NEPC Trip Report…..Day 2…….$300 NL Hold ‘em….the “Agony of Defeat”

[Myrtle]

The best thing that happened to me on this day actually happened the night before. As I was collecting my 9th place money from Mike Ward for my finish in the $300 FL, he casually mentioned that he could register me right then for next day’s event. I did so, and boy, was I ever glad that I did!

We arrived about an hour before the $300 +$40 NLHE event was to start. I have NEVER seen the room as jammed as it was when I walked in!! The line was a minimum of 250 people deep, and growing every minute. As we got close to 10am launch time, it was clear that we would not get off on time. I had again drawn a seat in the upstairs poker room section at a stud table, only this time we were eleven handed, and the word was that downstairs in the main room at the HE tables, they were starting with 12. The murmur surrounded the total registration number, and it was certainly over 1000…..and growing. An announcement was made right around 10am ….. “The starting time will be pushed back to accommodate all the players”…Over 1100 registered, and they were going to begin to register alternates to fill in as players busted out. Made sense, as this was NLHE and given the amount of players, it would be a real good bet that we’d lose at least 100 in the first hour.

As we were all seated for quite a while, it gave me the opportunity to get a line on the other players by watching and listening closely to their chitchat. I find that if one pays attention, that you can pick up so much information about your opponents just by listening to them “choot the chit” prior to the start of the game. Like yesterday, there was only one player at the table who I recognized. I knew him from other tourns, and I made a mental note to avoid him on close gambles early on, as he was fairly unpredictable.

We started almost a half hour late, and the word was that there were a total of 1200 players, including the alternates. I started in the 5 seat. In seats 3,4,5 were three youngish guys that I mentally dubbed as the “3 Amigos”. They all appeared to be friends, and I wondered how they had managed to draw those seats together. Some of my remarks here may sound arrogant…if so, my apologies beforehand, as they’re not meant to be. These 3 guys sure could talk a game! I’ll bet each of you have run into their like. Fast talkin’…..the hats and shades….cocky…either “Joisey or City boys” for sure, and clearly legends in their own minds. I had to bite my lip from bursting out laughing as I overheard their “We’re gonna beat the hell outta everyone here” braggadocio. Made note to self: When the time is right, come over the top of any of the 3 of them and watch them fold their tent faster than a couch potato in a hurricane. In seat 9 was an elderly gentleman, had to be at least eighty. Rest of the table was clearly inexperienced. How inexperienced they were took about 15 minutes to find out.

Starting blinds were 25/25….T1000 in chips to start. Very 1st hand dealt to me is 99, I’m in EP and make a 3x raise. Uh…..I get about 27 overcalls….no raises….they ALL call. Oops!! The flop comes with a couple of overcards. I decide that discretion is definitely called for and I check, and here come the bets and raised behind me!….Oh well, in the muck go the 9’s. Two hands later, in the BB I’m dealt AQh, three limpers and I raise to T175 and get 2 callers. Flop comes Kxx rb….pisser! I am determined that I am NOT going to trap myself this early in the tournament, so I wimp out and check….a bet and rr follows, and I lay down the AQ. Cripes…..3 hands in and I’ve lost 1/3 of my stack!

“No problem” say’s I to myself. I’ll just kick back and as my good friend Greg says….”make good decisions”. And, here comes the rags………with no hands to speak of for the next two rounds, I watch with almost a detached interest as the Internet Ike’s & Travel Channel Charlie’s mix it up in their best style. Position…what’s THAT? Overbetting the pot 10x?……Gee, it works on line all the time, it should work here, right? I did have to excuse myself from the table 10 minutes before the first break (in the NL tourns, breaks were at every 2 levels), as my bladder couldn’t handle it any more….talk about pissing your pants laughing….I almost did!

Of course, there’s a bright side to every rag run. I now had the table down cold. “Bring on the cards” I silently petitioned the poker gods as I sat back down at the table….and what nice gods they were too! There were too many hands to remember, as I am not blessed with the photo memory that some possess, but I do remember a few….. Like flopping the nuts in my unraised BB with 75o and a 643rb flop. One of the 3 amigos paid me off with his whole stack on that one! A flopped set and slowplay got one of the now remaining two amigo’s. My stack is growing….I’m sorta quiet, friendly and sympathetic, but it’s clear that the rest of the table is catching on to some degree, as I continue to build my stack. The “stealing light” is flashing bright green now, and even this blind turtle can see it, and being the law-abiding citizen that I am, I continue to “proceed past GO” and collect my $200 as I circle the board……oops that’s monopoly, right?

