My Day One ended in decent shape, I was sitting at 42,000 and feeling decent. I got my table draw and started googling the names. A couple I didn't have to, Jennifer Harman and Theo Tran. I thought there was a chance it would be the TV table, but that was not to be. The rest of the table wasn't much better, there was a 2+2 cash game grinder with a huge stack, jburleson and a couple other tough spots. The one great thing is that my position at the table was great. I had position on the most aggressive players and the big stacks. So my table draw blew, but my seat draw was near perfect.
I ended up playing very passively on the day, which is pretty weird for me. The table was so aggressive, it just felt right. Early, this worked like a charm. Theo Tran raised the button and I defended my big blind with a call with KJ. I flopped top pair and check\called the flop and a big bet turn. I rivered top two and checked again and Tran checked behind and mucked when I showed.
Another hand I had JJ and opened and only Harman called. The flop came QQ9 rainbow. I checked and she checked behind. The turn was an 8 and it went check-check. The river was another 9 and I value bet kind of big. She thought for a bit and called and my Jacks were good. She said "I don't know why I called, I thought you had a Queen actually."
The first level, things were working great. I took a bunch of pots away from Tran, who was opening a TON of pots. The last hand of the level, I took one away from him with a flush draw. I was flashing back a couple years to when I had position on John Pham and owned him all day long. I think I finished at like 65,000 and was feeling great.
The first hand of the second level I called Tran again with a small pocket pair, fives I think. The flop came down Ace high, he cbet and I folded and he showed AQ and said to me "That’s a pretty good flop for me. I guess we are going to be playing a lot of pots together today, huh?" I dont think he was happy about it. He had someone behind him playing back at him which was ruining his plans for the day. The thing is, he should have been happy about it. He pretty much owned me the rest of the day.
The first level, I was making all the right decisions, after that it was him and I was one step behind pretty much constantly. I lost like the next 6 pots I played to end up back at like 38k. Then one hand cost me a bunch of chips. The cutoff raised and Tran called from the button and I called from the big blind with 98hh. The flop came down like KJ5 with two hearts and it checked around. The turn was a brick and I bet out about 2/3 of pot and the cutoff folded and Tran called. The river was an Ace and I bet out strong again. Tran reached for a stack of chips and made a raise that almost put me all in. Man that hurt. I mucked and he shows the "bluff" 85dd and bottom pair, which was actually good. He was bluffing with the best hand. I guess I had been check calling a ton and me betting out made him suspicious? Or maybe I am just a tellbox. Whatever it was, I was owned.
A few hands later, he raised again. I shipped him with KJo which I think is super standard giving how much he was opening. The guy right behind me reships (sigh) and it folds back to Tran who calls it all (double sigh) and says "You guys are in trouble." and show Aces. The other guy had AQ. The flop gave me a ton of life KQ9. The turn and river both bricked and I was out.
I don't really have any issues with that shove though, just bad timing in my opinion. Tran was playing great and I can't say he didn't deserve the rest of my chips, but him having Aces there is pretty gay.
The Main Event is such an awesome structure. 30,000 in chips and 2 hour levels is absolutely nuts. After the tournament I was thinking about it a lot. I survived for about 15 hours of play. Figure about 35-40 hands per hour means I had about 550 hands. I had Aces once, it folded to me in the sb and I raised and bb folded. Kings 3 times, twice an ace flopped (tho I won them all). No queens. Jacks a few times, no tens. 99-22 about 20-30 times and I flopped zero sets. I don't think I hit one draw. If it wasn't for a great structure I would have been out much earlier. I do feel pretty good about how I played. Most of things I second guessed after the tournament were all in small pots. It would have been nice if I could have had a little more to work with. Still tho, I had chances.
I definitely want to play more "big" live tournaments. I am just not sure if the Main Event is the way to go. The Borgata has a ton of $1000-$3000 tournaments with awesome structures. There is a very good chance I play the Aruba classic this year. Next year's Main Event is a long way away and a lot can change, so who knows. Hopefully the next 12 months go better (pokerwise) than the last 12 have gone.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Fun WSOP Hands
Hand 1: Bunch of limpers and the button raises it up and gets two callers. Flop is KQ3 rainbow and it checks to the button who bets out and gets one caller (some Norwegian dude). The Turn is an Ace completing the rainbow and it goes check-check. River is a Ten and the board is KQ3AT. Any jack makes the mortal, unbeatable nuts. It’s a tournament. The pots aren’t raked. The Norwegian dude bets out, the button raises and the Norwegian dude tanks. After about 2 minutes he calls and flips over QJs for the nuts. That he called with. On the river. I think you can actually get a foul for doing that in a tournament. The button had KJ and they chopped it, but that’s not even the point.
After some chuckles at the table, Norwegian dude says "I figured he would only call me if he had a Jack anyway and what if I was reading the board wrong?" You got to love it. He buys into a $10,000 tournament but doesn't trust himself to read his hand and the board.
