Roswell
06-16-2005, 10:51 PM
In the weeks before the WSOP began, I spent many hours playing satellites on Pokerstars. I was steadily collecting their W$, then spending them all trying to qualify for the main event. Finally I just got too annoyed with bubbling, so I started saving my W$. When the WSOP came around, I had enough to buy in to a couple tournaments. I chose the $1500 PL event instead of the NL, simply because the field would be smaller. Since the tournament was a freeroll for me, I wanted a greater chance of making the money. As it turns out the $1500 NL had 2300 entrants, while the pot limit had merely 1080.
On the first day I caught some hands right away and chipped up to about 3500. I was moved to a table with Nicky DeLeo. He is an excellent player that I knew from the day when 5/5 Pot Limit Holdem was the biggest game in New York. We got into a confrontation early on, when I raised to 600 with AK on the button, and he reraised his entire 1600 stack from the blind. I used to hate racing early in a tournament, but as my game has developed I’ve become much looser. The fields are so large that you have to take many coin flips to stay alive. It is unlikely that you can find enough spots where you are a big favorite, especially if (like me) you never get any good cards. I’m happy to get my money in on a 50/50 shot. It’s much better than putting in the money as a huge dog.
In this situation, I didn’t really hesitate to call. Nicky had TT which held up and I was knocked down to 2000. “I’m happy to take a coin flip,” I told him. “I’m definitely not the best player in this tournament.”
Shortly afterwards, Mike Gracz raised it to 700 and I defended my big blind with 77. The flop was about as ideal for a pair of sevens as it could be, without flopping a set: 689. I immediately bet the pot, which was about the size of my remaining stack. Mike debated for quite a while and finally called, rolling over QT. As my friend Shaniac later stated, “Mike likes to look people up.” My hand held and I was back in contention.
Some time later a guy raised it to 600. I flat called on the button with AA. Mike was in the big blind this time. He hesitated for a long time, then reraised his whole stack of 2200. The initial raiser thought for a while, but he noticed I was jumping out of my chair and doing a little dance, so he folded. Mike said, “You must have aces.” My hand held up against his 66 and was I up to about 5000 chips.
About one level later, at the 200/400 level, I made it 1200 with AKs. Some guy reraised the pot behind me. Again, I didn’t hesitate to ship my stack to the middle. He had 77 and I won the race, putting me over 10000. If I lost this coin flip, I would have been out.
Shortly afterwards, Nick Frangos was moved to my left. He had over 30000 chips at this point. Over the next hour he built it to 70000 and the chip lead by raising and reraising many pots. I figured there was really no point in screwing around when a guy with a massive stack is on your left, so I folded all my marginal hands. This made all my decisions very easy, especially since I kept getting J2o. On one hand I had KT in the small blind and Nick was the big blind. I just threw it away, because I knew he would come after me and KT is really a garbage hand.
I was slowly losing chips to the blinds, but since this was pot limit, there were no antes. People were busting out and tables were breaking. Eventually we were down to 102 players and they were paying 100. The blinds were 600/1200.
At this point I found JJ under the gun and I made it 3000. It was folded to Gavin Smith, who looked at his cards and instantly said “Reraise pot.” This came to about 10500. He had me slightly covered, so it was my tournament life at stake.
There were a number of things to consider. First of all, it was clear that Gavin had some kind of hand. The question was, did he have AK, an overpair, or TT? The only hand I could give him that I was a big favorite over was TT. I tried talking to him to get some kind of read. From his response, all I could tell was that he liked his hand.
Finally, I said to him, “I think you have an overpair,” and I mucked my JJ face up. I showed my hand because I knew he’d show his, and he did – he had AK. This was the only time I passed on a coin flip. At the time, however, I really didn’t want to bubble in my first WSOP tournament. I had another week in Vegas and a bubble finish would piss me off for the whole trip. So I picked the safer route. But I really should have made that call if I was trying to win the tournament.
As soon as I mucked, they announced “Attention players, we lost two people on that hand, you are all in the money!” Of course I was glad, but I wish I would have known that ten seconds earlier.
I was now pretty short, having 7000 chips at the 600/1200 level. I managed to take down the blinds once, and I found a big pair after somebody raised. My reraise forced him out and I was back up to 10000. Shortly afterwards the blinds went up again and my stack dwindled. At this point I found 66 on the button and made a pot sized raised. Nicky Frangos had to know I was pot committed, but he still reraised with A8o from his mountain of chips. I insta-called and my 6’s held up to put me over 20000 chips. This was the second time I won a coin flip for my tournament life.
