluff on the frickin’ first hand of the tournament, but there it is. The rest of the round was pretty boring. I got aces once on the button. I raised a typical raise and both blinds called. They then folded to my continuation bet on the flop. Toward the very end of the round, I got into a hand with a pair of nines. I called an early position raiser. Then called his continuation bet on a Q x x flop. He bet again and I laid it down. That took a little chunk. Ended the round with 29,500, slightly down from my original 30,000.
I had a ton of action in Round 2, blinds 100/200. I called a raise from the BB with a pair of 8s. The flop was 6 7 T – not bad for eights. I checked and he bet 600. I raised to 1800 hoping to win it right there. He called. We ended up checking it down after that and my 8s were good as he had AK that didn’t improve. A very tight player made an early raise. I found AK (both diamonds) on the button. I decide to just call. I get a delicious flop of K x x with two diamonds. This is a huge flop with top pair, top kicker and the nut flush draw. I really want action with this hand. Anyway, he bets 1200 and I raise to 3500 wanting him to play along. He thought for awhile, then folded. Oh well. I had KQ of spades once on a K 2 2 flop. I ended winning a nice pot when I got called on my post flop bets then made a flush on the river. All-in-all, things went great and I built my stack to 42,400 after Round 2.
I got a little more aggressive in Round 3 (blinds 150/300). I made a raise from the cut-off (just before the button) with QJ. Only the BB called. I saw a nice flop of J 6 3. I just checked the flop. He then called my turn bet. I checked on the river – turns out he had flopped a set of 3s! Good thing he played it so passively. I could have lost a lot more chips. Later I’m on the button with the K4 of diamonds. There are a couple of limpers, so I decide to play along. The SB next to me then makes it 1100. After 4 people call, I pretty much have to call the remaining 800. Well the flop is garbage, and everybody checks. The turn is a 4, we still all check. The river is a second 4 giving me runner runner trips. Everybody folded to my river bet. Still a nice pot. In a nutshell, that’s how passive my table was. So, a good round. I’m headed into the dinner break with 46,400 chips – good enough for the lead at my table.
Round 4 (150/300 with 25 antes) turned out to be a killer. As the tournament went on, I was raising a lot more and slowly and steadily building a nice chip stack. The guy to my left was getting shorter and shorter (around 15 – 17K). He was very active and I could tell he was in get-some-more-chips-quickly-or-just-go-home mode. I was eyeing those chips longingly and looking for a way to send him out of here. I had built my stack to about 54,000 when this evilness happened. I’m dealt 77 UTG. I make it 700. The villain next to me calls (he’s played a ton of pots, never folding to raises, so he could have had anything). The two of us see an 8 8 9 flop – pretty good for sevens. I call his 1500 bet. The turn is a 7 giving me a sneaky full house. I check, with the intent of reraising big. He just checks. The turn is a J which looks good to me. If he was trying to hit a straight, that should do it which would get crushed by my full house. I bet about 3500, he makes it 8000. At this point, he only had 4500 left. I assume he likely has a ten and I have him. I get him all-in and he calls in an instant (rarely a good sign!). Turns out he had a pair of jacks in his hand giving him a better full house on the river. OUCH! So I had to ship over a bunch of chips to him, knocking me back to an average stack. Dang, all that work destroyed on one turn of the cards. As it turns out, there was really nothing I could have done to alter this outcome. He’s certainly not going to fold JJ on that board no matter what I do on the turn. So it was back to the drawing board. I was at 36,300 with one more round of Day 1 to go.
Round 5 (200/400 +50) was up and down – ending down. I built it up to the low 40s before making some ill-advised bluff attempts late. I got no action when I had QQ (twice). Anyway, I’m down to 26,625 at the end of Day 1. Still beats being felted and out with zero chips – but if I had won that one big pot, I’d like to think I’d be sitting pretty, somewhere in the 70K range. Oh well. I still have over 50 big blinds in my arsenal of chips and will be alive for Day 2. That’s 4 for 4 making it into Day 2. Still an accomplishment.
A total of 6494 entered this year. There were so many people trying to get in at the last minute, that they supposedly turned away 800 people! They just didn’t have room. First place gets over $8.5M. Just making the final table makes $1.2M. So we’ll see how tomorrow goes. Those who have followed these reports over the years know of Sean who comes out with me every year. He plays very well, yet has never made it out of Day 1. Well this year is different as he has 79,000 in chips heading into Wednesday. So keep your fingers crossed for us both. I again apologize if these are so dreadfully long and boring. It still beats the alternative – busting out early!
More later.
Jeff
My table this year was very strange. It was a very passive table. Almost no reraising, lots of limped pots. Pots were generally small. Only a few monster hands. No recognizable pros were at my table. In fact, for the whole night, only 1 player at my table was busted out (spoiler alert: it wasn’t me!). Also, the number of total entries grew so much over the last two Day 1s that Days 1C and 1D were played for a whole 5 rounds after all – to thin the field. They’ll make it up to us by having Day 2A go for 5 rounds while we all will go for just 4 rounds on our Day 2B tomorrow (Wednesday). So we did play ‘til 1 am after all.
OK, on to the hands. On the very, very, very first hand of the tournament, I was dealt 44 UTG (under the gun i.e. very first to act after the blinds). I like to make a small raise here to help build a pot should I hit a nice 4 on the flop. Only the guy after me called. We then saw an A Q x flop with two spades. I then will often represent an ace, so I bet out 350 and got called. We both checked when another spade hit the turn. Then the river was a 4th spade. I realized here that I definitely don’t have the best hand (no 4 of spades), so the only way to win is to bet as if I have a decent spade. I make it 750 on the river. He sighs, then folds. Whew! I hate to outright bluff on the frickin’ first hand of the tournament, but there it is. The rest of the round was pretty boring. I got aces once on the button. I raised a typical raise and both blinds called. They then folded to my continuation bet on the flop. Toward the very end of the round, I got into a hand with a pair of nines. I called an early position raiser. Then called his continuation bet on a Q x x flop. He bet again and I laid it down. That took a little chunk. Ended the round with 29,500, slightly down from my original 30,000.
I had a ton of action in Round 2, blinds 100/200. I called a raise from the BB with a pair of 8s. The flop was 6 7 T – not bad for eights. I checked and he bet 600. I raised to 1800 hoping to win it right there. He called. We ended up checking it down after that and my 8s were good as he had AK that didn’t improve. A very tight player made an early raise. I found AK (both diamonds) on the button. I decide to just call. I get a delicious flop of K x x with two diamonds. This is a huge flop with top pair, top kicker and the nut flush draw. I really want action with this hand. Anyway, he bets 1200 and I raise to 3500 wanting him to play along. He thought for awhile, then folded. Oh well. I had KQ of spades once on a K 2 2 flop. I ended winning a nice pot when I got called on my post flop bets then made a flush on the river. All-in-all, things went great and I built my stack to 42,400 after Round 2.
I got a little more aggressive in Round 3 (blinds 150/300). I made a raise from the cut-off (just before the button) with QJ. Only the BB called. I saw a nice flop of J 6 3. I just checked the flop. He then called my turn bet. I checked on the river – turns out he had flopped a set of 3s! Good thing he played it so passively. I could have lost a lot more chips. Later I’m on the button with the K4 of diamonds. There are a couple of limpers, so I decide to play along. The SB next to me then makes it 1100. After 4 people call, I pretty much have to call the remaining 800. Well the flop is garbage, and everybody checks. The turn is a 4, we still all check. The river is a second 4 giving me runner runner trips. Everybody folded to my river bet. Still a nice pot. In a nutshell, that’s how passive my table was. So, a good round. I’m headed into the dinner break with 46,400 chips – good enough for the lead at my table.
Round 4 (150/300 with 25 antes) turned out to be a killer. As the tournament went on, I was raising a lot more and slowly and steadily building a nice chip stack. The guy to my left was getting shorter and shorter (around 15 – 17K). He was very active and I could tell he was in get-some-more-chips-quickly-or-just-go-home mode. I was eyeing those chips longingly and looking for a way to send him out of here. I had built my stack to about 54,000 when this evilness happened. I’m dealt 77 UTG. I make it 700. The villain next to me calls (he’s played a ton of pots, never folding to raises, so he could have had anything). The two of us see an 8 8 9 flop – pretty good for sevens. I call his 1500 bet. The turn is a 7 giving me a sneaky full house. I check, with the intent of reraising big. He just checks. The turn is a J which looks good to me. If he was trying to hit a straight, that should do it which would get crushed by my full house. I bet about 3500, he makes it 8000. At this point, he only had 4500 left. I assume he likely has a ten and I have him. I get him all-in and he calls in an instant (rarely a good sign!). Turns out he had a pair of jacks in his hand giving him a better full house on the river. OUCH! So I had to ship over a bunch of chips to him, knocking me back to an average stack. Dang, all that work destroyed on one turn of the cards. As it turns out, there was really nothing I could have done to alter this outcome. He’s certainly not going to fold JJ on that board no matter what I do on the turn. So it was back to the drawing board. I was at 36,300 with one more round of Day 1 to go.
