Tyler Durden
07-02-2005, 10:49 AM
I *still* haven't qualified for the main event of the WSOP. I'll try this weekend, wish me luck.
I went to Atlantic City for a couple of days and played the $500 NL tourney at the Borgata. I placed 3rd of 76 entrants for $4,560. Here's how it went down:
Good structure. 5k chips to start, 30 minute levels. Blinds start at 25-50.
I was card dead through the first two levels and couldn't get anything going. Then I get moved to a table w/ about t4400, blinding at 100-200. I raise to 550 UTG w/ AQ and only the large stack in the BB calls. Flop is AJ4 two spades. He checks, I bet 900 and he calls. Turn bricks and he checks. My only bet is all in so I move in for about 3500. He ponders and then he calls. He has 43spades, he flopped a pair + flush draw. Luckily the river bricked and I doubled up.
On the next lap I get KK UTG+1 and make it 550. The kid right behind me coldcalls. He knocked me out of a $500 NL tourney last year at the USPC when he made a good call of my stopngo. We're heads up here. Flop is Q96r. I bet 900, he minraises to 1800 and I'm a little worried that he flopped a set. I chose to just call. The turn bricks and I check, he bets like 2k and I move in for 3k more, he thinks for a while and calls w/ AQ. River bricks and I double up again, this time to about 17k.
Two hands later it's folded to the SB, the guy who had 43spades earlier. He completes and I check w/ J7. Flop 972r. He checks, I bet 250 and he calls. Turn is a 6, he fires out 600. What just happened here? I kinda thought he was bluffing. I just didn't want to fold so I called. River was another 7. He bets 1500. I may have screwed this up. I flatcalled. Partly b/c if he's still bluffing he won't pay me off, and I was slightly worried that he hit a straight on the turn. Well I was wrong on both counts, he had KK and got burned. Must have sucked for him b/c of course he thinks he's won the pot when I just call the end, too bad I'm a slowrolling idiot! (I didn't actually slowroll him).
So I'm up to about 21k w/ a BB of 400, looking pretty good. The table breaks and I get moved to the final table.
I steal blinds here and there, playing tighter than usual and focusing on the weak/tight players, trying to steal their BB. There were a few times when I'd raise, get called by one or two players, miss the flop and take it down w/ a bet. I saw very few turn cards from this point on.
I won a small pot w/ a coinflip to bust a guy, KQ v TT. Flop was 987, turn K, river bricks.
One hand, I get AA in EP. 300-600/a75, I make it 1600. I think I had about 25k. Only the BB calls, he has a large stack also but doesn't seem to be very good. Flop is QJ8. He fires out 3k, I take it to 8k and he calls. Turn is another Jack. He checks. I move all in for about 17k. He thinks for a long while and then folds. KQ may have been too much credit.
I had two big stacks on my immediate left. That wasn't good but neither were they. BB is 1k, one of the weak big stacks on my left makes it 2k in EP, I make it 6k in the BB w/ KK, he calls. Flop is Jack high, he has 21k left, I bet 7k and he folds.
I get my stack up to about 60k and we're down to 11 players, top 9 get paid and we're at two tables. BB is 1600, my table is 5 handed. UTG+1 is down to about 7500 and he moves all in. I have A8s in the SB and thought about calling but didn't b/c he had been pretty tight. The BB calls w/ 77. All in guy has K9. Oops. I would have flopped the nut flush. Turn was a 7, but the guy's set needed to fill up b/c all in guy made a one card flush. River bricks and the guy doubles up.
A few hands later, K9 guy makes it 4500, I think the BB was 2k. I make it 10.5k in the SB w/ K4, the BB and the raiser fold.
We get to the final 10 and I'm in fourth place w/ about 65k. We negotiate a save so 10th gets $500. It wasn't my idea and I didn't like the idea much but I didn't want to make any enemies so I went along w/ it. It wasn't taken out of the prize pool, we each put up $50 for this.
UTG guy moves in for a very small amount, folds to me in the BB w/ 43 and mathematically I have to call so I do. He has A5 and I win to knock him out. I play good.
Two limpers for 2k, I complete w/ 98, then the old man in the BB makes it 6k. I was hoping to fold but the two limpers called also so I did too. T-7-2, openended. I check, old man bets 10k, limper moves in for 18k total, back to me and I have to fold. I had about 55k left when I decided to fold. Old man calls w/ TT, the limper had JT. Turn paired the board and I wouldn't have hit the straight.
A guy moves all in for 12k, I call right behind him w/ AA, he has KT and I knock him down and out.
Another hand, it folds to the SB who seems to be pretty good. He makes a small raise and the BB reraises to 10k. The SB thinks for a while and moves all-in, covering the BB. BB folds, SB throws down 94 faceup. What a player.
