I have a top 10 chip leader 2 seats to my left. He has over 150,000. Great. Other than that, I like my table for Day 2b. A couple of medium stacks and a couple of short stacks. I am THE short stack though and need to find an opportunity to double fairly soon.
Ugly cards for an hour straight. I had weak Aces twice, but other than that, no playable cards whatsoever. In a cash game, I wouldn't mind so much, but it sucks to be a short stack and not have a chance to even see two high cards. I was pushing with 2 paint or a decent Ace, but got no opportunities to do so. The big stack shows 9s and Qs within the first 8 hands -- so not fair.
Anyway, I was patient, but couldn't wait too much longer, as I'd been blinded down to under 8000 chips an hour + into day 2. I open pushed with J-7 offsuit, which was the best hand I'd seen in a while and was called by 8s. After pairing my J on the turn and taking a big lead, we both make a flush on the river. But his is 8 high and mine 7 high. Done.
Can't wait to play again in years to come!
Showing posts with label WSOP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WSOP. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Level 6 - 400/800/100
Didn't play 1 hand at this level, besides 2 open pushes with QJ and K10 when it was unopened to me in either the small blind or on the button. With 12-14k chips, I was actually looking to double up if someone called me with A9 or something. Varkonyi wouldn't oblige.
Made it to Day 2b with 13,700 chips. Short stacked, but ready to double!
Made it to Day 2b with 13,700 chips. Short stacked, but ready to double!
Level 5 - 300/600/75
Re-raised a bad early position raiser to 5000 from 1800 with Js. Everyone folded and I took down a smallish pot. At 18,500 chips.
Re-raised all in for 12k more chips on the button with AKo. I stood up and walked around. He thought and eventually folded 9s. I would have been happy to race there, as I couldn't get anything going and was getting terrible cards for long stretches. I felt sorry for Mark who was behind me on the rail, waiting for hours to get to see me play a hand.
Re-raised all in for 12k more chips on the button with AKo. I stood up and walked around. He thought and eventually folded 9s. I would have been happy to race there, as I couldn't get anything going and was getting terrible cards for long stretches. I felt sorry for Mark who was behind me on the rail, waiting for hours to get to see me play a hand.
Level 4 - 200/400/50
1st hand after the dinner break. Two Qs. I blogged about this hand earlier as it was pretty sick that the guy flopped a set of Jacks twice in the same hand, with the same card (Js). I lost 1/3 of my stack on this hand, but made a good laydown with an overpair of Qs.
I immediately get moved to Table 66 with Varkonyi and Ferguson. Ferguson has 60k chips, Varkonyi has 30k, and I have 13k. They both have position on me. Sweeeeeet!
1st hand at the new table. I decide to step up my aggression a bit, and maybe I was steaming after the Qs, but i pick up A-10 in early position and raise. I get 1 caller in the BB. Flop is KQ10. He leads for 1200, I call, with a pair, a draw to the nuts, and an overcard. Turn is 2s. He bets 1200 again and I fold, done being milked by what was probably a very strong hand. AJ or QQQ....whatever, I was beat.
I call a standard raise in the SB with AQ (the nuts baby - my favorite hand in the universe!). I check the K high flop. He checks behind. I turn broadway and lead out for 2000. He smooth calls. I check the club on the river putting a 3 flush on board and he bets 2000. I call not feeling it, and he shows KQcc for the 2nd nut flush. Wow - I had him killed in every way and he makes the 2nd nuts.....nice hand. I'm down to 7000 chips early on at my second table.
I call the blind with 66 in middle position and flop bottom set on a 6-7-10 board. 4 players to the flop. I bet and get 1 caller. on the turn is the 5h, he checks to me, I go all in for 6300. He eventually calls after trying to get me to talk about my hand. He shows 10-8 for top pair and a gut shot. He rivers 2 pair, which is not enough. I more than double up to 16k chips.
I immediately get moved to Table 66 with Varkonyi and Ferguson. Ferguson has 60k chips, Varkonyi has 30k, and I have 13k. They both have position on me. Sweeeeeet!
1st hand at the new table. I decide to step up my aggression a bit, and maybe I was steaming after the Qs, but i pick up A-10 in early position and raise. I get 1 caller in the BB. Flop is KQ10. He leads for 1200, I call, with a pair, a draw to the nuts, and an overcard. Turn is 2s. He bets 1200 again and I fold, done being milked by what was probably a very strong hand. AJ or QQQ....whatever, I was beat.
