ThePokerResource.net: A Rounder’s blog

There are so many different sayings or strategies for day 1. Some of the ones I’ve heard: only play aces and kings on day 1; you can’t win the tournament on day 1, but you can get eliminated; it’s all about survival; don’t go in with a set strategy, do what the situation warrants; you have to win all the chips in the room to win the tourney. How exactly do you balance the equally important concepts of survival (where you don’t risk your chips) and accumulation (which you can’t do without risking the loss of some of your chips)? Well, this was the first WSOP tourney where I was starting with more than 2500, so I felt pretty comfortable leaning more towards survival than accumulation. In smaller starting stack tourneys, sometimes you have to push with a small to moderate edge for most of your chips because you might not have that opportunity before you get blinded down. That being said, you also couldn’t just wait for aces, kings, and sets before playing pots. I wanted to have the mindset of being careful but also looking for every single opportunity to accumulate chips. In no-limit, it’s not just about profitable starting hands or profitable boards, but also profitable situations. I knew that at the end of the day (about 12 hours of play, and 15 hours of total time), I couldn’t just wait for the nuts. I had to be active and mix it up when warranted.

The day started off just fine. I was at table 142, seat 8. Seat 8 has always been my favorite seat as I have a panoramic view of all the players. The night before, I had dinner with a handful of my very close friends, and I jokingly stated (after several drinks) that I would put in the last raise pre-flop on the first hand dealt of my day 1, regardless of my cards. That brash statement came true, but I actually had a hand…two black kings. After four folds, I made it 150 (blinds were 25/50), praying that one of the blinds didn’t wake up with aces. Everyone folded and I was off to a nice start.

The table was perfect. Seven were online qualifiers, recognizable because they have to wear shirts and hats of their respective sites. Four were PokerStars (who the last several years have sent about 20-25% of the main event field), two were party poker and one was pacific poker. There were three players, including me, in civilian clothing. One was a Texan cowboy who played fairly well, and an older gentleman who was drawing stone dead. Out of the qualifiers, two seemed to be young kids trying to play really well. I was pretty sure I could make moves on them. Four were essentially drawing dead. Repeatedly, they were checking and betting out of turn, uncomfortable with handling chips, and their play seemed pretty straightforward. Against these guys, I didn’t want to be making moves. I wanted to extract max value when holding the best of it. The only person who I thought might make a play on me was the Texan cowboy (southerner).

The first level, I fluctuated between 9500 and 11000.

I was pretty much the only person limping in as I felt comfortable playing post-flop with this field and hoping to win a big pot if I hit a monster. I was picking up cards and limped in with a wide variety of hands: all small pocket pairs, J 10, 9 10 suited, AQ.

For the most part, I didn’t get raised when I limped as people had a healthy amount of respect for my play. I was able to win a decent pot with AK when an ace flopped and my opponent had a big wired pair.  I check-raised on an A 6 8 board and he laid down. That was pretty much my only decent sized pot. 

I started level two with just under 10k. From that point on, it was pretty much smooth and steady the rest of the night. I was able to accumulate between 3000 and 10000 each and every level, picking up several decent sized pots with pocket tens and jacks. In both spots and pretty much for most of the night, my instincts were spot on. I was able to feel whether they had it or not, and that sort of helped me in the play of hands. For the online guys, their betting told me a lot. When I had jacks, he sort of over bet the pot on the flop on a nine high board. I raised him big because his bet and his body language signaled weakness. He folded. When I had the tens, the button (young kid trying to play good) raised to 900 after a weak limper, and I re-raised to 2400 as he had been raising a little too frequently in limped pots (a fairly common way to pick up dead money but if you do it too often, someone will look you up). I was surprised he called and given his pre-flop action, I put him on a big ace, but not slick. I think he had AQ. It was most likely a hand that needed to pair on the flop. The flipper came perfectly 442, and I wanted to bet big enough to prevent him from making a play at me so I fired 3k into a 5k pot. I ordinarily don’t like to play big pots with tens or jacks on baby boards but both of these spots seemed like they were the right plays.  Fortunately for me, both times they folded and I picked up nice pots. I was able to pick up two more nice pots with sets. After limping with fours for 200, an online guy raised to 900 and I called and we took it heads-up. Flopped a set on a disconnected board. Check-called a big bet on the flop, check-check the turn and bet-called the river.