Round 5 (200/400 +50) was up and down – ending down. I built it up to the low 40s before making some ill-advised bluff attempts late. I got no action when I had QQ (twice). Anyway, I’m down to 26,625 at the end of Day 1. Still beats being felted and out with zero chips – but if I had won that one big pot, I’d like to think I’d be sitting pretty, somewhere in the 70K range. Oh well. I still have over 50 big blinds in my arsenal of chips and will be alive for Day 2. That’s 4 for 4 making it into Day 2. Still an accomplishment.
A total of 6494 entered this year. There were so many people trying to get in at the last minute, that they supposedly turned away 800 people! They just didn’t have room. First place gets over $8.5M. Just making the final table makes $1.2M. So we’ll see how tomorrow goes. Those who have followed these reports over the years know of Sean who comes out with me every year. He plays very well, yet has never made it out of Day 1. Well this year is different as he has 79,000 in chips heading into Wednesday. So keep your fingers crossed for us both. I again apologize if these are so dreadfully long and boring. It still beats the alternative – busting out early!
More later.
Jeff
ARCHIVES - 2009 Pre-WSOP Report
OK, back by popular demand. I’m again documenting my experiences at the WSOP in Las Vegas, NV. There are some new readers, so to catch everyone up, this is my 4th run at the $10,000 Main Event. All have been a blast and great experiences. The first two resulted in making it into the money with a 548th finish in 2006 and a 455th finish in 2007. Last year, not so good as I busted out late in Day 2. However, I had my best first day ever, more than doubling my starting chips. Anyway, none of that matters now as everybody starts with a fresh slate and a new stack for 2009.
Speaking of the 2009 WSOP, there are some interesting changes to the format this year. First of all, instead of 20,000 chips, everyone is starting with 30,000 chips. In 2006, you got 10,000 in chips for your $10,000. In 2007, they upped it to 20,000 chips – but essentially just doubled the blinds/antes – making it a trivial increase. This year it’s up to 30,000 chips, but no real change in the blinds. This makes a HUGE difference. The stack sizes are now even that much more monstrous compared to the tiny early blinds. Each level of blinds lasts a full two hours, too, so lots and lots of play. Also this year, they’re playing only 4 total rounds the first day. Back in 2006, they played 6 rounds and we didn’t end Day 1 until about 3:30 am. After that, it was 5 rounds ending at a more manageable 1:00 am or so. Now, only 4 rounds that will end before 11 pm. Not exactly sure why they made this change. With the bigger stacks and the significant drop in 1st day levels, the bubble (the point where people get into the money) won’t likely happen until late in Day 4 at the earliest – instead of Day 3 as it has in the recent past. Gee, now if I make it into the money, I’ll have to postpone my flight back – Oh, well! That would be a good problem to have.
So, I recently just finished my annual walk-through of the Rio completing my registration for my first day tomorrow. The massive Amazon Room at the Rio is again packed wall-to-wall with poker tables. As usual, it is an amazing sight to see. Numbers are down quite a bit this year. Day 1 had 1116 entries. 873 for Day 2 and 1697 for Day 3. They say Day 4 may be the largest of the four, so we’ll wait for the final numbers to come in. 6844 played in 2008. 6358 in 2007. The biggest field so far was 8773 in 2007. The official entry number won’t be available until later tomorrow – but it will certainly take a dip.
Anyway, tomorrow I’ll be at table 4 seat 3 in the Amazon Blue room for the big event to kick off at 12 Noon. We’ll start with 30,000 chips and blinds of 50 and 100. Each level lasts 2 hours with 20 minute breaks in between – and a 2 hour dinner break. Should I survive, my Day 2 won’t be until Wednesday, July 8th. To follow some of the action, there are usually posts/blogs on worldseriesofpoker.com, pokerpages.com, among several others. Final chip counts are usually on worldseriesofpoker.com the following morning – hope I’m listed!
Anyway, just another glimpse of what it’s like here at the World Series. When I describe it to non-poker players, I still equate it to playing in the Super Bowl or baseball World Series. Not only are you at the event, but you’re on the field! It’s great.
The last few years I’ve at least had two or three days worth of E-mail updates to friends and family describing the action. Like last year, I wanted to get this preliminary E-mail out to ensure that I get at least two updates in the mail this year. My next E-mail might be very short and full of bad news and an early exit. But hey, you never know!
Thanks for listening.
Jeff Weil
Speaking of the 2009 WSOP, there are some interesting changes to the format this year. First of all, instead of 20,000 chips, everyone is starting with 30,000 chips. In 2006, you got 10,000 in chips for your $10,000. In 2007, they upped it to 20,000 chips – but essentially just doubled the blinds/antes – making it a trivial increase. This year it’s up to 30,000 chips, but no real change in the blinds. This makes a HUGE difference. The stack sizes are now even that much more monstrous compared to the tiny early blinds. Each level of blinds lasts a full two hours, too, so lots and lots of play. Also this year, they’re playing only 4 total rounds the first day. Back in 2006, they played 6 rounds and we didn’t end Day 1 until about 3:30 am. After that, it was 5 rounds ending at a more manageable 1:00 am or so. Now, only 4 rounds that will end before 11 pm. Not exactly sure why they made this change. With the bigger stacks and the significant drop in 1st day levels, the bubble (the point where people get into the money) won’t likely happen until late in Day 4 at the earliest – instead of Day 3 as it has in the recent past. Gee, now if I make it into the money, I’ll have to postpone my flight back – Oh, well! That would be a good problem to have.
So, I recently just finished my annual walk-through of the Rio completing my registration for my first day tomorrow. The massive Amazon Room at the Rio is again packed wall-to-wall with poker tables. As usual, it is an amazing sight to see. Numbers are down quite a bit this year. Day 1 had 1116 entries. 873 for Day 2 and 1697 for Day 3. They say Day 4 may be the largest of the four, so we’ll wait for the final numbers to come in. 6844 played in 2008. 6358 in 2007. The biggest field so far was 8773 in 2007. The official entry number won’t be available until later tomorrow – but it will certainly take a dip.
Anyway, tomorrow I’ll be at table 4 seat 3 in the Amazon Blue room for the big event to kick off at 12 Noon. We’ll start with 30,000 chips and blinds of 50 and 100. Each level lasts 2 hours with 20 minute breaks in between – and a 2 hour dinner break. Should I survive, my Day 2 won’t be until Wednesday, July 8th. To follow some of the action, there are usually posts/blogs on worldseriesofpoker.com, pokerpages.com, among several others. Final chip counts are usually on worldseriesofpoker.com the following morning – hope I’m listed!
Anyway, just another glimpse of what it’s like here at the World Series. When I describe it to non-poker players, I still equate it to playing in the Super Bowl or baseball World Series. Not only are you at the event, but you’re on the field! It’s great.
The last few years I’ve at least had two or three days worth of E-mail updates to friends and family describing the action. Like last year, I wanted to get this preliminary E-mail out to ensure that I get at least two updates in the mail this year. My next E-mail might be very short and full of bad news and an early exit. But hey, you never know!
Thanks for listening.
Jeff Weil
ARCHIVES - 2008 Day 2
Welcome again to my 2008 WSOP trip report – Day 2B – July 9, 2008
Well, roughly 2300 first day survivors joined me for Day 2B of the Series. Yesterday, the Day 2A folks got down to 465 players. They’ll meet the survivors of today on Thursday. I was again in the Amazon room, Red Table #18, seat 6. I had $71,750 in chips to start the day which was good enough for third at my table. Two slightly bigger stacks (one just over $80K) were to my left – two short stacks ($11K and $14K) were to my right.
The blinds started at 250/500 with a 50 ante. Nothing too exciting this level. I had trouble getting in a groove … it seemed like most of my weaker raises (KJ or A9) were getting reraised – thus forcing a fold. I dropped to 66,750 after the first level.
I got back in the swing of things during the second level. I had a big hand with AA with a J 9 6 flop with two diamonds. The turn brought another diamond (I had the ace of diamonds). I made a big check raise and my opponent folded. I got my stack back up to 77,000.
Round 3 started my downward spiral. I had a monstrous stack three to my left. I raised his big blind with a pair of sixes. He reraised me but I decided to see the flop. The flop was all rags – like 2 4 7 – not bad for a pair of sixes. I figured he likely had a hand like AQ or AK. He continue bet and I raised him. He then went all-in after some deliberation. I had to fold. He said later that he had aces. Oops, bad timing there. Anyway, my stack dripped down to $53,700 at the dinner break.