94 guy raises UTG and is coldcalled by the old man who was kind of tight. They're heads up. Flop A-Q-J two clubs. UTG checks, old man bets 10k, UTG moves in for about 60k more. Old man thinks for a while and calls w/ A8suited, not clubs. UTG has JTclubs, pair and a flush draw and a gutshot. Turn and river brick and the old man doubles up on my immediate left. He was weak-tight mostly so it's not bad for me. UTG told him he made a great call, but I don't think the old man knows he made a great call, the only hand he could beat was the one that UTG had. It was more like "I have an ace, so I'll call."
The guy who lost w/ JTc was crippled and moved in when it folded to him on the button. I had to call w/ Q5 in the BB. Flop A-J-T, turn K. River was not a Queen and I knock him out too. I play good.
When it was five handed, I had two Old Tighty Whiteys on my left, a Stupid Erratic guy two to my right and a tight/passive guy on my immediate right.
UTG, one of the old men, raises it up. Erratic guy coldcalls. Flop is 9-7-3. Old man bets 10k, Erratic guy moves in and Old man calls w/ AA. Erratic Man has 33 and knocks out the old man.
Eventually we're down to 3 players, BB is 4k. I have about 95k and am the short man. Old man on my left has 130k and the erratic/bad guy has all the rest, there was 380k in play total. But I had almost 25 BBs, not bad at all.
Erratic guy moves all in on the button. This is not a typo. He moves all in for about 160k w/ a BB of 4k. I have AA in the SB and call. I was hoping he had two unders, which wouldn't have surprised me. He had TT. About a 200k pot and if I win I'll have the erratic guy crippled and a good lead on the weak-tight old man. Flop comes Q-J-T. Not good! Turn is an 8 so now I need an Ace, King or 9 to stay alive. River pairs the board and BANG, I'm out in third place.
Winner got $15,200 and second got about $8700. I think this pot cost me a great shot at nearly $11,000 more. So I walk to the cage dejected. These two bad bad BAD players chop it up. I almost felt a Hellmuthian attack coming on after that guy spiked the Ten. Funny tho, he doesn't realize he'll only be called by hands that have him buried, and most of the flipping hands fold also. Bugs me how stupidity gets rewarded sometimes.
I couldn't complain so much b/c I hadn't taken a beat all tourney and I was due for one, I just wish it hadn't been in that spot. I got great cards too, KK twice and AA four times I think.
I played three $500 NL tourneys at Bellagio in late May and finished 2nd in one of them for $9600. I think I play much better in live tourneys than I do online. The players in this tourney were worse than the ones at Bellagio.
Thanks much for reading.
I'll prob make my final attempts at the WSOP this weekend so wish me luck!
I went to Atlantic City for a couple of days and played the $500 NL tourney at the Borgata. I placed 3rd of 76 entrants for $4,560. Here's how it went down:
Good structure. 5k chips to start, 30 minute levels. Blinds start at 25-50.
I was card dead through the first two levels and couldn't get anything going. Then I get moved to a table w/ about t4400, blinding at 100-200. I raise to 550 UTG w/ AQ and only the large stack in the BB calls. Flop is AJ4 two spades. He checks, I bet 900 and he calls. Turn bricks and he checks. My only bet is all in so I move in for about 3500. He ponders and then he calls. He has 43spades, he flopped a pair + flush draw. Luckily the river bricked and I doubled up.
On the next lap I get KK UTG+1 and make it 550. The kid right behind me coldcalls. He knocked me out of a $500 NL tourney last year at the USPC when he made a good call of my stopngo. We're heads up here. Flop is Q96r. I bet 900, he minraises to 1800 and I'm a little worried that he flopped a set. I chose to just call. The turn bricks and I check, he bets like 2k and I move in for 3k more, he thinks for a while and calls w/ AQ. River bricks and I double up again, this time to about 17k.
Two hands later it's folded to the SB, the guy who had 43spades earlier. He completes and I check w/ J7. Flop 972r. He checks, I bet 250 and he calls. Turn is a 6, he fires out 600. What just happened here? I kinda thought he was bluffing. I just didn't want to fold so I called. River was another 7. He bets 1500. I may have screwed this up. I flatcalled. Partly b/c if he's still bluffing he won't pay me off, and I was slightly worried that he hit a straight on the turn. Well I was wrong on both counts, he had KK and got burned. Must have sucked for him b/c of course he thinks he's won the pot when I just call the end, too bad I'm a slowrolling idiot! (I didn't actually slowroll him).
So I'm up to about 21k w/ a BB of 400, looking pretty good. The table breaks and I get moved to the final table.
I steal blinds here and there, playing tighter than usual and focusing on the weak/tight players, trying to steal their BB. There were a few times when I'd raise, get called by one or two players, miss the flop and take it down w/ a bet. I saw very few turn cards from this point on.
I won a small pot w/ a coinflip to bust a guy, KQ v TT. Flop was 987, turn K, river bricks.
