WSOP Trip = Donkdown

Well, you may have guessed by now that I didn't do well in my first WSOP event.

I lasted a little more than 3 hours and I'm pretty disappointed with my overall play.

I was seated at table #104 in the infamous "poker sauna". When I arrived to the table and took my seat, I didn't recognize anybody at my table, but did see Bill Chen sitting at the table in front of me and Michael Binger sitting at the table to my left. Eventually, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson would be moved to the table directly behind my seat.

My table started out pretty slow and pretty quiet. I didn't play many hands in the first few orbits, and even folded my button twice in hands folded to me.

With blinds at 25/50, I picked up 10-10 in EP, raised to 200 and everybody folded. That was my first scooped pot of my WSOP career.

Once, in the big blind, I folded 4-4 to an early raiser with one caller. The flop brought a 4 and I kicked myself mentally for the next hour.

In the big blind with 3 limpers ahead of me, I looked down at JJ. I bumped it to 4 times the big blind, hoping to get just one caller, but everybody folded, and I was happy to win that hand without having to see a flop.

With blinds at 25/50, and in mid-position, I looked down at KK. I made a standard raise to 150 and got one caller. The flop came Ace high, and I fired out 250 into a pot of 375.

He called.

The turn brought a blank, and I fired another bet, this time for 500 (hoping that if he flopped a weak ace, he would fold it).

He called.

The turn brought another harmless non-King and I checked and he checked behind.

I announced, "If you have the Ace, you win" and showed my KK.

He paused and said, "I have Ace-Jack."

"Ooookay," I thought to myself. "I didn't ask you what your kicker was dumbass... I thought I made it pretty clear that ANY ace was good..."

Whatever.

Before that hand, I was up to about 5,500 in chips (starting chip stacks were 4,000). I took a hit, but was still above the original 4,000 in chips although I was now below average.

I told myself that I was going to pick my spots and get that money back from that calling station. My chance would come sooner than I thought.

About 12 hands later with blinds at 50/100, I was in mid position with 6-7 of clubs. A limper ahead of me was already in the pot, so I limped behind him.

The donkey calling station was in the big blind and made it 300 to go. The original limper called, and I was holding exactly the hand I wanted to have in a 3-way raised pot.

The flop came down 5-6-8 rainbow with 1 club.

The original limper checked, as did I, and the raiser bet only 300 into a pot with almost 1,000 in it, and the original limper folded.

That bet told me he was either REALLY strong or REALLY weak.

I was holding mid-pair with an open-ended straight draw and faced my first real tough decision of the tournament. I only have two moves at this point... Raise or fold. I can't just call here.

I knew if I raised, I would have to bet out at the turn no matter what it brought.

As I stared at the bet, I thought to myself, "Why only 300?" He did raise two limpers in position, so AK or AQ was a real possibility here.

I announced, "Raise" and put out another 500 to make it 800 straight.

With little hesitation, he called. In hindsight, that bet was WAAAY to small for a check-raise. I should have put out a minimum 1000, maybe even 1200.

The turn brought a beautiful 4 hit giving me the straight. I wanted to represent a hand that he still had outs on, so instead of value betting here, I fired out 1500 which was more than half my stack. He contemplated, and after about 30 seconds, he called.

The river brought the next best card. An Ace. I almost giggled it was so perfect. His AK or AQ would almost guarantee a call!

I pushed my remaining stack into the middle and stared ahead at the felt with the brim of my hat tucked way low so nobody at the table could see my eyes.

I had never hoped so badly for a call.

After about a minute, with over 6000 in the pot and only 1600 behind him, he folded.

I let out a sigh, disguising it as relief.

There was a guy sitting in seat 6 who seemed to know what he was doing... he was your typical "Euro" player, complete with tight white shirt and Prada sunglasses. He had his name embroidered on his shirt and that scared me...

"Age Spets?" I asked as I butchered his name...

He corrected me, pronouncing his name, "Ug-yah Savets".

"So you're from Detroit, right?" I joked.