I call a standard raise in the SB with AQ (the nuts baby - my favorite hand in the universe!). I check the K high flop. He checks behind. I turn broadway and lead out for 2000. He smooth calls. I check the club on the river putting a 3 flush on board and he bets 2000. I call not feeling it, and he shows KQcc for the 2nd nut flush. Wow - I had him killed in every way and he makes the 2nd nuts.....nice hand. I'm down to 7000 chips early on at my second table.
I call the blind with 66 in middle position and flop bottom set on a 6-7-10 board. 4 players to the flop. I bet and get 1 caller. on the turn is the 5h, he checks to me, I go all in for 6300. He eventually calls after trying to get me to talk about my hand. He shows 10-8 for top pair and a gut shot. He rivers 2 pair, which is not enough. I more than double up to 16k chips.
Level 3 - 200/400
On the 1st hand at this level I pick up AsKc in the SB. I smooth call a raise. With an overall perspective on the event, I think I played a bit too tight. I could have easily re-raised with AK in the blind, but then where am I when I air ball the flop? With a combination of the blinds just having increased and my poor position in the hand, I chose to just call the raise to 1200 (with a stack just under 20k).
Flop is AcQc10c. Nice, I finally hit a flop hard, with top pair, top kicker, and a royal flush draw. I check, he bets $1800, I raise to $4100 and he folds. Without an Ace or a high club, I wasn't going to get any more chips out of him, but still I could have smooth called his bet and then led out on the turn. However, if any of my cards come (a Jack, a club, an Ace, or the Jc), he probably isn't going to pay me off anyway on a scary board.
Flop is AcQc10c. Nice, I finally hit a flop hard, with top pair, top kicker, and a royal flush draw. I check, he bets $1800, I raise to $4100 and he folds. Without an Ace or a high club, I wasn't going to get any more chips out of him, but still I could have smooth called his bet and then led out on the turn. However, if any of my cards come (a Jack, a club, an Ace, or the Jc), he probably isn't going to pay me off anyway on a scary board.
Level 2 - 100/200
One hand of note this level. Went pretty card dead.
Re-raised Andy Bloch in the cutoff to 1600 from 600. He calls, the other initial caller folds. Flop is Jack high, he checks, I bet 2300 with AK high and he eventually folds. I put him on a mid pair, 7s, 8s, or 9s there. Most likely 8s. He didn't show. I'm at about 20k chips after this hand.
Re-raised Andy Bloch in the cutoff to 1600 from 600. He calls, the other initial caller folds. Flop is Jack high, he checks, I bet 2300 with AK high and he eventually folds. I put him on a mid pair, 7s, 8s, or 9s there. Most likely 8s. He didn't show. I'm at about 20k chips after this hand.
Hands I played
After some decompression time, I thought I would post some notes on key hands that I played throughout my Main Event.
In 14 hours of poker it was frustrating to make only 3 real hands better than 1 pair.
1. I made that 10d high flush with pocket 10s. I missed a bet on the end there, I assume the other guy had an over pair with no diamond.
2. I flopped set of 6s at my second table and doubled up through top pair / straight draw.
3. I turned broadway with AQ (my absolute favorite hand!!) in the small blind and the guy made his flush with KQ. Lost a decent sized pot there.
Level 1 - 50/100
Nice start to the Main Event - my first hand is 3-5 offsuit.
The first hand I won was with Kh6h in the CO in a limped pot. 4 players to the flop. Flop of 865 rainbow. Check to me, I bet 300, everyone folds.
Twice I held AQ and called standard raises to airball the flop and fold to a bet.
Pocket 4s in the cutoff. Standard raised pot. 3 players see an A high flop. Check, check to me, I bet and take down the pot.
I finally get in a pot with the 1 complete donkey at the table. I make a standard raise to 300 in early position with 9s. Donkey re-raises in the SB to 1300. I call. Flop is 567 rainbow. I could put him on AK/AQ, but really those are the only hands I can beat right now. He checks and I check behind for pot size control and with a chance to make the 2nd nuts with an 8. I don't want to get in a huge pot with pocket 9s at this point. If he has AK, my 9s are still good anyway. Turn is a 10. He checks again, I bet 1500, he raises 5000 more to 6500. I fold. Maybe he had 10s, but I think I was giving him too much credit, based on hands I saw from him later on. But regardless, I couldn't beat too much with 9s. [later he re-raised preflop with A8 and raised big on the river with a flush on a paired board. his opponent had a boat and took down a huge pot].