One hand, I get AA in EP. 300-600/a75, I make it 1600. I think I had about 25k. Only the BB calls, he has a large stack also but doesn't seem to be very good. Flop is QJ8. He fires out 3k, I take it to 8k and he calls. Turn is another Jack. He checks. I move all in for about 17k. He thinks for a long while and then folds. KQ may have been too much credit.
I had two big stacks on my immediate left. That wasn't good but neither were they. BB is 1k, one of the weak big stacks on my left makes it 2k in EP, I make it 6k in the BB w/ KK, he calls. Flop is Jack high, he has 21k left, I bet 7k and he folds.
I get my stack up to about 60k and we're down to 11 players, top 9 get paid and we're at two tables. BB is 1600, my table is 5 handed. UTG+1 is down to about 7500 and he moves all in. I have A8s in the SB and thought about calling but didn't b/c he had been pretty tight. The BB calls w/ 77. All in guy has K9. Oops. I would have flopped the nut flush. Turn was a 7, but the guy's set needed to fill up b/c all in guy made a one card flush. River bricks and the guy doubles up.
A few hands later, K9 guy makes it 4500, I think the BB was 2k. I make it 10.5k in the SB w/ K4, the BB and the raiser fold.
We get to the final 10 and I'm in fourth place w/ about 65k. We negotiate a save so 10th gets $500. It wasn't my idea and I didn't like the idea much but I didn't want to make any enemies so I went along w/ it. It wasn't taken out of the prize pool, we each put up $50 for this.
UTG guy moves in for a very small amount, folds to me in the BB w/ 43 and mathematically I have to call so I do. He has A5 and I win to knock him out. I play good.
Two limpers for 2k, I complete w/ 98, then the old man in the BB makes it 6k. I was hoping to fold but the two limpers called also so I did too. T-7-2, openended. I check, old man bets 10k, limper moves in for 18k total, back to me and I have to fold. I had about 55k left when I decided to fold. Old man calls w/ TT, the limper had JT. Turn paired the board and I wouldn't have hit the straight.
A guy moves all in for 12k, I call right behind him w/ AA, he has KT and I knock him down and out.
Another hand, it folds to the SB who seems to be pretty good. He makes a small raise and the BB reraises to 10k. The SB thinks for a while and moves all-in, covering the BB. BB folds, SB throws down 94 faceup. What a player.
94 guy raises UTG and is coldcalled by the old man who was kind of tight. They're heads up. Flop A-Q-J two clubs. UTG checks, old man bets 10k, UTG moves in for about 60k more. Old man thinks for a while and calls w/ A8suited, not clubs. UTG has JTclubs, pair and a flush draw and a gutshot. Turn and river brick and the old man doubles up on my immediate left. He was weak-tight mostly so it's not bad for me. UTG told him he made a great call, but I don't think the old man knows he made a great call, the only hand he could beat was the one that UTG had. It was more like "I have an ace, so I'll call."
The guy who lost w/ JTc was crippled and moved in when it folded to him on the button. I had to call w/ Q5 in the BB. Flop A-J-T, turn K. River was not a Queen and I knock him out too. I play good.
When it was five handed, I had two Old Tighty Whiteys on my left, a Stupid Erratic guy two to my right and a tight/passive guy on my immediate right.
UTG, one of the old men, raises it up. Erratic guy coldcalls. Flop is 9-7-3. Old man bets 10k, Erratic guy moves in and Old man calls w/ AA. Erratic Man has 33 and knocks out the old man.
Eventually we're down to 3 players, BB is 4k. I have about 95k and am the short man. Old man on my left has 130k and the erratic/bad guy has all the rest, there was 380k in play total. But I had almost 25 BBs, not bad at all.
Erratic guy moves all in on the button. This is not a typo. He moves all in for about 160k w/ a BB of 4k. I have AA in the SB and call. I was hoping he had two unders, which wouldn't have surprised me. He had TT. About a 200k pot and if I win I'll have the erratic guy crippled and a good lead on the weak-tight old man. Flop comes Q-J-T. Not good! Turn is an 8 so now I need an Ace, King or 9 to stay alive. River pairs the board and BANG, I'm out in third place.
Winner got $15,200 and second got about $8700. I think this pot cost me a great shot at nearly $11,000 more. So I walk to the cage dejected. These two bad bad BAD players chop it up. I almost felt a Hellmuthian attack coming on after that guy spiked the Ten. Funny tho, he doesn't realize he'll only be called by hands that have him buried, and most of the flipping hands fold also. Bugs me how stupidity gets rewarded sometimes.
I couldn't complain so much b/c I hadn't taken a beat all tourney and I was due for one, I just wish it hadn't been in that spot. I got great cards too, KK twice and AA four times I think.
I played three $500 NL tourneys at Bellagio in late May and finished 2nd in one of them for $9600. I think I play much better in live tourneys than I do online. The players in this tourney were worse than the ones at Bellagio.
Thanks much for reading.
I'll prob make my final attempts at the WSOP this weekend so wish me luck!