Another time, I called an early raise to 700 out of the big blind with two kings. Usually I would re-raise with this hand, especially if there were other people in. But heads-up, I thought there was extra value in disguising the strength of my hand pre-flop, in case it came all babies. In addition, heads-up, it’s almost certain that he is going to make a continuation bet on the flop. I didn’t want to lose that bet pre-flop if he had a cheese hand that he would dump for a re-raise. Flop came K 7 4 with two diamonds. I checked and he bet 1000. I thought and called, sort of wishing that I hadn’t flopped a set so I could check-raise. My hand here was way too big to check-raise. On the turn came a 2, putting two hearts so there were now two flush draws. We both checked and on the river came a black 8, no flush possibility. I bet 1600 into a 3500 pot. He asked me if I could beat two jacks, which I definitely don’t think he had. I think he would call pretty quickly with two jacks on the end as there were many hands he could beat. I was pretty sure that he had AQ or AJ and was thinking about calling with ace high, hoping to beat a busted flush draw. Given that that was my read of the situation, after I bet and while he was studying, trying to make his decision, I tried to give off some fake weak tells. I started to breathe very heavily and tried to look as uncomfortable as possible. After two minutes, he finally called and I tabled my hand. Sweet. At the end of level three, I was up to 20k and on my first dinner break of the summer.

I was certainly lucky to make several hands and be able to make some money off them. I was most happy with my instincts. I was able to fold correctly, steal and re-steal correctly. My table image was great as people saw me table big hands and fold correctly. In the first level, I raised to 225 after one late position limper with two jacks on the button. The big blind raised to 1025 and after the limper folded, I thought for about a minute. You want the weak online players calling you, not raising you. I studied him for a minute and he certainly had the look. He was not a bit worried so I think AK was eliminated. I folded and he showed me two aces. Nice. 

In one hand, the cutoff (guy trying to play good), after everyone folded to him, forcefully stated raise and then put his chips in. I was in the BB and decided to re-steal blind. Cutoff and button raises are usually steals anyway, but when they forcefully state raise, that means they’re really weak. I looked at my hole cards for show (Q 5) and I re-raised a decent amount. He folded before I put the chips in.

Another time in level 4 or 5, a player raised by forcefully throwing his chips into the middle, another sign of weakness. I decided to re-steal again, this time though I picked up a hand AQ. I re-raised to about 3x the raise but unfortunately, the SB woke up with a hand and pushed. The pot was laying about 1.6 to 1, but he had a huge hand. All the indications. He briefly acted weak before pushing, pretending like he had a tough decision. He counted out his chips so I could see exactly what I had left to call, pretty much begging a call based on the pot odds. So brutal b/c the initial raiser folded instantly and I was certain that he was very weak. My play should’ve worked. I folded pretty quickly and my neighbor showed me two aces.

In level five, I was able to pick up two fairly big pots with just one pair that pushed me to over 30k. I had been pretty active pre-flop, raising with a wide variety of hands after everyone had folded to me.

Coincidentally, I seemed to always raise this one player’s blind. I knew eventually he’d take a stand or make a move back. Once I showed him an ace (I think I had A9 or A7 suited) after he deliberated and folded.

The next round, I raised his blind again. There were four folds and I looked at AJ. I knew this would look bad as I had been raising fairly often pre-flop, especially this poor online guy’s blind. With KQ, suited big cards, or a playable hand, I might’ve just called in this spot because I didn’t want somebody to make a re-play at me when I could legitimately just call a raise with these hands. But with a hand like AJ off, I think raising was still the right play, and I was planning on showing the big blind both hole cards this time if he folded. I made it 1000 to go (blinds 150/300, 25 ante), folded around to BB, who I’m sure has had enough, and he announces raise. I can’t call a significant raise. If he raised 2k more, I would’ve folded, but he only made it 1300 more. I’m being laid almost 3 to 1, he probably doesn’t give me credit for a hand as big as AJ, so he could be on a re-steal. Bet sizing, among many other reasons, are why a lot of the online newbies are drawing dead in the WSOP. If he suspected me of stealing, he needs to bet me off my hand pre-flop. 1300 more is giving me a great price to call. Anyways, the flop rolled off J 7 2, and if he had my hand beat, he could take it. He bet 2500 into a 5k pot and I raised enough to put him all-in (he only had 3k more). He knuckled and folded. Nice. So far, everything had been going so well for me. The biggest hand of the night was soon to come.