He was fairly loose-aggressive from what I could tell. He liked to play pots, and would almost always open for a raise in middle or late position if it was folded to him. His button would be my UTG, his cut-off, my big blind... but I was happy that I was sitting to his left.

He won a lot of little pots early on while other players were still trying to figure each other out. Pokernews update teams would occasionally gaze at his chipstack and write figures down and no less than three different photogs stopped by and snapped his picture.

Apparently, the dude is a pretty decent European poker player and is actually on Norway's version of Team Poker Stars. His biggest state-side cash came in last year's WSOP $1500 buy-in event where he took 4th for more than $178,000.

Anyways, as we chatted, I noticed that if he limped into a pot from EP, nobody wanted to raise his blind. So, I would often limp behind him with mediocre hands, suited cards, etc... just hoping to see a flop for cheap.

He took a couple of hits from the guy in seat 1 (a weak-tight player with goofy rap-around shades who's hands would shake even when he posted his blinds).

UTG, Spets limped for 2o0.

By this time, I had over 8000 in chips and looked down at J-10 suited. I called and so did both blinds. The flop came down J-2-2 with 1 heart.

Both blinds checked.

Spets checked.

I bet out 500.

Both blinds fold.

Spets looks back at his cards and says, "Do you have a jack?" and calls.

The turn brings a 4 which was also the second heart, now giving me a heart draw to go with top pair.

He checks again.

I bet another 500 saying, "We've probably got the same hand."

Oops.

He reaches for his chips and says, "I'm going to put you to the test" and raises it another 1000.

Did he really flop a 2 from EP?

It's 1000 more to me and there's almost 4000 in the pot. Sure, I have top pair, but I'm not crazy about my kicker... but I do have the hearts draw.

"I'll call."

The turn brings a King of diamonds.

Believe it or not, that card actually helped me. Now my 10 kicker doesn't play and if he did have JQ, I just improved.

He has only 1400 more and pushes. Immediately after he pushes his chips in the middle, he reaches for his Prada sunglasses.

I think for a moment. I have Jacks and Deuces with a King kicker.

He limped and check-raised the turn and pushed on the river.

"Do you want a call?" I ask him as I flash him my Jack.

No response.

"Okay, well... I call."

All I hear is, "yes I wanted a call" and I see him flip over two black aces.

The guy limps with aces UTG and the donkey who couldn't get away from top pair fell right into it.

I congratulate him on a nice hand and tell him how brilliantly he played the hand. He explains to me that he needed to take a chance and double-up and I agree.

I tell myself that I am to stay out of pots with Spets for the rest of the day.

... That didn't last.

About half an hour later with blinds now at 100/200, I pick up J-Q of diamonds on the button.

Spets raises to 600 and I'm the only caller. The flop comes down 7-8-9. He checks and I gladly check behind.

The turn brings a 3. Spets leads out this time for 1200 and I make a loose call with a gutshot straight draw and two overs.

The river brings the Jack, giving me top pair. He pushes and I ask for a count just to make it look like I'm actually going to call.

He has me way outchipped, and after only 5 seconds of counting down, the dealer tells me, "he's got you."

I show the Jack and throw my hand into the muck. He asks me if I want to see one card and he places them both on the table. I point to the card closest to me and he flips it over showing the 10 for the straight.

"Wow" I said.

"I flopped it" he says back.

"Stupid Jack-Ten... I hate that hand" I chuckle.

I was down to under 4000 and blinds were about to go up to 100/200 with a 25 ante. I would lose 500 chips every 10 hands at this rate. I decided I was going to either slowplay a monster pocket pair like KK or AA and try to double up or I was going to push with any ace in order to pick up the blinds and antes and give me some breathing room.

On the very first hand of the new blind level, a guy in EP who had been crippled a few hands earlier pushed his remaining 700 chips into the pot. Unfortunately, Spets called behind him. It was folded to me and I looked down at A-7.

I thought that if the original raiser had a big ace or big king, Spets would call with any pair. If he had a mid-pair like 88 or 99 I hoped that a re-raise here would get him off of it. Hell, there's no way he could call with just an Ace right?

