EPT Deauville Report: Day 1

[Schaefer]

DAY 1:

The first day was very difficult. We had just flown in from Seattle the night before and jet lag led to me feeling like crap the whole day. Getting no hands helped tire me out as well. At the first break, 2 levels in, I had 8950 in chips, seeing a total of zero flops. One hand I had 66 in the CO. With blinds 50/100, UTG raised to 300 and UTG+1 called. I came along then the SB raised to 2K. UTG pushed and we had AA for UTG against KK for the SB. Exciting, huh?

I wasn’t too worried. With 10,000 starting chips, I could afford to be patient and wait for good opportunities. The next 3 hours were more of the same. I picked up AKo twice and came over the top of a very attractive, weak-tight French chick both times. She folded and I was able to stay around 9K in chips. During hour number 6, antes started up (150/300 25a) and I started stealing a bit. I was in the 4 seat and I picked on the 98 year-old French lady in seat 8 and the pretty young French girl in seat 10. The antiquated French lady would look at my raise, ask the dealer something in French (probably “how much?”), then scrunch her face up in bitter-beer fashion, shake her head, and muck. She did this every single time. The pretty French girl was less animated, giving me her chips without unnecessary theatrics.

ZeeJustin sat down in the 2 seat toward the end of level 6. I considered remaining anonymous but decided to introduce myself before his first hand. He proceeds to raise about twice an orbit and really screw up the table dynamic. At least I finally get some hands:

Blinds still 150/300 25a. I have about 10K chips. UTG open-limps and leaves himself with 2700 chips. Folded to me in the CO-1 and I raise to 1200 with 88. It folds around to the limper who thinks for a while then pushes. This guy was pretty horrible and the call is pretty automatic. He has ATo, spikes a T on the turn and takes a 3K dent out of my stack. Maybe I should have raised to 1500. All I really wanted was the dead money. The French grandma was the BB!

A few hands later, with 7500 chips, I look down and see JJ in the BB. Sweet! UTG opens for 800, weak-tight girl cold calls and Justin makes it 2400 on the button. Damn! I guess this is a pretty easy fold but Justin had been opening a ton of pots and JJ was the biggest hand I had seen all day. I hem and haw but finally fold, as do UTG and hot French girl. Justin flashes me QQ and I rejoice. He gets moved a little later and I rejoice again.

We take our third and final break of the day and I have 7,025 chips. I mention to my friend Steve that all I want to do over the last 2 hours is double up twice and end with 30,000 chips. That’s not too much to ask, is it?

I steal a bit and pick my spots but still get no hands. We move to hour 8, the last hour of play for the day, and I still only have about 7500 chips.

With blinds 300/600 75a, I pick up AdQd UTG, open for 1500 and it folds to the BB. He’s a young French kid who is very aggrsssive. He re-raises to 7K and I have a pretty tough decision on my hands. I decide that the combination of his aggression and my loose image make this a situation where I may be in real good shape. Well, it’s now or never and I push all-in for 7,525 total. He looks kinda pissed, and starts chatting with his friend in French. I hear, “blah blah blah, AJ, blah blah.” I should have stopped them from talking but it was only 525 more to him so essentially the hand was over. Plus, I was pretty excited to hear that he had AJ. He finally calls and I double up. 16,100 in chips!

Now I really start to open up and steal my way up to about 20K in chips. Peter Reichart, an eventual final tablist, sits down in seat 6, 2 to my left with a mountain of chips. I continue to open and he’s getting real perturbed. One hand, I open to 1500 with KTs in the CO-1 and he raises to 6K on the button. I don’t think he has too much but I can’t play that hand out of position. I fold and he looks satisfied.

One orbit later, I open with K8o in the CO. Peter calls in the SB and we’re heads up. The flop is a 975 rainbow. He checks, I bet 1500, a little less than half the pot, and he calls. The turn is a T, putting 2 diamonds on board, and he checks very sneakily. I’m not sure what’s up but I have an OESD and an overcards. I’d hate to get check-raised off of this hand. I check behind and we see the 6d on the river for a final board of T9765 with 3 diamonds. Now he leads for 1500. I consider just calling in case he has the flush but I really want to protect the identity of my hand. I don’t want the world to know that I open with K8o so I raise to 6000. He goes into the tank and I’m very pleased. If he calls I win 4500 more chips. If he mucks, I keep my looseness under wraps. He eventually calls and disgustedly shows me 55 for bottom set. Send it! I’m up around 30K and rolling.

