Boris
05-21-2003, 10:31 PM
Well folks, here's a report of some of the key hands I played in the Main Event.
Day 1 - first table. No superstars at my table. Antonio the Majician who made the final table at of the WPT events was at my table. He was the only guy I knew. The deck kind of hit me in the face in round 1. I flopped two sets and one flush. Unfortunately I was not able to double through. My stack was never in jeopardy. About half way through the second round they broke our table. At this point I had about $15k. In retrospect I may have played a bit too aggressively. But hey, if they're not gonna pay me off when I have a hand I might as well rob them. My timing was a bit off though.
Day one, table two - I don't know anyone at the table. There are three rank beginners but everyone else seems to play OK. It is a very passive table. My blinds were only raised about one third of the time. I get Aces once and flop another set and I still can't double through. Very frustrating. Here is a recap of the hands the stick out in my mind.
Hand #1 - blinds are 100-200 and I have ~$11,000. There are 4 limpers and I look down to see A-Qo in the small blind. I raise the pot to $1200 and two players call my raise. The first player is, as far as I can tell, a beginner. The second player is definitely more experienced. The flop is A-4-5 with two diamonds. I bet $3000. The P1 calls and the P2 thinks for a moment and then calls. P2 has me covered, P1 does not. The turn is another 4. I think for second. P1 I am not too concerned about. I think he has kicker trouble. P2 might have a monster but I can't believe he wouldn't raise me on the flop because the pot is already big and there are multiple draws on the board. I also think he would've put in a raise at some point with A-K. I put him on a straight+flush draw. I move all my chips in. P1 calls all in and P2 folds. P1 shows A-Q and we chop.
hand 2 - blinds are 100-200. I have QQ utg and raise the pot to $600. The guy on my left re-raises to $1800. He seems to be a solid player and is in the middle of a big rush. I decide to just call. I thought about coming over the top but this guy raised an UTG raiser and is really on a roll so I played more cautiously. The flop is Ace high and I check fold to a $2000 bet.
The first day was 5 rounds (10 hours of play) because of the outrageous number of entrants (830+). I ended the day with $9,600. I just couldn't get the right hands at the right times. Twice I flopped a set in raised pot and an ace high flop and I still couldn't get any good action. On the other hand I probably squandered about $3000 in unsuccessful bluffs. Zigging when I should be zagging. Oh well. I was still in action. Some memorable hands that I wasn't involved in include one guy calling $5,000 before the flop with 9-10o and flopping top two pairs to torture the guy with KK. Another guy called $7,000 on the turn with a gutshot draw and made it to crack top set. Ouch.
Day two - starting day two the blinds were 200-400 with a $50 ante. I definitely needed to double through on the double. My table is OK. some solid players and some loose-aggressives. The table next to me has Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Diego Cordovez and Freddy Deeb so I feel fortunate with my seat draw.
hand #3 - I'm down to about $7,000. 3 limpers and I look down at 6-4o in the small blind. I complete. The flop comes a glorious 2-3-5 rainbow and I finally double through for the first time against Aces. I have life!
Hand #4 - 200-400 blinds. Loose-aggressive big stack opens the pot for $1400 and gets 4 callers! I can't believe it. I'm in the big blind and I havn't looked at my cards yet but I'm pretty sure I'll see the flop. I peek down at Ad-Kd. whoohoo! I move and everyone folds.
Hand #5 - Blinds are now 300-600 with a $75 ante. I have about $14000 and am in desperate str8s for chips. My very first hand back from the break I pick up Ad-10d and raise the pot to $2000. sb calls (big stack). flop come K-9-3 with one diamond. sb checks and I move in and win the pot.
Hand #6 - I've managed to increase my stack to ~$22,000 through a series of steals. I pick up 77 in middle position and raise the pot to $2000. Everyone folds to the BB. He looks at his hand and then real quick raises me to $8,500. I look at that raise and the first thing that goes through my head is that he doesn't want me to call. But then I start thinking more rationally and how the hell am I going to make a stand with 77? So I think for about a minute. I really don't think he would make that big raise with a certifiable monster. He has ~$60,000 so trapping would be a decent play against my smaller stack. I also think he would wait to see the flop with a medium pocket pair. I put him on something like A-J. But mostly I just went with my gut feeling that the big raise was meant to blow me out of the pot. Anyways I move all my chips in. If he has big pair then so be it. If he has two over cards then this isn't a bad spot to gamble. I really need to double through at this stage of the tournament. BB calls my bet and turns over A-6s. A six on the flop and six on the river spell Sayonara for Boris in the Big One. Odds wise it was a run of the mill suck-out. But it sure did hurt more than most any beat I've taken in my somewhat brief poker career. Oh well. there's always next year.
