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

Wow, what a day.  Not only did I make it to the money, which was my primary goal, but I have a workable stack for tomorrow. I always joke with my poker friends that I love to bag chips at the end of the night in majors. In my case, if I can bag chips one more time, we’ll be on the Travel Channel. Pretty crazy.

I entered the day with 144k and needed 36 players to bust to lock up at least 25k. My strategy was to play very small pots until the bubble burst as I was very healthy. I think I entered the day 46^th in chips. Unfortunately, the small ball strategy went straight out the window on the third hand of the day. Blinds were 1500/3000 with 400 ante. After everyone folded to me on the button, I made it 8500 with the 79 of clubs and the BB defended. He seemed to be a young kid who didn’t seem to be a great player and definitely he was not seasoned with experience. The flipper rolled off A105 with the A10 of clubs. He checked and I thought about checking behind, but he pretty much has to have an ace to continue with the hand. I bet 11k into a 21k pot. He quickly raised to 27k.  Ouch. Not what I had hoped for. I thought things through and went through my options.  I was about 97% sure that he didn’t have AK or AQ based on his call pre-flop. I was a little worried about AJ, but I thought his most likely holding was A9, A8 or A7. And if he held those hands, I thought I could move him off top pair. I looked at his stack and I had him covered by about 30k. I re-raised 30k more and prayed that he would fold.  Unfortunately, he called in about 12 seconds and I was pretty much done with the hand if I didn’t hit. After the 30k re-raise, I was left with about 80k and I thought I could work with that if I whiffed. The turn came Q of spades and he checked.  I put some thought into moving in as he could think he was drawing dead if I had A10 or AQ, but I was pretty sure that he was not going to fold his ace. So I knuckled and the poker gods shined their happy face on me as the lovely jack of club came on the end. The BB checked and I looked back at his stack. I definitely wanted to extract some more chips so I thought about what to bet. He had about 60k left and I bet 35k. This way, he could see my hand and still have enough left over to have a remote shot of making the money. I doubted he would call an all-in. He quickly and reluctantly called the 35k river bet and I was at 240k. Sweet. So much for playing small ball until the money. I just couldn’t help myself in the hand. Winning that hand was obviously huge as now I was very comfortable. I was pretty much out of danger in terms of bubbling before the money. I had a lot of latitude in terms of pushing around smaller stacks until we got into the money.

Right after the hand, our table broke and I was sent to another table. Pretty good table as there was only one name player, Fabrice Soulier, a sick French online player. Play was reasonably tight during the next level and a half while we got into the money. I don’t really recall playing a lot of hands. I passed up on several opportunities to re-raise shorter stacks and apply pressure and use my stack size as leverage. I think deep down, I was sort of comfortable having already won 100k to start the day and was pretty eager to cash without splashing around too much. I played pretty much ABC and built my stack to 300k when our table broke.

I took seat 5 in my new table and saw David Oppenheim with 200k in the 3 seat, a player with 600k in the 4 seat, Kristy Gazes with 240k in the 8 seat and Cyndy Violette with about 200k in the 9 seat. What a stacked lineup. I decided to play pretty straightforward and I was slowly able to build my stack to about 440k without ever having to show a hand. After folding for two rounds, I re-raised Violette’s raise of my BB with AJ. With the blinds at 3k/6k with 500 ante, she raised to 24k after 3 folds and when it was on me, I studied her for a bit, but based on her position and the amount of her raise, I didn’t put her on a top notch premium hand. After some deliberation, I re-raised 35k more. Unfortunately, she called after some thought. The flop came 246 and I made a continuation bet of 50k which was good enough to take it.

I raised pre-flop with AK twice and re-raised once with two jacks. I was never looked up.  Once in the SB, Gazes limped, Violette limped, Oppenheim limped, and the button limped. I looked at two jacks in the SB and I raised to 53k (blinds still 3k/6k). I definitely thought everyone was just looking for a cheap flop and not trapping with a huge hand.  The BB, an older Asian gentleman went into the tank for over a minute. I sort of remained motionless and during the time, I gazed over at Violette and exchanged sort of a look. She has a really pleasant demeanor and I’ve always been a mild fan of hers.  Of course, all these guys thought I was stealing and definitely I’d play my whole stack here if need be, but 53k should’ve ended it. I wanted to give off a calmness about my hand, a comfort level, because even though I knew I had the best hand, I of course did not want to see a flop. The BB most likely held a reasonable ace and as he was short stacked (about 120k), I wanted to convey that I was comfortable with my hand. I exchanged sort of a facial look with Violette and then sort of easily laughed at the situation as the BB had taken 2 minutes. It wasn’t an uncomfortable laugh, it was a natural laugh and that convinced the BB (he said he had A10 suited). The field folded and I showed my jacks as I dragged the pot.