Everyone’s wrapping up and our table is playing our final hand. It folds to the button(the guy who doubled me up) and he raises to 3K. I look down and see AJo and decide I want that money too. People are usually a bit tighter on the last hand of the day so I raise to 8K. He shows me 66 as he quickly folds.

Man. I guess that’s how it’s supposed to work, huh? 7 hours of patience rewarded by 1 hour of fun. I go into day 2 with just over 33K in chips, good for 14th overall out of 105 or so. Carl only has 16K but Justin has a 50K stack. I say a little prayer that we don't sit together on day 2 and head back to the hotel. I'm absolutely exhausted but really happy with how the day went.

I'm too lazy to continue. Day 2 coming...whenever I get the energy. Let me know if you want fewer details and more hands or if you think I suck. There is more action on day 2 and I shudder when I think of how long that could end up.

Schaefer

[willie]

sweet man

keep up the solid play and take it down.

as for zee.....kid is on a tear. /images/graemlins/spade.gif

[burningyen]

More of the same, please!

[wray]

Yes more more more. Nice playing and good luck

[B00T]

FYI, he doesnt need the luck anymore. I really dont want to be the spoiler here. /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Schaefer]

Yeah, sorry if I confused anyone. This is just a multi-part recap. Working on Day 2 as we speak.

Schaefer

[SharkBait]

Great report and awesome job. Like many others here I enjoyed following the action on the blog. Any plans to hit the tournament circuit or are you going to keep it real?

[StableHand]

Good job. Both on the win and the report. The balance of the report is just right, I'd like to read more. Guess day 2 brings more action.
Giving two entries to MC was great! Will you go to Vienna before MC?

[DemonDeac]

excellent report
cant wait for day 2

[nolanfan34]

[ QUOTE ]
Let me know if you want fewer details and more hands or if you think I suck.

[/ QUOTE ]

How about more details and more hands? Make the report as long as possible, I'll read it.

[Schaefer]

OK, writing this was pretty difficult. I tried to get as many details as accurate as possible but this feels like it happened years ago. Anyway, enjoy!

DAY 2:

I came into Day 2 brimming with confidence. I was the chip leader at my table, with a little over 33,000 chips, and couldn’t wait to flex my muscle. We re-drew and I was in seat 7 at my new table. There was a young Scandanavian in seat 2 with around 30K and I made it a point to keep my eye on him.

The second hand of the day I’m dealt 77 and raise to 2000 (400/800 100a). A young guy in seat 9 pushes for 6K total and I make the easy call. He has AdJd and turns the nut flush. Oh well.

I steal for a round and the table stays out of my way. Next orbit I pick up AcKc in MP and raise to 2000 again. The same kid in the 9 seat pushes again, but for 16,000 this time. The Scandanavian kid in seat 2 is upset with all my raising, looks at me from the BB and says call, throwing out 2,000 in chips. He missed the 9-seat moving all in and accidentally called a huge bet. The dealer makes him put out 16,000 which he reluctantly throws out and now I have to move in. He’s shaking as he folds. The 9 seat has AsKs and we happily split the 16K.

Now I’m at about 35K in chips. However, people are starting to play back at me and I’m not really stealing at will anymore. The table has gotten much more aggressive and I don’t like it at all. On my BB, the Scandanavian kid open-limps in middle position, setting off warning bells in my head. I can’t decide if he’s weak or really strong. I should have raised here to find out but I just checked it through. The flop comes out 632, rainbow. I bet 1000 into the 3000 pot and he calls fairly quickly. OK, he has something. I’m done with the hand when a Q pops off on the turn. He has about 9K left and the pot is 5K. I think for a while and bet 3500. He almost instantly min-raises. I should have folded here but I convinced myself that he might have a hand like 77-99 and thought I had a small pair. I put him all in, he shows 33 and I’m drawing dead. Boooooooo. How bad did I play that hand?