I made a fateful error early in the next round. I was moved to another table and again had a big stack to my left. The blinds were 500/1000 with a 100 ante. I raised one off the button to 3000 with AK. The big stack was in the small blind and made it 8000 to go. Here’s where I made the blunder of the tournament. My first instinct was to reraise, perhaps even going all in. That would have been great. Instead, I chose to only call. I figured he likely had a pair and I didn’t want to risk it all on a race – I thought I was too deep in chips. The flop was an innocent 7 4 2. He checked as did I. The turn was a 5 and he bet 10,000. At this point, I really thought he had a hand like AQ or AJ and that he was trying to buy the pot. So again I just called. The river was another 5. We both checked and he turned over a measly 7 3! His pair of sevens won the pot. Obviously, if I push preflop or at least raise substantially, he’d fold. So, instead of gaining say 10,000, I lost 18,000. I never really did recover. I had a great flop of J J 2 with a pair of twos, but got no significant action. I was getting pretty short on chips and found QJ suited on the button. I raised only to get called again by that big stack to my left (are you sensing a theme yet?). Anyway, the flop was really quite good A T 9 giving me an open-ended straight draw. The big stack bet into me – maybe testing to see if I had an ace. I decided to raise all-in for two reasons: 1. I have a lot of outs with the open-ended straight draw. 2. I had raised preflop indicating a good hand like a good ace. I thought I could push him off a small ace. Anyway, he pondered for a good 4 or 5 minutes before making the call with an A 7. Yuck. I really thought he’d fold a weak ace there. But again, he was a pretty big stack and could afford to take some chances. Anyway, my straight draw did not come in and I was sent to the rail.
All-in-all, there were about 1300 people left at this point from the original 6844. So, I can’t really feel too bad. Still, it leaves a very sour taste in my mouth!
Until next year.
Jeff
Well, roughly 2300 first day survivors joined me for Day 2B of the Series. Yesterday, the Day 2A folks got down to 465 players. They’ll meet the survivors of today on Thursday. I was again in the Amazon room, Red Table #18, seat 6. I had $71,750 in chips to start the day which was good enough for third at my table. Two slightly bigger stacks (one just over $80K) were to my left – two short stacks ($11K and $14K) were to my right.
The blinds started at 250/500 with a 50 ante. Nothing too exciting this level. I had trouble getting in a groove … it seemed like most of my weaker raises (KJ or A9) were getting reraised – thus forcing a fold. I dropped to 66,750 after the first level.
I got back in the swing of things during the second level. I had a big hand with AA with a J 9 6 flop with two diamonds. The turn brought another diamond (I had the ace of diamonds). I made a big check raise and my opponent folded. I got my stack back up to 77,000.
Round 3 started my downward spiral. I had a monstrous stack three to my left. I raised his big blind with a pair of sixes. He reraised me but I decided to see the flop. The flop was all rags – like 2 4 7 – not bad for a pair of sixes. I figured he likely had a hand like AQ or AK. He continue bet and I raised him. He then went all-in after some deliberation. I had to fold. He said later that he had aces. Oops, bad timing there. Anyway, my stack dripped down to $53,700 at the dinner break.
I made a fateful error early in the next round. I was moved to another table and again had a big stack to my left. The blinds were 500/1000 with a 100 ante. I raised one off the button to 3000 with AK. The big stack was in the small blind and made it 8000 to go. Here’s where I made the blunder of the tournament. My first instinct was to reraise, perhaps even going all in. That would have been great. Instead, I chose to only call. I figured he likely had a pair and I didn’t want to risk it all on a race – I thought I was too deep in chips. The flop was an innocent 7 4 2. He checked as did I. The turn was a 5 and he bet 10,000. At this point, I really thought he had a hand like AQ or AJ and that he was trying to buy the pot. So again I just called. The river was another 5. We both checked and he turned over a measly 7 3! His pair of sevens won the pot. Obviously, if I push preflop or at least raise substantially, he’d fold. So, instead of gaining say 10,000, I lost 18,000. I never really did recover. I had a great flop of J J 2 with a pair of twos, but got no significant action. I was getting pretty short on chips and found QJ suited on the button. I raised only to get called again by that big stack to my left (are you sensing a theme yet?). Anyway, the flop was really quite good A T 9 giving me an open-ended straight draw. The big stack bet into me – maybe testing to see if I had an ace. I decided to raise all-in for two reasons: 1. I have a lot of outs with the open-ended straight draw. 2. I had raised preflop indicating a good hand like a good ace. I thought I could push him off a small ace. Anyway, he pondered for a good 4 or 5 minutes before making the call with an A 7. Yuck. I really thought he’d fold a weak ace there. But again, he was a pretty big stack and could afford to take some chances. Anyway, my straight draw did not come in and I was sent to the rail.
All-in-all, there were about 1300 people left at this point from the original 6844. So, I can’t really feel too bad. Still, it leaves a very sour taste in my mouth!
Until next year.
Jeff
ARCHIVES - 2008 Day 1
Welcome again to my 2008 WSOP trip report – Day 1 – July 6, 2008
My first table was very typical of a first round table – i.e. very passive and not a lot of action. I was often able to “steal” the blinds – they start at 50/100 – with hands like A6 or A7. I occasionally raised in position with hands like K3 and Q3. Several times, I got called by the button and had to make continuation bets and/or bluffs during the hand. Fortunately the guy two to the left of me was quite weak and folded to a lot of my bluffs. One time I raised from late position with K2 of clubs. The big blind called. I got a nice flop of A J x with two clubs. The button bet into me and I chose to raise – A, to sell to him that I might have a strong hand and B, to possibly see the 4th and 5th cards cheaply. Well, my plan worked in that he called my raise and then checked the turn. That enabled me to check behind and see the river card. Unfortunately, I missed my draw and had to fold to his river bet. All-in-all, the first level was somewhat boring and I ended with $17,250 (of my $20,000 starting stack).
On to level 2 where the blinds were raised to 100/200. There weren’t a ton of meaningful hands. I was able to add to my stack while still getting meager cards. It was once folded to me in the small blind and I simply called with 86. The flop came 8 8 6 for a beautiful full house. I checked and called the BB bet. He checked the turn and then called my river bet of 1000. That was nice, of course, and got me to $19,500 for the next break. I was happy to have this decent amount of chips as I had really no good cards to report (I had a pair of fours once, sevens once, twos once, and fives twice in the first 4 hours of the tourney – nothing larger).
The 3rd level (blinds of 150/300) was the key level for me for the night. Once, the passive table I was at had 5 or 6 limpers (non-raisers) and I saw the flop for free with a 7 3. The flop was K 7 7 and I was able to make a fair amount of chips from a big stack who really should have figured me for a 7 and not simply betting her King. Finally our table broke and we were all moved to different tables. I sat down at a very active and talkative table – so different! I was in the small blind on my 2nd hand. A late position player raised to 600 and the button called. I look down to find a pair of queens. This was by far the best hand I’d seen all day. I pondered for a minute before raising to 2100. The original raiser folded immediately and the button called my raise. Well the flop was a gorgeous Q J 8 rainbow, giving me top set. I bet 2500 into that and the button chose to raise to about 6500. At this point in the hand, I have about 14,000 left and would love to get it all-in. Outside of a T9 – unlikely – I had the nuts. I thought for awhile before choosing to just push it in. First of all, the pot is already pretty big. Secondly, if he has a draw or a lower set, he would likely call. He thought for quite awhile before calling my bet. He reluctantly showed his pair of eights and said he totally feared the QQ, but thought I could have just as likely had KK or AA. Anyway, the turn and river were blanks and I jumped dramatically to $46,800! By far, that was the key hand of the day/evening.
Though they got the flop wrong, here’s the website description of the QQ v. 88 hand (scroll to the bottom):
http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/tourney/updates.asp?tid=4948&grid=411&dayof=720&curpage=8
One other nice hit came a few hands later. I was in the small blind with AJ and there was a limp and a call. I decided to raise $1000 and got one caller. The flop was Q T 8. That was pretty good for me because it gave me a “double gutshot” straight draw meaning I get a straight if a 9 or K comes on the board. I decided to check and then called her $2000 bet. I could have check raised big there and forced her to make a tough decision. In the end, I just called. She then checked the turn card (an unexciting 6). I finally hit the jackpot King on the river for the nut straight. I bet 3000. She muttered to herself for quite awhile before calling with her AQ. Hey, it’s an easy game! That bumped me up to $54,700 in time for the dinner break.
Speaking of dinner break, as many of you know, I travel out here every year with a Med-school buddy of mine from Milwaukee, WI (Sean). We’re pretty equal in skill, though I think he’s a little better. Anyway, the last two years, he’s busted out on the first day. When I met him at the dinner break, I saw he had a drink in his hand. That could only mean one thing: Out early again! Here’s how fast the chips can go and how cruel the game of poker is. He had built up his stack to about 30,000. He raised from late position with pocket queens to be called by the button. The button was fairly loose and short (about 9,000 chips). The flop was 8 6 3 - darn good for queens. Sean bet pretty big and the button called. This left the button with only a few thousand left, so Sean knew he’d put him all-in on the next card. The turn was a jack that looked fairly harmless. He pushed and got called by a hand of J 8 (two pair). OUCH! That knocked him down to his starting $20,000 or so. Two or three hands later, he gets all-in with pocket Aces against pocket Queens – though Sean had him covered by a few chips. Of course, a Queen flops and Sean is crippled to $4,000. Two hands later, Sean is all-in with AQ and called by KJ. A king hits the board and it’s over. So in just five or so hands, he went from a decent above-average stack to the rail drinking a double Kamikaze (what has become for him a sad 1st day tradition). He played those hands perfectly but now is on the sidelines.
