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WSOP Update
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 Since I last wrote I've played two more events--the $1,500 Mixed Hold 'Em and the $2,000 Limit Hold 'Em. I ran pretty bad in both. Nothing really interesting happened, I just played my usual game and ended up busting. In fact, the most interesting thing that happened was that Chris Ferguson and Howard Lederer were both (eventually) at my Limit Hold 'Em table. Ferguson had, coincidentally, been reading Howard's chapter about Limit Hold 'Em tournaments in the new Full Tilt Poker strategy guide before Howard arrived. Howard asked him if he disagreed with any of it, and Chris pointed to one specific paragraph. The gist of it was, Howard thought that by playing tighter, and folding some marginally plus-EV hands, he could increase the value of the hands he chose to play. Chris disagreed, claiming that playing too tightly would decrease the value of the hands the tight player chose to play. I have to say, I side with Chris on this one. But it was a lot of fun to hear these two guys talking poker. It was a rare occasion during this trip where I took my headphones off and kept them off. I don't think I'm playing any other events until the 2k NLHE on Friday. I'm going to try to play some single-table satellites in the meantime. The $512+$13 satellites include a $10 food coupon, making them the best bet in the Rio by a factor of about a million. Throw in the quality of the opposition, and I really think I should devote a ton of time to playing these things. Best of luck to Greg Raymer, Mark Gregorich, and Justin Bonomo--still battling it out at the final three tables of the 50k HORSE event. Two WSOP Shortstack Events Saturday, June 23, 2007 Over the past two days I played the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold 'Em and $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em events. Here are some hands. PLHE 1) A very loose player limps UTG for 100. I make it 400 in the next seat with AKo. It folds to the small blind who cold-calls 400. The big blind then pots it, making it 1700 total. He has about 1500 behind. UTG folds. I raise all-in (I have the big blind covered by about 1500). The small blind folds. The big blind thinks for a little while before calling with TT. I river an ace. 2) Four players fold. I open for 250 with As9s. Only the small blind calls. The flop comes AJ4 with two of a suit (not spades). The small blind checks. I bet 400. He thinks for a long time, then finally calls. The turn is a blank (no straight or flush possible). The small blind checks. He has 1900 left, and I cover him by a lot. I bet 1,100. He moves in for 800 more. I call. He shows AJ and I'm drawing dead. 3) I open for 250 in the hijack with black TT. Only the cutoff calls. The flop comes J95 with two hearts. Check-check. Turn is the 8 of hearts. I check, cutoff bets 400. I call. River is the 2 of spades. I check. Cutoff bets 700. I call. Cutoff shows a set of fives. 4) I open for 250 in the hijack with KK. The cutoff (same guy from hand 3) calls, as do the button and the big blind. The flop comes 665 with two hearts. The big blind checks, I check. The cutoff bets 550. The button and big blind fold. I make it 1700. The cutoff hesitates for a few seconds and then announces all-in. I think for ten seconds or so and call for 3400 more (all my chips). He has QQ. The turn is a queen and I'm out. NLHE 1) Two folds and I open for a minimum raise of 100 with 8s6s. Only the big blind calls. The flop comes A98 with two clubs. Big blind checks, I bet 150. Big blind calls. The turn is a nine. Check-check. The river is an eight. Big blind bets 400. I call. He tables Q9 for nines full. 2) A mid-position players opens for 150. I call in the next seat with JsJh. All others fold. The flop comes 965 with two spades. He bets 200. I make it 650. He thinks for a while and calls. The turn is the ace of spades. Check-check. The river pairs the five. Check-check. He says, "I have nothing." I table my hand and win. 3) A weak-tight player limps UTG for 200. I make it 700 two seats later with KK. All fold to UTG, who calls. The flop comes 863. UTG, after playing with his chips for a while, asks me how much I have left. I tell him I have 2700. He finally bets 800. I call. The turn pairs the eight. He thinks for a few seconds and then bets my 1900. I call instantly. He has 99 and I win. 4) Folds to the small blind who moves in for 1050 total. I call 850 more from the big blind with QTo. He has A4o and I win. 5) Folds to the button who moves in for 1850. The small blind folds. I call 1650 more from the big blind with 44. He has A7o and he wins. 6) 150-300 with 25 antes now. Folds to the cutoff who opens for 900. Folds to me in the big blind. I have 3600 total including the blind. I call 600 more with J7s. The flop comes ace-high. I check and fold. 7) Two folds, I move in for 2500 with Kd5d. The small blind calls with TT. I lose, and bust. Tomorrow: $1,500 Mixed Hold 'Em Back in Vegas: $3,000 Limit Hold 'Em Thursday, June 21, 2007 I didn't mention this initially, but on my first