Day 1 - first table. No superstars at my table. Antonio the Majician who made the final table at of the WPT events was at my table. He was the only guy I knew. The deck kind of hit me in the face in round 1. I flopped two sets and one flush. Unfortunately I was not able to double through. My stack was never in jeopardy. About half way through the second round they broke our table. At this point I had about $15k. In retrospect I may have played a bit too aggressively. But hey, if they're not gonna pay me off when I have a hand I might as well rob them. My timing was a bit off though.
Day one, table two - I don't know anyone at the table. There are three rank beginners but everyone else seems to play OK. It is a very passive table. My blinds were only raised about one third of the time. I get Aces once and flop another set and I still can't double through. Very frustrating. Here is a recap of the hands the stick out in my mind.
Hand #1 - blinds are 100-200 and I have ~$11,000. There are 4 limpers and I look down to see A-Qo in the small blind. I raise the pot to $1200 and two players call my raise. The first player is, as far as I can tell, a beginner. The second player is definitely more experienced. The flop is A-4-5 with two diamonds. I bet $3000. The P1 calls and the P2 thinks for a moment and then calls. P2 has me covered, P1 does not. The turn is another 4. I think for second. P1 I am not too concerned about. I think he has kicker trouble. P2 might have a monster but I can't believe he wouldn't raise me on the flop because the pot is already big and there are multiple draws on the board. I also think he would've put in a raise at some point with A-K. I put him on a straight+flush draw. I move all my chips in. P1 calls all in and P2 folds. P1 shows A-Q and we chop.
hand 2 - blinds are 100-200. I have QQ utg and raise the pot to $600. The guy on my left re-raises to $1800. He seems to be a solid player and is in the middle of a big rush. I decide to just call. I thought about coming over the top but this guy raised an UTG raiser and is really on a roll so I played more cautiously. The flop is Ace high and I check fold to a $2000 bet.
The first day was 5 rounds (10 hours of play) because of the outrageous number of entrants (830+). I ended the day with $9,600. I just couldn't get the right hands at the right times. Twice I flopped a set in raised pot and an ace high flop and I still couldn't get any good action. On the other hand I probably squandered about $3000 in unsuccessful bluffs. Zigging when I should be zagging. Oh well. I was still in action. Some memorable hands that I wasn't involved in include one guy calling $5,000 before the flop with 9-10o and flopping top two pairs to torture the guy with KK. Another guy called $7,000 on the turn with a gutshot draw and made it to crack top set. Ouch.
Day two - starting day two the blinds were 200-400 with a $50 ante. I definitely needed to double through on the double. My table is OK. some solid players and some loose-aggressives. The table next to me has Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Diego Cordovez and Freddy Deeb so I feel fortunate with my seat draw.
hand #3 - I'm down to about $7,000. 3 limpers and I look down at 6-4o in the small blind. I complete. The flop comes a glorious 2-3-5 rainbow and I finally double through for the first time against Aces. I have life!
Hand #4 - 200-400 blinds. Loose-aggressive big stack opens the pot for $1400 and gets 4 callers! I can't believe it. I'm in the big blind and I havn't looked at my cards yet but I'm pretty sure I'll see the flop. I peek down at Ad-Kd. whoohoo! I move and everyone folds.
Hand #5 - Blinds are now 300-600 with a $75 ante. I have about $14000 and am in desperate str8s for chips. My very first hand back from the break I pick up Ad-10d and raise the pot to $2000. sb calls (big stack). flop come K-9-3 with one diamond. sb checks and I move in and win the pot.
Hand #6 - I've managed to increase my stack to ~$22,000 through a series of steals. I pick up 77 in middle position and raise the pot to $2000. Everyone folds to the BB. He looks at his hand and then real quick raises me to $8,500. I look at that raise and the first thing that goes through my head is that he doesn't want me to call. But then I start thinking more rationally and how the hell am I going to make a stand with 77? So I think for about a minute. I really don't think he would make that big raise with a certifiable monster. He has ~$60,000 so trapping would be a decent play against my smaller stack. I also think he would wait to see the flop with a medium pocket pair. I put him on something like A-J. But mostly I just went with my gut feeling that the big raise was meant to blow me out of the pot. Anyways I move all my chips in. If he has big pair then so be it. If he has two over cards then this isn't a bad spot to gamble. I really need to double through at this stage of the tournament. BB calls my bet and turns over A-6s. A six on the flop and six on the river spell Sayonara for Boris in the Big One. Odds wise it was a run of the mill suck-out. But it sure did hurt more than most any beat I've taken in my somewhat brief poker career. Oh well. there's always next year.