Ok... so... wow, what a day! The last I checked in, I had 180,000 chips, was heading to dinner, and only had 51 more people to the money... and then I briefly posted to let people know I made the money.
But how did that happen? What was the blow by blow? How did I finish the day? Well, all of that more in the final blog post of the evening...
So I come back from dinner and get Q 10 off in the big blind with a raise from... you guessed it, seat 6. So I call and the flop comes Q J 10 rainbow - two pair, but while he will raise on anything from the button, there's also a decent chance he has 4 to a straight... so I lead out, he folds, more winning.
So I fold for a while, but it's ok - when you have as many chips as I do, life is good. Then I pick up A10 off in a late position with a raise and a caller in front of me, so I call. Flop comes Q 5 K... I missed. I check, he bets, next guy folds, and I call... why not, I have lots of chips. Turn was a 5, I check, he bets, I fold. C'est la vie...
I got 9's in a middle position and raised with them, but a late position three bet me to 18,500 and I elected not to pay an extra 10,000 to play 9's out of a position with a guy whose hand was good enough to three bet.
But it was ok, because I picked up 5's in a late position, raised with them, and won me some antes and blinds.
Then I pick up a nice KQ suited in a late position... beautiful. So I raise and seat 9, my nemesis (All day he calls me... all the time... calling and raising)... anyway, my nemesis in seat 9 calls. Flop comes 5 8 K with two clubs and no diamonds (I had diamonds). Top pair, second kicker. I bet big - 28,000. He calls. Turn is a 9 of diamonds... still have top pair, second kicker, with two clubs on board and no flush draw for me. So I bet out big again - 30K. He calls.
Now I'm in trouble. He's either chasing a flush I know he's going to hit on the river, or he's got one heck of a hand. But which is it?
River was a 6... of spades. Black, but no club. Even still, I'm unhappy he didn't go away and check. He studies my stack and bets 48,000. Recap - we're 17 people away from the money, there was over 150,000 in the pot when he bet 48,000... making it a 200,000 chip pot. I have approximately 100,000 chips left because 60,000 or so so of those chips are mine. Oh, and there's no way I'm winning this with top pair, second kicker.
There's really only one move here and it's folding... I think even Jay Cutler would fold this hand. But I can't do it. Seat 9 has been driving me crazy all day - every time I raise, he calls. Every time I check, he bets and he always has position on me.
And so, I called with the following philosophy - I'm probably going to lose, but the chance at winning 200,000 chips is so great, that I'm going to call and pray he's bluffing and then just use the remaining 50,000 chips to get to the money if he's not. Essentially, I'm counting this as being out of the tournament if I lose, but saving just enough chips that I can fold every hand and still make the money.
He had the 67 of clubs... which gave him a straight on the turn. He called my preflop raise with suited connectors, flopped the open ended straight flush draw and called my first bet with a draw, hit his straight on the turn, and bled me dry on the river.
My tournament is over... I fold every hand until the money an hour later and am left with an M Ratio of about 4.5 when we hit the money. I order a celebratory beer and consider whether or not I'll be around when it gets to the table... a quick shove is in order, I'm done.
So I pick up J10 suited in the small blind and raise to 7,000 instead of shoving - I should shove, but I'm already "out of the tournament" and in the money, so really I can do whatever I want - I'm just playing carefree poker. So he comes back over the top on me and puts me all in, which I readily call. He has pocket 2's, I have the jack and ten of spades - fitting that stupid seat 9 should put me out.
Flop comes 10 4 8 with two spades. Hey now! Turn was the King of spades, I win, and the river was a 10 in his eye... take that seat 9!
Next hand I've got A3 suited on the button, raise, and win some antes and blinds.
I'm now up near 100,000 chips... I'm almost back in the tournament. Back in the tournament? But I was out of the tournament? Done!
This is glorious - I'm in the money and I have 100,000 chips to play with! I'm invincible!!!
I'm so invincible in fact, that I raise with pocket 5's from a middle position. I got three bet, I folded, he showed AK... maybe not all that invincible.
Invincible enough to raise with QJ though... to a call from... seat 9. I hate you so much seat 9. Flop comes 10 4 5... sigh... check. He bets... might or might not have something, but he has position and has had my number all day. Sigh... fold.
I protected my blind a bit calling a raise with KJ off in the big blind, but missed a Q 4 6 flop. But we both checked and I got a free turn - an ace. So I bet it, he folded, and I took down a small little pot.
Then... sixes. What's that you say? Sixes aren't a good hand? Nonsense... I'm invincible. So I call a raise with my sixes from a late position, which prices in seat 9, and the small blind folds. Seat 2 was a short stack - about 40k - 50K, and he was the one stalling to try to get to the money and now we're in the money. Anyway, it's his big blind and with a raise and two calls in front of him, he shoves all in. The original raiser folds, and I reflect on my sixes.
Now, it doesn't actually matter what I have, this is a phenomenal opportunity for me - I've got blinds and antes in the pot, I've got two extra raises/calls in the pot, and I've got a chance to go one on one with a shorter stack with a pocket pair, which probably makes it a race that I'm ever so slightly leading. Moreover, if I lose, I've still got a 50K short stack left to shove with... so I move all in and pray that boxes out seat 9, which it does.
Seat 2 flips over AJ off, I've got sixes. It's a race!
8 10 Q
Ok, a 9 or a k is a straight for him. And he's still got two overs. Not the best flop for this guy.
Turn was a 4. C'mon 2 of diamonds or anything low. 3 of hearts... or even a 6. C'mon low...
River was an 8, I just took down a huge pot.
Round four is over, I'm in the money, back from the dead, and I've got 144,000 in chips. Game on.
The challenge now, of course, is that I need to get out of crazy poker mode. See, when I made the money, inner Tiffany went to bed. And since I was already "out of the tournament" after my stupid beat from seat 9, once I hit the money, I turned the reigns over to inner Jay Cutler. Now, the problem is, I need to get him back on the bench... but it's hard to put that Jay Cutler genie back in the bottle.
Early into the last round of the night I get 5's in a middle position. It's like Alshon Jeffery streaking down the sideline in double coverage with a safety over the top - how do you not take that shot?! Raise! Flop came J J A... check check. Turn was a King. I checked, he bet, I folded.
AQ off under the gun got me antes and blinds, which was nice.
I got J10 suited in the small blind and called a raise with another caller in front of me. When the big blind called, we had a 45,000 preflop pot. Flop came 2... 2... 2. Ummm... rainbow. Obviously. Ugh. I check, seat 9 bets, everyone else folds.
Almost an hour into the round, I'm in the big blind and seat 9 raises under the gun. Of course he does. Everyone else folds, I look down at pocket kings. Sweet manna from heaven! So I raise to 21,000 and he calls. Please no ace. Please no ace. Just please no ace. Flop comes...
Q 7 2
Glory! I'm first to act... hmmmm... Jay thinks we should get as much as we can out of this pot and says that I haven't done a good enough job maximizing my good hands, so I check... giving the guy who loves to chase flushes a free card if he wants it... and he does, he checks.
Turn is a 6... the second spade on the board. I check again... I'm baiting him, no way he can resist betting here. Check.
Son of a...
Are you kidding me?! He just checked twice? Seat nine?! Grrr...
River is a 5 of spades. Oh my. I may have just let him hit a flush. No, I couldn't have. I wouldn't have. It's at that moment that I resolve I am playing those kings for every chip I have and I lead out 15,000... he ponders and calls. I show kings, he mucks... but as he does, he flashes me a queen.
Wait... what? This guy flopped top pair... and checked... twice?! That hand should have paid me off. I mean, yeah, I won 40,000, which stems some of the bleeding from all the blinds and antes (I'm now losing 10,500 every 15 - 20 minutes), but how do I *only* win that? Damn you seat nine, damn you. I tell you, he's got my number.
With about an hour left in the evening, I picked up AJ suited in a middle position and raised. Seat nine called. Flop came 9 9 J with none of my hearts, but two spades. I led out with a 20K bet, he called. I hate being out of position with this guy. Turn is a 6 of spades - three spades on board. While I loved my top pair top kicker on the flop, I'm now a little weary with the third spade on board, but I bet out another 20K - let's see if he raises... or possibly folds. Nope, he calls. River is the king of spades. 4 spades on board. There is no way I am winning this hand with my ace jack of hearts. I know that. I do. But I can't give seat nine another pot. He's had so many. Even when I have the better hand, he still seems to win. So I shoved. Full on, hard core bluff. Basically, I was representing the ace of spades... and, quite frankly, I was betting he didn't have the ace of spades. Literally, that's the bet I was making - I bet my last 90-some thousand on a 120,000 pot that he didn't have the ace of spades.
And he did.
He actually hesitated for a while, worried I had pocket jacks or J9, but ultimately made the call. He was playing ace of spades, nine of diamonds - he hit the trip nines on the flop and had me the whole way. And I totally could have knocked him off those if he didn't have a spade when that fourth spade hit the board... and based on how much he hesitated when calling with the ace of spades, I may have even been able to knock him off a flush with a middle spade... but he had the ace of freaking spades.
And, done. That's it. Up and down the entire day - I was definitely in the money, then I lost a ton and might not make it, then I made a ton and I was definitely in, then I lost a ton and I'm basically out of the tournament, then I'm in the money, then I double up, then I win a giant pot, then I'm doing great again, then I bet 100,000 chips that seat nine doesn't have the ace of spades and he does.
God, I hate that seat nine. I think that's part of the reason I did it too - I just couldn't let seat nine win that pot. Over my dead body was seat nine going to win that pot. And it was.
Anyway... fun!!! This was really a fun year - I got to sit with a couple former champions, including Johnny Chan, I cashed, and I had a general roller coaster ride of a tournament... it was really a lot of fun.
I officially finished in 765th place - good for top 12% and $15,000. In the five years I've been doing this, I've finished in the top 8%, the top 11%, and the top 12%... so that's pretty good I guess, but I think I squandered some good opportunities today - I should have been able to play into day four.
What's interesting is I don't think I typically bluff a whole lot - I mean, outside of this tournament obviously. I mean, sure, some position raises or continuation bets every so often, but that's just poker. And sometimes I'm betting on the other guy not having something which is kind of like a bluff, but I usually have a draw to go along with that.
Several times in this tournament I got to the river, knew I lost the hand, and made giant bluff bets... and I think I lost most, if not all, of them. Moreover, I made a couple river calls that I knew I lost the hand on... I bet those moves combined for hundreds of thousands in losses across the days. Bluffing on the river when I missed my hand and calling bets when I know I've lost - those are two things that I think I would like to work on for next year...