At the end of the 6th level (T100/T200 blinds), we break and the slaughter has claimed enough victims to allow us to consolidate into the main room. They bag our chips, and off we go. It’s mid-afternoon now, with about 375 left after about 5 hours of carnage.. We’re on a 35 minute or so break, so again the quick slice of pizza, and the chance to talk with other friends still in it. Most of the chatter is surrounded by gales of laughter as one after another of us tells story after incredible story of some of the most amazing play we have ever experienced. We collectively thank Travel Channel and Cyberspace and prepare to resume battle.

Level seven is T100/T200 with T25 antes. Let the play begin………This has always been somewhat of a strange time for me in virtually all the tournaments that I’ve played. Time almost seems to stand still. I feel hyper-alert and totally calm at once. I get totally focused on the play and players, then in between hands I’ll look up at the tournament display, and realize that 35 minutes has passed and we’ve lost another 60-70 players. I wonder if anyone else experiences this stage of a tournament in the same way? As is customary, Vince drops in once in a while to sweat me, as he’s now convinced that he totally sucks at tournaments, and he’s sticking to ring games, where he’s grinding out a profit.

Anyhow, time passes….My stack grows steadily larger….play gets better as the weaker players bust out. The dinner break comes upon us, and we’re down to 9 tables. I’ve got T32,000 and am “in the zone”. Of to dinner I go. I give Greg a call to fill him on what’s going on, but I get his machine. Vince & I had hoped to be able to get together with him, but Greg has his family in town, so he’s pretty well tied up for the week.

Time to get back to business……We resume play at T300/T600 and antes of T100. The table is now fishless. One player, I believe his name is Stan, has a decent stack, around T65,000 or so. My stack is about 4th on the table. I’m still feeling great…..just the right mixture of calm, relaxed and aggressive. I like my chances a lot at this moment…….and then the rag run from hell begins…….It’s not that simple (is it ever?), as not only are my hands lower than whalechit in the Mariana’s Trench, but whenever I try to steal, someone comes over the top at me. This goes on through this and the next level. I’m not a happy camper, but I am not despairing either.

Attrition has set in, and we are now down to 5 tables. Blinds are T600/T1200 with T200 antes. My stack has bled down to T14,000 over the last 2 rounds….time to make a move. Over the years, it’s always seemed to me that for each of us, in every tournament that we play, there is ONE defining hand that turns the course for better or worse…..What follows is my “defining hand” for this tournament.

I’m 2 UTG and look down at 2 red Jacks. With the blinds and antes, there is T3600 in the pot. I raise and make it T6000 to go. Fold….fold….and a MP player with T10,000 come over the top allin. 2 more folds, and it comes around to Stan…………

Time out for a bit of reflection. I had mentioned earlier that Stan was table chip leader coming back from the break. It didn’t take long for him to start hemorrhaging chunks of his stack, as he’s now down to T23,000. I also noticed that he was acting quite differently than from before the break. He was almost spacey. I mean no disrespect here, but it was almost as if he missed taking his meds or had eaten something that didn’t sit well……..suffice it to say, he was acting markedly different from earlier in the day.

Back to the action……….He begins to hem & haw and starts talking ….to the table…to himself…..to the poker gods…all audible. He finally looks over at me and says “I KNOW I’m behind you, and I shouldn’t play this hand………” and then flat calls the T10,000 allin from MP. OK…..I really believe him….I do NOT think that given his current state of mind that he is “playing” me at all. I believe that he is really at where he says he is. I also flat call, fully intending to push allin on any flop. There is now T39,600 in the pot. The dealer lays out the flop………Js, 9s, 8c. I look at it for a minute, and before I can act, Stan pushes allin. Well, our stacks hit the middle at about the same time…….I table my JJ for top flopped set……MP tables QQ……and Stan shows his AKs.

Do you remember that last verses of “Casey at the Bat”?…………..déjà vu time…………….The turn is a rag………..SPADE!!!!!!!!

I think all the air left my lungs involuntarily as my heart visited my testicles in that split second. No miracle board pair on the river, and I’m history……………

I wish all the remaining players well, and walk away from the table in a daze. I remember looking around briefly, and noticing that there were about 42-43 players left.

Over 10 hours of play…..fight my way through the minefields full of over 1100 Ike’s & Charlie’s, and bust out so close, with no money to show for it. I honestly don’t know exactly how I should feel at this moment, but in hindsight I think “numb” best describes it.

I find out the next day that Stan (I think it’s him) goes on to finish 2nd…..$59,814.

How close was I to major money finishes between last night and today? Groan….this can be a cruel game.