Now back to my relevant action. No really interesting hands in Level 4. Over the course of those two hours, I dropped to $46,850. Then it was on to Level 5 – blinds 200/400 with $50 antes. I had aces twice and managed to get some decent action. Once got a nice flop of A Q 3 to take a decent pot. The second time, I was up against the other “big” stack at the table preflop. I had raised to $1100, got called by a player, then the other big stack made it another $4000 to go. Here’s where I may have made a mistake. I reraised to $16000 and scared him away. He claimed to have JJ and perhaps he would have called a more modest raise. Then again, he could have flopped a jack, thus ending this trip report! Anyway, he folded. I won a few other small pots this round to end the night at a very nice $71,750.
The final total of entrants came to 6844, actually more than last year. The top 666 will be paid. Just over 3700 people are left making the average stack about $36,500. At my next table – Amazon Room Red 18 – two other bigger stacks (80,175 and 73,825) will be on my left (BAD). Several short stacks sit to my right (GOOD).
Sorry this report is so long of a read. But hey, it beats the alternative!
As usual, I’ll keep you posted!
Jeff
My first table was very typical of a first round table – i.e. very passive and not a lot of action. I was often able to “steal” the blinds – they start at 50/100 – with hands like A6 or A7. I occasionally raised in position with hands like K3 and Q3. Several times, I got called by the button and had to make continuation bets and/or bluffs during the hand. Fortunately the guy two to the left of me was quite weak and folded to a lot of my bluffs. One time I raised from late position with K2 of clubs. The big blind called. I got a nice flop of A J x with two clubs. The button bet into me and I chose to raise – A, to sell to him that I might have a strong hand and B, to possibly see the 4th and 5th cards cheaply. Well, my plan worked in that he called my raise and then checked the turn. That enabled me to check behind and see the river card. Unfortunately, I missed my draw and had to fold to his river bet. All-in-all, the first level was somewhat boring and I ended with $17,250 (of my $20,000 starting stack).
On to level 2 where the blinds were raised to 100/200. There weren’t a ton of meaningful hands. I was able to add to my stack while still getting meager cards. It was once folded to me in the small blind and I simply called with 86. The flop came 8 8 6 for a beautiful full house. I checked and called the BB bet. He checked the turn and then called my river bet of 1000. That was nice, of course, and got me to $19,500 for the next break. I was happy to have this decent amount of chips as I had really no good cards to report (I had a pair of fours once, sevens once, twos once, and fives twice in the first 4 hours of the tourney – nothing larger).
The 3rd level (blinds of 150/300) was the key level for me for the night. Once, the passive table I was at had 5 or 6 limpers (non-raisers) and I saw the flop for free with a 7 3. The flop was K 7 7 and I was able to make a fair amount of chips from a big stack who really should have figured me for a 7 and not simply betting her King. Finally our table broke and we were all moved to different tables. I sat down at a very active and talkative table – so different! I was in the small blind on my 2nd hand. A late position player raised to 600 and the button called. I look down to find a pair of queens. This was by far the best hand I’d seen all day. I pondered for a minute before raising to 2100. The original raiser folded immediately and the button called my raise. Well the flop was a gorgeous Q J 8 rainbow, giving me top set. I bet 2500 into that and the button chose to raise to about 6500. At this point in the hand, I have about 14,000 left and would love to get it all-in. Outside of a T9 – unlikely – I had the nuts. I thought for awhile before choosing to just push it in. First of all, the pot is already pretty big. Secondly, if he has a draw or a lower set, he would likely call. He thought for quite awhile before calling my bet. He reluctantly showed his pair of eights and said he totally feared the QQ, but thought I could have just as likely had KK or AA. Anyway, the turn and river were blanks and I jumped dramatically to $46,800! By far, that was the key hand of the day/evening.
Though they got the flop wrong, here’s the website description of the QQ v. 88 hand (scroll to the bottom):
http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/tourney/updates.asp?tid=4948&grid=411&dayof=720&curpage=8
One other nice hit came a few hands later. I was in the small blind with AJ and there was a limp and a call. I decided to raise $1000 and got one caller. The flop was Q T 8. That was pretty good for me because it gave me a “double gutshot” straight draw meaning I get a straight if a 9 or K comes on the board. I decided to check and then called her $2000 bet. I could have check raised big there and forced her to make a tough decision. In the end, I just called. She then checked the turn card (an unexciting 6). I finally hit the jackpot King on the river for the nut straight. I bet 3000. She muttered to herself for quite awhile before calling with her AQ. Hey, it’s an easy game! That bumped me up to $54,700 in time for the dinner break.
Speaking of dinner break, as many of you know, I travel out here every year with a Med-school buddy of mine from Milwaukee, WI (Sean). We’re pretty equal in skill, though I think he’s a little better. Anyway, the last two years, he’s busted out on the first day. When I met him at the dinner break, I saw he had a drink in his hand. That could only mean one thing: Out early again! Here’s how fast the chips can go and how cruel the game of poker is. He had built up his stack to about 30,000. He raised from late position with pocket queens to be called by the button. The button was fairly loose and short (about 9,000 chips). The flop was 8 6 3 - darn good for queens. Sean bet pretty big and the button called. This left the button with only a few thousand left, so Sean knew he’d put him all-in on the next card. The turn was a jack that looked fairly harmless. He pushed and got called by a hand of J 8 (two pair). OUCH! That knocked him down to his starting $20,000 or so. Two or three hands later, he gets all-in with pocket Aces against pocket Queens – though Sean had him covered by a few chips. Of course, a Queen flops and Sean is crippled to $4,000. Two hands later, Sean is all-in with AQ and called by KJ. A king hits the board and it’s over. So in just five or so hands, he went from a decent above-average stack to the rail drinking a double Kamikaze (what has become for him a sad 1st day tradition). He played those hands perfectly but now is on the sidelines.
Now back to my relevant action. No really interesting hands in Level 4. Over the course of those two hours, I dropped to $46,850. Then it was on to Level 5 – blinds 200/400 with $50 antes. I had aces twice and managed to get some decent action. Once got a nice flop of A Q 3 to take a decent pot. The second time, I was up against the other “big” stack at the table preflop. I had raised to $1100, got called by a player, then the other big stack made it another $4000 to go. Here’s where I may have made a mistake. I reraised to $16000 and scared him away. He claimed to have JJ and perhaps he would have called a more modest raise. Then again, he could have flopped a jack, thus ending this trip report! Anyway, he folded. I won a few other small pots this round to end the night at a very nice $71,750.
The final total of entrants came to 6844, actually more than last year. The top 666 will be paid. Just over 3700 people are left making the average stack about $36,500. At my next table – Amazon Room Red 18 – two other bigger stacks (80,175 and 73,825) will be on my left (BAD). Several short stacks sit to my right (GOOD).
Sorry this report is so long of a read. But hey, it beats the alternative!
As usual, I’ll keep you posted!
Jeff
ARCHIVES - 2007 Day 3
On to Day 3 … Bubble Day!
6358 entered this year and 631 were going to get paid. We started this third day with around 800 people so we knew it wouldn’t be too long until we reached the bubble. My table draw was a good one. No one had a huge chip stack. It was a friendly table without a lot of bullying. I was pretty card dead early. A killer hand for me again was JJ. I got this under the gun twice on this trip and it hurt me each time. Last time, at least, I had a horrible flop and easily got away from it. This time, I raised the usual amount only to have one of the blinds reraise me. I should learn to fold this damn hand then if I suspect I’m up against a bigger pair. I did suspect this. And when the flop came 9 7 3, I mucked right away when he led out with a sizable bet. So at least I made a good laydown. (He stated later that he had had Kings - Whew!).
I was stung though and found my chips dwindling into dangerous territory. I had about 55,000 when we neared the bubble. The way they did the bubble this year was pathetic. Last year, when we got close, they played one orbit at every table then waited until every table finished those nine hands. This year, they literally played it one hand at a time. This took FOREVER. We started this when about 650 people were still left. Hand for hand lasted for over two hours (and we played only about 15 hands). Yes, two hours! There were like 10 minutes per hand, just waiting and waiting. I’m sure they did this for TV reasons, as ESPN was running cameras and microphones all over the room to catch each bust-out chance. So it was boring and tedious to be there, but will likely make for some entertaining television. I believe one guy busted out on the bubble with AA against AQ. QQ flop, I think. Since my stack was so short, I decided it wouldn’t be worth risking a whole lot of chips this close to the money. I really didn’t have much in the way of hands, but I might have played things differently under more normal conditions. We finally broke the bubble at around 5:00 pm which guaranteed those left a payout of over $20,000. However, I was terribly short now at 36,000.
Fortunately, I got AK suited shortly thereafter and went all-in. I got called by KJ (a bad call, but I appreciated the courtesy double-up). Then I went on a tear. I was able to build up my stack to about 90K. I lost some later when I raised my TT only to see an A K Q flop – not good for pocket tens. I made some more chips when it was folded to me in the SB. I looked down at A Q suited. The BB (who incidentally finished 2nd to Stu Ungar in this event many years ago) called my 3 times raise to 12,000. The flop came T T 3. I checked. He bet 20,000 chips. It must have been instincts – 'cause I didn’t really plan this out – but I quickly blurted “I’m all-in” check raising him. He immediately mucked his hand. That got me to a more healthy stack of 127,000 – still far below average.