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Friday, July 10, 2015
Day Three, Round Four
I cashed, but then we can't use electronics at the table, so i will do one final blog at the end of the night with round four... And maybe five. Either way, it will be a final post for the day.
Day Three, Round Three
Exhausted.
78 off in the big blind with two limps in front of me... So i raised my option and they folded - good start!
KJ off in a middle position i raised with - 1 caller. Flop came A 4 6, i checked, he bet, i folded... Didn't want to screw around on that hand.
I had K8 off in the big blind and the small blind raised - all day this guy has been targeting my blinds (he's usually the button for my big blind, but we lost seat 7 so he was small). I call.
Flop comes 8 2 7... And he bets out over 8,000... So i raised to over 18,000 and he folded. Take that!
Then we got a new seat 7, he with 300k in chips. I bet he makes the money...
Also figured out that one of the little eyepiece things for my poker sunglasses (the ones that sit on your nose) fell off and that's why i have a little metal piece digging into my nose.
Anyway, i called with 7's in the small blind, flop came J J 10 and i led out and took it down.
A10 suited in the small blind, so i call a raise. Flop comes 8 7 8 and we both check. Turn is a 6, i check, he bets, he wins.
AK suited late... I raise, seat nine raises, so he has position, and i call . Flop comes 10 J 3... With only one spade. Ugh. I check to the raiser, he bets, i... Call. Ugh, can't lay it down. Turn is a 6 and rules out a flush. Check check. River is a 4 and i led out 22k. Why? Why do i do this?! He snap calls with J9 suited and a pair of jacks. That hand cost me almost 40k. Misery.
Then i gave out a lot of chips while trying to figure out if i could fold to the money.
My big blind, AQ suited... And seat 6, back on the button, naturally raises... So i popped him back with a three bet. He called, flop comes 4 7 2 with two diamonds, giving me four . I've got two overs and a flush draw so i bet it... He thought about it, and moved all in - he had me covered.
15 minutes left in the round, 1,062 players left, and i might be able to fold to the money. Or i call and chase. Ugh.
I mean, really - ugh.
So i called.
He had A5 off, turn was a K... Not a diamond. Rivered a queen, doubled up.
Wow. Can't believe i made that call... And that i was ahead.
At the end of the round, I'm in a late position and seat 7 (He with 300k in chips) raises. I had pocket kings, first time all tournament. I three bet, he called, and there was no ace on the flop. He checked, i dumped on him and took the pot. I probably should have slow played it to make more, but i just wanted out of the hand and round.
Finished the round with 181,500, good enough for a M Ratio of 20 for the next round. Heading to dinner with 1,062 left...
Day Three, Round Two
I don't know how much more of this i can take...
Opened the round with what i thought were enough chips to fold to the money, but made the fateful decision to play cards instead...
I started early with 7 8 suited in the big blind with a small raise and a call so i called, feeling priced in. Flop came 10 9 4, all diamonds - right color, wrong suit. I folded to a bet, but would have hit a 7 on the turn (It wouldn't have been enough to win though, Greg)
Then i get 5 7 suited in the small blind on the next hand and everyone folds to me. Ugh, i limp. He raises, i foolishly call. Flop comes J 9 9, one diamond. Check, check. 2 on the turn, my flush draw is no more... I lead out with a bet - he calls. River is a queen. I can't win this hand... Unless i bet big and he folds. Hmmm... I want to win... But i check, he checks, i fold - he had 8's.
Shortly thereafter (Yes, these things come in groups), i get KQ off in a late position and call a raise from a short stack. Flop comes 2 2 9. Ugh. He bets, i call and float - i have nothing, but i plan to knock him off his hand before it's done. This seemed like a good plan at the time.
Turn is a 4... He checks, i check. River is an ace, he checks. I can tell he doesn't like the ace, so i play the man and bet 18k. He debates calling. If he calls, i lose. If he folds, i win a nice pot.
And he thinks some more.
And after about 5 minutes, someone calls clock. I'm freaking out the whole time because I'm already down chips and can't win this hand if he calls.
The pit boss comes over and starts counting down a minute, after which they will fold his hand. Around thirty seconds he calls - pocket kings. I was right, he didn't like the ace, but made a heck of a call and now I'm down under 55k... Ugh, no good - still almost 1,400 players left.
He said that he couldn't stand the agony of folding and not knowing... That was worse for him than calling and losing so he called. Whatever works for him i guess... But that was a great call on his part.
So now I'm tilting a bit, but it's OK because inner Jay Cutler says we can get it all back on one hand if we just play aggressively enough. OK, here goes inner Jay Cutler... Sorry dear, but i no longer have enough chips to fold to the money.
A10 off in late position and i call a raise. Flop comes 3 6 5... He bets, i have nothing but two overs, Jay says to call so i throw more chips away. Turn was a 10, i bet a big bet but didn't dump on him (Trying to lure him in for more), but he folded anyway - stopped some of the bleeding.
Next hand, KJ off late so i call a small raise. Flop comes 10 6 8 rainbow... He bets, i fold.
I got J10 off in the big blind and called a raise... Flop comes A A K. Ugh. He bets and while i think it's a continuation, and i have a gut shot straight draw, I'm also almost out of chips, so i fold.
Q9 on the button with few chips left and someone limps in front of me, so i limp - if i can see a cheap flop with position and a picture card, Jay says i need all the help i can get. Of course, big blind raised after small blind limped and i got out before the flop - another two thousand gone that i couldn't afford to lose.
Now I'm in free fall...
A9 off in the big blind with a raise... I call with two players in. Flop comes 9 7 2 and i lead out with a large 9,000 bet. Original raiser raises to like 20ish, other guy folds, and i insta-shove... He calls without much thought. All in again, facing elimination again...
He has 8 10 - he's got one over, an open ended straight draw, and two more cards to come. No, really, i can't take much more of this.
Turn was a 2. Dodged a bullet. River was a Q, i doubled up. Wow.
Now I'm back up over 100k and inner Tiffany has beaten back inner Jay Cutler.
Queens on the button with a raise... I three bet, he thinks about it, he folds... And draws the dealers attention that one of his cards is blemished. The dealer agrees and orders a new deck, the guy to my right asks if it was the ace of diamonds and it was. So, basically, i know he folded an ace, so in probably happy i didn't have to see a flop?
A round or two later, jacks on the button - when it rains, it pours. I three bet a preflop raise, he folds - I'm so happy i didn't have to play jacks :)
By the way, i haven't tweeted a ton besides when new posts are up, but I've been tweeting these ups and downs of today in real time, FYI.
I'm also way low on cell phone battery already, that's not good. Pro tip - did you know you can charge your cell phone battery 2 - 3 times faster if you put it in airplane mode while charging? Maybe faster than 2 - 3 times...
Finished the level with 125,400 in chips. Blind are 400/1200/2400 next round, which gives me an M Ratio of about 17. 1,251 players left - lost about 300 the first round, about 250 this round, and have another 251 players to go until the money. And yes, i could fold until the money... But will I?
Day Three, Round One
Well, i knew something had to give this round. We lost our short stack about ten minutes in, which made me the short stack.
Kidai, meanwhile, is hyperaggressive, playing most hands, and always betting.
So about twenty minutes in, Kidai raises and I'm on the button with 9 10 suited. I know I'm going to need a big hand soon, so i call with position and suited connectors.
Flop comes Q 2 2, with a couple clubs and none of my spades. Wow, i missed that about as bad as a flop can be missed. So he lays out 2,200, and i reflect - 2,200 is his standard continuation bet that I've seen him make several times now... The last time, seat 7 raised him and he folded. Since i missed the flop, i decide to play the man and not the cards... I raise to 6,000.
He calls. Hmmm... Maybe when "playing the man", i should pick a man that isn't currently ranked number two in the world. Turn was a 5, no help. He checks, i bet my tournament he had nothing and shoved... he folded.
Phew.
That gave me enough chips to stay alive more rounds and a half hour later, seat 9 raises my big blind. Seat one calls, seat seven calls, and I'm looking at 8 9 off... Not a good hand, but it's a min raise so I'm looking at 1,800 more chips to play in a pot of over 12,000... Priced in, i call.
Flop comes 5 2 8 with a couple hearts. Small blind checks, i bet like 8,000. Seat nine folds, seat one calls, and seven thinks for a bit before folding. Turn was a 9, I'm first to act. I've got two pairs, a pot with about 30,000 in chips, and about 25k - 30k left. I debate betting 15k or 20k, but i was pot committed and willing to take down the pot without him getting another card, so i shoved. I'm all in.
And he calls.
Now, I've shoved a couple times this tournament, and I've been called a few times, but this is the first time someone that had me covered called and i was facing elimination at the end of the hand.
Jacks, he has pocket jacks, an overpair. Now, as long as the river doesn't pair the board...
Queen! Lucky lady!!!
I doubled up to over 100k.
Giddyup.
But then i got chip drunk...
J7 on the button, i raise! Small blind three bet me and i folded.
Stupid chip drunk... OK, I'm over that. An hour fifteen in, we've lost 200 people and are at 1,593. If i walk away now, i think i can blind and ante my way to the money.
Hmmm... Maybe i should just walk away for a couple hours?
Kidai is the most annoying player ever... Everytime someone bets more than 8,000... Which is fairly common at these levels... He needs to think about it for five minutes - which is a REALLY long time. I almost called clock on him earlier and then someone else finally did later in the round - two clocks in a round is excessive.
We lost Greg Raymer this round, another tournament champion i sat with and outlasted :) The 94 year old WWII veteran is still going strong though...
With about a half hour left, i got pocket tens one off the button with a raise and a call in front of me, putting about 11,000 in the pot so i three bet to over 9,000 and picked up the pot preflop when they all folded.
Of course, the voice of my inner Tiffany just keeps getting louder - "fold until the money, fold until the money"...
Ooohhh... I wonder what would happen if inner Tiffany ended up in an imaginary cage match against inner Jay Cutler? I bet that little cry baby wouldn't last two rounds with her and fifteen grand on the line.
Anyway, dreaming of imaginary cage matches is how i finished the round, but it's amazing how good only playing a couple hands can be if you win over 70k on two of them.
End of round one, 1,512 players left - we lost almost 300 in that round. I'm at 105,600 and an upcoming M Ratio of about 18 with upcoming 300/1000/2000 blinds and antes - the jump in antes will put a hurt on small stacks and I'm guessing at least another 300 go next round. Maybe i should take a break until the money?
Day Three!