So now I’m down to 25K in chips. Things haven’t been going very well this first day and without the lucky 8K I’d be hurting. I steal 3 times then next orbit to make myself feel better when this hand came up:

400/800 100a. I open UTG for 2000 with KcQc. It folds to the BB who instantly grabs his stack and slams it in the middle, crossing his arms and glaring at me. We count it and it’s about 13K total. I’m positive that he doesn’t have much. He’s just reacting to my constant raising. But I have K-high! He may be putting his foot down with A2 and have me beat. The more I think about it, the more I convince myself that this really was an “any 2” move. And KQs is better than “any 2” right? I decide that I’m going to make a big call and hopefully it will work out. He looks crestfallen when I turn over KQ and he shows Q2o. Unreal. I swallow his stack and send a clear message to the table: don’t play back at me unless you’re willing to go broke. I look back at this hand as the turning point for my tournament. I post my big blind, still shaking my head over calling off half my stack with KQ, when the dealer, a cool guy named Jesse, says, “don’t forget your ante, maniac”. One of the biggest compliments of my life.

The table is mine now. I am stealing at will and life is good. A few orbits later, the Q2o seat is taken by David “Devilfish” Ulliott. He’s directly on my right and I couldn’t ask for a better scenario. I get to stay out of his way and he never interferes with my running over the table. My stack is growing and Devilfish is cracking jokes. I’m in heaven.

His phone rings and he does a quick James Bond impression for whoever is on the other end. Hanging up, he tells me that it’s his 22 year-old girlfriend. “Oh yeah, that’s my girlfriend. All the blokes fancy her. I guess she’s alright.” I listen speculatively but 5 minutes later this smoking hot chick walks into the room and comes to the table. “Hey baby, how about a kiss,” says Devilfish. She leans down and whispers something and he says, “Haha, I’ll give you a spank for that one,” as he smacks her ass. Unbelievable. Finally she leaves and he says, “you know, I have a wife too,” at which point I lose it. Great times. Worth the price of admission.

Blinds 800/1600 150s, I open for 3K in MP with KTo. My stack is now about 65K. The BB, Scandanavian kid from earlier defends and we see the flop heads up. His stack is now around 50K. AQJ, with 2 diamonds. Flopping the nuts is fun! He checks and I bet 3K. All of a sudden he re-raises to 7K. Hmmmmm…I think he may be bluffing and I don’t want to run him out of the pot just yet. I just call and we see an offsuit 3 on the turn. Now he checks again and I change my read to a flush draw. The pot is about 22K so I bet 15K and he quickly calls, leaving himself with about 25K behind. The river pairs the 3 and he quickly counts out 15K in chips and fires them into the pot. I’d like to raise his remaining 10K but I think he’s bluffing and won’t call any more money. Also, the thought of A3 creeps into my head and I just call. He insta-mucks and MHIG. Devilfish says he like just calling on the end but I can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic or not but I’ll take it. I’m over 100K.

Devilfish busts with AK vs QQ. He bitches about losing every coin flip for the past year as he leaves. I’m sad to see him go. He had me extremely relaxed and focused.

Keith “The Camel” Hawkins, one of Europe’s top tournament players sits down in seat 3. He has a monster stack and asserts himself as the table captain. I try to play back a bit but he comes over the top of me a few times and I’m relegated to table scraps. Suddenly he loses a 150,000 pot to a huge suckout. He has JT on flop of JTx, his opponent has QJ. Turn 8, river 9. All of a sudden he goes into a bit of a shell, really tightening up. I seize my opportunity and open back up, stealing at will a re-building my stack up to about 100K when the following hand happens:

Blinds 2000/4000 400a, I open to 10K with A3o in the CO-1. The button, a French guy in the 2 seat, calls my raise, looking at me inquisitively He has about 65K left after calling the raise. I have a feeling that he wants to take a flop and outplay me. The flop is 974 with 2 clubs. I bet 10K and he just calls. Again, I think he wants to take the hand away from me if I show weakness. I plan on betting any card again on the turn but then the Ac hits. I decide to check and let him come to me. He instantly fires out 20K and does the same arm-crossing, staring thing that the Q2o guy did. I’m fairly certain that he’s bluffing now but I’m have to think for a while. Am I really ready to go all the way with A3? I decide to trust myself and go all the way so I call his bet. The river is a red 3 and I check-call his 35K all-in. He tables KJo and leaves in a rush. He was our 32nd place finisher, 5 from the money. Crazy place to blow off a big stack, huh? Note to all aspiring tournament players: don’t bluff calling stations.