With the blinds up to 2500/5000 and antes of 500, the pot before any action had 12,000. I had dripped down to about 75,000 and knew I’d have to make a move soon. A new guy had recently come to our table and made many raises, taking down several pots. He made yet another raise from early position. The guy next to him pondered, then just called. It came around to me on the button. I thought this would be a good spot to make an all-in squeeze play. I figured I still had enough chips to get some fold-equity. Plus, if this loose raiser was worried about the guy behind him (or had a sub-optimal raising hand), he might not be willing to play on. I decided that if I had anything decent, I would push in. I looked to see QT suited. That was good enough, so I made the move. Unfortunately, the “loose” raiser had Kings this time. He pushed in and the two of us hit the flop. I got a great flop of 3 9 J giving me an open-ender. The ten on the turn didn’t really help much. I had only 9 outs on the river and didn’t get lucky this time. In looking back at the hand, I think it was a valiant attempt at the squeeze, and I’d do it again. If the loose raiser had Ax or a small to medium pair, my move works great. Not so good against Kings!!!
So that’s how it ended. A good run, and like last year, a blast! Final position was 455th place - good for $29,883. That should pay for the next two years!! And if I keep improving my position by 100 places or so, it won’t be long ‘til I’m at the final table.
Hope this gives you a feel for what it’s like at this great event and that you enjoyed the lengthy histories.
Jeff
6358 entered this year and 631 were going to get paid. We started this third day with around 800 people so we knew it wouldn’t be too long until we reached the bubble. My table draw was a good one. No one had a huge chip stack. It was a friendly table without a lot of bullying. I was pretty card dead early. A killer hand for me again was JJ. I got this under the gun twice on this trip and it hurt me each time. Last time, at least, I had a horrible flop and easily got away from it. This time, I raised the usual amount only to have one of the blinds reraise me. I should learn to fold this damn hand then if I suspect I’m up against a bigger pair. I did suspect this. And when the flop came 9 7 3, I mucked right away when he led out with a sizable bet. So at least I made a good laydown. (He stated later that he had had Kings - Whew!).
I was stung though and found my chips dwindling into dangerous territory. I had about 55,000 when we neared the bubble. The way they did the bubble this year was pathetic. Last year, when we got close, they played one orbit at every table then waited until every table finished those nine hands. This year, they literally played it one hand at a time. This took FOREVER. We started this when about 650 people were still left. Hand for hand lasted for over two hours (and we played only about 15 hands). Yes, two hours! There were like 10 minutes per hand, just waiting and waiting. I’m sure they did this for TV reasons, as ESPN was running cameras and microphones all over the room to catch each bust-out chance. So it was boring and tedious to be there, but will likely make for some entertaining television. I believe one guy busted out on the bubble with AA against AQ. QQ flop, I think. Since my stack was so short, I decided it wouldn’t be worth risking a whole lot of chips this close to the money. I really didn’t have much in the way of hands, but I might have played things differently under more normal conditions. We finally broke the bubble at around 5:00 pm which guaranteed those left a payout of over $20,000. However, I was terribly short now at 36,000.
Fortunately, I got AK suited shortly thereafter and went all-in. I got called by KJ (a bad call, but I appreciated the courtesy double-up). Then I went on a tear. I was able to build up my stack to about 90K. I lost some later when I raised my TT only to see an A K Q flop – not good for pocket tens. I made some more chips when it was folded to me in the SB. I looked down at A Q suited. The BB (who incidentally finished 2nd to Stu Ungar in this event many years ago) called my 3 times raise to 12,000. The flop came T T 3. I checked. He bet 20,000 chips. It must have been instincts – 'cause I didn’t really plan this out – but I quickly blurted “I’m all-in” check raising him. He immediately mucked his hand. That got me to a more healthy stack of 127,000 – still far below average.
With the blinds up to 2500/5000 and antes of 500, the pot before any action had 12,000. I had dripped down to about 75,000 and knew I’d have to make a move soon. A new guy had recently come to our table and made many raises, taking down several pots. He made yet another raise from early position. The guy next to him pondered, then just called. It came around to me on the button. I thought this would be a good spot to make an all-in squeeze play. I figured I still had enough chips to get some fold-equity. Plus, if this loose raiser was worried about the guy behind him (or had a sub-optimal raising hand), he might not be willing to play on. I decided that if I had anything decent, I would push in. I looked to see QT suited. That was good enough, so I made the move. Unfortunately, the “loose” raiser had Kings this time. He pushed in and the two of us hit the flop. I got a great flop of 3 9 J giving me an open-ender. The ten on the turn didn’t really help much. I had only 9 outs on the river and didn’t get lucky this time. In looking back at the hand, I think it was a valiant attempt at the squeeze, and I’d do it again. If the loose raiser had Ax or a small to medium pair, my move works great. Not so good against Kings!!!
So that’s how it ended. A good run, and like last year, a blast! Final position was 455th place - good for $29,883. That should pay for the next two years!! And if I keep improving my position by 100 places or so, it won’t be long ‘til I’m at the final table.
Hope this gives you a feel for what it’s like at this great event and that you enjoyed the lengthy histories.
Jeff
ARCHIVES - 2007 Day 2
Day 2 was very interesting. I started off as a very short stack (25,000 with blinds of 500/1000 and 100 antes). So, I knew I’d have to pick my spots well and likely early. I got a few chips back by pushing my A9 from the SB over a button raise and another time when my pocket nines saw an 8 7 4 flop.
Then lady luck reared its head to make this update a long one and not a short one. The guy immediately to my right had taken two bad beats in a row and seemed to be a little on tilt. It was folded to him in the cutoff (just before me on the button) and he made a standard raise. I look down at AQ and decide to look him up. I reraise. The BB thinks for quite awhile before folding. Then the guy to my right went all-in. I did not like hearing that. My raise before pretty much committed me to the pot so I had to call – even though I feared I was almost certainly behind. Well, if you remember my final hand of last year then you know what he had. It was my AQ against his AK. The flop was 8 8 9 and I was just routing for a 9 to come so we could split the pot. Instead, a ten and then a Jack came giving me the miracle straight. As it turns out, the BB who pondered for a long time before folding had jacks. So getting the jack on the river was beyond miraculous. Anyway, good break for me as that bumped my stack to near-average at the time with 63,700.
The very first hand back from break was me looking down at pocket kings with an early position raiser. I reraised, he called, and we saw the flop. The flop came 8 8 2 and we eventually ended up all-in. He had 99 and I jumped up to about 127,000 in chips.
Later in the round, though, I took a bit of a hit when my JJ ran into aces. I could have lost more. Fortunately the flop was horrid for jacks (something like A Q 4) so I didn’t get killed. All-in-all, I ended that 2nd round with 85,500.
Round 3 had the substantial blinds of 800/1600 with 200 in antes. These took their toll as I bled down to 55,200 at the dinner break. This was half the average number of chips – and with bigger blinds after the break, I was pretty much back where I started the day.
Round 4 of the day was very good to me. I had TJ in the SB at one point when the flop came J 7 7. I checked. The button (who had only limped) made it 8000. I decided to check raise to 24000. I figured he would probably think I had a 7. This was a big chunk of my stack and he would have to look at that bet as a suck-bet looking for a call. Well, he thought long and hard before folding – showing me a jack from his hand!!! Whew, I think I got away with one on that one. With the blinds at 1000/2000 and 300 antes, nearly 6000 chips were in the pot at the start of every hand. On one hand in particular, the big blind had stepped away from the table so his hand was dead. So I decided from mid-position that I would open raise with just about any two cards (since he wouldn’t be there to defend his blind). I had Q2 off-suit. Not that good at all, but I raised anyway hoping to just take down the pot. Raises like this often had taken down the pot. Plus, outside of the guy to my immediate left, the rest to act were fairly tight. Anyway, the guy to my left eyed my dwindling stack for awhile before just calling. The flop came Q 7 3 – not bad for my hand. I paused, then bet 10,000. He immediately went all-in. I figured I could be toast, but I was kind of stuck. My stack was down to about 50,000 and the pot already had about 40K in it. So, I made the crying call. Fortunately, the guy was on a bluff (or at least hoping I had had AK or something and had missed the flop) and shyly turned over pocket fours. My pair of queens held up for a huge pot. I was now up to 144,300 in chips, over the average.
The last round was fairly uneventful. I ended with 141,700 chips. We broke for the night at around 12:15 am. There are about 800 people left. The average is a little over 150,000. 631 will make it into the money. Bubble day is tomorrow. Can’t wait. Back-to-back WSOP Main Event cashes would be sweet!!!
Further updates to follow.