flight out here JetBlue had me sitting on the tarmac for three hours and 45 minutes before I finally departed New York. I finally got settled in my condo at about 6 a.m. Vegas time. Later that day, I played a bunch of limit poker in the HORSE event and got through Day One with fewer chips than I started with. I busted quickly in Day Two. Call it deja vu all over again. On this second flight to Vegas, JetBlue only had me on the tarmac for two hours and 45 minutes this time, so I managed to get settled on my condo at about 5 a.m. Vegas time. Later that day, I played a bunch of limit poker in the $3,000 Limit Hold 'em event, and ended Day One with fewer chips than I started with. I busted quickly in Day Two. I'm a little annoyed with myself because I slightly screwed up the pot odds calculation in my head while at the table during my final hand (I thought it was 6-1 at the time, but later realized it was 4.5-1), which may or may not have affected my decision. Too much online poker, I guess. But as Andy Bloch pointed out to me, it's not worth beating yourself up over what happens with your last 2200 when the blinds are 400-800. Tomorrow: $2,000 Pot Limit Hold 'Em Online Sunday Monday, June 18, 2007 I wasn't planning to play at all today. I hadn't seen Ivy in over a week, so I thought I'd spend the day with her. Except that around 4 p.m. she told me I might as well play the tournaments, as she wanted to take a nap. So I quick-registered for Bodog, and also entered the million-seat WSOP supers on Poker Stars and FTP. I couldn't get much going on Stars or FTP, and busted pretty early from both. In addition, after I ran a $2,000 stack up to over $9,000 in a $10-$20 NL cash game, I semi-bluff check-raised all-in with 15 outs, got called by AA, missed, and gave back all my cash game profits for the day in the process. As for Bodog, I got it all-in early with 5d3d against Th9h on a board of 5h5s6h. The heart came on the river, and I was left with 125 chips with blinds of 50 and 100. Everyone has stories about the time they had one blind left and they came back to win the tournament, so that's what I decided to do. I got to 400 when I beat AK with 22. Then I moved in UTG with 98s and no one called (!). This got me to 550. Next, a mid-position player opened for 250 and got called by a late position player. I decided to play stop-and-go from the big blind with AQ. The flop came three babies, and I moved in for my last 300. They both mucked (!!!!). I then doubled up with AA vs. QJ, and then again with AK vs. QJ, and suddenly I was back to average chips. From there to the final table, it was basic short-stack tournament poker. I won more than my fair share of showdowns, for sure, but I certainly didn't win them all. Once we reached the final table, every short stack doubled up for the first seven or eight confrontations, and I suddenly found myself as the second smallest stack left. I moved in for six blinds with 99, and that's when I caught my luckiest break of the tournament*--getting called by TT and spiking a nine on the turn. From that point forward, I had things pretty well under control. Of course, I still could've busted at any time, but just having the tiniest bit of breathing room seemed to make a huge difference. This was my first outright win in a while, and even though it was a tiny victory compared to the stuff I'll be playing in Vegas, it still felt good. Speaking of Vegas, I'm going back out there on Tuesday night and playing the $3,000 Limit Hold 'Em event on Wednesday. The Bodog score more or less allows me to freeroll the rest of the events I was planning on playing, so in that sense I "won" my Main Event seat tonight. Good luck to everybody at the WSOP and elsewhere this week. * - Actually, I had a similar suckout extremely early on--even before the 53s hand--running T8s through JJ (all-in preflop). While I had roughly the same chance of winning in each case (just ran the numbers--I was in slightly better shape with the T8s!), the 99 beating TT was clearly worth far far more in terms of real money EV, being that it was the final table and all. WSOP Day Six: PLO Friday, June 15, 2007 I finished 37th out of 580 in this Pot Limit Omaha event. I couldn't run K(K8)J through 9532. (Yes, all the money was in preflop.) I lost another showdown in the money as well. There is almost nothing more frustrating than a low-level cash. While it's obviously better for my wallet to cash small than to not cash at all, it's better for my psyche to bust quickly and head to the golf course. Sigh. We'll get 'em next time. This is also my first cash in a major tournament that didn't involve any Hold 'Em (I have cashed in a major mixed game tournament), so I guess that's something. I'm going home for a few days. My probable next event is the $3,000 Limit Hold 'Em on Wednesday, though there is a small chance I'll get back for the shorthanded NLHE on Monday. WSOP Day Four: $1,500 NLHE Shootout Wednesday, June 13, 2007 I had a strange hand early in this one. I opened for 100 (blinds 25-50) from early position with AsKc. The player two seats to my left reraised to a total of 250. This