Now I have almost 180K. Play is fairly tight as the bubble nears and I build up to almost 200K when the bubble breaks. We re-draw and I’m luck to have ZeeJustin 3 to my right again. We steal and re-steal for a while but I really can’t remember a single hand on the way from 27 down to 18. Once we got to 18, it was announced that this was our final hand. It’s my BB and I’m pissed since we’re re-drawing to 18 anyway. It folds to Justin and obviously he raises to 20K, leaving himself around 90K behind. I decide that I moving in with any playable cards. I look down and find Ad9d, more than enough and move in. He goes into the tank and eventually folds. We break for the night and I have just over 200K. Another successful day and I’m 4th out of 18 going into day 3.

Day 3 is going to be pretty boring. It was a lot of raise and take it. But I'll get one fired out eventually.

Schaefer

[Schaefer]

[ QUOTE ]
How about more details and more hands?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think anyone wants to read, "I raise to 2,000 with 75o UTG and take down the blinds and antes". I'd have to paste that sentence like 50 times a day too. The reports cover ALL the hands that I remember having any postflop play to them. Chill out ya nit.

Schaefer

[Schaefer]

[ QUOTE ]
Any plans to hit the tournament circuit or are you going to keep it real?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I'll always keep it real. Someday I'd like to be affluent enough to hit the circuit but I'm definitely not even close. This is a nice sum of money but it's not really a life-changing amount. We'll see after I win Monte Carlo but for now it's still 5/10 6-max. I may force myself back into the 10/20 but it's been ugly in the past.

Schaefer

[Schaefer]

[ QUOTE ]
Will you go to Vienna before MC?

[/ QUOTE ]

If I qualify this weekend, I'll go. If not, I won't. I still can't justify buying directly into a 2,000 Euro event.

Schaefer

[MLG]

great report man. jeez and I thought I was a LAG.

[Howard Treesong]

>came over the top of a very attractive, weak-tight French chick

Well, THAT certainly leads to some interesting imagery with respect to the phrase "weak-tight." Nice TR, sir. Keep up the good work.

[HiatusOver]

Great report man, it doesnt get much better than this...My only request is if you could explain a little more your thought process on blind stealing throughout the tournament because it seems that it was a huge factor in your stack building...Any insights would be great. How many times a round did you open-raise? Were there times when your cards didnt matter? Did you come over the top of a bunch of standard open raises on day 1 and 2?

[Howard Treesong]

Ulliott is quite amusing: he always has something to say, usually about the ladies. Great personality. At last year's WSOP, he told a joke about the Paki merchant in London who hit the lottery big and tried to keep it a secret, but the whole town knew right away when he closed up shop five minutes early and bought a pair of socks on the way home.

Repeating it now, it's not all that funny. It's a testament to Ulliott's personality that he could and did have the entire table laughing by telling that joke.

[J_V]

Great report - excellent writing. Keep the reports coming. Sounds like you played great. Let's say you decide to open 4 orbits a round because you have a huge stack. Are you picking your spots based on who is in the blind or are you just picking the top x% of your hands?

Obviously it's some combination, but I wondering which of the two is more dominant. I'm very interested in Hiatus' question as well.

[DemonDeac]

great report, maniac /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

and for the record, that girl in ur avatar is hot!

[nolanfan34]

[ QUOTE ]
Chill out ya nit.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I have no comeback for that.

I'll look forward to day 3, and reading your response to HiatusOver's question. I think the aggression level you show is something I'm not capable of yet. I mean, the EPT players can't be as weak-tight as the Muck tourney players, can they?

[burningyen]

[ QUOTE ]
The flop comes out 632, rainbow. I bet 1000 into the 3000 pot and he calls fairly quickly. OK, he has something. I’m done with the hand when a Q pops off on the turn.

[/ QUOTE ]

What were your hole cards?

[Demana]

Good times so far!

When will day 3 get posted?