However, time was passing and I was still a relatively short stack. At 2:30 in the morning, five minutes before we quit for the day, I had 17000 chips with blinds at 1000/2000. I found JJ and raised to 7000. Some guy reraised, and I was happy to call until I saw KK. However, I spiked a jack to stay alive for day 2. That suckout was probably worth about $5,000 in real money.
Going into day 2, I had 34K chips and the blinds were starting at 1500/3000. My plan was to play tight and pick a spot to double up. I would try to avoid marginal situations, since the prize jumps were fairly significant. I was hoping to make it down to two tables, which would pay $10K.
I continued to get junk cards, which made it easy to fold everything. People were busting and we were down to three tables. At this point a guy raised to 15K, and I found As5s right behind him. A5 is usually not a hand I want to race with, because you are often against a bigger ace or a pair. However, I had played with this guy the whole tournament, and I could throw various K-highs and Q-highs into his range of raising hands. I thought there was a chance I had him high carded, so I pushed for 16K. He tossed in the extra 1K and showed KQ. I held again up to give me over 35K in chips.
Shortly after, at the 2000/4000 level, it was folded to me in the SB, and I limped with T8. I was heads up with the BB. The flop was K84. Check check. Turn 5. I bet 8000, he called. The river was whatever. Check check, my hand was good. At that point, we were at level 14, and I realized that I hadn’t played a flop since level 4 of the tournament!
Now I had over 50000 chips, which was my high point for the tourney. A few hands later, I raised to 14000 with 99 and the BB pushed for 22000 with AJ. I called and lost the race. If I won this race, I would have had an excellent chance of making the final table. Instead I was very short again as the 19th player went out and we broke down to 2 tables.
The blinds were now 3000/6000 and I had 30000. I posted the 6000 BB. I was the 2nd shortest stack in the tournament. The shortest stack pushed for 17000 under the gun, and everyone folded. I found 33 and was getting 26000-11000, so I had an auto-call. However, the other guy had KK and I didn’t suck out this time. Now I was down to 11000 and I posted 3000 in the SB. It was folded to the button, who raised. I had 8cTc. I was getting rich pot odds to triple up, and if I folded I would have only 6000 chips left, the amount of the big blind. So I called, but my opponent had KK again and I was gone. I finished 17th out of 1080 players and cashed for $10,300.
I was actually very happy with the result. I was basically card dead for the whole tournament. Winning three coins flips and sucking out one time was enough to get me down to two tables. If I had won that last coin flip with the 99 vs AJ, I would have been in contention for the final table.
-Roswell
http://www.livejournal.com/users/roswell_42/
On the first day I caught some hands right away and chipped up to about 3500. I was moved to a table with Nicky DeLeo. He is an excellent player that I knew from the day when 5/5 Pot Limit Holdem was the biggest game in New York. We got into a confrontation early on, when I raised to 600 with AK on the button, and he reraised his entire 1600 stack from the blind. I used to hate racing early in a tournament, but as my game has developed I’ve become much looser. The fields are so large that you have to take many coin flips to stay alive. It is unlikely that you can find enough spots where you are a big favorite, especially if (like me) you never get any good cards. I’m happy to get my money in on a 50/50 shot. It’s much better than putting in the money as a huge dog.
In this situation, I didn’t really hesitate to call. Nicky had TT which held up and I was knocked down to 2000. “I’m happy to take a coin flip,” I told him. “I’m definitely not the best player in this tournament.”
Shortly afterwards, Mike Gracz raised it to 700 and I defended my big blind with 77. The flop was about as ideal for a pair of sevens as it could be, without flopping a set: 689. I immediately bet the pot, which was about the size of my remaining stack. Mike debated for quite a while and finally called, rolling over QT. As my friend Shaniac later stated, “Mike likes to look people up.” My hand held and I was back in contention.
Some time later a guy raised it to 600. I flat called on the button with AA. Mike was in the big blind this time. He hesitated for a long time, then reraised his whole stack of 2200. The initial raiser thought for a while, but he noticed I was jumping out of my chair and doing a little dance, so he folded. Mike said, “You must have aces.” My hand held up against his 66 and was I up to about 5000 chips.
About one level later, at the 200/400 level, I made it 1200 with AKs. Some guy reraised the pot behind me. Again, I didn’t hesitate to ship my stack to the middle. He had 77 and I won the race, putting me over 10000. If I lost this coin flip, I would have been out.