A solid player limped UTG (which was a bit scary). I looked at AJ of diamonds (which I’d normally raise with first in, but the UTG limper could have anything and I wanted to see the flop, so I didn’t want to re-open the betting to him) and I called. Folded around to SB, who was sort of getting antsy as he had picked up rags for the hour he had been at the table. He contemplated a raise pre-flop (his stack was about 8k), but elected to just call. I thought his most likely holding was a big ace but not slick. BB knuckled and the flop rolled off A Q 3. SB led for 1k, fold, fold (he was really the person I was worried about) and I called. Turn was a 6 and he shipped for about 6k and I beat him into the pot. My neighbors asked me if I had a set of threes and seemed pretty surprised that I turned over AJ.  I could tell when my opponent saw my hand that I was good. He had A 10. It was a big pot but I was very certain that my hand was good. He was a straightforward player who would’ve raised pre-flop with AK b/c that’s what you’re supposed to do with AK. He also would’ve checked AQ on the flop and I doubt he would’ve shipped on the turn for that amount. I mean, if you had AQ, wouldn’t you bet an amount like 3k or so? I thought it was a pretty easy call and I was ecstatic to fade the 10 on the river.

That pot put me at 34k and I entered the last level right around there. I had been pretty active pre-flop the whole day but I went absolutely card dead the last hour and a half. I think I folded pretty much every hand. It was unfortunate as I wanted to end the day with just over 40k, but I ended with 32.5k. There didn’t even seem to be easy re-steal situations as most of the online guys had busted out, while big stacks and better players were moved to my table. I’m sure the field will get progressively tougher and tougher as the weaker players get eliminated. Overall, I’m very, very happy. I faded about 60% of the field and have an above average chip stack that’s right around the top quartile. I think 75% of the field have less that 32.5k so I’m feeling pretty good going into Wednesday. Blinds start at 300/600 with 75 ante.  Hopefully I’ll be able to pick up some hands and some chips, avoid getting unlucky, and avoid making mistakes. If you were to tell me before day 1 started that I’d end the day with 32k, I’d absolutely take it.  Hopefully I can end tomorrow with around 100k, sort of nice and steady growth until we can really get lucky and double up through a big stack with the nuts. Seems like a healthy and realistic goal.

-PR

And the tough beats keep on coming�If you’re not a big fan of bad beat stories, you should probably skip this blog.

I returned to Vegas on Thurs. night after chilling out for several days in California. Time spent away from the table always does me good as my desire to play poker increases the longer I’m away from a card room. I came back ready for the 2000 NL-Hdm tournament on Fri. with the mindset of getting involved and amassing chips at each opportune time.

I drew a pretty good table. No names with the exception of Ron Rose (an older gentleman who won the inaugural Reno WPT and the WPT tourney of champions several years ago). However, given all the WPT champions, he’s not really one to fear. There were several poor playing opponents. The poorest one was directly on my right, and he had doubled up on one of the first few hands.

The day started off fantastically, as I doubled up with AQ. With blinds at 25/25, I raised to 100 in early position and got called by the two blinds. Flop, A Q 9. I got check-raised by the SB on the flop, and then all the money went in on the turn. He had AK. I doubled up early and that, of course, feels great, especially given the table condition. I won two more small pots when I re-raised with aces pre-flop and on a separate hand, flopped a boat heads-up, both times against Rose. The first two levels I was between 4000 and 4500 without putting any chips at risk, without a very strong hand, and without having to show down any hands.

The play at the table was pretty bad, especially the older gentleman on my right. He called a bet on the flop and turn with a board of 3 4 6 7, three clubs, and he had the Kh and the Js. He kept raising his hole cards really high and I couldn’t believe some of his plays. It was obvious that the bettor had a 5 and that the caller either had a straight also or a big club. I guess gramps was hoping to pair the king. Either way, I made a mental note of trying to play pots against him and players like him.

Be careful what you wish for. I was the BB (25/50), everyone folded to the cutoff who limped, and the SB (gramps) completed. I looked at AQ hearts and I raised to 300, expecting to take it. Limper folded but gramps, who had a pretty big stack, called. Flop Q 6 2 rainbow. He checked, I bet 400, and he called. Turn was a 10. He checked and I thought for a while about checking behind. Something didn’t quite feel right and I didn’t feel like reopening the betting. But, my hand in all likelihood was good. I put gramps on a relatively big Q, so I bet 850 into a 1450 pot. He announced raise and put in 1700. I went into the tank for about a minute and a half. 4000 in the pot. I need to call 850. Nice odds, perhaps my hand is good, but I just can’t see him playing KQ or QJ that way. He also wasn’t the type of player to make a move. His most likely holding was a set or Q10. I thought a long time, counted out my chips, grabbed my entire stack like I was going to ship it and gramps didn’t flinch. So I mucked and he showed me KK. What?! How is my hand not good there? I felt good about the laydown, but I went on my first break at just over 3k, instead of 4500 or 5k. Losing a sizable pot definitely puts a damper on your spirits but it�s important to regroup during the break and 3k was fine, given the blinds of 50/100 when we came back.