Jeff
Then lady luck reared its head to make this update a long one and not a short one. The guy immediately to my right had taken two bad beats in a row and seemed to be a little on tilt. It was folded to him in the cutoff (just before me on the button) and he made a standard raise. I look down at AQ and decide to look him up. I reraise. The BB thinks for quite awhile before folding. Then the guy to my right went all-in. I did not like hearing that. My raise before pretty much committed me to the pot so I had to call – even though I feared I was almost certainly behind. Well, if you remember my final hand of last year then you know what he had. It was my AQ against his AK. The flop was 8 8 9 and I was just routing for a 9 to come so we could split the pot. Instead, a ten and then a Jack came giving me the miracle straight. As it turns out, the BB who pondered for a long time before folding had jacks. So getting the jack on the river was beyond miraculous. Anyway, good break for me as that bumped my stack to near-average at the time with 63,700.
The very first hand back from break was me looking down at pocket kings with an early position raiser. I reraised, he called, and we saw the flop. The flop came 8 8 2 and we eventually ended up all-in. He had 99 and I jumped up to about 127,000 in chips.
Later in the round, though, I took a bit of a hit when my JJ ran into aces. I could have lost more. Fortunately the flop was horrid for jacks (something like A Q 4) so I didn’t get killed. All-in-all, I ended that 2nd round with 85,500.
Round 3 had the substantial blinds of 800/1600 with 200 in antes. These took their toll as I bled down to 55,200 at the dinner break. This was half the average number of chips – and with bigger blinds after the break, I was pretty much back where I started the day.
Round 4 of the day was very good to me. I had TJ in the SB at one point when the flop came J 7 7. I checked. The button (who had only limped) made it 8000. I decided to check raise to 24000. I figured he would probably think I had a 7. This was a big chunk of my stack and he would have to look at that bet as a suck-bet looking for a call. Well, he thought long and hard before folding – showing me a jack from his hand!!! Whew, I think I got away with one on that one. With the blinds at 1000/2000 and 300 antes, nearly 6000 chips were in the pot at the start of every hand. On one hand in particular, the big blind had stepped away from the table so his hand was dead. So I decided from mid-position that I would open raise with just about any two cards (since he wouldn’t be there to defend his blind). I had Q2 off-suit. Not that good at all, but I raised anyway hoping to just take down the pot. Raises like this often had taken down the pot. Plus, outside of the guy to my immediate left, the rest to act were fairly tight. Anyway, the guy to my left eyed my dwindling stack for awhile before just calling. The flop came Q 7 3 – not bad for my hand. I paused, then bet 10,000. He immediately went all-in. I figured I could be toast, but I was kind of stuck. My stack was down to about 50,000 and the pot already had about 40K in it. So, I made the crying call. Fortunately, the guy was on a bluff (or at least hoping I had had AK or something and had missed the flop) and shyly turned over pocket fours. My pair of queens held up for a huge pot. I was now up to 144,300 in chips, over the average.
The last round was fairly uneventful. I ended with 141,700 chips. We broke for the night at around 12:15 am. There are about 800 people left. The average is a little over 150,000. 631 will make it into the money. Bubble day is tomorrow. Can’t wait. Back-to-back WSOP Main Event cashes would be sweet!!!
Further updates to follow.
Jeff
ARCHIVES - 2007 Day 1
OK, guys. Like last year, here’s my update from the 2007 WSOP!
Like last year, it’s held at the Rio in their convention center. The room is huge and packed with over 200 tables. My play was on Day 1C (they had four Day Ones due to the crowds expected). This year, about 1600 or so took part on each day for a total of 6358 people. This number is down from the 8773 who played last year.
One of my goals last year was to last long enough to be dealt aces. Well, I got dealt aces three times last year. This year, I got AA on my 7th hand. I made a standard raise to 300 (blinds were 50/100) and got one caller. He folded after one bet post-flop. Didn’t make much there, but at least didn’t get ‘em cracked for a big loss. Other than that, the story of the day for me (at least early on) was the “Big Blind Special.” In that first round, I had 86 in the big blind and saw a flop of 4 5 7 with about five others. I checked and a mid position player made a bet. I called. The turn was an A and I checked again. Unfortunately he checked, too. On the river (an unimportant queen), he called my 1100 bet. Not bad. A little later (again in the big blind), I had pocket twos. The flop kind of hit me well 2 9 9!! I made a small bet, got a raise and a call of that raise. I chose to just call. The turn was a Q, I bet and got a call. The river was perhaps the worst card to come up in the deck. It was a 3rd 9 making my hand nearly worthless. We both checked – I couldn’t have called a bet anyway – and the guy won with his pocket 5s. Oh, well. I finished round 1 with 21,600 chips. We started with 20,000 this year.
The 2nd round was pretty unremarkable. I called a button raise with KQ from the BB. I check raised his continuation bet and he folded. Ended that round with 25,250.
Round 3 was pretty good to me. I got AQ suited (diamonds) in mid position. I made a raise to 1200 (blinds were 200/400). I got a late-position and a blind to call and see a Q J 4 flop with two diamonds. Big flop for me! I bet 2000, call call. The river was a diamondless 3. I checked and the late player bet 6000. The blind folded and it was to me. I could have pushed all-in there (I had the other guy covered) but just called. The river was a 5 – again no diamond. We both checked and he only had KJ. He said he was hoping I only had AK and would have folded. Anyway, good pot for me. I ended round 3 with 41,950.
In round 4, I took a little hit when I had 78 in the big blind. The flop was 6 9 K. I made a semibluff bet only to have a late postion player raise all-in. His stack was pretty small so I easily had the odds to call. He had flopped a set of sixes so I needed to hit my draw. Didn’t happen so I lost a little bit there. Ended that round with 38,100, still above average.
Our table broke and I was moved. I finally got a chance to play with a known pro – Kenna James. Not sure if you guys know him but he goes by Cowboy Kenna James. He was talkative, fun, and was drinking beer. He to my immediate left. His stack was smaller than mine. On two occasions, it was folded around to us as blinds. On the first, I had A5. I made a small raise that he called. The flop came A 2 6. I bet, he called. He folded on my turn bet. The next time it was folded to us, he was singing, “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there” – implying that good neighbors (he and I) should play friendly and not raise. I look down at A9 and decide to only complete the blind. I predicted that he would raise and he did – 2500 more. (He only had about 17,000 then). I pushed all-in covering him. This seemed to surprise him quite a bit. He stared me down (didn’t matter, I had my sunglasses on – refer to last year’s update for that story!) and kept muttering “what could you have?” He then stated correctly that I probably had an ace and that his king high was a 40:60 dog. He eventually folded. That pretty much put him on tilt, though as he busted out shortly thereafter when he went all-in over a tight raiser with AT against AK.
My good fortune, however, was short lived. I made an ill-advised steal attempt with Q7s from the button. Too bad the BB had aces. Took a little hit there. Other than that, it was blinds and antes that took their total. I wound up the day at 25,000 chips. That means I’m pretty short going into Day 2. The blinds will be 500/1000 with 100 antes. As only 2000 people or so remain, the average stack is likely just over 60,000. I’ll have to make some risky moves to try to double-up or steal some chips to improve my stack’s health. I’ll update you all further. I’m next up at High Noon on Wednesday.
Jeff
Like last year, it’s held at the Rio in their convention center. The room is huge and packed with over 200 tables. My play was on Day 1C (they had four Day Ones due to the crowds expected). This year, about 1600 or so took part on each day for a total of 6358 people. This number is down from the 8773 who played last year.
One of my goals last year was to last long enough to be dealt aces. Well, I got dealt aces three times last year. This year, I got AA on my 7th hand. I made a standard raise to 300 (blinds were 50/100) and got one caller. He folded after one bet post-flop. Didn’t make much there, but at least didn’t get ‘em cracked for a big loss. Other than that, the story of the day for me (at least early on) was the “Big Blind Special.” In that first round, I had 86 in the big blind and saw a flop of 4 5 7 with about five others. I checked and a mid position player made a bet. I called. The turn was an A and I checked again. Unfortunately he checked, too. On the river (an unimportant queen), he called my 1100 bet. Not bad. A little later (again in the big blind), I had pocket twos. The flop kind of hit me well 2 9 9!! I made a small bet, got a raise and a call of that raise. I chose to just call. The turn was a Q, I bet and got a call. The river was perhaps the worst card to come up in the deck. It was a 3rd 9 making my hand nearly worthless. We both checked – I couldn’t have called a bet anyway – and the guy won with his pocket 5s. Oh, well. I finished round 1 with 21,600 chips. We started with 20,000 this year.
The 2nd round was pretty unremarkable. I called a button raise with KQ from the BB. I check raised his continuation bet and he folded. Ended that round with 25,250.
Round 3 was pretty good to me. I got AQ suited (diamonds) in mid position. I made a raise to 1200 (blinds were 200/400). I got a late-position and a blind to call and see a Q J 4 flop with two diamonds. Big flop for me! I bet 2000, call call. The river was a diamondless 3. I checked and the late player bet 6000. The blind folded and it was to me. I could have pushed all-in there (I had the other guy covered) but just called. The river was a 5 – again no diamond. We both checked and he only had KJ. He said he was hoping I only had AK and would have folded. Anyway, good pot for me. I ended round 3 with 41,950.
In round 4, I took a little hit when I had 78 in the big blind. The flop was 6 9 K. I made a semibluff bet only to have a late postion player raise all-in. His stack was pretty small so I easily had the odds to call. He had flopped a set of sixes so I needed to hit my draw. Didn’t happen so I lost a little bit there. Ended that round with 38,100, still above average.