I push and it's another 2400 to call. It's folded to Spets and he says, "I just don't see how I can fold here." I hate that line.

He calls.

The original raiser shows 8-6 off suit.

Spets shows...

A-Q.

I'm dominated.

I joke to him that he's ahead... for now.

The flop comes Jack high with no 7.

All I can think about is how badly I played this hand. "Call the pre-flop bet and push the turn, dummy" I tell myself.

The turn brings an ace.

Dammit.

"Well, at least I'm going to go out with top pair" I think to myself.

I have 3 outs with 1 card to come. If indeed, this is my destiny as Stewman had told me before the trip, I know what's coming...

... but it's not my destiny, and while the river brings another Jack, giving me two pair, the Jack also gave Spets two pair and his Queen kicker played. I stand from the table and he extends his hand to me. I shook it and smiled.

I was out of my first World Series of Poker event. And I was knocked out by a pro.

Disappointed, I walk out the door and keep my eyes on the floor the whole way. I call Stewman and tell him the bad news. He tells me he's up over 9,000 and I'm happy for him.

The walk of shame is a long one at the WSOP. Seriously, the hall leading from the Amazon Ballroom to the parking lot is like a quarter of a mile.

When I get back to the MGM, I decide to play a little 1-2 no-limit to clear my mind.

Bad mistake.

In a little under an hour, my KK loses to 55, I flop trip Jacks and lose the kicker race to the big blind, and my all-in for over $50 with A-J preflop is called by K-Q and he flops a King. So for those of you keeping score at home, that's - $2000 from the tournament, and - $600 in cash game buy-ins... all in under 6 hours.

I figure my luck can't get much worse and I tell Stewman I'm heading back to the Rio to meet him for dinner. When I get there, I see the satellite line is in full-effect so I head over there first. I have about an hour until the dinner break, so to kill time, I'll play another satellite and hopefully make up for the rest of the day.

I get called for a $325 and sit down in seat 8.

I love seat 8.

After about an hour, we're down to 6.

And then I see Stewman.

I didn't hear them announce the dinner break yet.

Shit.

He has his backpack on and he looks... well... he doesn't look good.

"I'm out" he tells me.

I stand up from the table and chat with him for a moment. He tells me what happened and excuses himself. I head back to the table and the first hand I'm dealt when I get back is JJ in the big blind.

The UTG player in seat 10 raises it up. The player on the button in seat 7 then re-pops it.

Shit.

I can't just call here. Can I?

It's going to be about half my stack to call the re-raise and there is still a player to act after me. If I'm holding AA, I probably call, but any other hand is a fold or a push.

Right?

Have I ever folded JJ preflop?

If I call, I know that I am committing the rest of my chips on the flop no matter what hits the board. If I raise, I'm pretty sure the re-raiser is calling, but I have no idea what the UTG guy will do. I do not want to see a 3-way flop with JJ. No way.

So I fold...

... And so does the UTG raiser.

Dammit.

I tell the re-raiser on the button that I folded JJ for him. He seems uninterested to me, which leads me to believe that I was ahead.

Oh well. If it's a cash game and I can re-load, I might call.

Not here. Not now.

We get down to 4 handed and I'm second in chips. Stewman comes back and I tell him I can't wait until the next guy goes out because I want to chop 3 ways.

The next guy doesn't go out for another 20 minutes. By then, I'm the short stack at the table.

When we're down to 3, I ask if the other two guys want to chop. Nope.

To make a short story even shorter, I push with K-8 and the chipleader wakes up with QQ. I hit my 8 on the flop, but no more help comes on the turn or the river and I'm out in 3rd for no money.

Before I can even stand up from the table, the chipleader is offering to chop with the other guy.

Ugh. That pisses me off.

I'll write about my Venetian Deep Stacks Extravaganza II Tournament in my next post.

WSOP Event #47... We're BOTH in!