AA on the button. Unopened to me, so I raise to 225, hoping to get some value for my premium hand. SB folds. BB re-raises to 750. Yea! I've got some action. But he will pay to see a flop. I raise to 1500. To my surprise, he re-pops it to 3500. Alright, I'm pretty sure he has KK or QQ, so I should have just called his raise and let him make a big bet on the flop with an overpair. But, for some reason, I push all in. He thinks then folds and shows QQ. I think a blew an opportunity here to get some chips. After a pretty bad run of losing with AA in the previous month, I was too anxious to get all the chips in. I didn't play smart poker on this hand -- this is the one hand I think I misplayed, as I might have been able to get all his chips.
Pocket 10d-10h on the button. I call an early position raise to 400 along with the cutoff. Flop is all babies. Initial raiser leads out for $900, the cutoff folds, I call. Turn puts 3 diamonds on board, still all undercards to my 10s. He bets out just $1000, so I call with my overpair and flush draw. River is another diamond, putting 4 on board. He checks......and I check behind. I might have missed a small value bet there with a 10 high flush, but certainly didn't want to get check raised if he held the Kd or Ad. A little cautious, but I feel I might have sucked out on that hand if he held JJ or QQ. He was a fairly bad player, so I don't think it was intentional for him to price me in on the turn. My flush was good.
Both the hand before the 10s and the hand right after, I held pocket 9s and couldn't make anything happen with them.
In 14 hours of poker it was frustrating to make only 3 real hands better than 1 pair.
1. I made that 10d high flush with pocket 10s. I missed a bet on the end there, I assume the other guy had an over pair with no diamond.
2. I flopped set of 6s at my second table and doubled up through top pair / straight draw.
3. I turned broadway with AQ (my absolute favorite hand!!) in the small blind and the guy made his flush with KQ. Lost a decent sized pot there.
Level 1 - 50/100
Nice start to the Main Event - my first hand is 3-5 offsuit.
The first hand I won was with Kh6h in the CO in a limped pot. 4 players to the flop. Flop of 865 rainbow. Check to me, I bet 300, everyone folds.
Twice I held AQ and called standard raises to airball the flop and fold to a bet.
Pocket 4s in the cutoff. Standard raised pot. 3 players see an A high flop. Check, check to me, I bet and take down the pot.
I finally get in a pot with the 1 complete donkey at the table. I make a standard raise to 300 in early position with 9s. Donkey re-raises in the SB to 1300. I call. Flop is 567 rainbow. I could put him on AK/AQ, but really those are the only hands I can beat right now. He checks and I check behind for pot size control and with a chance to make the 2nd nuts with an 8. I don't want to get in a huge pot with pocket 9s at this point. If he has AK, my 9s are still good anyway. Turn is a 10. He checks again, I bet 1500, he raises 5000 more to 6500. I fold. Maybe he had 10s, but I think I was giving him too much credit, based on hands I saw from him later on. But regardless, I couldn't beat too much with 9s. [later he re-raised preflop with A8 and raised big on the river with a flush on a paired board. his opponent had a boat and took down a huge pot].
AA on the button. Unopened to me, so I raise to 225, hoping to get some value for my premium hand. SB folds. BB re-raises to 750. Yea! I've got some action. But he will pay to see a flop. I raise to 1500. To my surprise, he re-pops it to 3500. Alright, I'm pretty sure he has KK or QQ, so I should have just called his raise and let him make a big bet on the flop with an overpair. But, for some reason, I push all in. He thinks then folds and shows QQ. I think a blew an opportunity here to get some chips. After a pretty bad run of losing with AA in the previous month, I was too anxious to get all the chips in. I didn't play smart poker on this hand -- this is the one hand I think I misplayed, as I might have been able to get all his chips.
Pocket 10d-10h on the button. I call an early position raise to 400 along with the cutoff. Flop is all babies. Initial raiser leads out for $900, the cutoff folds, I call. Turn puts 3 diamonds on board, still all undercards to my 10s. He bets out just $1000, so I call with my overpair and flush draw. River is another diamond, putting 4 on board. He checks......and I check behind. I might have missed a small value bet there with a 10 high flush, but certainly didn't want to get check raised if he held the Kd or Ad. A little cautious, but I feel I might have sucked out on that hand if he held JJ or QQ. He was a fairly bad player, so I don't think it was intentional for him to price me in on the turn. My flush was good.
