ThePokerResource.net: A Rounder’s blog

We started the day off with 33 players and the blinds at 8k/16k with a 2k ante. I had 555k in chips which was about average and 14^th out of 33. Being healthy, I sort of wanted to wait out the next three players before opening up my play as we’d jump in pay from 41k to 50k. There weren’t a whole lot of hands for me in the beginning. I raised with AJ once and got a walk. I raised again with AJ, got called by the SB, missed on the flop, checked and let him take it on the turn. For the most part the table was playing pretty tight and ABC. At this stage in the tourney, I think most of the riff-raff had been weeded out and I think the money possibilities reduce players’ willingness to splash around. I suppose I could have raised a lot more but I was picking up more than my fair share of rags and I also had the chip leader, Lee Markholt, with 1.4 million in chips directly to my left, as well as Haralabos Volgaris with 800k and Cliff Josephy with 800k at the table.

My biggest hand came up right before our table broke. After Josephy folded UTG, I raised to 50k with two jacks. I wasn’t too happy when Markholt studied me over and grabbed some chips. He re-raised to 175k. Everyone else folded. I took my time and studied the situation. Initially, I thought, he knows how tight I’ve been playing so he should have two jacks beat here. But then I analyzed his raise. It was pretty evident that he wanted to end the hand pre-flop. He more than tripled my raise to 175k. From that raise, I could safely eliminate aces and kings. I’ve fallen for the over-raise pre-flop by aces once at Mandalay, but most people with #1 or #2 after seeing a raise would invite action. If you had Lee’s stack and saw my raise to 50k and had aces or kings, wouldn’t you re-raise to 140k or 150k? I was a bit worried about queens or possibly AK, but I was pretty sure that pre-flop, I had the best hand, so I pushed for an additional 220k or so.  He reluctantly called with two nines and I was able to double up to just over 800k and our table broke. I thought this hand spoke volumes to the language of poker. Many people have a belief that much of big bet poker is studying intently every little physical move by your opponents and looking for an extra bat of the eyelid or extra heavy breathing, etc., etc. While physical information is definitely a piece of the puzzle, I’ve always felt that most of the information you need comes from your opponents betting. If Markholt was trapping me by over-raising with #1 or 2, I’d applaud his play and ship him my stack. But I was fairly certain by the amount of his raise that I had the best of it and was definitely excited to see his hand and to fade the board.

We redrew and I finally had my opportunity to play with Daniel Negraneau. He started the day off short stacked with about 175k, but he was able to rebuild to about half a million. As stupid as it sounds, I entered the day not wanting him to bust, but rather, wanting to play with him for an extended amount of time. I guess it would sort of be like an avid tennis fan desiring to rally with Roger Federer for as long as possible.  Negraneau was in seat 2, Cyndy Violette was in 3, I was in 5, Cliff Josephy was in 6, and Scott Fischman was in 8. All things considered, I liked this lineup. The four seat was someone I had played cash games with and was a mediocre player and from my experience with Violette on the previous day, I think she’s relatively easy to play against.

I was able to win several small pots early. Negraneau limped first in late position, as did Violette in the cutoff, I completed with 95 in the SB, and Josephy knuckled from the BB. Blinds were 8/16k with 2k ante so there was about 80k in the pot. Everyone checked the 987 rainbow board. The turn came a 6 and again I checked as did Josephy. Negraneau bet 40k and Violette folded. I didn’t really think he had the 10 as he checked the flop quickly and didn’t even consider betting. I figured with my idiot end of the straight, I was either drawing dead or he was drawing pretty slim. So I elected to just call. Josephy folded and we both checked the river 9 and my straight was good. About a round later, Violette raised to 37k on the button and I defended with 78s from the BB. I was looking to get involved with Violette because her hold’em game still has some rough edges to it. While I played cash games for two years in AC, I knew that she tore up the high limit stud games and that she only occasionally played hold’em. With the explosion of hold’em tournaments, she has transitioned quite successfully, but she plays the game sort of like an old stud player. She likes to see flops and is a bit uncertain of herself post-flop. Players like Negraneau, Fischman, and especially the hyperag internet kids like Zee Justin would be able to play circles around her because she is mostly level 1 thinking. I would definitely stay out of her stud games, but in hold’em, I welcomed playing with her, especially when her pre-flop raise was so small. The flop came Q44, which is a perfect bluffing opportunity. I bet 40k into the 100k pot and she flashed me an ace before folding. The texture of the board is so good to bluff at because she basically has to have a queen to continue. I probably wouldn’t make this play against a more savvy opponent because they’d think to themselves, why is this aggressive kid leading into me? Would he play a 4 or a Q this way? Probably not. With those hands, he’d probably check raise. Therefore, he probably has air (at most a small to medium pocket pair) so a healthy raise should move him off this pot. This level 2 and 3 thinking and execution is something I was pretty surprised that Violette has not quite developed. In the last hand of the level, I was in the BB, and Fischman raised to 50k second in and got called by an unknown guy, and I looked at two kings in the BB. There are many ways to play this hand. I ordinarily just call if its heads-up but with the extra player in, I wanted to get extra value. I could just make a standard raise because the hand is so strong and see a flop, but I’d play the entire hand out of position. Or I could make a massive re-raise and try to project that I was executing the squeeze play. I re-raised 175k. Basically that was going to end the hand unless Fischman put me on a play and decided to push pre-flop with tens, jacks, or AQ. That was my hope but he took some time and folded as did the other player. Could have turned out better but I was happy to stack the pot and enter the break as one of the chip leaders and a member of the comma comma club.