1,796 players remain of the original 6,420 - I made the top 30% of the field and am streaking towards the top 25%. The top 1,000 get paid, so after outlasting 4,624 people, I just have 796 more to go. We should hit the money today in round 3 or 4, so right around the dinner break.
My table breaks down like this...
Seat 1: Kanzuki Ikeuchi (Japan), $84,400 - a bunch of career cashes
Seat 2: John Creed (Maryland), $160,800 - a bunch of career cashes
Seat 3: Davidi Kitai (Belgium), $220,400 - As of January 7th, 2015, he was ranked #2 on the Global Poker Index. You know what? Wikipedia probably says it best:
Davidi Kitai (born 1979) is a famous Belgian professional poker player who won the 2008 World Series of Poker $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event, becoming the first Belgian to win a WSOP bracelet. He also has won 2 other bracelets and has an EPT title and a WPT title under his belt, along with numerous other big scores and titles
Seat 4: Bruno Kawauti (Brazil), $24,600 - 11th on Brazil's all time money list, 12 career cashes, over a half million in lifetime earnings. But hey, at least it's someone with less chips than me!
Seat 5: Aaron Mermelstein (Philly), $180,000 - Hey, he's only 561st on the Global Poker Index, sweet! Of course, he has almost a million dollars in career winnings and is currently ranked 70th in 2015 Player of the Year rankings.
Seat 6: Goran Mandic Zagreb (Croatia), $89,900 - 3rd on the Croatian all time money list.
Seat 7: Eric Cloutier (Quebec), $56,900 - Over a half million in lifetime earning, 14th on the Louisiana all time money list, and he's a former professional hockey player. And in 2009, was charged in a number of felonies for money laundering and felony theft.
Seat 8: Me! $39,800.
Seat 9: Timo Pfutzenreuter (Germany) $156,500 - 55th on the German all time money list, almost a million dollars in career winnings.
... So, I am by far the least experienced at the table and have significantly less chips than everyone but seat 4.
My M Ratio is a 9, so I've got maybe an hour to find a hand or shove on 10 6 and pray.
Quick refresher on M Ratio - the number of times around the table before the blinds and antes take all my chips. Over 10, I'm doing ok. Between 5 and 10 and I'm in the danger zone. Between 4 and 5 shove on anything... the reason for shoving instead of waiting for a good hand is that shoving on something bad, like two unders, means I'm probably 40% to win.Shoving on two overs means I'm probably 60% to win... but if I wait until an M Ratio of 2 or 3 for a "good hand", then a double up only gets me to 4 - 6 and I need to double up again - easier to hit a 40% chance at 4 - 5 than two 60% chances. Moreover, whoever is calling my shove probably has a pocket pair or strong ace, so if my "good" hand ends up being A10, then there's a good chance I'm outkicked and am only 30% to win anyway.
Ultimately, my chips compared to the blinds and antes puts me in the danger zone, so something is happening in the first hour or so - whether that's a shove or winning a couple pots, we'll see.
Nuts, I'm running late for WSOP day three...
My table breaks down like this...
Seat 1: Kanzuki Ikeuchi (Japan), $84,400 - a bunch of career cashes
Seat 2: John Creed (Maryland), $160,800 - a bunch of career cashes
Seat 3: Davidi Kitai (Belgium), $220,400 - As of January 7th, 2015, he was ranked #2 on the Global Poker Index. You know what? Wikipedia probably says it best:
Davidi Kitai (born 1979) is a famous Belgian professional poker player who won the 2008 World Series of Poker $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event, becoming the first Belgian to win a WSOP bracelet. He also has won 2 other bracelets and has an EPT title and a WPT title under his belt, along with numerous other big scores and titles
Seat 4: Bruno Kawauti (Brazil), $24,600 - 11th on Brazil's all time money list, 12 career cashes, over a half million in lifetime earnings. But hey, at least it's someone with less chips than me!
Seat 5: Aaron Mermelstein (Philly), $180,000 - Hey, he's only 561st on the Global Poker Index, sweet! Of course, he has almost a million dollars in career winnings and is currently ranked 70th in 2015 Player of the Year rankings.
Seat 6: Goran Mandic Zagreb (Croatia), $89,900 - 3rd on the Croatian all time money list.
Seat 7: Eric Cloutier (Quebec), $56,900 - Over a half million in lifetime earning, 14th on the Louisiana all time money list, and he's a former professional hockey player. And in 2009, was charged in a number of felonies for money laundering and felony theft.
Seat 8: Me! $39,800.
Seat 9: Timo Pfutzenreuter (Germany) $156,500 - 55th on the German all time money list, almost a million dollars in career winnings.
... So, I am by far the least experienced at the table and have significantly less chips than everyone but seat 4.
My M Ratio is a 9, so I've got maybe an hour to find a hand or shove on 10 6 and pray.
Quick refresher on M Ratio - the number of times around the table before the blinds and antes take all my chips. Over 10, I'm doing ok. Between 5 and 10 and I'm in the danger zone. Between 4 and 5 shove on anything... the reason for shoving instead of waiting for a good hand is that shoving on something bad, like two unders, means I'm probably 40% to win.Shoving on two overs means I'm probably 60% to win... but if I wait until an M Ratio of 2 or 3 for a "good hand", then a double up only gets me to 4 - 6 and I need to double up again - easier to hit a 40% chance at 4 - 5 than two 60% chances. Moreover, whoever is calling my shove probably has a pocket pair or strong ace, so if my "good" hand ends up being A10, then there's a good chance I'm outkicked and am only 30% to win anyway.
Ultimately, my chips compared to the blinds and antes puts me in the danger zone, so something is happening in the first hour or so - whether that's a shove or winning a couple pots, we'll see.
Nuts, I'm running late for WSOP day three...
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Final Round
I love making the last round of the evening so I can title the blog post "Final Round" and you don't know if it's my last of the tournament or the night...
Anyway, last I checked in with the blog, I had spent the better part of two hours folding non-stop... with a little losing mixed in. The nice part about a 2 hour cold run is that it must come to an end.
Right?
About 10 minutes in everyone folds to my big blind and seat eight's small blind, so he limps. I look down at J10 suited and raise... he calls. Flop comes K 9 7... with two hearts. Ok, so I missed the flop. But I kind of have an open ended straight draw - an 8 is a straight and a queen is a straight. And any heart is a flush. And a Jack or a ten is a pair. Hmmm... for not having a hand, my hand isn't too bad. He checks, I bet big, he folds.
Winning!
Shortly thereafter James Woods got knocked out two tables over... although you could probably hear him screaming obscenities two states over - Aces over Queens, the guy two-outed him with a Queen on the river. I know how that goes - but man can that guy curse... loudly.
Anyway, that early win was nice - it signaled that my cold streak was over and it was time to resume winning.
45 minutes later, I get fives in a late position. In another 45 minutes, fives were the best hand I could get. Ugh, cold streak continues. But the nice part about a 3 hour cold streak is that it can make even 5's look good, so I raised. Flop comes K J 4.
Well I missed that one pretty good... so I laid out a continuation bet. He called. Now I'm in trouble, I can't win this hand with 5's, I've been bleeding chips for 3 hours, and he called my pre-flop raise and continuation bet.
Turn was a 5.
Oh.
Well that's nice. I check, he checks. River came a Q, I value bet for about 8,000, he called and paid me off! Phew, stopped the bleeding and hopefully put an end to my cold streak.
40 minutes later, I continue to just bleed chips to antes and blinds...
And then - QJ off on the button with a raise and a call in front of me. Flop comes 9 5 7, the first guy checks, the second guy leads out, I fold, the first guy folds, the second guy showed jacks. More losing.
And that was the final round. 3 hands in 2 hours. 8 hands in the last 4 hours. I ended the night at 39,800... that's a M Ratio of 9 for the first round on Friday. Worse, blinds and antes jump to 300/1,000/2,000 in the second round, so 40K in chips is only a M Ratio of 7... if I held constant through round one.
So... I've got my work cut out for me Friday, but at least I did make Day Three and this tournament is nothing if not all about survival. I don't know that I'm playing particularly poorly or well, but I've certainly felt "off" for most of the tournament... and the last two rounds have driven me completely mad.
That suck out this afternoon really cleared up my tilt, so that was great on several levels, but it's not going to matter if I can't find some semblance of a hand or two.
Of course, all I need is to find one or two in the first couple levels on Friday and there's a good chance I make the money - and after 4 hours of nothing, maybe I'm due?
We'll find out Friday... day off tomorrow.
Anyway, last I checked in with the blog, I had spent the better part of two hours folding non-stop... with a little losing mixed in. The nice part about a 2 hour cold run is that it must come to an end.
Right?
About 10 minutes in everyone folds to my big blind and seat eight's small blind, so he limps. I look down at J10 suited and raise... he calls. Flop comes K 9 7... with two hearts. Ok, so I missed the flop. But I kind of have an open ended straight draw - an 8 is a straight and a queen is a straight. And any heart is a flush. And a Jack or a ten is a pair. Hmmm... for not having a hand, my hand isn't too bad. He checks, I bet big, he folds.
Winning!
Shortly thereafter James Woods got knocked out two tables over... although you could probably hear him screaming obscenities two states over - Aces over Queens, the guy two-outed him with a Queen on the river. I know how that goes - but man can that guy curse... loudly.
Anyway, that early win was nice - it signaled that my cold streak was over and it was time to resume winning.
45 minutes later, I get fives in a late position. In another 45 minutes, fives were the best hand I could get. Ugh, cold streak continues. But the nice part about a 3 hour cold streak is that it can make even 5's look good, so I raised. Flop comes K J 4.
Well I missed that one pretty good... so I laid out a continuation bet. He called. Now I'm in trouble, I can't win this hand with 5's, I've been bleeding chips for 3 hours, and he called my pre-flop raise and continuation bet.
Turn was a 5.
Oh.
Well that's nice. I check, he checks. River came a Q, I value bet for about 8,000, he called and paid me off! Phew, stopped the bleeding and hopefully put an end to my cold streak.
40 minutes later, I continue to just bleed chips to antes and blinds...
And then - QJ off on the button with a raise and a call in front of me. Flop comes 9 5 7, the first guy checks, the second guy leads out, I fold, the first guy folds, the second guy showed jacks. More losing.
And that was the final round. 3 hands in 2 hours. 8 hands in the last 4 hours. I ended the night at 39,800... that's a M Ratio of 9 for the first round on Friday. Worse, blinds and antes jump to 300/1,000/2,000 in the second round, so 40K in chips is only a M Ratio of 7... if I held constant through round one.