[Schaefer]

DAY 3:

Down to 18, the final 2 tables! I started on table 1 in seat 4. Carl was nursing a short stack and seated on my right in seat 3. I had 200,000 chips, good for 4th overall. The chipleader was Bob, a British guy directly on my right. His stack was very intimidating but I knew he was pretty tight and wasn’t too worried about it. The cool dynamic about my table is that the top 5 chipleaders were all here. If I was going to make a move, this was the place to be. The biggest hand I’d had so far in the tournament was JJ and I had to fold it preflop. I figured I was due for some big hands.

The second hand of the tourney I pick up AA UTG+1 and steal the blinds. Well, that’s cool I guess. On my SB, Keith “The Camel” Hawkins opens the pot for 25,000 (5000/10000 1000a) from the CO-1. I think he’s stealing so I’m going to play back with any semblance of a hand. I look down at AJo and re-raise to 70,000 chips. He thinks for a while and folds. Round 1, Schaefer! The Camel always waited until it was his turn before he looked at his cards. I noticed that he jerked his head up really fast when he was going for a steal and was a little more deliberate when he had a legitimate opening hand. It was nice to take down a pot and gain some comfort at the table.

An orbit later I open-raise to 25K in the SB with AsTx. Bob calls and we see a flop. I hate raising from the SB because it looks so weak and you’re out of position for the entire hand. Anyway, the flop comes down 883 with 2 spades and I bet 30K. Bob, quickly raises to 85K and I have some thinking to do. I’m fairly certain he doesn’t have an 8 and he may not have much of anything. I’m chatting a little, saying “I don’t see how I can fold Bob….you don’t really have the 8 do you?” and he’s chuckling nervously. It’s 55K to me and I have a little less than 200K left. I consider pushing but it would be too easy for Bob to call with a hand like 55 or 66. I decide to just call and make my final decision on the turn. The turn is the 7s, a perfect card. Well, the best card would be the Ts but the 7 will do. I hesitate for half a second and push all-in. Now Bob’s in a bit of a quandary. He shakes his head and folds. Man, it’s scary pushing into the giant stack. But it feels good. Bob stays out of my way for the rest of the day.

About an orbit later it folds to Carl in the CO and he pushes for about 80K. I have AKo and consider overpushing but I’m afraid of Bob waking up with a hand in the SB. I just call and the blinds fold. The flop is no help and I double Carl up. The number of chips is not insignificant. I’m back down to 250K or so but I still feel fine.

I steal for a bit until we finally get down to 10 handed. The Camel loses a big hand to Carl and is left with 2500. After posting the 1500 ante, he only has 1000 left and the blinds are 7500/15000. I have KTo early and raise to 40K. Everyone folds and I take the side pot. The Camel has A6o but the flop is QJx and the river 9 sends him home. Man was I glad to see him go. He’s a very good big stack player and is as aggressive and tricky as anyone I’ve ever come across.

Now we’re 9-handed. Everyone is playing uber-tight because they want to make the final table. I’m on the right of Justin and Carl and have the FROStealing. Justin gets pissed after a while and plays the infamous 9d4d hand. The outcome was perfect for me. Luca Pagano is one of the tightest players I’ve ever played against and he had a huge stack that wasn’t going to get involved. The eventual 3rd place finisher, Mark had a big stack as well but he’s almost as tight as Luca. So it was the 3 of us and 6 average-shortish stacks. I was the only big stack with initiative and I raised at will for the next hour or two. Every time a shortstack went all in they held up and I had more time to steal chips. Finally Justin busts some dude in 9th place and my day of fun is over.

I’m stunned as I count my chips. 691,000 is the final total, almost twice 2nd place. I played almost no poker today and gained a massive chiplead. I was really fortunate that things panned out the way they did and I feel really good about my chances in the tournament.

OK, I know this day was pretty boring. I seriously opened like 3 or 4 pots and orbit. And with blinds of 10K/20K, 2K ante, there was 48K for the taking every time. Too much fun. The final installation will come a little later in the day. Sorry I’m doing it like this but I’m tired and this is the best I can do.

I’m not looking forward to writing about Day 4. It was arguably the worst poker I’ve ever played. I got no sleep the night before and I was really nervous. Anyway, I’ll save the excuses for part 4.