Our table broke and I was moved. I finally got a chance to play with a known pro – Kenna James. Not sure if you guys know him but he goes by Cowboy Kenna James. He was talkative, fun, and was drinking beer. He to my immediate left. His stack was smaller than mine. On two occasions, it was folded around to us as blinds. On the first, I had A5. I made a small raise that he called. The flop came A 2 6. I bet, he called. He folded on my turn bet. The next time it was folded to us, he was singing, “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there” – implying that good neighbors (he and I) should play friendly and not raise. I look down at A9 and decide to only complete the blind. I predicted that he would raise and he did – 2500 more. (He only had about 17,000 then). I pushed all-in covering him. This seemed to surprise him quite a bit. He stared me down (didn’t matter, I had my sunglasses on – refer to last year’s update for that story!) and kept muttering “what could you have?” He then stated correctly that I probably had an ace and that his king high was a 40:60 dog. He eventually folded. That pretty much put him on tilt, though as he busted out shortly thereafter when he went all-in over a tight raiser with AT against AK.
My good fortune, however, was short lived. I made an ill-advised steal attempt with Q7s from the button. Too bad the BB had aces. Took a little hit there. Other than that, it was blinds and antes that took their total. I wound up the day at 25,000 chips. That means I’m pretty short going into Day 2. The blinds will be 500/1000 with 100 antes. As only 2000 people or so remain, the average stack is likely just over 60,000. I’ll have to make some risky moves to try to double-up or steal some chips to improve my stack’s health. I’ll update you all further. I’m next up at High Noon on Wednesday.
Jeff
ARCHIVES: 2006 WSOP Main Event
OK, guys. Here’s my trip report. So far ……
First of all, the Rio convention center with over 200 tables is a sight to see. Almost worth the trip. Wall-to-wall tables. Wall-to-wall people. And this was only ¼ the field? Geez.
I am seated at Table 26, where I will play for the next 15 hours! The blind schedule is really amazing. You start with 10,000 chips and the blinds are 25/50 for 2 hours. They go up very slowly and you get tons of play. I knew no-one at my table. No obvious pros. Nearby were Huck Seed and D’Agostino. The champ Lennox Lewis was seated as an alternate near my table.
The first round for me was quite frustrating. I seemed to be getting great cards: AK, QQ, AJ etc. but always out of position and always missing flops. Continuation bet followed by having to give up on a hand was the norm. If I had QQ, the flop was always AKx and I met resistance.
Early in the 2nd round, a guy raised from early position. He had raised many hands and this raise didn’t mean a whole lot of strength. There was one caller before me on the button. I look down at TT and decide to reraise to try to take it down there. That early caller called, however, and the two of us saw the flop. The beautiful T 8 6 flop comes down. He checks, and I bet my usual continuation bet. He makes a big raise and I go all in. He only has to call 1500 or so more to call so he’s in. He flips over JJ and I take down my first big pot. (Enter sigh of relief here.)
I raise in LP with A9s. The button (over aggressive guy) calls. We see an A44 flop. I bet 1000, he min-raises to 2000. I ponder, then push. He mucks after some deliberation. In my dreams, I hoped he mucked a hand like AT or AJ, but he probably had a pocket pair.
Later, I’m in the SB with JJ. In MP, a very solid, refined player made his standard 3x raise. I call and we see a K x x flop. He bets 700 after my check and I raise him 1000. He stares me down for about 5 minutes.
Side Note #1) I mostly play on the internet or in a home game where I know everyone well and am comfortable. Live big tourneys are kind of new to me. I don’t do well with the stare-down. I wasn’t wearing my shades. I try to just look down at the table and make no eye contact. Still, I glance up. I swallow and gulp. I tell myself NOT to move my hands – next thing I know I’m playing with my chips. I tell myself just to not move at all – next thing I know I’m slumping back in my chair, then leaning forward. I wasn’t sure if I should look strong or weak. I wasn’t sure if my actions made it look like I was strong or weak. All in all, it was probably a hilarious overload of tells. His sensory overload finally made him muck his hand. After the next break, I donned the sunglasses once I was in a hand. I have never been a proponent of the shades, but for me, it made it SO much easier to just sit still and give off less of a vibe.
I hover at or around 17,000 for most of the 3rd round. I hit the dinner break with 15,550 in chips with the average at around 13,000.
I take a couple hits with AK missing and AJ missing against a short stack and am left with about 10,500.
With the blinds at 100/200 +25 ante, I’m in the BB. The UTG+1 raises to 700. He has done this several times and has shown some real winners - NOT! (85s, etc…). So I’m thinking, if there is a call or two, I might make a move. Believe it or not, there are 3 callers before I act out of the BB. I decide that if I see any sort of a hand … even some questionable connectors, I’m going to make a move. I actually see QQ! The pot was around 3600 and I made it another 4K to play. I wanted to make it look like I didn’t want a call … on a steal. Each player thought long and hard … but eventually folded. That result was OK but I kind of wanted one caller.
One big stack had been making several raises. He was two to my right. So with the 100/200 +25 he makes it 700 and I call with A8 of spades. Flop comes Q T 6 with two spades. He makes a continuation bet of 1500 and I make it 5500 (about half my stack – probably should have pushed). Anyway, he then pushes and I’m committed to the call. He shows 7 6 of spades, so we’re both on a spade draw, but he has a pair of sixes. The turn is a 9 of diamonds giving me some extra outs for the straight. The river is the most beautiful 2 of spades you’ve ever seen. That pops my stack up to 32,000.
A few hands later, I’m in the BB. It’s folded around to the SB (new to our table, similar stack). He just completes. I look at A8 and make it 1000 to go. He calls and we see an A A 4 flop. He checks then calls my 1200. Turn is a 6. He checks and calls my 2400 bet. River also blank. Fortunately I have the presence of mind to check on the river as he checked into me again. He had A4 for the flopped boat. He thought I’d take another stab at it. Whew! Could have lost a lot more on that one.
BEWARE --------- I am not proud of the following. If you do not have a strong stomach, please stop reading NOW. I must preface the following hand with a little history. Three players to my right is a newbie who swears he has never really played much before. Live or otherwise. And I kind of believe him. He had made some HUGE overbets preflop only to show his aces after everybody folds. Anyway, with the blinds at 150/300 +25, he raises in the cutoff to 800. SB calls. I call with 9 3 of spades. (I knew then I possibly I shouldn’t have, but alas). Flop comes 9 8 5 with two spades. Blinds check and he bets 3000. I have him covered some and I make the regrettable push with top pair (no kicker) and a spade draw. He goes into the tank but then eventually calls with his pocket aces! The turn and river are no good and I’m crippled. I was devastated but had to hang in there.
I make one MP all-in (no calls) with AT and end up at the last break with about 4500 chips. Blinds are going to be 200/400 +50 so 1100 in the pot. So it’s go time. I call my buddy to think about getting the car warmed up for my departure. First hand back, there’s an EP raiser – the guy that raises a lot anyway. I look to see the A Q of hearts. It’s an easy push and he reluctantly calls with KJ. I dodge and double up. That gave me some breathing room for at least awhile.
Side Note #2) Side Note #1 was about how I exude a plethora of tells. On the flip side, I have never been one to pick up other’s tells well. Except this night: and it may have saved me my tournament. The guy next to me (on my left) was a young Euro who played fairly tight. I don’t see this too often at this level, but he always looked at his cards as soon as they were dealt to him – regardless of his turn to act. If he had a hand he was contemplating playing, he would lean forward on the table and watch the action ahead of him very closely. If he didn’t like what he saw in his hand, he would lean back and seem quite uninterested. This proved to be quite reliable and quite beneficial. When I was short and the blinds and antes were taking their toll, I was looking for opportunities to push and steal some pots. I was once in the cutoff and it was folded to me. I had KQ and might have pushed in this instance. However, my neighbor was leaning forward, watching the action intently. I had a feeling that a push here would be a disaster. Sure enough, this was one of those times as Mr. I-Have-A-Tell busted the BBs QQ with his Rockets. I know most (all) of you would never look at your cards before it’s time to play. But if you do, DON’T!
I stay hovering at around 11K when there’s a raise UTG to 1300 and a call. That perks me up as I sense a chance for a play. It’s folded to me in the BB and I have 33. Now I’m not a huge fan of 33 here, but it’s 2:50 am, I’ve been playing at the same frickin’ table for 15 hours, I had a lot of chips once before donking them away, and I may still have some fold equity. So I go all-in hoping to take it down or get into a race. Well, fold equity doesn’t mean diddly when the UTG guy has AA. However, nothing a 3 on the turn can’t fix!!! Amazing luck has brought me back from the dead. A few hands later, with time ticking down, I have A8s against the same guy that I had it before. He again raised and I called. Flop is 8 6 4. He bets, I smooth call. Turn is another under card. He bets a little more and I smooth call. River is the ace and he ponders before betting a sizeable 5,000. He mucks almost as soon as my call hits the pot.
Anyway, a roller-coaster ride to be sure. Finished with about 30,000 (a few above average) and a ticket to return tomorrow at High Noon.