I came back for level 3 and caught the absolute cooler. First hand was in the SB, and after everyone folded to me. I raised to 300 with AJ. BB shipped it on me for just under 2k. Again, I thought for a while, but ended up folding. The BB and I had been on friendly terms and I’m pretty sure he had me beat. Even if he didn’t, I could pick a better spot for most of my stack.

Several hands later, I made it 300 with kings, and my neighbor on my left shipped it again for 1700. I called quickly and we took the flop. AK hearts for him, KKs for me. Ace on the flop had me drawing essentially dead. This crippled me to 1300. Several hands later, I raised to 300 with AK diamonds, and got called by my neighbor on my left again. We took it heads-up and the flipper rolled off a beautiful 10 6 2 with two clubs. I have sort of made a decision not to make continuation bets with AK after having missed the flop with a player to act behind me. I checked and he checked. Turn was a 9 of club. I check, and he bet 500. I thought briefly about doing something stupid and raising all-in, but I folded. My good neighbor quickly flashed me pocket tens. I was happy that I didn’t lose any more chips on the hand but also felt sorry for myself that I had done so poorly during the World Series with AK and also against AK (even with kings, twice). I can’t win with slick and can�t beat slick.

That hand put me at 1000 and it was short stack mode. I had to look for good spots to ship it first in. In the BB, I had J10, called a raise to 225 by an early position limper who was similarly short stacked, and a caller (solid player). I was left with 675 and planned on shipping any flop that came 10 or jack high. Flop came Q 10 3 with two diamonds. I thought for 30 seconds about shipping it, but the caller easily could have two paints. I checked trying to find out if that was the case. The pre-flop raised went all-in for 1000 and thankfully the caller folded. I again went in the tank and studied my opponent for over a minute. The longer I studied, the more it seemed like AJ or AK. Or perhaps that�s what I was hoping for given my hand. Even if he had me beat, the pot was laying 2 to 1 and I thought this was a better spot than trying to pick up a hand before the blinds came to me again. I called, he showed AJ of diamonds. Ouch, he was actually a small favorite but it bricked off twice. Nice!

I was at just over 2k when I played my next hand in the BB (100/200 now). Everyone folded to the button who went all-in for 525. SB folded and I called the extra 325 with the A10 of spades. Button had J7 off. Flop A 10 8 with the 8 of spade. Turn 7 of spade. River, a red 9. Burn. Loved th

Our table broke and I went to my new table with 1375. I folded until I had to post my BB. Everyone folded to the button who raised to 600. SB folded and I looked at two fives. I studied the button and he looked pretty weak. I counted out my chips and saw that after calling his raise, I’d have 775 left. I really wish I had a touch over 1000 left as that would�ve been enough to get him to fold pre-flop. 775 was just short of the cutoff as he’d call with any playable hand. He’d probably only fold hands like J3 or Q4. I contemplated the stop and go, which is calling pre-flop and then shipping the rest of my 775 on the flop regardless of what the flop is. This plays rests on the math that your opponent misses the flop about 2/3 of the time and therefore can’t call a substantive bet. After thinking through both options, I decided on pushing pre-flop because I thought his hand was so weak that he might�ve folded pre-flop. Unfortunately, he called with a hand considerably stronger that I thought it would be: A8 off. Flop was Q96 with two diamonds. Turn was 3 of diamonds. I checked and I had the 5 of diamonds and he thankfully had no diamond. That reduced his outs from 6 to 4 as the ace or 8 of diamonds would not be wins for him. River, black 8. Ouch.

It was certainly a tough level. I lost to a three outer, a five outer, and a four outer for pots that would’ve put me back in the game. I’ve played poker long enough to know that these things happen, sometimes repeatedly. Even three, four and five outers happen about 10% of the time, but to lose all three was definitely tough. Especially given how I’ve run so far.

Overall, a tough, tough day. I felt really good, especially early on after the double-up and the lineup. But in the end, I just have more bad beat stories. I was very happy about my play, and with all my decisions. I thought I played both my big stack and short stack pretty well.

I’m pretty happy with my overall play (with the exception of my exits in events 4 and 5). The field overall is pretty bad and I definitely think there is an overlay there. However, I think that I underestimated the lack of play we’re given early. If our starting stacks were considerably bigger, that would�ve made things so much easier.

-PR

The following day, I walked back into the RIo for the 1000 no-limit with re-buys. I was planning on re-buying twice if the table was good. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. At my table were Howard Lederer, Kathy Liebert, and David Rheem (part of Michael Mizrachi’s posse). Two of the chip stacks went without an owner and were simply blinded off. Of the other four players, only two were semi-bad players. Overall, an unfortunate table draw. I was hoping to get lucky early as I wasn’t planning on re-buying twice.