I'm going to spare the silly details (for now), but the good news is that both Stewman and I are in Friday's WSOP $2,000 buy-in NLHE event #47.

I'll be starting at table #104, seat 9 and Stewman will be at table #37, seat 1.

The tournament starts at noon and we'll be playing until 2:00am (hopefully!) so we'll have updates late tonight or early tomorrow.

GL to us!

~NBA~

WSOP Update

So we made it to Vegas safely...

Stewman's flight arrived around 10:00am and I drove in, arriving at about 11:00am.

We checked in and immediately got down to business. We got to the Rio at noon and we were both playing our first satellite by 12:30.

Stewman will blog more about his satellite later.

I was disappointed to hear that the Rio was not running two-winner single table satellites after all. I was stuck with a $325, one winner take all $3,120.

I bought into my first satellite and took my seat at table 211, seat 4.

Early on, I picked up some hands and was able to double up my starting chip stack of 1500 to over 3000 in the first two orbits.

When I get chips, I like to play aggressive and put other players to the test. People were respecting my raises until I picked up 3 big hands in a row and was first to open each pot.

The third time, I was dealt KK in the cutoff.

One limped UTG, so I bumped it to 150 with blinds at 25/50 and the button, BB and original limper all called.

The flop came out Q-6-3 with two hearts. I had the King of Hearts. The BB checked, the original limper checked and I bet out 300. The button folded, the BB folded and the original limper raised me 500 to 800. I put him on a big queen, so I pushed He insta-called and showed pocket 3s for a flopped set. The turn and river brick and he wins the pot for 2800.

After that hand, I really didn't pick up many hands.

We got down to 6 handed and I was about average stack when the short-stack UTG raised it to 600 with blinds at 100/300. I was in the BB and looked down at 66. It was 400 more for me to call, but the UTG raiser only had 900 behind and figured that if I call here, I was playing for all my chips on the flop anyway. I had 1300 more in chips and pushed. He called and showed K-J offsuit and we're off to the races.

Needless to say, he flopped his K and scooped the pot.

A couple hands later, severely short stacked and on the button, it was folded around to me. Without even looking at my cards, I pushed for my last 400 chips with blinds at 100/200 and the BB makes the call. He shows AA.

He flops his 3rd ace.

And rivers his 4th ace.

I'm out.

I go back to the satellite line and wait for what seemed like FOREVER for them to call another $325 satellite. When they FINALLY call the game, I draw seat one (I hate seat one) and head to the table.

We agree on a 5-way last longer bet for $100. Awe, what the hell, right?

On the first hand, a player in MP brings in a raise for 75 (blinds at 25/25) and gets 5 callers. Lots of action on the flop, again big action of the turn and the winner on the river scoops a big pot for the first pot of the tourney.

I picked up AK twice in 4 hands, raised both times and bricked the flop. On one hand, I made a continuation bet of half the pot and got a caller and had to check-fold the turn.

With blinds at 50/100, a guy raises to 450 in EP and I look down at KK on the button. I only have about 1600 left, so I push and the original raiser is committed. He calls and shows AQ. My KK holds up and I double through him.

I played pretty solid for the next hour or so, as the guy in seat 10 proceeds to bust every single player. I'm not exaggerating. He busted every player.

When we were down to 3 handed, seat 10 had a 10-to-1 chip lead on me and the other guy. I told myself that if I were going to stand a chance, I would have to double through seat 10 before we got to heads-up. Even if it meant moving in on his BB with a sub-par hand, the only way I stood a fraction of a chance was to get him to call my all-in.

In my BB (blinds 500/1000), he raises to 3000 from the SB. I look down at AJ and push. He quickly calls and shows 88.

I look up to the poker gods and yell "ONE TIME! WIN A RACE!" I hit my Ace on the flop, then a Jack on the turn and just for good measure, river another Ace.

That was enough to have about 5 times more chips than the third guy and I knew I just had to wait until the blinds ate up that third player. And you know what, when the binds went up, he pushed and seat 10 called and knocked him out.