The good news? Tomorrow is the $500 FL, and I’m still feeling great. I believe that I’m playing about as well as I can play, and I’m up for it.

Time to make the half-hour drive to my room. I believe that I’ll remember this day for a long time………..

[TylerD]

Great report keep 'em coming. Nasty beat btw.

[GrannyMae]

first, pleeeeeze keep these coming. i had no clue you were such an excellent writer. i'm a big fan of tourney write-ups and trip reports, and yours are as easy and and enjoyable to read and follow as ANY i have ever seen.


they were starting with 12

if you were on a larger table, you would have had 12 also. i see that wsop is lenghtening the event, so we might not see more than 10 per table if they split the play up. however, as poker grows, i think we will see more and more big tourneys with 11 or 12 at a table. this means that you B&M tourney people better learn the proper play for this situation.




I also flat call, fully intending to push allin on any flop


i don't understand this comment. if you REALLY mean they were going in the middle regardless of flop, then why wait? i'll guess the answer is that you had decided to take it to the river because of the all-in player and the fact you were pot commited. however, if you decided to call with JJ (which i don't think i would have, but that's another issue), then why not push it in preflop? if there is even a SLIGHT chance of stan laying down, is this not the better move?

enlighten me please. i've started multis and need the education.




thx again for the awesome report

[J.R.]

It probably has to do with the fact that since hand values often change dramatically with the flop, and there is so much already in the pot preflop, that his chance of getting his opponents to fold is much greater betting any flop than it is pushing preflop.

[GrannyMae]

It probably has to do with the fact that since hand values often change dramatically with the flop

ok, that makes sense.

this, and other reasons is why i can't quite seem to get to the final table. i get to see the sunrise alot tho.

thx j.r.

[Myrtle]

Hi Granny,

Sorry it’s taken me so long to respond…..I’ve been the proverbial one legged man in an ass kicking contest lately…..

Anyhow, let me try to reconstruct my thinking at the time, and then I’ll add some additional commentary.

In no particular order of importance:

- My table image was very good. I had shown down no “cheese”, and I was absolutely sure that I had a fair share of respect at the table.
- I had played very few hands during the previous 2 rounds. Because of that I felt that a greater than normal 3x raise from early position would gain an extra measure of respect. I did not think that anyone would read it as an UTG steal, or the act of a desperate man.
- I normally try to adjust the size of my bets/raises according to the ante size. I will do this based upon my read of how the table is reacting to ‘non-standard’ bets.
- I felt at the time that JJ was a hand that I was willing to go to war with under MOST (not all) conditions. For example, had the big stack at the table been the only other player and he pushed allin, I was willing to lay JJ down.
- My read on the big stack at the time before the action of that hand began was that he really didn’t want to get involved unless he had a serious premium hand.
- I felt that if I made a ‘standard’ 3x BB raise from UTG, that there would be too many opportunities for the whole rest of the table to play back at me for that amount, which in many cases would make me lay down a hand where I might be ahead.
- I also felt that, given my stack size, it was time to commit to a hand.

Now, all things considered, I’m not sure that I played pre-flop as well as I could have. The danger here is “judging by results” as we all know what happened. Other players who I respect (Greg in particular) think that perhaps the standard 3x BB raise here would have been better. They might be right. If that’s the case, I’m certain that had MP still pushed allin, and Stan called, I would have easily let the hand go. I thought about this before I bet (believe it or not!) and I think the reason I made it T6000 is that I wanted to “self-commit” myself to the pot. Does that make any sense, or is it fuzzy logic? Knowing me, had only a single player come over the top, I still most likely would have mucked the JJ. Perhaps that is a leak in my game. I will leave it for others to comment.

Now, to get to your question…… I thought for a while about calling or going allin preflop once Stan flat called MP’s 10K allin. I reasoned that the additional 4K that I could put in the pot by going allin would NOT cause Stan to let go of his hand, and that the best strategy would be for me to also flat call, knowing ahead of time that I was going to push allin on the flop, regardless of the flop. It just so happened that the flop was of a consistency that gave Stan plenty of outs, and he was going to call regardless. But, if he had AK of any other suite, would he still play the hand to that flop once I pushed allin? If he did, since I was fortunate enough to flop a set of J’s, it turns out that he was a huge dog. Even if he had AA, after that flop, I’m still way ahead.

Even now, after re-thinking the hand, I still like my “flat-call/push on any flop” strategy. The bigger issue here to me is…..

“Did I end up trapping myself by making too large a bet pre-flop?”

As always, I’d like to hear how others feel about this, as I’m kind of stuck in the same “mind-set” rut right now.