So... I've got my work cut out for me Friday, but at least I did make Day Three and this tournament is nothing if not all about survival. I don't know that I'm playing particularly poorly or well, but I've certainly felt "off" for most of the tournament... and the last two rounds have driven me completely mad.
That suck out this afternoon really cleared up my tilt, so that was great on several levels, but it's not going to matter if I can't find some semblance of a hand or two.
Of course, all I need is to find one or two in the first couple levels on Friday and there's a good chance I make the money - and after 4 hours of nothing, maybe I'm due?
We'll find out Friday... day off tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Second Day, Round Four
Much less stressful return from dinner tonight... Got some more PF Changs though.
Very early in the level i got A10 off in an early position and raised for blinds and antes.
Shortly thereafter, AJ off in the small blind. Seat four raises so i smooth call... Flop comes A Q 6. Sweet, hit my ace! Check. He bets, i call. Turn is a 7. I check again, so does he. River was a 8, i led out a 6,000 value bet, which he called. I showed AJ, he mucked - big win, up around 67,000.
And then... An hour of folding. Fun! Then i get A7 suited in the small blind and one off the button raises. I figure him for a position raise and call. Flop comes A K 4 - hit my ace, but I've got no spades to draw too. Moreover, this is why i don't play middling aces... Much less out of position... Much less to a raise - where am i in this hand? So i play it conservative and check... He bets 2,500 again. Ugh. Call.
What am i doing? I've got to be outkicked. Turn is no help, it's a 2. I check, he bets 5,000. Fold, just fold your pair of aces. I call - i could hit a 7, the board could pair the 2 or 4 and make the king on board the kicker, he could have paired a king not an ace, he could be bluffing... So i called.
River was a 5, check check, he was playing A10 and out kicked me. Ugh, i knew it.
Dropped over 10K on that.
Twenty minutes later, still folding. I did get 4 5 suited in the big blind with two limpers so i got my option, but i obviously checked it and missed a AK8 flop someone else bet and i folded to.
More losing. More folding.
My once mighty stack that was almost 70k is now well under 50k and plummeting.
9's... In a late position, that's good right? So i raised and small blind raises me back... Ugh. I should fold, but I'm pressing now so i call. Flop comes A 6 4 - he bet, i couldn't call with that ace there.
Interestingly enough, i thought i was first to act and tried to lead out a bluff, but he got his chips in before i put mine down so i pulled them back.
Ugh, not good. I'm squandering my suck out...
And that was round four... Five hands and an incredible amount of folding. Won two early in the first twenty minutes, and then had over an hour and a half of nothing but folding and losing.
39,300 at break - M Ratio of 11, the blinds just caught up to me - I'll either need to win some hands or shove by the end of the night.
Second Day, Round Three
Still on tilt, first hand i played in the round was AJ off, which won me antes and blinds... Not another 30,000 chips like I'm looking for though.
I was under the gun for that hand, got KJ off in the big blind next hand and called a raise from a very, very short stack. Flop covers A K 6... Hit my king, but there's an ace on board and I'm first to act. So i shoved - he had 5,200 left, so it was more about putting pressure on him that he needed to have a strong ace or put his tournament life on the line chasing. Fortunately for him, he had A10 suited with four diamonds after the flop so he readily called and even hit the flush he didn't need on the river just to stick it in my eye.
I limped with 3 6 suited from the small blind, but big blind raised me and i folded. More losing.
I raised with J3 suited one off the button and won some antes and blinds - phew, didn't want a call there!
A short while later i had queens in a late position and i raised to a couple thousand. Big blind three bet me to 5,300... Ugh. Do i call here, play it safe, and make sure there's no A or K on the flop? I've only got 20k - 25k left and he's a giant stack. Nah, i needed to know where i was so i four bet him to 11,000 and he folded - it was nice not sweating the flop. More winning?
I got AK suited late and seat 8 (I'm seat 9) raises. I thought about popping him back, but i had position and wanted to see the flop and what he did, so i called. Flop came 2 4 5 with only one diamond - ugh. Gut shot straight draw, two overs, and a potential runner runner flush. He checks, i shoved. I had him covered, but if i lost, i was down to about 8k - 10k. But that's the beauty of no limit hold em and having a larger chip stack than your opponent - he now needs to have a hand he feels great about, or chase for his life. He thought about it, but ended up folding. Phew, living on the edge - but that got me up to 36,000 after i dropped down to 23k-ish, so i was trending in the right direction.
I got the option in the big blind, but checked 10 5 suited and folded when i missed the flop badly.
But the next hand i got K8 suited in the small blind and everyone folded. I raised and took my blind back when seat one folded.
The very next hand, yes three in a row, i had A2 off on the button. I raised, but the small blind three bet me and i folded - 3 hands in a row he and i played.
Nemesis.
I got AK off in the small blind with a raise and a call behind me. Call or raise? I didn't like not having position, so i raised, got three folds, and picked up 5k.
Then i get J10 suited on the button... I'm thinking about raising and picking up some antes and blinds when seat 6 raises. What the heck, I'll call...
J 2 4... One club. Well, i hit top pair, albeit with a mediocre kicker. Seat 6 bets several thousand, i raise several thousand more, he shoves. I had him covered and knew he would shove instead of calling given the pot size and his chip stack, so i called given that i was pretty well pot committed. This is it, moment of truth - i have few chips left if i lose and am looking good, or at least better, if i win.
I have jacks with a ten kicker, he has... pocket kings. Kings? Ugh. No... Wait... I want those chips back. Ugh. C'mon runner runner clubs! Turn was a 9 of diamonds, lost my flush draw. Well, that's about all unless i can suck out on the river.
And i did... Hit a ten, jacks and tens beats kings, goodbye seat 6, hello 60k in chips. What a game we play... That guy is off telling stories to his friends Jeff Rydz normally tells...
About this time they announced the chip leader has 330,000 in chips and we all clapped for the oldest player in the room - he's 94, playing, and has 130,000 in chips. I hope I'm still playing the WSOP Main Event at 94. Heck, i hope i see 130,000 chips!!!
Then i folded a lot. Lots of folding. I got pocket sixes late so i raised with them, but the button and big blind called. Flop came 9 5 3, which isn't a terrible flop for sixes, but they were all diamonds and i didn't have any diamonds. Big blind checked to me, i led out a 3,300 continuation bet... Button called, big blind folded. Turn was a K, and a fourth diamond. Ugh. Check check. River was another king, i checked, he bet 5,000 and i folded. Ugh. And that's why i shouldn't play sixes.
Dropping lots of chips since the big suck out...
Pocket Jacks under the gun! Won me some antes and blinds...
Last hand of the round, I'm ready to fold and get to dinner! AK off - ugh, i hate playing the last hand of the round! I raise, big blind calls. Ugh. K Q 8... I unload, he folds, i think i have 53,200 heading to dinner, but it was a quick count.
Day Two, Round Two
Fossil Man Greg Raymer is two seats to my right.
I'm still fuming about that flush - ugh. The challenge now is convincing myself it's not all over in the second round of day two with a M Ratio of 22 just because i lost 30,000 chips and now I'm a short stack.
Or... Hmmm... Maybe i can just play really aggressively and get it all back at once. What do you think Jay Cutler?
Oh, wait, I'm getting moved again 10 minutes in. Phew, i no longer have 2004 Main Event winner Greg Raymer two spots to my right... now it's Johnny Chan.
I'm on a roll alright... What's the over/under on the number of times he steals my big blind? 1,400?
For anyone who doesn't know, Johnny Chan is one of the best poker players in the world... A future hall of famer, he won the Main Event back to back in the 80's, has 10 WSOP bracelets, and is generally regarded as one of the best poker players... well, i guess ever. I mean, even i knew who he is...
Johnny Freaking Chan. Great.
First hand in this round was a call from big blind with K9 off. Missed the flop, missed the turn, folded to a bet.
Today was a much better day when i woke up with 63,000 and no one famous at my table, not going to lie.
I'll tell you this much - if I'm going to do anything today, make any progress at all, I'm going to have to stop staring at Johnny Chan and smiling. That's it. There's no way around it, I'm going to have to stop.
But not right now...
(I think I've got him covered)
Well, he just got knocked out - flop came K 4 7... Johnny hit a set of fours, other guy hit a set of Kings.
Hmmm... Now I'm just a short stack without the excitement of Johnny Chan.
Shortly thereafter, AK off big blind... One raise, one call. Reraise or call? I elected to play it safe and call - if i miss pairing on the flop, the hand isn't so great anymore. A 10 9 with two clubs on the flop. I check, original raiser bets 2,000 on a 4,500 pot and the other guy folds. Call and slow play it or raise? I raised... I wasn't letting him see any more cards in my pot for free - i had it won and wanted it. I raised to 6,000 so it wasn't a total overbet, but he folded and flashed an ace.
Next hand, KJ off in the small blind. I called a raise, missed the flop, and folded.
I had A7 suited late, which i raised for antes and blinds.
I called a raise in late position with A10 off, but the flop was Q54 and i didn't chase. The pot got huge with many raises and reraises, but i never would have made a hand if i chased, so I'm glad i got out early.
Everyone folded to the blinds and the small blind raised me. I had 45 off and called to protect my blind a bit and because i would have position. Flop came QJ2, he bet it, and while i think he was full of it, i didn't exactly have a great hand for drawing and making a move didn't seem like a good idea.
They just announced that Moneymaker, Dan Harrington, and JC got knocked out this round - so i beat those guys! They also said chip leader has 245,000 chips... I have about 37,000.
Picked up antes and blinds raising J10 off from a middle position - phew, I'm happy with antes, blinds, and no flop with J10 off.
Aces!!! Ugh, antes and blinds. It was two hands after my J10 antes and blinds, so i was hoping someone would think i was just being aggressive and call, raise, or shove. Nope, antes and blinds. But at least they didn't get cracked?
I played 7 9 suited to a min raise when in the big blind, but missed a 6 6 4 flop and elected not to chase... Not that there was anything to really chase.
I had AQ off on the button with a raise and a call in front of me, so i called and so did the small blind. Flop came J 8 2 and three players checked to me so i bet big and took it down. Gotta love position.
The next hand i had KQ off one off the button and faced a raise so i called. Flop came A 4 K. Hit my king, but there's an ace out there. He bet, i called. Turn was a 7, he checked, i bet. He thought about it forever and finally called. River was a 6 we both checked. He was playing KQ and we chopped - i told him i thought he might fold when i bet the turn, but the guy next to me muttered that he never folds.
I raised with A3 suited from a middle position, but got three bet from a late position and folded preflop. I made it 1,400 and he made it 4,000... Seemed like a lot of chips to try and flop a flush.
