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
No comments:
Post a Comment