The next level was 10k/20k with a 3k ante. I don’t really recall being too active in this level. There was a lot of raising it and taking it. I think I raised pre-flop several times and ended up losing the pot after a continuation bet. I think I went down to about 700 or 800k when I played my next big pot. The short-stacked 1 seat opened for 75k and for some reason, I didn’t think he was that strong. He sort of looked around at the table before raising and it didn’t seem like he was that comfortable with his hand. After DN and CV folded, I peeked at AQ and was fairly certain that I had the best hand. I re-raised to 205k and both blinds folded. The initial raiser put a lot of time into his decision before calling which surprised me as I initially thought he was on pretty much a steal. He only had about 120k left and I was pretty certain that he was going to move in regardless of the flop. I was committed to call, pretty much regardless of the flop, but thankfully for me, it came off 1010A. He did not insta move-in and of course, I felt great about my hand. He went through all his options several times before moving in and I insta-called. He flipped over two eights, I was able to fade the turn and river and I was back at close to a million. In the last hand of the level, Fishman made a smallish raise from early position which I contemplated re-raising with two nines out of the SB but elected to just call. Scot had been limping and seeing a lot of flops but coming in raising relatively infrequently. I wanted to play this hand from the flop on. Josephy called from the BB and we saw a 952 rainbow board. Sweet. I checked, Josephy chcecked and Fischman made a weak lead of 70k into the pot. I just called and Josephy folded. The turn paired the deuce and brought two diamonds. I weak led for 120k into the now growing pot, and Scotty very quickly called. I was pretty certain at this point that he had an overpair, and if a non-diamond came on the end, I had already decided to move in. The 10 of clubs came and I announced all-in to the dealer. I had about 800k which just covered Fischman and he went into the tank. He muttered to himself, asking how he could lay his hand down. He quietly asked if I had ace-deuce or nine-ten. He said he could beat nine-ten. He took over three minutes to make up his decision and I of course, tried to sell myself as weak. I began to breathe very heavily, cleared my throat several times, and just tried to look uncomfortable. I suppose I got a little greedy with my river bet, but I was sure on the turn that he had an overpair and I just didn’t think he would lay the hand down. To his credit, he made a world class laydown in what could have been a two million dollar pot. I dragged the pot, was up to 1.3 mil, but was burning that he folded. 