Then came the last hand of the round - i was at 40,500, second to act, and ready to fold and make a bathroom run while they colored the green chips. AJ suited... Ugh, raise. Q 6 4 flop, i lay out a continuation bet and get one call and one fold. Turn was another 6, but gave me four diamonds. So i shoved. No, i didn't... But i thought about it. Check check. River was a 9 of clubs, check check, he had pocket twos.
Down to 33,100 and mentally in a very bad place - M Ratio 15ish, 100/400/800 next.
Ugh.
Day Two, Round One
Played my first hand about twenty minutes in... A10 off i raised with from a late position that got two calls. Flop came 44Q so i laid out a continuation bet and got one call, one fold. Turn was a third four, we both checked. He checked an ace on the river, i bet, he folded.
I had K J off early, got four callers, missed a 535 flop, and folded to a bet instead of chasing.
I had 4's on the button and raised for blinds and antes.
I had A2 suited i raised with and got big blind to call. Flop was 10 10 2 so i laid out a continuation bet and took the pot.
I had A4 suited in the big blind and called a raise from the button. I missed the QJ6 flop that only had one of my spades. He puked out 1,800 to bet and i prepared to fold, but a couple chips fell out of his hand and landed in the pot - the dealer ruled it a min bet of 500. Hmmm... Now it's only 500 to win over 3,000 - i liked the odds, so i chased. Turn was a 4 and gave me a little pair while ruling out a runner runner flush. He bet 1,300 so i chased again since i had a pair. River was a 3, he bet, i folded and chided myself for chasing.
Then my table broke with about thirty minutes left in the level - ugh, now i need to learn new people.
Several hands into my new table, i raised with KJ suited and the big blind called. Flop came AK2... He checked, i laid out a continuation bet, he folded.
There are some big stacks at this table! I'm at table 113 (seat 7) if anyone wants to look up the table and let me know if anyone here is famous...
I had pocket threes in the big blind with a raise and two calls in front of me, so i felt priced in. Flop came 10 6 2 with a couple hearts and we checked around. Turn was another 10, i bet big, everyone folded. Winning!
Had queens on the button with a raise to 1,300 from my right. Flop came J 10 5 with two hearts. I bet big, he called. Turn was 6 of diamonds, i bet big, he called. River Jack of hearts. Ugh. Three hearts on board, and a paired board. He bets 13,000. Ugh. I'm beat. I know it. But i just couldn't lay them down - he had 89 hearts, hit the flush, and i lost half my stack. I want to cry... Why couldn't i fold? Why did he have to hit the flush? Ugh... On tilt, two minutes before break.
38,900 at the break and in a bad place mentally. M Ratio of about 22, so I'm OK on that front, but i wish i didn't give him an extra 13,000 and had 51,000 in chips...
Ugh.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Day Off
I finally got out of bed about 11am and have had an action packed day of changing hotels, talking to Mikey, talking to Hacker, talking to Simpson, and... hmmm... well I really didn't do a lot today. I showered. I ate. Big day.
So my table assignment for tomorrow is up - I'm at Pavilion 118, seat 4. My table looks like this:
Seat 1: Eli Kim (New Jersey), $23.7K - 2 career cashes, definitely not a pro.
Seat 2: Kevin Meeusen (Chicago), $21.4K - He's got 18 career cashes and almost $100K in career winnings... so experienced, but not a pro.
Seat 3: Dragoslav Timarac (Russia), $21.2K - He's 8th on the all time Serbian poker list of total cash prizes.
Seat 4: Me! $62.9K
Seat 5: Dean Potashner (New Jersey), $43.3K - 4 career cashes, not a pro.
Seat 6: Lance Gettler (Des Moines), $23.8K - 4 career cashes, with some decent finishes... although most are 6 - 8 years ago.
Seat 7: Ruslan Dykshteyn (Brooklyn) $39,9K - 18 career cashes and over a half million in live tournament winnings... including some pretty good finishes.
Seat 8: Ryan D'Angelo (New York) $73K - 2nd on the Virginia all time money list... 328th on the all time US money list - $600K from WSOP cashes alone. Hmmm... he sounds good.
Seat 9: Joseph Chaplin (New York) $120.5K - The big stack at the table... I have the third largest stacks and this guy has twice what I do! He's got pretty good experience with a decent number of solid cashes.
... And that's my table. I like that there are no hall of fame players at my table and I like that I have the third largest chip stack. I also like that I have three of the four short stacks at the table to my right - yesterday I had the short stack to my left and every time I raised or called a large raise and he shoved, I had to abandon the hand... now I can see those shoves before I put anything in. And if all goes well, get to see some good cards with a shove in front of me.
Hopefully I won't oversleep tomorrow... I'd like to make sure I've got myself together and I don't have another fiasco like Monday. At least I should be well rested...
Final Round
Oooohhh - final round, how ominous. Is it because I got knocked out and this was the last round I played... or did I make Day Two and this was the last round of the evening? Or... well, no, those are pretty much the only two options.
So I'm still pretty well on tilt when we start the round and early on I've got 5's on the button, so I call a preflop raise. QQ8. So, I bet... and get a caller - ugh. I checked the turn, he bet, I folded. I lost.
I had A4 suited in a late position and raised with it... but I got three bet and had to fold it. More losing.
K6 off in the small blind that I limp with for a K 2 3 rainbow flop. Hey now, this looks promising. I bet, 1 guy folded, seat 4 called (He calls everything... but just calls. Everything). Turn is an Ace, I check, he bets, I fold. Still losing.
J9 off on the button and I limp. J9 off. I'm now playing J9 off, that's how bad I'm on tilt. Flop comes AK9. Well, I paired my 9, but this is why I don't play J9 in the first place - having second and third pair is no good for me. We all checked the flop and the turn came a 5. I thought about betting, but someone else beat me to it so I folded. River was a Jack. Ugh. More tilting and losing...
Ok, so basically I built up a nice stack at the end of round 4 with a wild bluff that could have cost me my tournament life and now I'm just giving away the chips I got left and right - I still haven't won a pot this round. And every bet this round is at least a thousand... even the limps are 400.
Ok, 5's again. Bad hand, I should fold it. So I limp. And then fold to a preflop raise - just gave away that 400. More losing. ON TILT.
It's about this time that I start thinking to myself - gee, you had Jacks a couple times early, and tens a couple times, and Big Slick a handful of times, but not a single instance of Aces, Kings, or Queens in 9 hours of poker.
And just as I'm thinking that, I get QJ off. I actually snickered a little because I quipped in my first post that it would be hard to quit playing QJ like it's a good hand after games with friends... so naturally I raised with it. Flop came 9 10 K. Hmmm... I flopped a straight. That's awesome! But then he folded when I bet. Dammit.
It's about this time that I'm thinking to myself - you've had a couple decent hands, you're going to have to make them start paying off for you - I can't solely play good hands and only win preflop antes with them, it's not going to work.
So I get AK off under the gun... no one calls my raise, I win antes and blinds. Don't get me wrong, it's great to drag two pots in a row, but blinds and antes aren't going to get the job done. Mercifully, it does quell my tilting a bit.
A short while later I'm in the small blind and get QJ off... which I naturally have to play and I call a raise. Flop comes QJ3... two pair, hot damn! I check it, he checks it. Turn is a 5, I bet, he folds. Ugh... need to maximize when I actually hit... maximize. I tried! I checked the flop!!!
Pocket 8's. Hmmm... a middling hand worth playing but not getting excited about... hmmm... I raise! Seat 4 calls and checks dark (The only thing seat 4 loves more than limping and calling is checking dark), flop comes K 10 2. Well, check I guess. Turn is a 4. Checks. River is an Ace, we checked it down, he had 10's. Back to losing.
A couple hands later I'm on the button and seat 3 raises to 900 - shocking. But I have aces. There they are!!! Look again. Yep, still aces. Yay, aces.
Now, my mind is racing - I want to maximize the payout (In my mind I've already won, I have aces) and aces are best played against as few people as possible. So do I raise or call? If I raise, I also raise awareness of my good hand threatening my ability to maximize the payoff. If I call, I could price in the blinds and let them call with good odds and hit a two pair with rags... any which way, my aces are playing multiple people.
I went with a raise because it was seat 3 and I knew that he would call a raise - whatever happens with the blinds will happen. As it happens, big blind, seat 8, the ultra conservative one, called my raise to 1,800 as did seat 3. Flop comes Q 3 2. Checks to me, I bet out 3,000 and seat 8 calls... seat 3 folds. Well now things are interesting - he's a super tight player, there's over 12,000 in the pot, he's got another 17,000 left, and I've got aces. Turn comes a 3 - pairs the board. He checks. Maximize. Got to maximize. Can't let him draw for free. Maximize. But can't let him draw for free. Hmmmm... I shoved. He agonized for a while and then... called. So, you know, there's about 50,000 in the pot now - his tournament life and essentially mine too... I have maybe 10K - 15K left if I lose, over 60K if I win. Big hand. And he had...
Kings. He had kings. I had Aces. Aces over kings. River was a 9, my aces held up, I knocked out seat 8 and I'm up over 60,000 in chips.
It's on.
10's on the button - call a raise. Flop comes K 9 8 and 3 players check to me. I bet because I'm invincible. They all fold because I'm invincible. More winning.
And then...
AQ off, late position... raise to 1,400. New seat 9, the table chip leader, calls. Seat 1, still nodding off, raises to 5,200. Whoa. AQ is a good hand. I mean, it's not Aces.. or Kings... or Queens... or AK... or even Jacks, but it's a really good hand, right? But I've got to call another 3,800 to see a flop and I've got a monster stack behind me still to act. Ugh. Ok, why did he bet that? He has a pocket pair, he's chasing out Aces or making sure he goes heads up and there's either an Ace on the flop or not. The guy behind me? Another pocket pair? AK? AJ? He's new, I don't know. I just won all those chips and now I have to play AQ off for 5,200 against a guy that's probably ahead of me and with a guy behind me that could reraise again before I even see a flop. Ugh. All of a sudden I hate AQ off. Reraise? Oh man, now I'm out 10,000 that I just won with AQ off and I haven't even seen a flop yet. And then it happened... I folded. AQ. Screw it. I lost the 1,400, stayed above 60,000 in chips, and played it safe. AQ off is a pretty good hand, but it's not even a top 10 hand and I got away from what turned into a scary situation for 1,400 - day one is about survival. I did the right thing.
Guy behind me called, flop came A 3 10. NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I hit my ace. Or, I would have. Oh no. How could this happen?! Total Greg Rydz moment right now - playing the hand that could have been. Seat one leads out 7,000... seat 9 calls. Oh man, I could have called 7,000. Turn was a 4, seat one checks... seat nine bets 12,500 - seat one folds.