In these re-buy events, a lot of the pros go pretty much cannon and fire a lot of shells, hoping to accumulate early. David bought in seven or eight times in the first 90 minutes and kept shipping it with cheese. There was another cannon who re-bought four or five times. Kathy Liebert was the primary beneficiary of David�s play, as well as several others. She built up to 9k pretty early. After two bad players doubled up, and after Lederer, Liebert and Rheem re-bought early, I re-bought one time to get full value if I picked up a hand. I went from 900 to 1900 after re-buying and unfortunately never picked up a hand. In the first 30 minutes, I limped once with A10 of diamonds, flopped an ace and took down a small pot.

I might have won one more small pot from one of the blinds. But after that, I went about an hour without picking up one playable hand. Adding to the frustration was that David and two other cannons were really going at it, raising and re-raising with very little. If I could pick up so much as tens or jacks, I’d put my whole stack into play. But, I looked at rag after rag. Near the end of level 2, with the blinds at 25/50 and with my chip stack at 1600, I finally picked up AK of diamonds. Unfortunately the cannon UTG raised to 350, which made everyone fold to me. I really wished that I picked up this hand against Lederer, Liebert or Rheem because they all knew how tight I’d been playing and I could probably move them off most hands. This cannon, I was pretty sure, had a medium pair. He was splashing around a lot, but usually he raised 150 to 200 with marginal hands. His overraise of 350 told me that he actually had a hand that he wanted to protect. I was also pretty sure that he was not good enough to lay down tens or jacks. But, given my hand and my image, I decided to make a play. I mean, AK is supposed to be the third or fourth best no limit hand, and there was a reasonable chance that it was good if the cannon had AQ or AJ suited. I raised to 1100, and of course, unfortunately, the cannon called. The flop came queen high with one diamond. He checked and I moved in for what little I had left: 500. He called with two jacks. Ugh. The turn card, ten of diamonds, gave me oodles of outs but I missed and once again, I left the Rio feeling frustrated. I just wasn’t very happy with how I exited. Even as I was re-raising pre-flop, I kept hearing my friend Joe’s words from the previous day while he was playing an online tourney: “I’m so sick of busting out of tournaments with this hand.” I couldn’t agree more. As I walked back out to my car, I kept thinking what I could have done differently. Initially I thought I could have folded if I put my opponent on a medium pair but AK suited is just too strong. I came to the conclusion that if I was in that spot again and I knew that my opponent wouldn’t fold, calling wouldn’t be so bad. I mean, if I whiff on the flop, I only lose 350, not 1600. He probably would check the flop given the queen and my image.

I guess, ultimately, I just don’t know. I know that I wasn’t happy with how I went out in the last two events. Poker is a partial information game but I think I had more info at my disposal in my last two exits which I should have utilized more. I honestly can’t say that I was happy with my play on the last hand of the last two tourneys. Granted, I was in a marginal spot, but I hope next time I�ll feel more comfortable with my decision making.

I’ve decided not to play the 1k event Monday because I just don’t think there’s enough play. Blinds are 25/25 and you start with 1000. Losing your first pot would cripple or break you so I think it�s too much of a crapshoot early on. I think 2500 to 3000 are good starting stacks, but unfortunately, there are only 1500 to 2000 events left for me.

-PR

I really thought Friday was going to be a good day. I drew a fantastic table�no name players and a number of pretty bad/loose players. I was feeling good, drew a bunch of starting hands, and had a good starting stack of 2500 with blinds starting at 25/25. Unlike my first three events, I drew a lot of hands, big suited cards, decent pairs, big aces, and I also splashed around in position.

My first hand was a pair of tens and I made a big raise to 125 after one limper. An old grandpa called behind me and we took it heads-up. Flop 10 A 10. Sweet. I made a small bet of 125 into a pot of 325. He made it 300. I hemmed and hawed and called. Turn was a 6, I thought about betting small on the turn but I checked and he checked behind. River was a brick and I grabbed some chips to figure what I could get out of gramps and I saw him grabbing his chips signaling a clear call. I bet 725 and he called with AK. Sweet. Not bad. I was hoping to get his whole stack on the turn but I was feeling good at 3800 at a very good table. It was sort of like my Day 1 table at the Mandalay 10k event, big stack with bad players. If things went well and our table didn’t break, I could have a big stack by the end of the day. Unfortunately, every time I built up, I got knocked back down.