player had been making many pot-sized bets postflop, so this was an especially odd raise size from him. I had roughly my original 3,000 (he had me covered), and I decided to call. The flop came with three low diamonds. I checked, planning on folding to a bet, but my opponent checked right behind me. The turn brought the Ks. I checked, my opponent bet 600 into the 575 pot, and I called. The river brought a fourth diamond, and before I could do anything, my opponent slapped his hand against the table, making an emphatic check out of turn. I don't always read everything right at the poker table, but I was pretty damn sure this guy hated the diamond and would not call any more bets. Just in case I didn't have the best hand, I bet 1,100, which was more than half my stack. He folded instantly. Shortly after that hand, Phil Hellmuth took the open seat to my right, and proceeded to walk around the table shaking all of his opponents' hands. He was in a pretty good mood, having won his 11th bracelet the night before. He dusted off 1k from his starting stack* before taking a 45-minute cell phone break. When he got back, he recovered a few chips, and then opened for 200 (blinds 50-100) from the button. I made it 700 from the small blind with AsKs. The big blind folded, Phil said something about "gambling," and then called. The flop came ace-high, and I led out for 850. Phil said, "I probably still have him beat." He then folded, and went on for the next few minutes about how everyone bluffs him, and that I was only raising because I was sick of Phil's raising (incidentally, Phil had opened maybe two pots while he'd been there), and that he was going to reel me in next time, and some other stuff. I had my headphones on, so I didn't catch it all, and didn't really want to catch any of it. Remember, this man had won his 11th bracelet hours earlier. We are who we are, though. A few hands later, an early position player opened for 300. I called in middle position with two jacks. It folded to a good player in the big blind, who made it 1,100. The original raiser folded. I had about 5,800 to start the hand. I thought my choice was between calling, and raising all-in. I felt this player's range was weaker than typical for this action (because I read him to be a good player), so I decided to move-in. He called with aces and I busted. Again, I busted in time to get a round of golf in. (Although with no time on the driving range, my irons were a disaster as usual.) I'm not playing the event today. My next event will likely be the $1,500 PLO. * I played two hands against Hellmuth during this period. They're only mildly interesting, but I know some people are really curious about how guys like Hellmuth play, so I thought I'd write up these two mundane hands to give that insight to those who want it. Hand One: Blinds 25-50. I open for 100 UTG with 88. Folds to Phil in the big blind, who calls. Flop comes Q52 with two suits. Phil checks, I bet 125, Phil calls. Turn pairs the deuce. Check-check. River brings an ace. Phil bets 100. I think for a bit and muck. Phil shows me QTs. Hand Two: Blinds 50-100. Folds to Phil in the small blind. He calls. I check my option with KJo. Flop comes T8x. Check-check. Turn is a nine. Phil bets 100. I call. River is a queen. Phil checks. I bet 300. Phil calls, ready to roll over his hand, but I beat him to it so as not to be accused of slowrolling. He later says that if I had raised preflop, he would have reraised. He claimed he had a strong queen. WSOP Day Three: $2,500 NLHE Tuesday, June 12, 2007 I got a bunch of chips in this by winning showdowns, which takes skill! (That was sarcasm.) I restole all-in with 74s, got called by 99, and flopped a flush. Nice! But then I bluffed off the chips I won, so I had to get it all-in with AA against T9o to get those chips back. Then I got it in with Td9d on a nine-high, two-diamond flop. I won the race against AdJd. Next, I won a coin flip, and then I busted a short stack with QJs against his AK. This got me to 18k from a starting stack of 5k. I blinded down to 16k. Then, two hands in succession at the end of level 6. Hand One: With blinds of 200-400 with a 50 ante, it folds to a tight player in the cutoff who opens for 1,200. The cutoff, small blind, and big blind all have about 6k, and all play pretty tight. I make it 10k from the button (enough to cover everyone, obviously) with 98o. The small blind instantly calls all-in. The other players fold, and his aces hold up. Hand Two (very next hand): I open for 1,200 from the cutoff with A7o. The button (same AA guy from the hand before) calls. The flop comes 974 rainbow. I check. The button bets 2k. I move-in for 6,450 more. He tanks for literally three minutes. He finally calls with A9. And I'm done. Tomorrow: $1,500 NLHE Shootout WSOP Day Two: Golf Monday, June 11, 2007 As you can tell by this post's title, day two of the HORSE event wasn't much of a day for me. In fact it was two hands. On the first hand, it folded around to me in the small blind and I raised with A(K9)T. (In case you're confused, the (K9) is my notation for "the king and nine were suited with