There was quite a bit of discussion by the table players after the hand as we went on break. I read later on pokerpages that Negraneau thought I played the hand poorly, regardless of what I had. I was pretty amazed at Negraneau’s play during the day, and to say that I was in awe of him is a bit much, but not too far from the truth. That being said, I hear what he’s saying. I may have butchered the hand on the river, but that’s only because Fischman folded. If he called and I stacked the 2 million pot, the play would’ve been a thing of beauty. It was high risk, certainly. It’s pretty rare to be in that stage of a major, with pretty much the nuts, against somebody who has an overpair to the board and a lot of chips. Certainly the safe play would’ve been to bet around 300k. A better play might’ve been to check-raise all-in. But I thought this was a great spot to feign a busted wheel and diamond draw and move-in. At the time, I underestimated Scot’s playing abilities as I thought he was a very good player but not a fantastic player. From a tournament that Kelly and Joe played with him at the Commerce, I know he plays to win so I thought he would lean more towards calling and having two mil and a great shot at winning, than folding and surviving with 680k. In retrospect, I think Fischman and Negraneau are the few people who would fold queens there. Cliff Josephy, who is one of the top rated online tourney players, stated in an interview during the break that he thought I had nothing. The average recreational player would’ve definitely called. The pokerpages reporter who witnessed the whole hand said that based on the betting and my physical appearance that he would’ve called. In my honest assessment, I think the average player, and Josephy and players like Violette and Michael Binger would have called. I have to applaud Fischman’s fold. I think it was world class.

The next level was 12k/24k and I proceeded to lose some chips raising with AJ and AQ, whiffing on the flop and getting check-raised. I got crippled however, by the player who I had tried to bust earlier. I made a standard raise to 72k UTG with AK, Scot called on the button, and DN and CV folded their blinds. Flop came A74 with two hearts. I led for 100k into the 200k pot and Scot popped it to 220k. This is a great raise as it makes me react without really giving me a whole lot of info on his hand. I’ve seen him make this play on tv with middle pair. It’s of course possible that he had a weaker ace, and it’s also possible that I was beat. After his raise, he had 570k left and given his chip stack I felt handcuffed. I didn’t really think I could fold top pair top kicker on this board but I wasn’t that confident that my hand was good. If I just called (which I probably would’ve done if he was deeper), he’d probably bet 200k or so on the turn and move in for his remaining chips on the end. If I was committed to calling down with this hand, I’d rather move in on the flop. But of course, I wasn’t particularly thrilled by the situation. I moved in, he inst-called with A7s and I was crippled. It’d be simple to say that I got coolered on this hand and that there was nothing I could do about it, but that’s too easy. I’ve put a lot of time into this hand (as well as the nines full hand) and I still shake my head. I’m not sure if I could have folded. I suppose I could have re-raised to 360k, but if Fischman moves in for an addional 430k, I’m not sure if I would’ve laid down. If Fischman just calls, I’d probably move in on the turn. However it played out, I felt very handcuffed by the flop and the chip stacks. Unfortunately, I lost the hand as well as the majority of my chips. I was knocked down to about 300k and our table broke. 

With 17 players left, I picked up one pot by moving in, but for the most part, I folded for several rounds. Blinds were costing me 60k per round and the next level would cost 77k per round. I played my final hand UTG for about 225k with KQ and I was able to fade everyone but the SB who picked up two kings. I was drawing dead on the turn and I got knocked out 17^th, good for 67k. I’ve put a lot of thought into this hand as well and I understand the merits of folding but I am comfortable with pushing. It’s definitely risky UTG but I have to get called first and except for five hands, I have a reasonable chance of outdrawing. If I had folded that hand as well as my two blinds in the next level, I’d be in late position with 170k, losing 4k every hand. I’m not sure that I’d be able to pick up a hand and be the first one in during that round. If I continue to fold to my next round of blinds, I’d be down to 100k. While it’s definitely possible that I’d pick up a hand eventually, I don’t like my stack to get that short before I do, even if it is a major and I’m playing for 2 mil. I think I’d still push in that spot.

It was a hell of a ride. Especially Day 4. For the first three days of the tourney, I was able to play small ball for the most part. I was never all-in and rarely had to show down my hand. Day 4 was a roller-coaster ride as I played several huge pots and was all-in on several occasions. I definitely learned a lot. There is a ton of play in the day before the televised table and I think I’d try to do a better job of keeping pots small. Raising a smaller amount pre-flop and being more selective in my flop continuation bets are some things I picked up from DN. I reminded myself occasionally throughout Day 4 after I joined the comma comma club that once I had a big stack that I needed to have a huge hand to play a huge pot. Unfortunately, I played a monster without a monster. I can’t really say that I would play the hand differently. I think most of the times, Scot folds a worse ace, or worse pair, and of course, I was not hoping for a call. But when he insta-called, I knew my prospect of reaching the Holy Grail was crippled. For the most part, I was very happy with my play, especially in the first three days. I learned a lot in my experience and hope that you’ve enjoyed the blogs.

Until next time,

PR