In the SB, I had AK. Three people limped and the button who had amassed a decent stack (home game player, loose with a decent understanding of cards) made it 100 to go. I’ve gotten pretty gun shy with AK since I dumped off all my chips in the Mandalay event with this hand against aces. So I just called after deliberating a re-raise to 300 or 350. I’m pretty sure that it would’ve cleared the field but I didn’t want to play a large pot with this hand out of position. We took the flop five handed and the flipper rolled off K Q 4. It got checked around. Turn was a 6, two diamonds. I checked again, wanting to play a small pot and not knowing whether anyone flopped KQ or a set. Checked around to the pre-flop raiser who bet 200 into a pot of 525. I knew it was a weak bet and I didn’t fear him, but I was more afraid of the field. I just called and after two folds, a young kid min raised to 400, the pre-flop raiser thought and then called. I didn�t like my spot but I called. Unfortunately, I didn�t announce the strength of my hand so he could have KJ, but with that hand I think he would’ve led on the turn. River was a black 8. I checked and the kid bet 600, the pre-flop raiser folded and I called, given the size of the pot. The kid turned over a set of fours. In hindsight, I wish I would�ve played more strongly pre-flop and made it 300 or 400. I also could�ve raised the turn to 500 and pitched when the kid moved in on me. Instead, I called off 1000. I wasn�t too happy with the play and the outcome of that hand.

I kept staying involved. Raising with big aces, limping with Q10 of clubs, flopping KJ with two clubs and bricking off twice. I raised with 10 7 of hearts after four folds to 150 (blinds 25/50). Only the BB called and I flopped gin. Q 8 4 all hearts. BB checked and I bet 150 into a 325 pot. He called. Turn was a jack of diamond and the BB bet 150 into a 625 pot. It definitely wasn’t a bet of strength. I sized him up and raised to 600. He reluctantly called. River was a baby heart and we checked it down. He had Q2 of spades. Nice, again I was up to about 3500.

After everyone folded, I raised to 150 with AQ on the button. The BB said something about me always raising the button and called. Flop came Q72 with two clubs (I had the ace of club). He checked and I bet 150. He called. Turn was a baby and I bet 300, he called. River was a nine, he checked, I bet 400 and he called, announcing two pair. I shook my head as he tabled 79 suited. Given the betting, how was my hand not good? Every time I got up close to 4k, I got knocked back down in the next few hands. I also knew that the table thought I was playing pretty fast.

On my final hand, I raised to 300 (level 3, blinds were 50/100) UTG with queens. The guy who beat me with 7 9 and who thought I played fast called and the kid who had a set of fours called. We took it three-handed and the flop came pretty good 2 3 5 rainbow. I wanted to bet big to let them know where I stood and to get rid of a big ace (overcards with a wheel draw). I fired 800 into a 1050 pot thinking to myself that I would fold if someone moved in on me. The 7 9 guy thought for over a minute before folding. I gave him a big ace and I wanted him to lay down, given that he thought I was pretty much a cannon. The kid, unfortunately for me, moved in on me. He had me covered and I went into the tank. I started the hand with just over 3k so to call would cost me my last 2k. His betting screamed of a set but I kept thinking back to all the hands that I could beat, which were many. I also was getting a bit frustrated by always getting knocked back down chip stack-wise and I didn�t really feel like playing from a short stack again like I usually do. I thought that my hand might be good, especially against nines through jacks, and winning this pot would put me in great shape to accumulate all day. I called after much deliberation and the kid tabled exactly what he’s supposed to have, a set of ducks. Turn 5, river 10. Definitely a difficult spot, but I’m supposed to be good enough to lay that hand down. I wasn’t too happy with how I went out and the lost opportunity of a golden table.

-PR

I thought I’d be nervous sitting down and playing, but I actually felt quite comfy although a bit groggy…getting up at 10:30am is rough! 480 entered, so it was just a sea of tables. I recognized a couple of players at my first table, Keith Sexton, a monster 7-Card Stud player and an old rock that I remember from back in the day at Commerce. I think Sexton folded the first 30 or 40 hands and displayed a remarkable variety of ways in which you can fold a hand. Looking around I noticed a ton of young guys, to my surprise. I thought that it would be mostly all old, grizzled vets playing, but I’d say that around half the field was under 30 years-old. I thought to myself, this bodes well, as they’re all probably internet hold‘em players and will be inexperienced in the nuances of Stud. My plan was to play fast early and then go into trench warfare mode as the levels move up. I got involved in several pots early and got on a major rush of cards in the 2nd level: getting Aces and Kings twice each, and queens once. Unfortunately, I only won 2 of 5 pots and ended up where I started at around $1,500 in chips at the 1st break (breaks were after every 2 levels).