Shortly afterwards, Nick Frangos was moved to my left. He had over 30000 chips at this point. Over the next hour he built it to 70000 and the chip lead by raising and reraising many pots. I figured there was really no point in screwing around when a guy with a massive stack is on your left, so I folded all my marginal hands. This made all my decisions very easy, especially since I kept getting J2o. On one hand I had KT in the small blind and Nick was the big blind. I just threw it away, because I knew he would come after me and KT is really a garbage hand.
I was slowly losing chips to the blinds, but since this was pot limit, there were no antes. People were busting out and tables were breaking. Eventually we were down to 102 players and they were paying 100. The blinds were 600/1200.
At this point I found JJ under the gun and I made it 3000. It was folded to Gavin Smith, who looked at his cards and instantly said “Reraise pot.” This came to about 10500. He had me slightly covered, so it was my tournament life at stake.
There were a number of things to consider. First of all, it was clear that Gavin had some kind of hand. The question was, did he have AK, an overpair, or TT? The only hand I could give him that I was a big favorite over was TT. I tried talking to him to get some kind of read. From his response, all I could tell was that he liked his hand.
Finally, I said to him, “I think you have an overpair,” and I mucked my JJ face up. I showed my hand because I knew he’d show his, and he did – he had AK. This was the only time I passed on a coin flip. At the time, however, I really didn’t want to bubble in my first WSOP tournament. I had another week in Vegas and a bubble finish would piss me off for the whole trip. So I picked the safer route. But I really should have made that call if I was trying to win the tournament.
As soon as I mucked, they announced “Attention players, we lost two people on that hand, you are all in the money!” Of course I was glad, but I wish I would have known that ten seconds earlier.
I was now pretty short, having 7000 chips at the 600/1200 level. I managed to take down the blinds once, and I found a big pair after somebody raised. My reraise forced him out and I was back up to 10000. Shortly afterwards the blinds went up again and my stack dwindled. At this point I found 66 on the button and made a pot sized raised. Nicky Frangos had to know I was pot committed, but he still reraised with A8o from his mountain of chips. I insta-called and my 6’s held up to put me over 20000 chips. This was the second time I won a coin flip for my tournament life.
However, time was passing and I was still a relatively short stack. At 2:30 in the morning, five minutes before we quit for the day, I had 17000 chips with blinds at 1000/2000. I found JJ and raised to 7000. Some guy reraised, and I was happy to call until I saw KK. However, I spiked a jack to stay alive for day 2. That suckout was probably worth about $5,000 in real money.
Going into day 2, I had 34K chips and the blinds were starting at 1500/3000. My plan was to play tight and pick a spot to double up. I would try to avoid marginal situations, since the prize jumps were fairly significant. I was hoping to make it down to two tables, which would pay $10K.
I continued to get junk cards, which made it easy to fold everything. People were busting and we were down to three tables. At this point a guy raised to 15K, and I found As5s right behind him. A5 is usually not a hand I want to race with, because you are often against a bigger ace or a pair. However, I had played with this guy the whole tournament, and I could throw various K-highs and Q-highs into his range of raising hands. I thought there was a chance I had him high carded, so I pushed for 16K. He tossed in the extra 1K and showed KQ. I held again up to give me over 35K in chips.
Shortly after, at the 2000/4000 level, it was folded to me in the SB, and I limped with T8. I was heads up with the BB. The flop was K84. Check check. Turn 5. I bet 8000, he called. The river was whatever. Check check, my hand was good. At that point, we were at level 14, and I realized that I hadn’t played a flop since level 4 of the tournament!
Now I had over 50000 chips, which was my high point for the tourney. A few hands later, I raised to 14000 with 99 and the BB pushed for 22000 with AJ. I called and lost the race. If I won this race, I would have had an excellent chance of making the final table. Instead I was very short again as the 19th player went out and we broke down to 2 tables.
The blinds were now 3000/6000 and I had 30000. I posted the 6000 BB. I was the 2nd shortest stack in the tournament. The shortest stack pushed for 17000 under the gun, and everyone folded. I found 33 and was getting 26000-11000, so I had an auto-call. However, the other guy had KK and I didn’t suck out this time. Now I was down to 11000 and I posted 3000 in the SB. It was folded to the button, who raised. I had 8cTc. I was getting rich pot odds to triple up, and if I folded I would have only 6000 chips left, the amount of the big blind. So I called, but my opponent had KK again and I was gone. I finished 17th out of 1080 players and cashed for $10,300.
I was actually very happy with the result. I was basically card dead for the whole tournament. Winning three coins flips and sucking out one time was enough to get me down to two tables. If I had won that last coin flip with the 99 vs AJ, I would have been in contention for the final table.
-Roswell
http://www.livejournal.com/users/roswell_42/