After the break one guy gave him a hard time about it being against the rules. One internet player at the table pretending to be supportive said something like "You had the right logic, it’s just the rules that are messed up."
Awesome!
Hand 2: I didn’t see most of this hand, but I saw enough to just love it. Walking down the aisle I hear “Two All ins Called at Table {whatever number I just walked past}”. So I stop and decide to see what’s going on. I see a poor guy with AJ flipped over looking miserable and two others (a man and a woman) standing up with their cards face down. There was no more action in the hand.
The woman says to the man “What do you got?”
The guy back “What do YOU got?”
Meanwhile the poor AJ guy still sitting there getting double slowrolled.
The woman again “What do you got?”
The guy finally flips over his AK. The woman fist pumps and still doesn’t flip them over. Another 15 to 20 seconds go by and she flips over two Aces (with the ace of spades).
Flop comes all low spades, turn is a brick. AJ and AK are drawing dead.
Woman: “HOLD, HOLD, HOLD!!!!”
Just so terrible.
Hand 3: I am not sure if this was posted anywhere, but its not one I saw but was told about. I definitely could be getting the details wrong, but its pretty funny.
UTG limps, Hero limps with 66, someone behind raises it and the limpers call and they see the flop 3 way. The flop comes A-6-3. Limpers check and the original raiser bets. UTG folds and the hero goes to call puts in an extra orange 5000 chip. The dealer says it’s a raise and while they are sorting it out the original raiser goes all in. The hero didn’t hear the all in and sits there for about 5 minutes waiting for the raiser to act.
The dealer finally tells him it’s on him and his opponent is all in. Hero “Oh man, I’m sorry. I call, I have a set, I didn’t mean to slowroll you.” Original raiser flips over Aces for top set and busts the hero who basically angleshot, slowrolled and busted all in the same hand. How many can say that?
After some chuckles at the table, Norwegian dude says "I figured he would only call me if he had a Jack anyway and what if I was reading the board wrong?" You got to love it. He buys into a $10,000 tournament but doesn't trust himself to read his hand and the board.
After the break one guy gave him a hard time about it being against the rules. One internet player at the table pretending to be supportive said something like "You had the right logic, it’s just the rules that are messed up."
Awesome!
Hand 2: I didn’t see most of this hand, but I saw enough to just love it. Walking down the aisle I hear “Two All ins Called at Table {whatever number I just walked past}”. So I stop and decide to see what’s going on. I see a poor guy with AJ flipped over looking miserable and two others (a man and a woman) standing up with their cards face down. There was no more action in the hand.
The woman says to the man “What do you got?”
The guy back “What do YOU got?”
Meanwhile the poor AJ guy still sitting there getting double slowrolled.
The woman again “What do you got?”
The guy finally flips over his AK. The woman fist pumps and still doesn’t flip them over. Another 15 to 20 seconds go by and she flips over two Aces (with the ace of spades).
Flop comes all low spades, turn is a brick. AJ and AK are drawing dead.
Woman: “HOLD, HOLD, HOLD!!!!”
Just so terrible.
Hand 3: I am not sure if this was posted anywhere, but its not one I saw but was told about. I definitely could be getting the details wrong, but its pretty funny.
UTG limps, Hero limps with 66, someone behind raises it and the limpers call and they see the flop 3 way. The flop comes A-6-3. Limpers check and the original raiser bets. UTG folds and the hero goes to call puts in an extra orange 5000 chip. The dealer says it’s a raise and while they are sorting it out the original raiser goes all in. The hero didn’t hear the all in and sits there for about 5 minutes waiting for the raiser to act.
The dealer finally tells him it’s on him and his opponent is all in. Hero “Oh man, I’m sorry. I call, I have a set, I didn’t mean to slowroll you.” Original raiser flips over Aces for top set and busts the hero who basically angleshot, slowrolled and busted all in the same hand. How many can say that?
Monday, July 13, 2009
WSOP Main Event Day1
The Main Event just isn't as soft as it used to be. I am still pretty sure it is by far the softest $10,000 buy in tournament in the world tho. Getting a ridiculously soft table is just very unlikely anymore. I heard from so many people how hard there opening table was compared to previous years. The field just is just no where near as soft as it used to be. There are still definitely some fantastic donks in it and I will try to remember some of the great hands I saw.
That said, my opening table was far from tough. There were definitely several weak spots at it, which made me pretty happy. The very first hand a guy 3 barreled AQ unimproved for no apparent reason. Pretty sure he didn't have a read on the first hand of play. The first level went pretty shitty for me tho. I lost a few small pots and one big one. I flopped top pair and rivered two pair and paid off a set. My turn call was massively questionable and probably a mistake.