each other.) A highly aggressive player reraised me in the big blind and I called. The flop came J73 rainbow. I checked and he bet. This is a very marginal situation, and I would often fold here. I thought this particular player could've easily had QQ or KK, or that he might have just had something like aq46, so I called getting 7-1. The turn brought a ten. I checked, he bet. Now a queen gives me the nuts for a probable scoop, an eight almost certainly wins me the high, a ten probably scoops as well. I called. The river paired the jack and the action went check-check. His AA97 was good, but it turns out even a nine on the river would've won me the hand, and I would've scooped with any of my other outs. Oh well. The very next hand it folded to Max Pescatori in the cutoff and he opened. I reraised with (A72)J. The highly aggressive player four-bet in the small blind. The big blind folded, Max called and I called. The flop came JT4 rainbow. SB checked, Max folded, I called 300 leaving myself with 25. The turn brought a queen and he put me in for my last 25. He had AAxx (I don't remember the other cards) and I didn't improve on the end. That was that. I caught up with two friends in time to play golf, at least. Tomorrow: $2,500 No Limit Hold 'Em. WSOP Day One: $2,500 HORSE Sunday, June 10, 2007 Some good news upon my arrival in Vegas--thanks to the outcry among the poker community, the right people at Harrah's finally heard our pleas and Richard Brodie is once again allowed to play in the World Series of Poker. Sanity wins for once. I spent ten hours playing HORSE today. It didn't go all that well; I'm down to 3,325 from my starting stack of 5,000. It actually could've been worse, as I had 1,075 chips 15 minutes before the day ended. We're playing Omaha next, with blinds of 150-300 (betting 300-600). While I'm clearly short, I'm not forced to go all-in within my first few hands, and I just paid the big blind. I guess what I'm saying is, this tournament is not over yet for me, and anything could still happen. I'd write more, but I'm exhausted. We ended at 3 a.m. Vegas time, and I'm really still on East Coast time. There's not much to write about anyway--I had very few playable hands at any point, and I think I'm lucky to still be in the tournament. The biggest pocket pair I had in two hours of Hold 'Em was 88, and I never had AK. I don't remember a single good Omaha hand. I had split aces once in stud (they lost). I didn't keep track, but I'm pretty sure my "weak" stud games kept me afloat while I lost chips in the flop games. Time for bed. I'll report again tomorrow. Here We Go Again Sunday, June 03, 2007 I was pretty disappointed to wake up this morning, on my first day of pre-WSOP vacation, and learn that my friend Richard Brodie has been barred from playing poker at any Harrah's establishment. This, of course, prevents him from playing in the World Series of Poker. As some of you surely know, Richard is a high-stakes video poker player, and has done well at Harrah's-owned establishments. Apparently, their reaction to this is to ban him from playing there again. You can read about some of the specifics at Richard's blog (linked to above). Some of you veterans may remember we had a similar problem at the WSOP six years ago, when Becky Binion banned Paul Phillips and Richard Tatalovich from playing at the WSOP because she didn't like some of the statements they made about the tournament in the newspapers. While banning someone for speaking his mind is clearly a more egregious offense than banning someone for getting lucky in your casino, there is absolutely no justification for either banning. By banning any player for reasons other than disciplinary ones, the WSOP cannot be considered a world championship. Harrah's still has time to correct this issue. Maybe they didn't think through all the ramifications, but I seriously doubt they want to start off the WSOP by angering a large portion of their player base. If Harrah's wants to ban Richard Brodie from playing video poker, well that's not really any of my business. I'll go further and say that if they ban him from playing video poker, and then he violates that ban, they would then be justified in banning him from the casino entirely. But when Harrah's bans a fellow poker player from playing poker tournaments without any justification, that becomes the business of all poker players. As it stands right now, Richard Brodie is a loyal Harrah's customer who has done absolutely nothing disallowed by the casino. Ever. In addition, Harrah's stands to lose thousands of dollars in juice by banning Richard from the WSOP. So even their purported reason for banning him (Richard claims they told him they don't know how to make money off him) doesn't hold water. If everyone speaks out about this now, I think there's a pretty good chance Harrah's will allow Richard back to the poker tables. So, if you have a minute, shoot off an email to someone at Harrah's. State, politely, why this situation is unacceptable. I think and hope that someone over there will listen to reason.  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