When I came back the level was now 30-60, and it gets a little more serious at this point. I still had it in 4th gear though, and managed to steal a bunch of pots. I was lucky because my position was perfect as the best player at the table was Sexton, but he was directly to my right in seat 6, and an ultra aggressive young kid was in seat 5. Sexton and I took turns re-raising the kid in certain spots, and at the end of the 4th level most of the chips were down at our end of the table. I had around $2k at the break.

My first key hand came at the 5th level, $75-150. Up to this point, I hadn’t had to show down a hand yet and never really was at risk. I brought it in w/split 3s and ace kicker, 3A3. Everyone folded to the young kid and he completed to $75 w/a Queen door card. I sensed that he wasn’t real strong, so I called and we were heads-up. He caught a Jack on 4^th, and I hit my money card, the Ace, giving me 3A showing both clubs. A jack probably helps his hand so I check-raised him here, hoping he’d put me on a club draw which I think he did as he called quickly. 5th street came perfect again, he caught a good card for him, a King, and I caught another money card, a 3, giving me a boat. I led and he called quickly on both 5th and 6th. I feigned interest in my final card before leading out, and to my liking, he raised on 7th. I was almost certain he had a straight and re-raised. It turned out he made trip Jacks on the end, so I picked up a good pot.

Shortly after, our table broke and I got moved to a table w/David Sklansky and Andrew Black on it. Black was short and looking like he wanted to be somewhere else. Sklansky plays just like his books, he’s a Rock of Gibraltar, and someone to avoid if he’s in. About 30 mins later, I was first to act and had split Aces. I noticed Black was considering a raise directly to my left, so I hemmed and hawed for a few seconds before raising. He re-raised and we were heads-up. I check raised on 4th and he decided to go all-in basically by re-raising a couple of times. He turned over pocket 5s and it was all over when I hit an Ace on 5th. To my dismay, the empty seat was filled by Mimi Tran, an extremely aggressive player on this day at least. She proceeded to raise 5 times in a row and took down each pot. Not good to have this type of player directly to your left. At the dinner break, I got anted down to about $3K, which was about average as half the field was out by then.

I went to dinner w/my buddy Peter and he gave me the lowdown on Tran. I didn’t know anything about her, but she was apparently a pretty strong Stud player, playing some big limit ring games at commerce. Within a few hands of coming back from the break, the critical hand of my tourney came. I was first to act and had AQ10, all diamonds. This is a volume hand so I just limped. Tran next to act, raised w/a 6 door card. This made me a bit worried, as she’d been raising only w/big cards so far and led me to think this might be a real hand. An old cowboy who played extremely loose called w/a 5 up, and everyone else folds to me. I called to make it 3-handed. I caught the 6d on 4th, giving me a 4 flush, Mimi caught an 8 and the cowboy another 6. This eliminated the small possibility that Tran was rolled w/sixes which was nice. I checked, Tran bet, the cowboy and I called. On 5^th, I paired my door card w/a 10, so I had 10610 showing. Tran caught a 9, giving her 689 showing, and cowboy bricked, getting a Jack. I considered leading, but didn’t want to give Tran the possibility of raising to get heads-up if she had a big pocket pair and wanted to keep my hand disguised. So I checked w/the intention of raising if she bet. She fired, which defined her hand as a big pair, had to be KK I thought. The cowboy folded and I raised meekly. The beauty of this is she has no idea where she’s at right now. I could have trip 10s, which is unlikely considering I limped; I could have 2 pair; a pair w/a flush draw; or horror of horrors, have quad tens. Regardless, she’s good enough to know she’s a dog here no matter what, and I’m hoping she lays it down. After about 30 seconds, she reluctantly calls and gives the dealer a look of death. Of course I get a blank on 6th, fortunately, she does too. I fire, and again, she almost folds but ends up calling. On the river I fire blind knowing she’ll be hard pressed to call the river without 2 pair. She squeezes the final card and I can see she misses. Again, she goes into the tank, but finally flings her cards face-up (KK) in the pot. I don’t even look at the last card and scoop a fatty. I’m at over $5K at this point and among the chip leaders at the table. For the next 2 hours I grind and steal antes, getting up to over $6 at the break.

The levels are huge now: we’re playing $300-600 w/$50 antes. I’m at $6,500, a tad above average w/about 100 people left when I get moved again. This time to a table of old guys and a couple of young pros, Josh Arieh and David Singer (author Jim Mcmanus is also there). The level of skill at this table is thru the roof: only 1 weak player from what I can tell. In fact, I look around and almost all the under 30 crowd has been busted except for some of the recognizable pros. At this point, I’m about 50/50 to cash, which was my goal coming in. Unfortunately, I go card dead for 2 hrs, and the spots where I can raise and steal are few and far between because almost all the players at this table also recognize opportunities, and in effect, make the preemptive strike. At the end of the 10th level I’m down to $2K, and w/the levels at $600-1200 coming up (w/$100 antes), my fate is almost sealed. However, there’s only about 70 players left, and they will be dropping like flies soon.