So let's play out the Greg Rydz hand for a minute, I am - say I called the raise to 5,200 and seat 9 stayed in. Now there's about 16,000 in the pot. Flop comes, another 21,000 in for 37,000. Turn, seat 9 bets 12,500 and I call - the pot is up to 62,000 and I've got top pair, second kicker. That could have happened. That could have been me. What did seat 9 have? This is going to drive me crazy...
Shortly thereafter, I had KJ suited in a late position and called a raise, but I missed the flop... I elected not to chase.
And... that's it. I fumed a bit about the AQ for the last 30 - 40 minutes, but I really didn't play another hand - I got super conservative. I finished the night, and Day One, with 62,950 in chips - over double what I started with and one of the chip leaders at the table.
And I chatted it up with seat 9 the second half of the round... he was from Chicago, Wicker Park, and he said he had pocket tens on that hand and hit a set... so if he was telling the truth, and he had no reason to lie at the end of the night, had I played the Greg Rydz hand... well... it could have been a completely different ending to the evening with my aces against his three tens. I guess I didn't need to stew about it for 40 minutes after all...
Day off tomorrow, Day Two on Wednesday.
So I'm still pretty well on tilt when we start the round and early on I've got 5's on the button, so I call a preflop raise. QQ8. So, I bet... and get a caller - ugh. I checked the turn, he bet, I folded. I lost.
I had A4 suited in a late position and raised with it... but I got three bet and had to fold it. More losing.
K6 off in the small blind that I limp with for a K 2 3 rainbow flop. Hey now, this looks promising. I bet, 1 guy folded, seat 4 called (He calls everything... but just calls. Everything). Turn is an Ace, I check, he bets, I fold. Still losing.
J9 off on the button and I limp. J9 off. I'm now playing J9 off, that's how bad I'm on tilt. Flop comes AK9. Well, I paired my 9, but this is why I don't play J9 in the first place - having second and third pair is no good for me. We all checked the flop and the turn came a 5. I thought about betting, but someone else beat me to it so I folded. River was a Jack. Ugh. More tilting and losing...
Ok, so basically I built up a nice stack at the end of round 4 with a wild bluff that could have cost me my tournament life and now I'm just giving away the chips I got left and right - I still haven't won a pot this round. And every bet this round is at least a thousand... even the limps are 400.
Ok, 5's again. Bad hand, I should fold it. So I limp. And then fold to a preflop raise - just gave away that 400. More losing. ON TILT.
It's about this time that I start thinking to myself - gee, you had Jacks a couple times early, and tens a couple times, and Big Slick a handful of times, but not a single instance of Aces, Kings, or Queens in 9 hours of poker.
And just as I'm thinking that, I get QJ off. I actually snickered a little because I quipped in my first post that it would be hard to quit playing QJ like it's a good hand after games with friends... so naturally I raised with it. Flop came 9 10 K. Hmmm... I flopped a straight. That's awesome! But then he folded when I bet. Dammit.
It's about this time that I'm thinking to myself - you've had a couple decent hands, you're going to have to make them start paying off for you - I can't solely play good hands and only win preflop antes with them, it's not going to work.
So I get AK off under the gun... no one calls my raise, I win antes and blinds. Don't get me wrong, it's great to drag two pots in a row, but blinds and antes aren't going to get the job done. Mercifully, it does quell my tilting a bit.
A short while later I'm in the small blind and get QJ off... which I naturally have to play and I call a raise. Flop comes QJ3... two pair, hot damn! I check it, he checks it. Turn is a 5, I bet, he folds. Ugh... need to maximize when I actually hit... maximize. I tried! I checked the flop!!!
Pocket 8's. Hmmm... a middling hand worth playing but not getting excited about... hmmm... I raise! Seat 4 calls and checks dark (The only thing seat 4 loves more than limping and calling is checking dark), flop comes K 10 2. Well, check I guess. Turn is a 4. Checks. River is an Ace, we checked it down, he had 10's. Back to losing.
A couple hands later I'm on the button and seat 3 raises to 900 - shocking. But I have aces. There they are!!! Look again. Yep, still aces. Yay, aces.
Now, my mind is racing - I want to maximize the payout (In my mind I've already won, I have aces) and aces are best played against as few people as possible. So do I raise or call? If I raise, I also raise awareness of my good hand threatening my ability to maximize the payoff. If I call, I could price in the blinds and let them call with good odds and hit a two pair with rags... any which way, my aces are playing multiple people.
I went with a raise because it was seat 3 and I knew that he would call a raise - whatever happens with the blinds will happen. As it happens, big blind, seat 8, the ultra conservative one, called my raise to 1,800 as did seat 3. Flop comes Q 3 2. Checks to me, I bet out 3,000 and seat 8 calls... seat 3 folds. Well now things are interesting - he's a super tight player, there's over 12,000 in the pot, he's got another 17,000 left, and I've got aces. Turn comes a 3 - pairs the board. He checks. Maximize. Got to maximize. Can't let him draw for free. Maximize. But can't let him draw for free. Hmmmm... I shoved. He agonized for a while and then... called. So, you know, there's about 50,000 in the pot now - his tournament life and essentially mine too... I have maybe 10K - 15K left if I lose, over 60K if I win. Big hand. And he had...
Kings. He had kings. I had Aces. Aces over kings. River was a 9, my aces held up, I knocked out seat 8 and I'm up over 60,000 in chips.
It's on.
10's on the button - call a raise. Flop comes K 9 8 and 3 players check to me. I bet because I'm invincible. They all fold because I'm invincible. More winning.
And then...
AQ off, late position... raise to 1,400. New seat 9, the table chip leader, calls. Seat 1, still nodding off, raises to 5,200. Whoa. AQ is a good hand. I mean, it's not Aces.. or Kings... or Queens... or AK... or even Jacks, but it's a really good hand, right? But I've got to call another 3,800 to see a flop and I've got a monster stack behind me still to act. Ugh. Ok, why did he bet that? He has a pocket pair, he's chasing out Aces or making sure he goes heads up and there's either an Ace on the flop or not. The guy behind me? Another pocket pair? AK? AJ? He's new, I don't know. I just won all those chips and now I have to play AQ off for 5,200 against a guy that's probably ahead of me and with a guy behind me that could reraise again before I even see a flop. Ugh. All of a sudden I hate AQ off. Reraise? Oh man, now I'm out 10,000 that I just won with AQ off and I haven't even seen a flop yet. And then it happened... I folded. AQ. Screw it. I lost the 1,400, stayed above 60,000 in chips, and played it safe. AQ off is a pretty good hand, but it's not even a top 10 hand and I got away from what turned into a scary situation for 1,400 - day one is about survival. I did the right thing.
Guy behind me called, flop came A 3 10. NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I hit my ace. Or, I would have. Oh no. How could this happen?! Total Greg Rydz moment right now - playing the hand that could have been. Seat one leads out 7,000... seat 9 calls. Oh man, I could have called 7,000. Turn was a 4, seat one checks... seat nine bets 12,500 - seat one folds.
So let's play out the Greg Rydz hand for a minute, I am - say I called the raise to 5,200 and seat 9 stayed in. Now there's about 16,000 in the pot. Flop comes, another 21,000 in for 37,000. Turn, seat 9 bets 12,500 and I call - the pot is up to 62,000 and I've got top pair, second kicker. That could have happened. That could have been me. What did seat 9 have? This is going to drive me crazy...
Shortly thereafter, I had KJ suited in a late position and called a raise, but I missed the flop... I elected not to chase.
And... that's it. I fumed a bit about the AQ for the last 30 - 40 minutes, but I really didn't play another hand - I got super conservative. I finished the night, and Day One, with 62,950 in chips - over double what I started with and one of the chip leaders at the table.
And I chatted it up with seat 9 the second half of the round... he was from Chicago, Wicker Park, and he said he had pocket tens on that hand and hit a set... so if he was telling the truth, and he had no reason to lie at the end of the night, had I played the Greg Rydz hand... well... it could have been a completely different ending to the evening with my aces against his three tens. I guess I didn't need to stew about it for 40 minutes after all...
Day off tomorrow, Day Two on Wednesday.
Monday, July 6, 2015
Day One, Round Four
Forgot my pen, can't take notes and blog hand by hand this round... Maybe the rest of the night. Will see what i can get into blog in real time.
Also lost one of those rubber things from the end of my head phones, so i can only listen to music with one ear - I'm a disaster right now. By the way, who made those stupid rubber things and why so easy to fall off?!
Played 89 suited to a raise in the big blind. Misses the AK7 flop, but we checked around and i hit a nine on the turn.
More shoves from seat 7... He just doubled up to 10k.
Just lost 4,000 bluffing... I never bluff! What am i doing?! I'm completely falling apart and out of sorts is what's happening...
By the way, had KQ off under the gun, raised, and everyone but big blind folded. Flop came A 2 4 and i bet it after he checked... And he called. Turn was no help, but i bet it anyway after he checked... and he came back over the top all in on me.
Yep, 100 percent on tilt... Haven't won a big hand, well, feels like all day but definitely in forever. I'm trying to force everything, ugh... Just, well, on tilt.
Down to 23,000 and plummeting...
Won some antes and blinds with A10 off... Helps slow the bleeding of my chip stack, but does nothing for my "i want it all with one giant play even though it has an incredibly low probability of success and there's no reason for a Hail Mary right now" Jay Cutler mentality.
Ugh.
Small blind limped so i raised Q8 off. Flop Q96 two clubs. Bet, call. 6 diamonds. Bet, call. Q clubs, i boated the river! Bet, he folded... Damn, wanted an extra 3,000 - he thought about it forever. He actually doesn't have a large stack, thought he might shove.
Next hand limped and big blind and i checked it all the way down. Two pairs with a jack kicker was the board and also my best hand... So i bet it. Minimum bet. He folded! Ha! I was just playing the board!!!
Feeling a little better after those two, wish he paid me off on the river though - 29,925 with an hour twenty left in the round.
Seat five just went bust, our first casualty.
Caught a king on the river so my big slick could knock out seat seven's pocket 10's a couple hands later - picked up his last 7,500... now at 37,975 total.
Just lost seat 9, small stacks are dropping and new stacks are coming in.
I three bet big slick from the small blind, but missed the flop and didn't want to pay 4,000 when the original raiser bet. Ugh, there was over 7,000 in that pot preflop - all i needed was an ace or a king on the flop... those are the flops i need to hit.