Both the hand before the 10s and the hand right after, I held pocket 9s and couldn't make anything happen with them.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Day 1, my second table. Robert Varkonyi, 2002 Main Event Champion in the red shirt. Note the bracelet on his wrist. I saw him on Day 2b and he wore exactly the same clothes. The red head is Melissa Hayden, poker pro and the significant other of Allen Cunningham.
Here's a quote from Bluff Magazine's running update log:
Sun, 08 Jul 2007 15:19:57
Table of Pros
Anyone being moved onto table 66 is in for a rough Day 1. Seated in the one-seat is the 2000 World Series of Poker Champion Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, to his left in the five-seat is Ishak Noyan, Melissa Hayden is to his left, and the 2002 World Series of Poker Champion Robert Varkonyi is in the ten-seat.
[they were close, Varkonyi sat in the 9 seat, but who's counting?]
Here's a quote from Bluff Magazine's running update log:
Sun, 08 Jul 2007 15:19:57
Table of Pros
Anyone being moved onto table 66 is in for a rough Day 1. Seated in the one-seat is the 2000 World Series of Poker Champion Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, to his left in the five-seat is Ishak Noyan, Melissa Hayden is to his left, and the 2002 World Series of Poker Champion Robert Varkonyi is in the ten-seat.
[they were close, Varkonyi sat in the 9 seat, but who's counting?]
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Day 2 Summary
I went in prepared to be patient even though I was very low on chips. I was patient. So patient, I didn't voluntarily put chips in the pot for over an hour. Unfortunately they have these things called blinds and antes. Can you believe they force you to put chips in the pot before even seeing your cards????? The nerve. I didn't think it was possible to have worse cards than I did at the end of day 1, but today I did.
First hand was 3-4 offsuit and it didn't get any better. Next hand 5-3 offsuit. It was unbelievable. The best hands I had were As7s in the blind after a middle position raise and A-5 offsuit under the gun (first to act pre-flop). If I push with those hands, I will only be called by a hand who is a 3:1 favorite over me. Any big Ace or reasonable pocket pair will have me drawing to 3 outs (or miracle flush or straight possibilities). Unfortunately, I would have flopped 2 pair with A-5 on an A5K board. My chips would have been in the middle, but I'm actually not even sure I would have won the hand as a guy ended up going all in on the turn.
The other unfortunate hand was when I was in the big blind with J-2 offsuit. There was a middle position raise and a call. Obviously that is a shit hand so I threw it away. Flop was 228. I might have tripled up there or at least doubled with the post-flop action.
Soon thereafter is the J-7 hand I texted in that knocked me out. That was literally the only hand I played. I was in the cutoff seat (1 before the dealer button) and nobody had entered the pot to me. I moved in confidently, but there is no way a guy is folding 8s with the number of chips I had. He had to call. Flop was no help, but I turned the Jd and everybody said, "You can sit back down!" I was now more than a 3:1 favorite to stay in the game with 1 card to come, but.....Damn it, they jinxed me, cuz the river came another diamond to give us both a flush. But his was 8 high and mine was 7 high. I'm out.
I sit down in a cash game soon after busting and pick up pocket QQs twice in the first half hour. Come on....where were those in the tourney!?!? Of course I lost big pots both times.....[who calls a 6x BB raise with K-7 offsuit in the SB?]
In addition to the pros I played against, I was able to chat with several pros including Chad Brown and Gavin Griffin. Right after I got knocked out, Chad and I recounted some poker war stories side by side at the urinal. Gavin Griffin is doing a charity walk for breast cancer in Long Beach, which I asked about as my mom is a survivor. He dyed his hair pink as a symbol of support for breast cancer survivors. I thanked him for his efforts.
Overall it was a fantastic experience and a great time. I wish I had a chance to play more poker as my stack size and lack of cards dictated my actions of folding or pushing all in for the last 4-5 hours of play. I really want to do it again next year......you Syndicate members best watch it, cuz Jakey-O is hunnnngggrrrry. [In my head that was in a Humberto Brenes voice]
After I get these pics transferred off the camera, I will post some of the good ones. Thanks for your support and thanks for reading. The Syndicate is only getting stronger, so I really look forward to [winning it] next year.