[Schaefer]

[ QUOTE ]
How many times a round did you open-raise? Were there times when your cards didnt matter? Did you come over the top of a bunch of standard open raises on day 1 and 2?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd say I averaged about 2 or 3 steals an orbit. The overriding factor was the player that I was stealing from. I had a really weak-tight player's BB during my CO-1 and I raised his blind every single time. I only avoided one player, Keith "The Camel" Hawkins because he was capable of putting me to a decision with any 2 cards. I tried not to steal too much from Justin either because I know he has the same ability if I pissed him off.

So weak-tights I stole from every single orbit. Normal players I stole from with any decent hand. Tx suited or better, and any 2 connected cards.

I used this a ton during the end of days 1 and 2. Toward the end of day 1 I had a incredibly rockish image at my table and was able to use that to my advantage. The end of day 2 we were approaching the bubble and I was able to gain a lot of chips during that stretch. I'd say that the most profitable periods of blind stealing were from 50 players down to 27 and then from 10 down to 8. God I got so many chips. It was nice during that 50-27 stretch that the Camel got a little gunshy and let me have my way with the table.

I didn't really resteal much until day 3. No one was really stealing at all so I was respecting raises.

[Schaefer]

[ QUOTE ]
Are you picking your spots based on who is in the blind or are you just picking the top x% of your hands?

[/ QUOTE ]

I think the player in the blind played a bigger factor in my steal attempts. It's just so easy when they defend like 1 out of 10 times then check-fold the flop. So much fun.

I don't know how to quantify the range of hands that I was stealing with. If it had any sort of potentioal, I'd open with it. People were uber tight for most of the tourney, from the end of Day 1 on.

[Schaefer]

[ QUOTE ]
that girl in ur avatar is hot!

[/ QUOTE ]

Uh, Alizee? Yeah, she's alright. The worst part of the trip was not meeting her. But I guess she's all fat and pregs now. Maybe I'll meet her next year.

[Schaefer]

[ QUOTE ]

Quote:
The flop comes out 632, rainbow. I bet 1000 into the 3000 pot and he calls fairly quickly. OK, he has something. I’m done with the hand when a Q pops off on the turn.



What were your hole cards?

[/ QUOTE ]

Q9o. What a crappy hand. I think I left the hole cards out on purpose.

[DemonDeac]

awesome man. mental note: stealing becomes huge at this stage of tourneys
looking forward to day 4.....THE FINAL TABLE

[Schaefer]

[ QUOTE ]
I think the aggression level you show is something I'm not capable of yet. I mean, the EPT players can't be as weak-tight as the Muck tourney players, can they?

[/ QUOTE ]

Uh, yes they can be. Really, the Muck tourneys helped me get comfortable with stealing for a living. And these players had just about the same amount of weak-tightness. All you need to do is try it. It gets really easy after a while. Much easier than actually playing poker.

[Schaefer]

Is it possible to put images from my computer in a post or do I need to host the images on a website?

[ClaytonN]

Pretty sure you gotta host em. Try imageshack.us

[Schaefer]

Thanks Clayton. I hope this works....

These were gifts from the Casino. The smaller of was given to all the final tablists. The plaque reads:

FINALISTE
EPT/POKERSTARS FRENCH OPEN
CASINO BARRIERE DE DEAUVILLE
FEVRIER 2005

The bigger one says VAINQUEUR instead of FINALISTE on the plaque.

These are chips that the Casino used to use when they had Francs instead of Euros. On Day 2, Carl and I got to the Casino early and wandered around the halls. They had this chipset in a display case and we were like, "man, that's really cool, I wonder how much that costs." We decided that they either didn't sell them or that it would be too expensive. I'm pretty tickled to have them.

http://img146.exs.cx/img146/2522/00000912iv.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

[DemonDeac]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
that girl in ur avatar is hot!

[/ QUOTE ]

Uh, Alizee? Yeah, she's alright.

[/ QUOTE ]

is that Alizee? i had no idea. yea, shes a pretty cute girl in that avatar of yours.

[nolanfan34]

Those chips are cool. What a great momento from the event.

Did you have to pay customs on them?

Good report BTW, and I'm glad to see Carl is posting his version of the event too. We'll see if he agrees you played like [censored] heads up.

[Demana]

Well done sir!

Day 4 shall be an interesting read.

btw - In OOT at least, it is preferable to have something in a trip report about non-whores /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[ClaytonN]

pretty