The second level started just as shitty and I was down to 17k (from the 30k starting stack) and not feeling very good at all. I chipped up a bit and then won my first big pot. I reraised an UTG raiser with Kings and got cold called from the small blind. I cbet a ten high flop and he checkraised me to 8k and I just shipped him. If it was AA, I was willing to go home. If he had called me with a pair less than Jacks and hit a set, I was willing to go home. I just figured Jacks and Queens made up a ton of his range. He thought for a bit and folded and I was back over the starting stack. I ended the second level at 36k.
The third level was pretty uneventful. I don’t think I played one big pot the entire level and ended at 33k.
I played one big pot on the fourth level. A very loose player opened utg+1 to 800 (150-300) and I called with AhTh, the button and both blinds called and we saw the flop 5 way. The flop came Kh Jh 6s and I flopped a gutshot royal draw. The blinds and original raiser checked and I bet 2600 into the 4000 chip pot. The small blind called and everyone else folded. The turn was a brick and the small blind led for 5500. I thought for a bit and had a hard time putting him on big hand and shoved for about 20,000 more. He thought for a bit and folded and I scooped up the pot. I ended the level at 45k feeling pretty good.
The first four levels I had played a very tight game, especially for me. The fifth level the antes kicked in and I opened up, a lot. I won a big pot early in the level on a weird hand. I think it was the only hand of my whole tournament where I hit something big. I called a raise with sixes and the button called behind. The flop came down Q52 rainbow and it checked around. The turn was the Qh which put a heart flush draw on the board. The original raiser bet and I called figuring my sixes were probably the best hand. The button called as well, which I pretty much hated. The river was a prefect 6h. The original raiser checked and it was on me. I thought this was kind of a tough spot actually. The button probably didn’t have a queen. I think his range was something like TT-77 and flushes. I really wasn’t sure what to bet and decided on half pot bet that I figured would be called a very high percentage. The button called and the raiser folded. I showed my boat and he showed KhJh for the rivered flush. I really felt like I lost value. I think I should have bet full pot. I don’t think the mid pairs were calling anyway, kind of annoying, but still a very nice pot.
I was up to over 60k with a really good table image and I started opening a bunch of pots. I four bet bluffed one hand and the guy snapped folded before I even had my chips in the middle or said an amount. I was chipping up and feeling great and then ~spewed off 18k on another bluff where I ran into a set. I am ok with my line on that hand though. I think I was just unlucky to run into a real hand there. I ended the day at 42k feeling pretty good overall about things.
I am going to do a couple more posts on my wsop. The next one will probably be the best, I will post some awesome hands I saw. Then my Day 2 recap, which will suck ass. Part of me wonders if this was my last Main Event. I doubt it, but it definitely feels like it could be. More to come….
That said, my opening table was far from tough. There were definitely several weak spots at it, which made me pretty happy. The very first hand a guy 3 barreled AQ unimproved for no apparent reason. Pretty sure he didn't have a read on the first hand of play. The first level went pretty shitty for me tho. I lost a few small pots and one big one. I flopped top pair and rivered two pair and paid off a set. My turn call was massively questionable and probably a mistake.
The second level started just as shitty and I was down to 17k (from the 30k starting stack) and not feeling very good at all. I chipped up a bit and then won my first big pot. I reraised an UTG raiser with Kings and got cold called from the small blind. I cbet a ten high flop and he checkraised me to 8k and I just shipped him. If it was AA, I was willing to go home. If he had called me with a pair less than Jacks and hit a set, I was willing to go home. I just figured Jacks and Queens made up a ton of his range. He thought for a bit and folded and I was back over the starting stack. I ended the second level at 36k.
The third level was pretty uneventful. I don’t think I played one big pot the entire level and ended at 33k.
I played one big pot on the fourth level. A very loose player opened utg+1 to 800 (150-300) and I called with AhTh, the button and both blinds called and we saw the flop 5 way. The flop came Kh Jh 6s and I flopped a gutshot royal draw. The blinds and original raiser checked and I bet 2600 into the 4000 chip pot. The small blind called and everyone else folded. The turn was a brick and the small blind led for 5500. I thought for a bit and had a hard time putting him on big hand and shoved for about 20,000 more. He thought for a bit and folded and I scooped up the pot. I ended the level at 45k feeling pretty good.
The first four levels I had played a very tight game, especially for me. The fifth level the antes kicked in and I opened up, a lot. I won a big pot early in the level on a weird hand. I think it was the only hand of my whole tournament where I hit something big. I called a raise with sixes and the button called behind. The flop came down Q52 rainbow and it checked around. The turn was the Qh which put a heart flush draw on the board. The original raiser bet and I called figuring my sixes were probably the best hand. The button called as well, which I pretty much hated. The river was a prefect 6h. The original raiser checked and it was on me. I thought this was kind of a tough spot actually. The button probably didn’t have a queen. I think his range was something like TT-77 and flushes. I really wasn’t sure what to bet and decided on half pot bet that I figured would be called a very high percentage. The button called and the raiser folded. I showed my boat and he showed KhJh for the rivered flush. I really felt like I lost value. I think I should have bet full pot. I don’t think the mid pairs were calling anyway, kind of annoying, but still a very nice pot.