First hand was 3-4 offsuit and it didn't get any better. Next hand 5-3 offsuit. It was unbelievable. The best hands I had were As7s in the blind after a middle position raise and A-5 offsuit under the gun (first to act pre-flop). If I push with those hands, I will only be called by a hand who is a 3:1 favorite over me. Any big Ace or reasonable pocket pair will have me drawing to 3 outs (or miracle flush or straight possibilities). Unfortunately, I would have flopped 2 pair with A-5 on an A5K board. My chips would have been in the middle, but I'm actually not even sure I would have won the hand as a guy ended up going all in on the turn.
The other unfortunate hand was when I was in the big blind with J-2 offsuit. There was a middle position raise and a call. Obviously that is a shit hand so I threw it away. Flop was 228. I might have tripled up there or at least doubled with the post-flop action.
Soon thereafter is the J-7 hand I texted in that knocked me out. That was literally the only hand I played. I was in the cutoff seat (1 before the dealer button) and nobody had entered the pot to me. I moved in confidently, but there is no way a guy is folding 8s with the number of chips I had. He had to call. Flop was no help, but I turned the Jd and everybody said, "You can sit back down!" I was now more than a 3:1 favorite to stay in the game with 1 card to come, but.....Damn it, they jinxed me, cuz the river came another diamond to give us both a flush. But his was 8 high and mine was 7 high. I'm out.
I sit down in a cash game soon after busting and pick up pocket QQs twice in the first half hour. Come on....where were those in the tourney!?!? Of course I lost big pots both times.....[who calls a 6x BB raise with K-7 offsuit in the SB?]
In addition to the pros I played against, I was able to chat with several pros including Chad Brown and Gavin Griffin. Right after I got knocked out, Chad and I recounted some poker war stories side by side at the urinal. Gavin Griffin is doing a charity walk for breast cancer in Long Beach, which I asked about as my mom is a survivor. He dyed his hair pink as a symbol of support for breast cancer survivors. I thanked him for his efforts.
Overall it was a fantastic experience and a great time. I wish I had a chance to play more poker as my stack size and lack of cards dictated my actions of folding or pushing all in for the last 4-5 hours of play. I really want to do it again next year......you Syndicate members best watch it, cuz Jakey-O is hunnnngggrrrry. [In my head that was in a Humberto Brenes voice]
After I get these pics transferred off the camera, I will post some of the good ones. Thanks for your support and thanks for reading. The Syndicate is only getting stronger, so I really look forward to [winning it] next year.
Out
I'm out an hour into the day. Not 1 playable hand. Open pushed in CO w J7, called by 88. Hit my J on turn...he rivered a flush. Bummer
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Off Days
Not a whole lot to report from yesterday and today, which were spent relaxing and preparing for my Day 2 tomorrow (wednesday). Spent some time at the Venetian playing cash game poker.
Todd's friend here in town who has serious connections and who arranged the free room for us to stay in at the Rio got us some comped tickets to a show tonight. It was Ooh La La at the Paris hotel, which was pretty cool. Big thanks to Todd and his friend who have made this trip that much easier.
I just wandered down to the Amazon room here at the Rio which is where it all goes down and things are as busy as ever. The final numbers for the tournament are in and there were a total of 6358 people who registered for the Main Event with a prize pool of close to $58 million. The top 621 players will "cash" with the lowest prize amount at over $20,000; the winner will get $8.25 Million.
Whatever happens tomorrow, I have essentially made the top third of the field by making it to day 2. I have outlasted many top pros and thousands of others. That I can be proud of, though not satisfied with. I am thinking positive thoughts about tomorrow's poker playing and look forward to a long day of poker and many updates to come.
[i hope i can find some Aces or Kings relatively soon though!]
Todd's friend here in town who has serious connections and who arranged the free room for us to stay in at the Rio got us some comped tickets to a show tonight. It was Ooh La La at the Paris hotel, which was pretty cool. Big thanks to Todd and his friend who have made this trip that much easier.
I just wandered down to the Amazon room here at the Rio which is where it all goes down and things are as busy as ever. The final numbers for the tournament are in and there were a total of 6358 people who registered for the Main Event with a prize pool of close to $58 million. The top 621 players will "cash" with the lowest prize amount at over $20,000; the winner will get $8.25 Million.
Whatever happens tomorrow, I have essentially made the top third of the field by making it to day 2. I have outlasted many top pros and thousands of others. That I can be proud of, though not satisfied with. I am thinking positive thoughts about tomorrow's poker playing and look forward to a long day of poker and many updates to come.
[i hope i can find some Aces or Kings relatively soon though!]
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