I limped with aces in the second position, the SB completed, and Oppenheim in the BB knuckled. Flop came 962 with two clubs. SB checked and Oppenheim checked. I thought for a while and then weak led for 11k into a 22k pot. The difference between Oppenheim who is a world class player and the SB who was a clown who thought  he was Stu Ungar Jr  could not have been more evident on this hand. Oppenheim was wary of a trap when a tight player like me limped in early position. I mean on a board of 962, the blinds are supposed to connect with those rags. The SB popped it up to 27k.  Oppenheim folded and I asked to see the SB’s stack. He had about 70k left. It’s possible that he had a nine or a six or a draw of some sort. It’s also possible that he had absolutely nothing and was just making a play at my weak flop bet. I considered just calling and then moving in on him after his turn bet but I wasn’t quite sure what a safe turn card would be. I think I jizzed a little too soon as I stuck out a stack of pinks and put dreamclown all-in. He folded pretty quickly and once again, I had won another sizeable pot without showing my cards or going to the river. All my moves were working like a charm. That was pretty much the story of levels 3 and 4. I picked up some pretty strong starting hands: AK several times, medium pairs several times, and I was never really played back at. My entire stack was never in jeopardy and I think my opponents never really got a line on my play as I played pretty tight and was never looked up.

Another bonus to going this deep in a WPT event is the opportunity to play with some of the best players in the world. I played briefly with Michael Mizrachi yesterday, and today in addition to the players I’ve mentioned, I also played with Chip Reese, Chau Giang and Cliff Josephy. It was very cool playing with guys who are regulars in the Big Game at Bellagio. It was even cooler that I usually had the second biggest stack at the table, picked up some hands, and was able to execute a number of plays on them. I was able to come over the top pre-flop, I was able to squeeze them, and I limped with a monster.  While they are superstars, we’re still playing poker and I’ve played a lot of poker. As long as I have a stack that is not threatened by the blinds and antes, I think I can hold my own. That being said, Oppenheim and Reese are such cool guys. They are world class, never let the results bother them, and handle themselves with grace.

At the end of level 4, I had built up to about 500k. Level 5 was a roller coaster ride. Initially, I kept winning relatively small non-risky pots. I picked up AK, jacks, nines and got walks with each of them. I picked up jacks again when Fred Goldberg (10^th in this year’s main event) raised to 35k (blinds 5k/10k) after three folds. I studied him for a bit and couldn’t really pick up much as he has a pretty good poker face. But on just the math alone, jacks should be the best hand here. I re-raised to 105k. Again, that was good enough to win the pot without a showdown. Shortly thereafter, Goldberg and I tangled again. Everyone folded to him in the SB and he completed, I looked at 68 in the BB and I knuckled. Flop came K83 rainbow and he checked. I bet 10k into a 24k pot. He quickly called. Turn was a 7 of spade (the flop 8 was a spade also) and Goldberg checked again. I made another small bet of 15k. He quickly zinged 50k into the pot after verbalizing raise. I thought things over for about a minute and thought my hand was good. I considered re-raising about 100k more but he only had about 180k so I didn’t want to commit myself to a huge pot. I elected to call and the river came a red 10. He announced “sixty thousand,“ and cut his chips pretty nervously. I thought things over again and after much thought, I called him. The action just didn’t add up. I thought my hand was a favorite to be good and Goldberg knuckled, said good call and flipped over A2 of spades. I dragged that pot, got some “nice calls” from my table mates, and stacked chips which put me at 820k! Nice. How far I had come from 144k to start the day. Everything just seemed to click for me today.