I was up to over 60k with a really good table image and I started opening a bunch of pots. I four bet bluffed one hand and the guy snapped folded before I even had my chips in the middle or said an amount. I was chipping up and feeling great and then ~spewed off 18k on another bluff where I ran into a set. I am ok with my line on that hand though. I think I was just unlucky to run into a real hand there. I ended the day at 42k feeling pretty good overall about things.
I am going to do a couple more posts on my wsop. The next one will probably be the best, I will post some awesome hands I saw. Then my Day 2 recap, which will suck ass. Part of me wonders if this was my last Main Event. I doubt it, but it definitely feels like it could be. More to come….
Monday, July 06, 2009
Heading Down
to the Amazon Room right now. Cards should be in the air in about 40 minutes. sprstoner is at the table next to me, hopefully we both build nice stacks today.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Getting Back in the Game
My four best finishes in tournaments last night...
393/2250, 378 pay
66/617, 63 pay
187/1260, 180 pay
551/3555, 540 pay
Actually tho, I feel like I have plugged a couple leaks that have snuck into my game. Last night I felt like I played really strong poker (minus a couple tilt spots). I am going to try to play a lot Sunday afternoon, so hopefully I can get a little something going then.
I am leaning towards playing Day 1D of the Main Event, which means I would have 4 and half days out in Vegas before playing it. I might try to play a couple live tournaments while I am out there. Anyone else out there next weekend?
393/2250, 378 pay
66/617, 63 pay
187/1260, 180 pay
551/3555, 540 pay
Actually tho, I feel like I have plugged a couple leaks that have snuck into my game. Last night I felt like I played really strong poker (minus a couple tilt spots). I am going to try to play a lot Sunday afternoon, so hopefully I can get a little something going then.
I am leaning towards playing Day 1D of the Main Event, which means I would have 4 and half days out in Vegas before playing it. I might try to play a couple live tournaments while I am out there. Anyone else out there next weekend?
Thursday, June 25, 2009
WSOP Stuff
I played my first non-Main Event WSOP tournament last weekend. Event #39, $1500 NLH started well for me. I doubled my stack pretty easily in the first two levels. I flopped a Queen with AQ and a guy bluffed off most of his stack to me. I took the rest a little while later when my Jacks held vs his Nines, all in pre.
After those two levels, the whole day was a struggle for me. I wasn't getting many good spots and was at some aggressive tables. I was able to chip up through the next few levels tho. It all went bad on one AJ hand that I may have played badly. After that I blinded down and finally shoved ATs into AK to bust about 300-400 people before the money I believe. Still was fun, plus Stoner obv ran deep (sicko) and finished 12th for like $56k. Earlier in the series he cashed for $200,000+. Insane run, lets hope it last through the Main Event.
LJ also made a run of her own, finishing 10th in the $1500 HORSE tournament for about $19,000.
A bracelet for either would have been awesome, but the series isn't over. I am flying back out on the 1st for the Main Event. Its my 5th go around, but probably will be my first time buying in directly since 2006. Maybe I can still win a ME somewhere, but there just isn't much time left and it looks pretty unlikely at this point. I am also going in on my biggest downswing ever, so hopefully a deep run can turn it all around.
I'll try to post during the Main Event if anyone is still out there.
After those two levels, the whole day was a struggle for me. I wasn't getting many good spots and was at some aggressive tables. I was able to chip up through the next few levels tho. It all went bad on one AJ hand that I may have played badly. After that I blinded down and finally shoved ATs into AK to bust about 300-400 people before the money I believe. Still was fun, plus Stoner obv ran deep (sicko) and finished 12th for like $56k. Earlier in the series he cashed for $200,000+. Insane run, lets hope it last through the Main Event.
LJ also made a run of her own, finishing 10th in the $1500 HORSE tournament for about $19,000.
A bracelet for either would have been awesome, but the series isn't over. I am flying back out on the 1st for the Main Event. Its my 5th go around, but probably will be my first time buying in directly since 2006. Maybe I can still win a ME somewhere, but there just isn't much time left and it looks pretty unlikely at this point. I am also going in on my biggest downswing ever, so hopefully a deep run can turn it all around.
I'll try to post during the Main Event if anyone is still out there.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Stoner is a Sicko!!
Finished 3rd in Event 13 at the WSOP for $200k!!!!
Stop by his blog and congratulate him!
Full Tilt should sign him to be a red pro today!
Stop by his blog and congratulate him!
Full Tilt should sign him to be a red pro today!
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