I probably should have laid out a continuation bet, but seat 3 usually calls continuation bets and these guys raised and called before my three bet making me think someone may have a pair. Any which way, i was out of position and didn't want to commit many more chips to a flop i missed. Although later I found that the bettor bluffed a lot, but I didn't know that at the time - he was one of the new stacks.
Played J3 suited to a minimum raise with three callers from the big blind, but missed the flop (Hard to hit it with that hand) and folded to a bet. Need to stop playing those hands...
Position raise with Q8 on the button got a call from big blind, then we checked it down... I won with two pair on the board and a queen high. A thousand chips is a thousand chips...
What a disaster i am... So last hand of the round, I'm second to act with big slick suited so i raise... And get 3 callers. Three?! Then i missed the flop - only one diamond and a bunch of little cards. I lead out a 2,000 and some chip continuation bet, the button (seat two ) raised to 5,200... The other two folded. So i chased. The turn gave me a second diamond and paired the board, but was no apparent help. So i did what was only natural, i shoved my last 30,000 chips on a 15,000 chip pot with two overs, a diamond draw, and a prayer he wasn't already playing a set before the board paired. He couldn't call that big of a bet and folded muttering about me hitting a boat.
My bluff worked!
End of the round, 43,350 in chips - M Ratio of almost 40 for the final round, hoping to coast through...
Oh, and i RAN out to my car on break and i still can't find the stupid rubber earpiece and it turns out the pen was in my bag the whole time. I really need to survive one more level and get out of here... I'm a mess.
Made It!
Back at the table, cards are about to be in the air. Still wearing lucky attire, could use some good mojo...
Attached a picture of the Brasilia room at the Rio, it's raining in here!!!
Update
It stopped raining and i have dry sweatpants and my spreadshirt t-shirt in a plastic bag... Forgot dry boxers, but my lucky underwear ain't going nowhere...
Unfortunately, no one is... Play resumes in 15 minutes, I'm about 2 miles away, and traffic is at a standstill - evidently that flash flood happened at the intersection ahead and traffic isn't moving because there are lakes of water. I see emergency vehicle lights, but i don't know what they're doing up there.
I'm totally freaking out right now - one way road, no turn offs, no going back, no going forward, no getting back to the $10,000 poker tournament.
I will grant them that it rained pretty good, but it's just rain! Reminds me of Atlanta when they get a dusting of snow.
OK, we are moving a little...
Wish me luck!
Dinner Break
This is going to have to be quick...
So round 3 is the last before dinner... so I knew exactly how long round 3 would last, when we would break for dinner, and when we would be due back from dinner. As such, I planned in advance and order PF Changs with a pickup time almost an hour in advance - dinner plans, check.
Well, towards the back half of the round, everyone's phones started blowing up with emergency warnings - we were all getting flash flood warnings... for Las Vegas? I didn't think much of it, but with about ten minutes left in the round, they stopped the round.
They said it was raining so hard that the roof was leaking on several tables they were starting our dinner break ten minutes earlier. Egad - I'm not ready for the end of the round! And wait, my PF Changs won't be ready early - I timed it perfectly!
But there's a larger problem... it's POURING rain... in the desert in July, yes, the irony is not lost on me. But now I need to run 4 blocks through the pouring rain to get to my car to drive through the flash flood to get my dinner to get back to the hotel to eat it. That's what's happening now, but I am soaking wet.
I know what you're thinking - But Rydz, you're at your hotel room, can't you just change into dry clothes? Well, yes, that would be ideal except for two things:
1. I need to go 4 - 5 blocks through the rain back again once I get back there... so if I change into something dry, it will be wet by the time I get to the table.
2. An even bigger problem is that I'm wearing my lucky Day One t-shirt (Never failed to get me out of Day One before), my lucky underwear (Spent Thursday night sewing up holes from last year with neon orange sewing thread), and my only pair of jeans... and they're all soaked. Even if I could change into dry clothes, what would I wear?!!!
Any which way, I need to eat and figure out this clothing situation - $27,875 with 9 minutes left in Round Three and Round Three currently suspended. I crept up above 30,000 at one point in time, but that 2,000 I lost at the end hurt.
So round 3 is the last before dinner... so I knew exactly how long round 3 would last, when we would break for dinner, and when we would be due back from dinner. As such, I planned in advance and order PF Changs with a pickup time almost an hour in advance - dinner plans, check.
Well, towards the back half of the round, everyone's phones started blowing up with emergency warnings - we were all getting flash flood warnings... for Las Vegas? I didn't think much of it, but with about ten minutes left in the round, they stopped the round.
They said it was raining so hard that the roof was leaking on several tables they were starting our dinner break ten minutes earlier. Egad - I'm not ready for the end of the round! And wait, my PF Changs won't be ready early - I timed it perfectly!
But there's a larger problem... it's POURING rain... in the desert in July, yes, the irony is not lost on me. But now I need to run 4 blocks through the pouring rain to get to my car to drive through the flash flood to get my dinner to get back to the hotel to eat it. That's what's happening now, but I am soaking wet.
I know what you're thinking - But Rydz, you're at your hotel room, can't you just change into dry clothes? Well, yes, that would be ideal except for two things:
1. I need to go 4 - 5 blocks through the rain back again once I get back there... so if I change into something dry, it will be wet by the time I get to the table.
2. An even bigger problem is that I'm wearing my lucky Day One t-shirt (Never failed to get me out of Day One before), my lucky underwear (Spent Thursday night sewing up holes from last year with neon orange sewing thread), and my only pair of jeans... and they're all soaked. Even if I could change into dry clothes, what would I wear?!!!
Any which way, I need to eat and figure out this clothing situation - $27,875 with 9 minutes left in Round Three and Round Three currently suspended. I crept up above 30,000 at one point in time, but that 2,000 I lost at the end hurt.
Day One, Round Three
So seat 7 to my left has been short stacked and playing like it - lots of shoves. The problem is, every time i call a raise to 700, let's say, he shoves for 5 - 8k and i have to fold. Tough to play with him to my left, i need to tighten up and only play hands i can defend to an all in raise... which is easier said than done.
Anyway, started the round early with pocket nines and called a raise and a call... Then seat 7 shoved for an additional 7k. I almost called. I wanted to. But I'm playing it safe... I guess.
The next hand, tens. Seat 8, conservative seat 8, calls a large preflop raise. Flop comes 10 6 7 with a couple diamonds. I bet 1,400 he calls. Turn was a queen... Two spades, two diamonds, and 6 7 10 Q on the board, I'm first to act. Ugh. I want to squeeze as much as i can out of him, but I'm scared of everything, including not taking down the 4,500 pot... So i bet 3,000 and he folds. At least it was a pot.
I had A10 suited, which i thought was a good hand and called a raise with, but seat 7 three bet all in and i wasn't playing A10 for 8k. Ugh.
I had A9 off on the button with two limps in front of me, so i limped and got a cheap flop. KJ2 rainbow with checks around. Turn was a 3 and seat 5 bets... I ponder chasing because i think he's full of it, but wisely fold before seat 7 to my left comes back over the top.
K5 off in the small blind had me limping to a cheap 10 8 6 flop. The 4 of spades on the turn put 3 spades on the board so i bet my king of spades and took down a mini pot.
I got AQ suited and i was pretty excited about it until seat 1 woke up and called my preflop raise. Flop was K77 with two spades and none of my clubs. I checked, he bet, i agonized and folded... Bad enough losing the preflop bet, no sense compounding it with another thousand.
I had 59 off in the big blind and got to check the option with four limpers, but i missed a 662 flop and got out.
An hour into the round, I'm at 28,625 with seat 7 still alive to my left and a feeling that nothing is going particularly well...
Blinds are starting to eat away at people... And next round, antes start. It's only 150/300 right now, but that's a 700 raise on every hand. So if you play and lose 3 hands, you're out 2 - 3k easy. Seat 7 has like 7k, seat 9 has about 16 or 17k, and seat one only has two orange 5,000 chips although he has a lot of little ones. Any which way, there is one short and one low stack and they are within 3 of my left - ugh.
I got to check the option from the big blind with Q10 off, but missed a AK8 flop someone with better position bet so i folded. Losing chips at a steady clip now...
I won antes with a preflop raise with A10 off... Yay, 450 chips.
I had K10 off in the big blind with a min raise and a call behind me so i called. KQJ rainbow flop. Top pair, open ended straight draw. I count the chips in the pot with my finger in the air, lay out 1,400, seat 1 folds, and seat 4 calls the floor. Said that i checked when i was wagging my finger counting. I say i didn't and that i neither touched nor pointed at the table. Floor sided with me with a warning, seat 4 folded, i picked up about a thousand in chips to keep me from total free fall.
I had AQ off and seat 3 raised... Excellent. But then seat 5 three bet to 2,000 and i thought about folding. I liked that i had position, so i went looking for a big hand. Flop was K75... And seat 5 bet 3,500. Ugh, even if it's a continuation bet, i can't add insult to injury chasing this hand, not with three of us in it. Seat 3 called and the turn was a 4 with lots of action - good thing i folded. River was a ten, seat 3 won with KQ and kings, i lost 2,000 and it hurt... But no more. Had him preflop...
Then the drama came... Would blog about it, but need to deal with it first - more coming shortly (20 - 80 minutes)
...
First Day, Second Round
Nothing for the first twenty minutes - Still at 7 players. Then... A flurry of activity.
AQ suited under the gun... Raise! Flop came 2 2 5 with a couple of my spades - i bet, he folded.
I had 10 6 off in the small blind and limped... I hit a 6 on the flop, but checked down to the river. I finally bet, he folded.
The very next hand i had A3 off on the button, so i limped with a caller behind me. Flop came AKJ... Exactly the reason not to play little aces. I bet it anyway and they all folded.
Got big slick suited a couple hands later, but my raise just won me a round of blinds. I actually got up to 31,000 here, so at least at one point in time i was up!
It's about this time, forty minutes into round two, that we finally got nine players at the table! Seat one had been getting blinded off since the very beginning, so he finally showed... And he is in BAD shape - he keeps falling asleep at the table. I believe he is European, just got in this morning, and is severely jetlagged. At one point in time, he fell asleep while he was in a hand. No kidding. Seat 5, who got here about ten minutes before seat 1 did, made a huge bet on the river at a large pot and seat 4 had to slam his hand on the table after a minute to wake up seat 1 so he could fold.
Not sure why he didn't just play tomorrow and Day 1C...
Anyway, i got pocket fours on the button, limped, and had to fold to a large preflop raise from the small blind.
Seat four continues to limp every other hand, but he's hit about a half dozen sets with pocket pairs, so he's flush with chips to do it.