The next big hand I played one round later. UTG, I peeked at AK and I limped. I occasionally do this, especially if I’ve been very active, and also for deception purposes if I flop an ace or king in an unraised pot. The player two to my left went all in for 122k.  Everyone folded to me and I quickly called. I feared a pocket pair but even if that was the case, I wasn’t too unhappy gambling for 122k as I was now one of the chip leaders. Sure enough, he flops over QQ. Unfortunately, the flop came AQJ and I was not able to improve. Too bad as that pot would’ve taken me close to a million. Instead I was down to 700k and I lost several small pots in the remainder of the level (and of course the unrelenting blinds and antes) and ended the day with 555k.

Overall, I can’t really complain. My goal was to cash and I have far exceeded that. I have a workable stack with 33 players left and if the stars align tomorrow, I could be playing for some real money on Tues. But, as I’ve done all tourney long, I’ll just take things one hand and one level at a time. For the most part, I’ve been playing pretty tight ABC and occasionally picking spots. I don’t imagine that tomorrow will be too different. 

-PR

Day 2 started off really well, then plateau-ed for the most part, and then ended on an uptick. Overall, I can’t complain. I finished with 144k with 136 players left. I think the average stack is about 123k.

I drew a fairly good table. I was in Seat 6, Gary Gibbs was the biggest stack with 95k in seat 2, Hasan Habib had 55k in seat 3, Marcello del Grosso and Casey Kastle, both solid tourney players in seats 7 and 8, and Robby Mizrachi again in seat 10. The good thing was that I was the second biggest stack as everyone else had between 15k and 50k. I really like it when only a few players at the table can bust you, and to start off, only Gibbs could.

I usually feel out the table environment in the first few hands, and it was evident what the short stacks’ strategy was. In the first two hands, there was a raise and a short stack pushed all-in behind. It was clear that I had to be pretty selective in the hands I chose to play as the short stacks were applying max pressure.

The first hand I played was two tens. With the blinds at 400/800 with 100 ante, I re-raised Bob Feduniak’s raise of 2500 to 7500. He laid down and I think he would lay down most hands so I kept that in mind. I won a decent sized pot when I called an early position raise to 2200 with two sevens. Del Grosso called behind, as did the nine seat, and Gary Gibbs from the small blind and Hasan Habib from the BB. Obviously I wanted to flop a set, but instead I flopped an overpair to the 256 board. Thankfully the pre-flop raiser checked and I bet 10k into the 14k pot. I wanted to bet big to let people know I had a decent pair and of course, I wanted to end the hand on the flop. Del Grosso folded, but the nine seat made me sweat over a minute before folding. Gibbs then made me sweat for about a minute and a half before folding, and Habib made me sweat for two minutes before folding. Pretty tough given that my pair wasn’t that big. I dragged the decent pot and Gibbs said that he laid down A6.  I’m pretty sure that Habib had a pair and a gutshot. I liked my hand the longer he thought about it, but I’d be put to a pretty tough test if he pushed for over 50k.

My next big hand was at the end of the first level. After six folds, I raised to 2500 with two fives. The BB called and we looked at a flop of Q54. How good am I running? He checked and I made a weak lead of 2500 into a 6500 pot. He popped it up to 5k and after some thinking, I called. The beauty of the weak lead is that against the right opponents (players with game), they’ll raise weak bets with nothing. It turned out that my opponent actually had a hand. The turn paired the Q and he checked to me. I deliberated and checked behind. If he was raising with nothing, I wanted to give him a chance to make something. It was still conceivable that he had the Q and I didn’t want to bet thinking that I was drawing dead. The river came a K and the BB went all-in for about 30k. I insta-called and he tabled fours full. Wow. He actually had a monster.  Thank God another Q didn’t come on the end to kill the action.

That hand put me at about 135k and I was pretty fired up. Of course, the more chips you have, the more play you have. You can be wrong on a read, make more plays, see more flops. And given my table image, I was thinking that perhaps I could have a big day. Unfortunately, after the first break, I went fairly card dead. I basically hovered around 115k when our table broke and I went to a table with a ton of chips.

