WPT Legends Trip Report 5K NL event– DAY 1
1. RING IN THE WEEKEND
The tournament starts on Saturday August 27th. I flew in to LAX around 12:30am. No wife this time around so I can hang out and play some ring games first. Missed the paradise poker party on Friday night where seats were being given out. Woke up on Saturday around 6am (ug!) and couldn’t get back to sleep. Figured I’d better start the day early. Checked out the bicycle club and signed up for some 1-2 NL ring. While I was waiting, I met Mark G from paradise who also qualified for the tournament. We end up playing in the same ring game for awhile. Around 10am I go find my table assignment. Lo and behold Mark and I will be playing at the same table on day 1. (whoa!)
I’ve really decided to enjoy myself this time and maybe this will help me play better and not worry so much about results. I went back to the hotel after awhile to rest. (Down 30 in ring, but loosest, fishiest NL game I have ever seen).
2. MEET AND GREET
Went back to the bike a couple hours before the tourney started. I wandered back and forth around the lobby checking out the pro’s coming in. Saw Phil Ivey, Erick Lindgren, Eric Seidel, X22, Doyle, Vince Van Patton and a host of others. Also chatted with Josh Malina from the TV Show The West Wing. He’s a very nice guy and we kept each other updated on our progress. (He was short stacked most of the day and I don’t think he made it to the end of the day).
3. IT’S JUST A GAME (Rounds 1-4)
I make my first mistake of the game. I want some water and ask the server that is standing behind me to please get me a bottle. She returns with the water and I am informed by everyone seated around me that that is not food service but the dealer! And she is going to be our dealer for the next hour! Whoops!
I didn’t take any notes this time so a lot of the following hands are after the fact. I get seated in the bottom-right corner of the room in seat 1. I don’t recognize anyone at my table. (Waah!). Seat 3 seems to be a pro and has played/friends with a lot of big names. Seat 2 is a young serious player (too serious by far). Seat 4 is an internet player and seat 5 is an aggressive tricky guy. Seat 6 won event 12 this year. (Jorge). Seat 7 is Mark G from paradise. (Very good and thinks a lot, nice guy too!). Seat 8 is a loose calling station and seat 9 seems pretty loose too. Seat 10 is weak tight. (Can’t see him, so he might as well be invisible).
Tournament Structure
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Start with 10K, levels 90 minutes
Blinds/Antes for rounds 1-6
Round 1 25-50, no antes
Round 2 50-100 no antes
Round 3 75-150 no antes
Round 4 100-200 no antes
Round 5 100-200 50 ante
Round 6 150-300 75 antes
Notable hands from round 1 (blinds 25-50, 10K stack)
I folded every hand in the first hour. My blinds were raised every time and I had junk. It was pretty amazing. The only hand I finally played was a raise and bet on the flop against seat 8 with QTo and rags on the flop. I ended the level with around 9900.
Notables from round 2-4
I was joking around with everyone in earshot and Young Serious Player (YSP) was having none of it. He was showing premium hands and hitting well. One small confrontation is where I limped UTG with ATo UTG (Looked good from all the junk I’ve been getting and YSP raises and 2 other callers so I call). Flop comes 2,3,4. I check, YSP bets and everyone folds. I joke about perhaps holding 5,6 and he arrogantly exclaims “YOU DON”T PLAY 5,6!”. Well that ticked me off! Now I have to find that hand! (It’s a goal now, Goal 1: Find 5,6 play it. Goal 2: Win the tournament).
An hour later I finally get 56o UTG + 2. I raise and the BB calls (seat 8 with short stack). Flop is all rags and gets checked around. Turn is a 6 and I bet and he folds. I then proudly turn over 5,6 and loudly announce “SEE I DO PLAY 5,6!” YSP responds with “That didn’t prove anything”. I thought it was funny. (Mark G later remarks he had to turn away from the table to keep from laughing). As a side result, I unknowingly pissed off the BB who comments to Mark “What the heck is that guy doing, doesn’t he know this is a 5K tournament!” Come on Folks! LIGHTEN UP! It’s not as if we are playing for a million dollars or something. (Uh, I might be wrong about that) In retrospect, I was being a bit of a jerk. But I must contend, people take this game way too seriously thinking it’s some kind of holy relic when in fact it’s just a card game.
3rd round. Mark G raises UTG+2 and I am on the button and call with 10’s (I considered raising but he is fairly tight and I put in on some overcards. Flop is 774. He bets 1K. I raise 1K and he folds. I wasn’t sure if I could get more out of him. I think this is a weakness in my game in not being able to extract as much as I can from my good hands.
YSP takes a big hit by the Pro next to him when his KK gets cracked by 77 with a river 7. The pro tries to explain his betting mistakes that allowed him to see the river but YSP is angry now. He busts out about an hour later still mad.
Mark G raises to 600. I’m in the BB with 9,10o. I call. Flop comes J8x. I bet 1K to se where I am (I have the straight draw) and Mark re-raises to 2.5K. The odds look good so I call. Turn is an 8. I check, he checks. River is a 9, Checked again and he shows J10d. What did I do wrong?
Folded to me and I am 1 off the button. I raise to 700 with 86d. SB and BB both call. Flop is rags. It gets checked around on the flop. Turn is an 8. Checked to me and I bet and BB calls. River is a blank and I bet 1500. He thinks and says “You’re really putting me to the test” and I respond “I’m trying”. He makes a crying call. I immediately know I’m beat and say good hand and show my cards. He turns over J4o for Jack High! As I take the pot I am reminded of Last years WSOP where Felix Powers is telling everyone. “He called me with Jack High!” I must give the guy some credit. I was bluffing, he read me very well, but he never re-raised me. I would have disappeared in a flash!
3. SEND IN THE PROS (Rounds 5-6)
It took about 8 hours, but people finally getting busted out from my table. Now my table gets ugly. All the loose passive guys are gone and here are the replacements:
Seat 2 – Chris Bigler
Seat 3 - Unknown Pro – replaced by Ron Rose
Seat 6 – Unknown Young Guy
Seat 9 - Sam Grizzle -later replaced by Chip Reese
Seat 10 – Jason Lester
I’m trapped in the middle! I wanted some names to play with but this is overkill.
Notables from rounds 5-6:
Sam is short stacked and limps in UTG and I find QQ and raise to 1000 and he immediately folds and shows JJ. That was a great lay down especially since he is short. I believe I have had 3 QQ all day and so far no KK or AA.
I finally get KK and a couple of limpers to me and I raise to 700. Chris immediately re-raises another 1200. I am worried about AA of course but need some chips so I re-raise to 4000 and he lays it down. He says he had JJ.
The rest of the night is just folding and trying to stay ahead of the blinds. I end the night bagging 12475 after 10 hours of play. I figure the average stack is around 23K. Oh well, I survived.
To be continued…
(cardplayer was kind enough to put me in the foreground of their day 1 picture of the tournament room. There I am in all my glory in the multicolored hat.)
Cardplayer Day 1 image