As soon as we got to heads-up I immediately proposed a deal. He had 14,600 in chips to my 5,400. Since he had me 3-to-1, I offered a chop of the $3,620 prize pool (we were both in the last longer bet that had $500 in it. He agreed to give me $1,000 cash and he took the $3,000 in tournament chips plus $120 cash and tipped out the dealer for us.

So, after two satellites, I'm up... but barely up. After dinner tonight, I'm going to make another run at it and try two more.

~NBA~

The WSOP trip countdown has begun!

4 more days till Stewman and I leave for Vegas in a quest for fame and fortune!

It looks like we're going to try to play in the $2,000 buy-in NLHE event #29 on Friday, June 29th and possibly the $540 buy-in NLHE "Deep Stacks II" tournament at the Venetian on Saturday, June 30th.

Of course, if we do well in the WSOP event and make it to day two, we won't be playing in the Venetian tournament so as of now, it's purely a "back-up" plan.

Of course, neither of us are big enough ballers to just buy our way into these tournaments, so we're going to have to get in by playing the satellites.

I've done well in the past playing satellites. I think my poker game is perfectly suited for single-table sit 'n go's, and in the last 4 years, I have cashed in more than half the satellites I've played in. Most recently, I cashed in 2 of the 3 I played in during the WSOP Circuit event at Harrah's Rincon.

I've been working on some satellite strategies to assure the best "bang for my buck", and here's what I've come up with:

The Rio is running $335 buy-in single-table satellites that award two winners (each receiving three $500 lammers plus $100 cash). Now, they are also offering satellites that award $2,000 in lammers and $100 cash, but I figure these tables to be slightly tougher, and the extra $100 required to buy-in will increase the cost to me by almost 30%... and I'm just not in a position to increase my bankroll by that much.

So I plan on playing in four $335 buy-in satellites, in hopes of cashing in at least two of them to have enough to buy into the $2k event.

Here's how the math works out:

It will cost me $670 to play in 2 satellites, $1,005 to play in 3 satellites, and $1,340 to play in 4.

If I play in 4, but win just 1 of them (receiving $1,600), I come out $260 ahead. Obviously, I wouldn't have enough to buy-in to the WSOP event, but I would have enough to pay for half of my Venetian buy-in.

If I play in 4, and can manage to cash in 2 of them (receiving $3,200), I will have enough to buy into the WSOP event at a cost of only $140 to me.

If I can cash in 2 of the first 3 satellites I play in, I will have enough to buy into the WSOP event and have $190 to go towards the buy-in for the Venetian tournament (if need-be).

... And the BEST CASE SCENARIO is:

If I can manage to cash in both of the first two satellites I play in, I will have enough to buy into BOTH the WSOP event, and the Venetian tournament (if need-be) with a cost of only $10 to me.

... Of course, the worst case scenario is me losing all 4 satellites and dumping the entire $1,340.

If it is a massacre and I do go 0-for-4 in WSOP satellites, I have a back-up plan and will play 2 single-table satellites at the Venetian for the Deep Stacks tournament at a cost of $120 each. Those satellites, like the WSOP satellites, award two winners per table.

As far as the cash games go, I'm brining enough for 3 buy-ins to the 1-2 NL game ($600). I don't figure I will be playing that much in the cash games this year (even though I won enough in last year's cash games to buy into a $1,500 event and cover all my expenses for the trip) because it's really a goal of mine to play in a WSOP event this year, and I want to spend most of my time playing tournaments.

Stewman's two WSOP circuit event cashes have really lit a fire under me and I want to catch up to his career winnings in just this one trip.

My goal for the WSOP is to just make it to day two of the tournament. If I can do that, I guarantee myself a spot in the money and a shot at a final table. Event #29 will not be televised, so I won't get my mug on ESPN, but to have my name mentioned in a Pokernews live update would be pretty cool.

If all doesn't go well at the WSOP, my goal in the Venetian tournament is to just win the bitch.

Like last year, we'll be posting updates on our successes (and failures?) daily.

~NBA~