I arrived with about 110k and there was a hotshot young kid in seat 2 who was playing a huge pot with Scott Lazar. He busted Lazar and had about 150k. In seat 3 was a novice cannon with about 100k, Freddy Deeb was in seat 4 with 150k, KrazyKanuck (James Worth) was in 6 with about 180k. These boys were playing some big pots. With the blinds at 600/1200 with 200 ante, these guys were opening for 5k, 6k, even 7k. As the third and fourth level progressed, two seats were filled with even more chips (including Michael Binger on my left with 200k) and even though I had about 120k, eight of my nine opponents had me covered! Given the massive pre-flop raises, the deep stacks of my opponents and the fact that I went pretty card dead, I pretty much just watched some crazy action in levels 3 and 4. Fortunately, I was able to pick up queens twice and re-raised the initial raiser and one caller. I was able to steal the antes several times and made one move on a guy in the middle of level 5. Blinds were 1000/2000 with 300 antes. After three folds, the neighbor on my right raised to 6500. My image was pretty squeaky tight and I decided to make a relatively risky play with KJ of clubs. I took some time and decided to play this hand as if it were a monster. I re-raised to 16,500.  A typical re-raise would’ve been to about 20k or even more, but I wanted to portray a huge hand. After everyone folded, my neighbor (who I had been on pretty good terms with as we had chatted a bit) thought for about a minute before reluctantly calling. Man, I really wanted to win it pre-flop. Obviously, I hoped that he didn’t pair on the flop. The flop came 10 8 4 and he checked. I bet 22k into a 39k pot, again, trying to indicate that I had a monster, but of course, I wanted to minimize my losses if he moved in on me. He folded and told me that he had AK. Whew!  I of course told him that the ace would’ve been good but that he would’ve gone busto if a king came. LOL. Poker players talk so much BS. I doubt that he had AK, but it’s certainly possible.  I put him on about AQ or AJ after he called the pre-flop raise and was obviously glad that the flop came rags.

That’s pretty much it. I didn’t really have a whole lot to work with in the last three levels.  Queens were the best hand I picked up and with two other players, I’d rather pick up the pot pre-flop. If I had aces or kings, I’d of been happy to raise less and see a flop. I went fairly card dead in levels 3 and 4 so I pretty much just had to watch the action and sort of pick my spots. Overall, I’m pretty happy where I am. I am still a tad above average and I need to fade 36 players before we get to the money. I will lean considerably towards the conservative side in the first two levels tomorrow as obviously there’s a big difference between $0 and $25k. If I get into the money, then certainly I’ll open my game back up. The payout is pretty flat and there are no really huge jumps until the final 10. I think I’m a pretty big favorite to cash but not quite a lock. I just hope that I don’t get coolered early tomorrow, like kings against aces when aces has me covered. I’ll try to keep the pots small until the bubble bursts.

-PR

With the exception of two hands in the fifth level, I was pretty happy with the entire day. I was able to pick up hands, win several big pots, make several successful moves, and pretty much had a lot of fun. The day started off smoothly and I was able to keep the pots small, gradually building my stack through the first several levels. Small ball was the name of the game early, and my table’s lineup was well-suited for that strategy. I had three pros and a bunch of unknowns. I was in seat 10, Bill Gazes was in 3, Farzad Bonyadi in 6, and Robert Mizrachi in 8. I wasn’t sure exactly how the unknowns played, but as the day progressed, the happier I became with the lineup. The unknowns played relatively straightforward and seemed to be pretty good spots to pick up chips.  Interestingly, I won the most chips off the pros, in particular Gazes and Bonyadi.

I was able to pick up several small pots early. I raised and got a walk with AKs.  I re-raised Bonyadi with aces and he folded. The first hands played past the flop were with reasonably big aces. Mizrachi limped in early position and I limped behind with AQ.  After another limper, the button raised to 600 (blinds were 50/100).  The blinds folded, as did Mizrachi, and I usually don’t like to get involved with a hand that could be dominated by AK but this guy did not seem to be a good player. I was in the same spot at the Bike main event after limping with AQ and a novice raised with A10. In any case, I called and we took the flop heads-up. Flop came J84 all diamonds. I checked and he bet 600. I called with the queen of diamond. Turned a brick and we both checked. River brick and we both checked. He turned over A10. Small pot, but interesting hand. I had set up a reasonably tight image and the table saw that I was playing quality hands. I confirmed my read on the pre-flop raiser as not that solid of a player and I built my stack to about 32k right off the bat.