It’s 1am now, the old guys are getting tired and want to quit, but its decided that we’ll play until we get to 40 players. I ante down to $1500, get Jacks and double up through Mcmanus, who called w/AQ10. I get it up to $4k when I re-steal w/AK5 from a guy raising w/an Ace up in an obvious steal position. Down to 60 players now and w/$3K I pick up pocket KKA. I raise, a tiny stack moves in, and the only fish at the table makes it $1200 to go w/a King door card, perfect…I think. I make it $1800 and he says he’ll put me all-in and we each ship in $3K, making the main pot close to $5K, and the side pot around $3k. He turns over K6K, and the other player had JJQ. I’m the favorite to win here, but not by a lot. The fish catches an Ace on 4th and a 10 on the river giving him KKA10 to my KKA9, and busting me in 59th.

If I win that pot I probably cash, but not to be. I think to myself why can’t the game of choice in the poker boom be 7-card stud, but realize this game just isn’t for the MTV/ADD generation. It’s too plodding, methodical, and frankly requires much more concentration (ha ha, I love hating on hold‘em). I think the perfect analogy is that 7-card stud is to Napoleonic or WWI trench warfare as no-limit hold’em is to guerrilla warfare w/nuclear bombs.

-BB

I had my hopes up as I knew the field would be big and we’d have a tad more play than the 1500 event. I drew a pretty tight table and I didn’t recognize a soul. I have been thinking if I’ve been playing too tight in the beginning of tourneys and not giving myself a chance to gamble and accumulate early. I still would lean towards playing ABC in the beginning and trying to get maximum value off premium hands when you get them. But, I just haven’t been able to pick up hands in the first level�no AQ, big suited cards, medium pairs. I’ve pretty much gotten more than my share of rags in the first two levels of the three tourneys I’ve played. I think it�s correct to continue with this play since there are no antes in the first four levels. It�s just the blinds which just aren’t worth stealing. Once antes kick in, I’m definitely in there stealing especially if my table image is good, but unfortunately I haven’t lasted to level 5 when the antes kick in.

In any case, my starting stack of 2000 dipped to 1800 before I was able to get up to 2400: I limped, flopped a set of eights, and won a small pot. After that, I lost about forty percent of my stack on two hands. With the blinds at 25/50, everyone folded to the small blind, who completed to 50, and I looked at A10 in the BB. I raised to 175 and expected to take it right there but he called. The flop rolled off Q84 with two diamonds and we both checked. The turn was the King of diamonds and that gave me 18 outs I thought. I’d win if I paired, with the J for the straight and any diamond would give me the nuts as I held the ace of diamonds. The SB checked and I bet 325. He called in ten seconds. River was a disappointing 3 of hearts. He checked and thought a while about betting 600 or 800 to win the 1000 pot but I just had a sense that he would call. Moving in would put him to the ultimate test but he had me barely covered and I didn’t want to go out on a bluff. Usually if the opponent calls the turn, he calls the river. I put him on an 8, perhaps a Q. I ended up checking and he turned over 4 5 offsuit, no diamonds. I shook my head and this play reinforced my opinion that in these events, especially against amateurs, you really have to pick your spots on bluffs. I think it�s more correct to wait until you have the best hand and to extract value. What a turn call.

A round later I raised to 200 with nines and got called by the BB. Flop came A44, I led for 225 and he made it 750. I folded and had only 1500. I was moved to another table, we went on break and when I played my next big hand, I had 1050, with blinds at 50/100. Small stack moved in UTG for 1000 and I moved in behind. We took it heads-up, AK for him and KK for me. Flop Q 7 4. Turn J, river 10. Left me with 50. I tripled up my next hand to 150.

I posted my small blind and a player moved in and another one re-raised. I had 10 3, so I folded. The re-raiser had jacks but lost to A3. To add insult to injury, our table broke and I had to move to another table with 100 in chips, enough for the big blind. When I got to my new table, of course I received the needle from nine strangers. I took it well, told them the floorman was carting the rest of my chips. I went out in the BB when the UTG player limped with aces. Nice.

Overall, pretty happy with my play. In the first level, I was able to get off two hands when I read the bettor pretty well. Once I had a straight and the other time I had top pair with a good kicker, both instances in the blinds. Obviously I wish my results were better but there�s so much variance in tournaments. You need to get fortunate in many stages to go deep.

-PR