Days 2 and 3
When gathering my old E-mails from my first WSOP main event, I seem to have misplaced all of my updates from Days 2 and 3 of the 2006 event. My actual hand-written notes are a mess, so I don't have the details. It's sad, too, 'cause I did pretty well. It was late into Day 3 and I had been a fairly short stack for hours, picking up small pots when I could. I was in the BB when the monstrous stack to my left opened with a standard raise. He had raised a lot and I was looking for an opportunity to chip up. It was folded around to my big blind when I looked down at AQ. Well, that was plenty. I pushed in and he immediately called (usually not a good sign). Anyway, he flipped over AK and it was over. No regrets, though, because he could have had any pair, a worse ace than AQ, or some sort of suited connectors. I just happened to run into his big slick at the wrong time. Oh well. That was good enough, though, for 548th place and a $22,266 pay out!
First of all, the Rio convention center with over 200 tables is a sight to see. Almost worth the trip. Wall-to-wall tables. Wall-to-wall people. And this was only ¼ the field? Geez.
I am seated at Table 26, where I will play for the next 15 hours! The blind schedule is really amazing. You start with 10,000 chips and the blinds are 25/50 for 2 hours. They go up very slowly and you get tons of play. I knew no-one at my table. No obvious pros. Nearby were Huck Seed and D’Agostino. The champ Lennox Lewis was seated as an alternate near my table.
The first round for me was quite frustrating. I seemed to be getting great cards: AK, QQ, AJ etc. but always out of position and always missing flops. Continuation bet followed by having to give up on a hand was the norm. If I had QQ, the flop was always AKx and I met resistance.
Early in the 2nd round, a guy raised from early position. He had raised many hands and this raise didn’t mean a whole lot of strength. There was one caller before me on the button. I look down at TT and decide to reraise to try to take it down there. That early caller called, however, and the two of us saw the flop. The beautiful T 8 6 flop comes down. He checks, and I bet my usual continuation bet. He makes a big raise and I go all in. He only has to call 1500 or so more to call so he’s in. He flips over JJ and I take down my first big pot. (Enter sigh of relief here.)
I raise in LP with A9s. The button (over aggressive guy) calls. We see an A44 flop. I bet 1000, he min-raises to 2000. I ponder, then push. He mucks after some deliberation. In my dreams, I hoped he mucked a hand like AT or AJ, but he probably had a pocket pair.
Later, I’m in the SB with JJ. In MP, a very solid, refined player made his standard 3x raise. I call and we see a K x x flop. He bets 700 after my check and I raise him 1000. He stares me down for about 5 minutes.
Side Note #1) I mostly play on the internet or in a home game where I know everyone well and am comfortable. Live big tourneys are kind of new to me. I don’t do well with the stare-down. I wasn’t wearing my shades. I try to just look down at the table and make no eye contact. Still, I glance up. I swallow and gulp. I tell myself NOT to move my hands – next thing I know I’m playing with my chips. I tell myself just to not move at all – next thing I know I’m slumping back in my chair, then leaning forward. I wasn’t sure if I should look strong or weak. I wasn’t sure if my actions made it look like I was strong or weak. All in all, it was probably a hilarious overload of tells. His sensory overload finally made him muck his hand. After the next break, I donned the sunglasses once I was in a hand. I have never been a proponent of the shades, but for me, it made it SO much easier to just sit still and give off less of a vibe.
I hover at or around 17,000 for most of the 3rd round. I hit the dinner break with 15,550 in chips with the average at around 13,000.
I take a couple hits with AK missing and AJ missing against a short stack and am left with about 10,500.
With the blinds at 100/200 +25 ante, I’m in the BB. The UTG+1 raises to 700. He has done this several times and has shown some real winners - NOT! (85s, etc…). So I’m thinking, if there is a call or two, I might make a move. Believe it or not, there are 3 callers before I act out of the BB. I decide that if I see any sort of a hand … even some questionable connectors, I’m going to make a move. I actually see QQ! The pot was around 3600 and I made it another 4K to play. I wanted to make it look like I didn’t want a call … on a steal. Each player thought long and hard … but eventually folded. That result was OK but I kind of wanted one caller.
One big stack had been making several raises. He was two to my right. So with the 100/200 +25 he makes it 700 and I call with A8 of spades. Flop comes Q T 6 with two spades. He makes a continuation bet of 1500 and I make it 5500 (about half my stack – probably should have pushed). Anyway, he then pushes and I’m committed to the call. He shows 7 6 of spades, so we’re both on a spade draw, but he has a pair of sixes. The turn is a 9 of diamonds giving me some extra outs for the straight. The river is the most beautiful 2 of spades you’ve ever seen. That pops my stack up to 32,000.
A few hands later, I’m in the BB. It’s folded around to the SB (new to our table, similar stack). He just completes. I look at A8 and make it 1000 to go. He calls and we see an A A 4 flop. He checks then calls my 1200. Turn is a 6. He checks and calls my 2400 bet. River also blank. Fortunately I have the presence of mind to check on the river as he checked into me again. He had A4 for the flopped boat. He thought I’d take another stab at it. Whew! Could have lost a lot more on that one.
BEWARE --------- I am not proud of the following. If you do not have a strong stomach, please stop reading NOW. I must preface the following hand with a little history. Three players to my right is a newbie who swears he has never really played much before. Live or otherwise. And I kind of believe him. He had made some HUGE overbets preflop only to show his aces after everybody folds. Anyway, with the blinds at 150/300 +25, he raises in the cutoff to 800. SB calls. I call with 9 3 of spades. (I knew then I possibly I shouldn’t have, but alas). Flop comes 9 8 5 with two spades. Blinds check and he bets 3000. I have him covered some and I make the regrettable push with top pair (no kicker) and a spade draw. He goes into the tank but then eventually calls with his pocket aces! The turn and river are no good and I’m crippled. I was devastated but had to hang in there.
I make one MP all-in (no calls) with AT and end up at the last break with about 4500 chips. Blinds are going to be 200/400 +50 so 1100 in the pot. So it’s go time. I call my buddy to think about getting the car warmed up for my departure. First hand back, there’s an EP raiser – the guy that raises a lot anyway. I look to see the A Q of hearts. It’s an easy push and he reluctantly calls with KJ. I dodge and double up. That gave me some breathing room for at least awhile.
Side Note #2) Side Note #1 was about how I exude a plethora of tells. On the flip side, I have never been one to pick up other’s tells well. Except this night: and it may have saved me my tournament. The guy next to me (on my left) was a young Euro who played fairly tight. I don’t see this too often at this level, but he always looked at his cards as soon as they were dealt to him – regardless of his turn to act. If he had a hand he was contemplating playing, he would lean forward on the table and watch the action ahead of him very closely. If he didn’t like what he saw in his hand, he would lean back and seem quite uninterested. This proved to be quite reliable and quite beneficial. When I was short and the blinds and antes were taking their toll, I was looking for opportunities to push and steal some pots. I was once in the cutoff and it was folded to me. I had KQ and might have pushed in this instance. However, my neighbor was leaning forward, watching the action intently. I had a feeling that a push here would be a disaster. Sure enough, this was one of those times as Mr. I-Have-A-Tell busted the BBs QQ with his Rockets. I know most (all) of you would never look at your cards before it’s time to play. But if you do, DON’T!
I stay hovering at around 11K when there’s a raise UTG to 1300 and a call. That perks me up as I sense a chance for a play. It’s folded to me in the BB and I have 33. Now I’m not a huge fan of 33 here, but it’s 2:50 am, I’ve been playing at the same frickin’ table for 15 hours, I had a lot of chips once before donking them away, and I may still have some fold equity. So I go all-in hoping to take it down or get into a race. Well, fold equity doesn’t mean diddly when the UTG guy has AA. However, nothing a 3 on the turn can’t fix!!! Amazing luck has brought me back from the dead. A few hands later, with time ticking down, I have A8s against the same guy that I had it before. He again raised and I called. Flop is 8 6 4. He bets, I smooth call. Turn is another under card. He bets a little more and I smooth call. River is the ace and he ponders before betting a sizeable 5,000. He mucks almost as soon as my call hits the pot.
Anyway, a roller-coaster ride to be sure. Finished with about 30,000 (a few above average) and a ticket to return tomorrow at High Noon.
Days 2 and 3
When gathering my old E-mails from my first WSOP main event, I seem to have misplaced all of my updates from Days 2 and 3 of the 2006 event. My actual hand-written notes are a mess, so I don't have the details. It's sad, too, 'cause I did pretty well. It was late into Day 3 and I had been a fairly short stack for hours, picking up small pots when I could. I was in the BB when the monstrous stack to my left opened with a standard raise. He had raised a lot and I was looking for an opportunity to chip up. It was folded around to my big blind when I looked down at AQ. Well, that was plenty. I pushed in and he immediately called (usually not a good sign). Anyway, he flipped over AK and it was over. No regrets, though, because he could have had any pair, a worse ace than AQ, or some sort of suited connectors. I just happened to run into his big slick at the wrong time. Oh well. That was good enough, though, for 548th place and a $22,266 pay out!
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