UTG limps, Mizrachi limps, I limped with AJ, Gazes and one other player limps.  Including the blinds, we saw the flop 7 handed (blinds were 100-200 at this time). Flop A78 rainbow. Checked to Mizrachi who bets 1000. At this stage in the tourney, I want to play small ball. I could lose the pot by giving cards to someone, but the 1k bet by Rob should thin the field and I didn’t want to play a big pot with a solid player this early in the tourney. Gazes hemmed and hawed and also called. Turn was a 4. Mizrachi bets 2k and after some deliberation, I call. Gazes folded and I was pretty sure that I had the best hand, but again, small ball is fine with me early. River was a jack and while I was reasonably sure that I had the best hand, this card and Rob’s check sealed it. I bet half the pot, 4k and tried my best to breathe heavily, acting as though I was bluffing but Rob plays good. He thought for about a minute and a half before folding. I thought he had A9 or A10, but I wasn’t going to raise during the hand in case he had a set of sevens or aces up. I was happy with the outcome, obviously, and Rob’s river fold confirmed to me that he plays pretty darn well.

I made several moves during the day. The most memorable one was against Bonyadi. He limped, and after another player limped, I limped with 7c9c. I think six of us took the flop, which came off well: Q95 with two clubs. Checked to Bonyadi who bet 1k. I called and we took the turn heads-up. The turn came 8h and Bonyadi bet 2k. The 8 was a beauty for me because I could now represent J10. I thought Bonyadi was most likely holding a Q, and I thought that I could move him off the hand. I made it 5500 to go. Very tough for him to call, especially if I turned a straight. Even if he called, which I thought was unlikely, the turn gave me a bunch of outs. If he had just a queen, I could win with a 9, 7, 6, or a club.  A lot to fall back on if he called, but thankfully after some thought, he folded. Nice. I was happy with the play, to follow through with the move, and I was happy that I had fostered a table image that allowed that move.

I slowly built up my stack. After the first break, I had 38k. After the second break, I had 47k. During the third level, not much happened and I slid to 45k. The fourth level is where everything came together. I was able to win big pots off Gazes and Bonyadi. I limped with two fives (blinds were 200/400 with 50 ante) in early position, another player called, and Gazes raised to 1500. The blinds folded, I called and we took it heads-up. Gazes’ raise was pretty strong as he seemed to be inviting calls. Normally after two people limp, a standard raise would’ve been to about 2k, unless you have a really big hand, like aces or kings. So, I prayed for a five so that I could bust Bill, and lo and behold, the flop was K95 with two spades. I checked, he bet 2400 into a 4500 pot, and I thought a while before calling. I wanted to represent a king or a flush draw so that he’d fire again on the turn. A 9 on the turn boated me up, I checked and he checked behind. He was studying me intently on the turn so I was confident that he didn’t have kings full.  River came an 8 of spade. I bet 6k into the 9k pot. He thought for about two minutes before raising to 15k. I was very surprised as I thought he was thinking between calling and folding. He had 7k left over and I thought he had to have either the nut flush or eights full. I contemplated re-raising all-in but elected to just call. He tabled AQ of spades and I flipped over my cards to drag the fatty. The pot took me to 65k and I put some thought into whether I should’ve raised all-in.

About a round later, I picked up two aces and limped. Two players limped behind me and Bonyadi made it 3200 from the SB. This massive over-raise is a pretty standard play after a bunch of people limp by either the button or one of the blinds. 90% of the time, everyone folds. I thought about re-raising, but it was too likely that Bonyadi had nothing and I wanted him to continue with his play. Everyone else folded and we took it heads-up. Robbie was staring intently at me trying to figure out what I had. The flop came off great: J33 with two hearts. Bonyadi bet 4500 into an 8k pot, and while I thought about raising, the flop was just too good. If he was making a play, I wanted him to continue. If he held kings or queens, then I would take the chance of fading the two outer. I called and as Robbie was staring me down, I stared Bonyadi down, trying to portray the look of someone trying to look up the raiser with a hand like eights, nines or tens. The turn was a beauty also, another 3. Now, if he had something like the nut flush draw, he was drawing dead. He fired 8k into the 17k pot. Again, I thought about raising but the board was just too good. I elected to call after some thought. The river brought a black 9. Farzad thought briefly before firing 30k. Wow, I was sure that he would check the river. Did he really hit nines full? I really was sure that he didn’t have jacks full as he bet too much on the flop for jacks full. I deliberated between calling and moving in. Bonyadi had about 15k left and I would have 30k left after calling his 30k river bet. If in the rare case he did have me beat, I think I could work with a 30k stack, but if I was wrong, I’d be down to about 15k.  I elected to just call as this was now almost a 100k pot. As I called, Bonyadi mucked his hand. Sweet! I guess I regretted not moving in on the end, but I think I got max value off the hand. If I had raised at any point, I’m pretty sure Bonyadi would’ve folded his rags.