With about 25 minutes left in the level i called a small raise from seat 3, who was under the gun (He or seat 2 raise two out of every three hands it seems). Anyway, that priced in seat 2 from the big blind and the flop came 9 5 3. We all checked it, seat 2 bet a king on the turn, and i got out instead of chasing. Under 30,000.
Folded A9 off under the gun... Tough to do, but i think the right call.
Seat one just shoved all in preflop with 23k on blinds of 100/200. Ummm... Ok? I was big blind and it would have been a great time for aces, but 10 7 wasn't going to get the job done... Not even suited.
Folded A9 off from the small blind to several limps and a massive raise from seat 3... And it was a good thing since someone called, i would have missed the flop, and he eventually showed cowboys...
Seat 7 to my left just shoved with 12,000 left, so now I've got that to watch out for on my left...
What's with all the shoving? It's round two!!!
On the second to last hand of the round, seat three predictably raised my big blind. The button called, so i felt priced in and called with 9 10 suited. Flop came A K K, with two spades and none of my diamonds. We all checked and the turn of a third spade was no help. I checked, seat three bet, the button and i folded... And he showed quad kings. Wow, glad i missed all of that.
That's it, a lot of folding and losing this round - 28,575 at the break.
Too Aggressive
So we started with five at the table, three open seats yet to be sold, and two missing players. This changes everything - the range of hands to be played with only five players is vastly different than with nine or ten... I knew i had to be more aggressive, exactly what i didn't want to do early.
And now i know why...
Seat two got here late, he's sponsored, which makes him some level of pro. Seat three is hyper aggressive and I'm sure thinks he's a pro. Seat 4 plays too many hands, but doesn't play them aggressively. I'm seat 6, seat 7 plays too many hands but not too aggressively, and seat eight is pretty conservative.
So early on i get A5 off in the big blind and call a min raise. I hit a 5 on the flop, but we checked around. Turn was something little i bet to two callers, and we all checked the river. Someone had 6's, i had 5's, someone had 4's, i lost the first hand.
Next hand I'm in the small blind with Q6 off and i called a couple limps... But folded after missing the flop.
The next hand, yes i played three hands in a row with bad cards, i raised with 6 10 off on the button - it was a position raise. Yes, the very type of move i swore off after year two. Predictably, i lost.
Ugh, three marginal hands in a row and three losers.
I limped with A8 off and got a 8 3 3 flop i bet a little with a call. I bet a third heart on the turn and he folded... My first pot! Phew, i can calm down now, right?
Right?!
Ugh...
I checked the option with pocket fives from the big blind and bet a flop with a lot of little cards for a min win.
Next hand, small blind, seat two raises, seat three calls. Pocket jacks. Seat two made it 300, i made it 1,100 with a three bet. Seat two folds, but hyper aggressive seat three calls. Flop comes Q 9 9 rainbow. I bet 1,800... Call. Turn was a 7, i checked, he checked. River was a K putting a third diamond on the board. Two over cards, three diamonds, a pair on board, and I'm still sitting on jacks with about 3,000 in.
Ugh.
I checked, he bet 3,200. Ugh. I had to fold, down 4,000 chips very early.
A short time later i had a late position and raised with K10 off and an empty seated big blind... Basically, a position raise. Shockingly i won, but just 150.
Over an hour in and still only 6 people at the table - not what i was looking for...
I got pocket jacks again with one caller in front of me, but no one called my pre flop raise... Probably for the best?
Anyway, woke up with A8 suited in an early position with 6 people at the table. Is that a good hand? Marginal? Bad? I don't even know with 6 players... But i raised with it and got two callers. I know that's not what i was looking for. Flop came A J 9 with two spades and no diamonds (I had diamonds). I bet it good, but both called and i folded when seat 2 bet a turn that didn't help me... I guess that's why i shouldn't play middling aces no matter how many players.
I raised with pocket tens and dumped on the one caller i got after a 7 6 4 flop, but that just got me 500 when he folded.
I had A J off, which a know is a good hand six handed so i raised and got a caller. I bet a J 10 3 flop hard, but he called. I bet a 6 on the turn harder and he went away.
I got QJ suited in the big blind and called a small raise with 4 players. Flop came J 2 3 and i bet it hard... Seat 3 called. Of course. Now, here's what i noticed about seat three - he calls almost every continuation bet, but often times folds to a followup bet on the turn... I wish i knew that when i played my jacks against him earlier, i should have bet the turn anyway on that hand, but it could have gotten him to drop. Anyway, i bet large after the turn of a 9 and he reluctantly folded.
Big slick suited! On the button and everyone folded... Fantastic, it looks like a position raise. One caller - flop is A K 7, with two diamonds. Ugh. Bet, call. Turn is another diamond - the 9. Bet, call. River was J hearts, he checked, i checked, i won with top two pair... Should have value bet the river, damn. Three diamonds scared me.
I raised with 7's because we are six handed, seat 3 called and checked a 9 9 6 rainbow flop. I bet, he check raised, i got out of the hand - bad vibes.
Ugh, tens. In the big blind. Called a small raise. Flop comes Q 6 3 with two clubs and a spade. i bet big, everyone calls. Turn was 9 spades, i bet it again hard... Again two callers. Third spade on the river, i folded to a giant bet from seat 3 but seat 7 called - he hit his runner runner flush... So dropped a bunch, but not as bad as if i called.
I had QJ off in the small blind with a limp from seat 4, who limps most hands. I raised and picked up some blinds.
I was big blind for the last hand of the level and folded Q8 suited to a raise... But i was distracted long enough that i ended up at the back of the bathroom line that appears no shorter on Day 1B.
$29,650 at the break, which isn't bad considering i was down under 25,000 at one point in time. M Ratio of like 99 heading into round two. A whole lot of action and emotion to be about back where i started. If they close registration and combine tables, i will need to go back to being more conservative.
Made it 20 percent of the way through day one...
Sunday, July 5, 2015
The Night Before
I went and registered today - I'm at Brasilia 52... this is the first time I'm playing day two, so there will be a lot less people... which may actually mean shorter bathroom lines, which would be fantastic.
I brought a wireless keyboard so I could sync it with my iPad and blog easier during break, but I couldn't get it to work/sync... probably user error. Anyway, I guess I'll blog from my phone...
And Tweet! So I was in New York about 7 years ago and Rocky Finlay told me "You tweet on twitter"... that was one of the first times I remember talking to someone about Twitter. I didn't know what it meant then and I'm still not sure I get it now, but I'm going to attempt to tweet on twitter tomorrow. My twitter thing is @Jeff_Rydz... it appears that @JeffRydz is already taken and I needed to use the underscore.
I demand to know by who - I've never had my name taken! I tried to find the twitterer @JeffRydz, but this identity thiever remains anonymous.
But that's not even the craziest thing that happened with Twitter... no - I have 5 followers.
How is this even possible? I'm just now typing the blog to tell people that I have a twitter and what it is and 5 people have already... well... followed me. Madness I tell you.
Anyway, I'm pretty bored tonight and am hoping to get to bed and up early. Tiffany told me I need to set multiple alarms... uh huh... right... like I would oversleep and almost miss the World Series of Poker.
Again.
Tomorrow, hopefully on time, I will start with 30,000 chips and blinds of 50 - 100... giving me a M Ratio of 200. For a detailed reminder of M Ratio, you can revisit last year's blog post here:
http://4thstreetwsop.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-m-ratio.html
Or just keep in mind that over 10 is good, under 5 is shove, and between 5 and 10 is the danger zone. So starting at 200 is, well, pretty good. I'll finish the day (Knock on wood) at 50/200/400... which would give my 30,000 chips a M Ratio of 28.
I'd like to play day one pretty conservatively... if I make a couple bad moves early and don't drag a pot, it will gnaw on me and I could get off to a rough start. An early pot, any pot, would be a nice way to calm the nerves.
Speaking of, I'm really not nervous... which is a bit unnerving. I'm more anxious than anything, which probably isn't the best attitude to take into a long, slow, drawn out, 10 day poker tournament. But if I can stick to my strategy of only playing winning hands, I should be in good shape...
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Happy Fourth of July!!!
I’m baaaacccckkkkk :)
So, it’s been a busy year... I got married almost 2 months
ago to the day - yay! You may remember Tiffany from such blogs as year one, quit
texting the girl you just met from the WSOP table and play some cards! I posted
the wedding picture our photographer made for Star Wars day, but by now I’m
assuming most of you have already seen it.
At least twice.
Probably several times.
I haven’t really played much poker lately – I was crazy busy
with work at the end of last year and spent the first half of this year
juggling work and a wedding. I’ve won or cashed the last couple games with
friends I’ve played in, but all that really proves is that my QJ off can hold up
against a busted flush draw… not the best experience builder for the Main
Event.
I was going to sell shares of Rydz Poker, Inc. this year and
let people buy a 1% stake for $100, but my accountant ruled that I couldn’t be
a poker corporation and would instead need to start a poker syndicate. Now, don’t
get me wrong, I love a good poker syndicate as much as the next guy, but I
sensed a level of involvement coming I wasn’t prepared for – I’ve got cards to
play.
So, interesting tournament rule change this year - usually the
top 10% of a tournament cashes and get double their entry fee back - pretty
standard. So when I finished in the top 700 in year one, I made the money... but making the top 900 last year got me nothing because there's been about 7,000 people every year.
This year, they’re paying the top 1,000 spots no matter what.
Now, the because they’re paying so many more people, the early payouts go down
and start about $15,000… but there’s a better chance to cash so I can get my money
back plus a little something extra to blow at the BlackJack table.
Ummm…
Actually.
Hmmmm…
Just kidding dear?
Anyway, I’m a fan of the change because I like cashing and at least
getting my money back, but it’s kind of bittersweet since I finished in the top
1,000 last year and they made the rule change this year… but I have finished in the top 1,000 two of the last four years, which is a promising sign. Of course, as my wife keeps
reminding me, statistically speaking I’ve got to go out on the first day one of
these years.
At any rate, I just landed in Vegas - I'll stop by to pick up my registration tomorrow, probably do another blog post, and then Monday is Day One!
I added the e-mail gadget at the top so you can sign up for e-mails, but I think we've found in previous years that it doesn't work very well... I may actually try tweeting from the table, which would also allow me to disseminate real-time blog post updates, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet.
I added the e-mail gadget at the top so you can sign up for e-mails, but I think we've found in previous years that it doesn't work very well... I may actually try tweeting from the table, which would also allow me to disseminate real-time blog post updates, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet.
Happy Fourth of July!!!
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