The last level, I bled some chips, which knocked me from 120k to 91k. I called a pre-flop raiser’s bet of 1800 (blinds were 300/600 with 75 ante) with KJ of diamonds, Shane Schleger called as did the SB. Flop came 952 with two diamonds. Pre-flop raiser bet 5500 and I called. The other two dropped and I was hoping the raiser would check the turn so I could fire, whether I made the hand or not. Unfortunately, the 5 paired on the turn and my opponent bet 15k into a 20k pot. I thought that if I paired the king, I’d be good, though I was uncertain that a paired jack on the end would be good. I should’ve folded to the 15k bet on a paired board but I called and whiffed on the end. 15k is a lot to save and I think I was thinking about how sweet it would be to end the day with 150k or 180k and thinking a little bit about how well I’d been running all day. Bottom line, it was a bad call.

On the third to last hand of the day, I got a free flop from the BB holding QJ. Bonyadi limped from late positon and Mizrachi called from the button. SB completed and we took it 4 handed. Flop J64 with two diamonds. I could’ve led out but I wanted to play small ball at the end of the night. I checked and Bonyadi bet 2500 into a 3400 pot. Fold, fold, and I called. Turn was an off-suit 3. I checked and he bet 5k. I called pretty quickly and checked the black king on the river. Bonyadi thought for about 30sec and went all in for 12.5k. I thought for about two minutes before folding. He could’ve hand a number of hands, including 7 5, an overpair, and a king high diamond draw. I don’t think he had a better jack and I was prepared to call about 7 or 8k, but 12.5 was just too much. It’s possible that he made a play, but it’s also possible that he had it. After studying, I was content with my decision to fold, but of course, I’d like to know for certain whether I was beat. Overall, the last level did not make me happy as I lost 25% of my stack, but I suppose I can’t complain. I am very healthy in chips. With 359 out of 583 players remaining, I think I am about 50-60^th in chips. Blinds will be 400/800 with 100 ante when we return tomorrow so I have plenty to work with. Bellagio pays out 100 spots so I think I’m a favorite right now to cash, but with no limit, things can go fast. I could bust early tomorrow, have half a mil, or gradually build my stack up. I don’t really have a set plan right now. I’ll evaluate my table, the players, the stacks and hopefully play well tomorrow. Wish me luck.

-PR

Here we go. I’m so excited to play because even though I didn’t win a seat for myself, my good friend Peter won me a seat for a small premium so basically I’m on a free roll. The buy in is 15k, so this is the biggest poker tournament I have ever played up to date.  I get to my table and draw seat 3. In seat 1 is Daniel Quach, runner up to LAPC; seat 2 is Hung La with 2 WPT Final tables; in seat 4, William Thorson with a top 12 finish in this years Main event and a 3^rd in an EPT event in Europe; seat 5 is Huck Seed, the 98 WSOP; seat 6 is an unknown; seat 7 is Fabrice Soulier, a sick European pro that is hyper aggressive; seat 8 is Paul Darden, solid East Coast player; and seats 9-10 are unknowns. Is this seriously happening? What a sick draw…UGH! Anyways, here we go.

First hour I don’t get any hands and decide to raise with 10 9s in the cut-off. Huck defends and the flop rolls off 10 2 3. He checks, I bet 500 and he calls. The turn brings an ace, he checks and then calls an 1100 bet from me. I probably lost the pot on the turn, but if he doesn’t have an ace there is a good chance I pick it up here. The river pairs 3s and we both check. He turns over QQ.  Oh well…I’m down to 27k.

In the 2^nd level I play my first big pot. Daniel limps in middle position and I make it 1k to go with AA. The blinds are 100-200 only, and we see a 952 with 2 spades heads-up. He checks and I bet 1600, which he then raises to 4k straight. I call after short deliberation. I don’t want to go bust w/1 pair this early. The turn brings and off suit 3 and he bets 10k…WHOA!!!! I take about 1.5 minutes and move in. He calls his last 7k and turns over KK. River is a J and I almost double up to 50k after busting him. Now, I saw a few hands he had played and he generally would under bet the pot. So the 10k bet convinced me he might have like 1010, a pair and a flush draw or something of that nature. I felt I was like 75% to have the best hand, and most importantly, if he had me I would still have about 5k left. Either way, I was pretty excited to get to 50k at this table.

Before I busted Daniel, he played an interesting hand against Soulier. Daniel opens for 700 at the 50-100 level after Soulier and one other player limps in. Only Soulier calls and the flop comes 764 with 2 diamonds. They both check the flop. The turn pairs 7s, Soulier leads 650 and after 30 seconds, Daniel makes it 1500. Then Soulier min raises to 3k and Daniel follows with a min raise again to 4.5k. After about 30 more seconds Soulier reraises to 9.5k and Daniel finally folds. What a hand.  There was a lot of chicken being played and neither believed the other until the 4th raise. It looks like its going to be a long day.

Nothing much materialized after AA pot. I never picked up too many hands, just a raise here and there to hover around 45k. However, I was really impressed with Thorson and Soulier. Seat 5 opens for 700, gets 4 calls and Thorson defends from the SB. The flop comes 234 rainbow, and the preflop raiser bets 2k. Everyone folds to Thorson who raises to 7k straight. Seat 5 then re-raises to 17k and then Thorson moves in. After about 2 mins, seat 5 folds and Thorson shows A6d for a semi bluff all-in. WOW!!! He knows the preflop raiser probably has an overpair, but that board is just too scary. What a sick hand. 

In the 100-200 level, I re-raise Hung La with 75s to steal from him which he folds. I always like to re-raise pre-flop on a move once in a while if I haven’t gotten any hands just so when I do get a hand I hope to get action. After a few limpers, I raise in the cut-off to 1300 and get a walk. I didn’t look at my hand. I know I am playing real tight so I can get a steal once in a while.

The table finally breaks and I move to the Fontana room. I get seat 4; seats 1-2 are unknown players; seat 3 is Michael Binger (3^rd place finisher in Main Event); seats 5 is Joe Tehan (WPT Mandalay Bay Champ); seat 6 is John Asmo (old school rock); seat 7 is Steve Wong (boy do I want to bust him since he busted my boy Chris a few months ago); seat 8 is Harry Dimetreiu (European pro); seat 8 is Noah Boekin (a young Marcel Luske prodigy); and seats 9-10 are unknown. I’m still hovering around 45k and I haven’t gotten a hand at all. This is getting annoying. 

Blinds are now 300-600 and this is the last level of the day. I have 45k and I really want to get to 50-60k by the end of the night. Wong opens for 2k in early position and I know he overbets, so I make a real loose call with 53c in the BB. We see a Q64 rainbow flop heads-up, I check and call a 4500 bet. I thought about raising here, but if he does have a real hand I can’t draw. I basically know I have one shot to make this straight, but to no avail a Js hits the turn, I check and he bets 11k.  I know by the way he threw in the chips he is pretty weak…at best one pair. I really want to push here, but seriously, I have 5 high!!!! If the J was a club to give me a flush draw I would’ve push based on my read. His bet prices me out so I reluctantly fold.

Shortly after, I raise to 2k in the cut-off after looking at just the Ah, and Wong calls. I’m begging for a hand here and I fire 3k into a 256 rainbow and he raises to 9k. I look back down and see a 3. Well, that isn’t much help and I just have to let him take this one again. 

I’m down to a little under 40k and I am not a happy camper. We are playing the last 7 hands, I look down at AK in the 2 hole and raise to 2200. I really just want a walk and finish with like 40k+. The real passive SB calls and we see the flop 782 with 2 clubs heads-up. He leads for 3k and I call. I’m not convinced he has me beat just yet, he could just take a stab at the pot, and I also have the A of clubs for a back door flush draw. The turn comes horrible, 10s, he takes about a minute and fires out 12k. I’m done with the hand. 

That’s basically it. I finish the day with 32k, which is about 13k below average, but I’m ok with it. The structure is real slow and I was card dead most of the day.  I had aces only once and the next big pair was JJ.  The line-ups were also very tough as well. I hope to catch some breaks and run my stack into the mid 100s tomorrow. Hopefully there will be a more action filled blog next time.

KK