My WSOP report

[Equal]

This is taken from my site 604poker.com.

WSOP Report Part 1 The report and pics from the WSOP.



What an experience. It was finally here – the 2005 World Series of Poker. And I was able to play in it. Not bad after learning how to play hold em only 2 years ago, to the month.

Three Team 604 players were playing today. Mike, Vince (numb3rs), and I (Pete) were all lucky to get Day 1B (the middle day of three starting days). We wish each other luck and head of to our respective tables.

I sat down at my assigned table and looked around at my opponents. Everyone seemed to be a normal looking guy. So these were the people I play against on Party Poker. While a few were younger than me (I’m 29) most seemed older. I got stuck in the number 1 seat, directly to the left of the dealer. It makes observation quite hard, especially against the number 9 and 10 seats on the other side of the dealer.

A great wide-angle shot of Pete at the WSOP – in the Team Canada jersey and 604poker hat of course!

That's Jon Finkel to the left of Pete, and the Frenchman villian in seat ten. The Asian guy in Seat 9 would hold Pete's WSOP fate in his hands in Part 2...

The WSOP got underway with a little speech from the tourney manager, and then the American national anthem sung by some female poker player.

Soon after the cards were in the air, and the 2005 World Series of Poker was underway. Although I had some trouble getting to sleep the night before, I didn’t feel any nerves as the first few hands of the WSOP were dealt.

I expected to be nervous, and excited, but even as I pulled in my first pot, I felt calm and relaxed. Maybe it was because everyone started with 10,000 in chips and with the blinds at a micro 25/50. A few mistakes wouldn’t kill us right away. Also, with 100 minute long levels, that meant if we got to be a small stack, we would have plenty of time to build back up. Little did I know that was precisely what I would have to do.

I didn’t have to wait long to get dealt good hands, the Poker Gods decided to throw me right into the WSOP battle. My second hand dealt was AQ and I took down the pot pre-flop as no one called my raise.

I look down and see pocket queens as my fourth WSOP hand. I got right into the thick of things as UTG raised to 250. Seat 10, an older French professional, cold called. I decided to make the simple play and reraise to 750. Surprisingly, I got a call from the Frenchman. I bet 1,200 on an ATx flop, and folded to his raise to 2,400. Not a great flop for QQ.

Two hands later I get a feeling of déjà vu when I see QQ again. The same Frenchman raises to 150 and I reraise him to 300. He folds to my continuation bet on a 445 flop.

The very next hand I pick up AK. That’s AK, AQ, QQ, and QQ, in my first seven hands at the WSOP! I win the blinds.

My 10th hand in the WSOP was 77 UTG. I limp, and pick up a small pot when I bet the QQ5 flop, check the Q turn, and bet the queen river. Yep, that’s four queens on the table.

I wouldn’t have to wait long for my next premium hand, as I pick up AK in the BB during the next orbit. A French kid two to my left, raises in EP to 125. I decide to only call in the BB, and the two of us saw the flop heads-up. It was a great flop for AK - KT7 rainbow. I just check call his 200 flop bet, planning to raise the turn. He bet 800 on an 8 turn, and I raised to 1,500. Surprisingly he called. The river was another blank, and I bet 500, trying to get a call from a weaker hand. He bit – he called, but flipped over 96s for the straight! I was in disbelief. How does he raise that pre-flop in early position? How does he spike the turn gut shot but only then call my raise? My stack took another hit.

I pick up QQ for the third time during this 100-minute level later on. I reraise a 150 raise to 500, and my opponent called. This was the same Frenchman from the earlier hands. On an 854 two-club flop he called my 700 bet. The pot was now about 2500. The turn was a non-club 9, and now he bet 1500 into me. I decided to call. Immediately he checks the river blind. This threw me off. Why would he check the river blind? The 6c hits on the river, completing the flush and straight draws. I however bet 1,000 thinking I’m ahead, and fall right into his trap. He raises me to 2,700. I think a long time about how much of an idiot I am, and fold.

Mercifully, the 25/50 level ended soon after, and with AK twice, AQ twice, and QQ three times, I was able to deplete my stack from 10,000 down to 2200. Not a good start to the WSOP.

Although I felt pressured now with the blinds moving up to 50/100, I had to tell myself to slow down. Even though I was 20% of the average stack, I did have 22BB’s. I told myself that I would be very comfortable with that in any big Party online tourney and that I did have plenty of room.

In some ways, I was happy to have a manageable stack like that because once I did get into playing again, I felt more comfortable. Harrington says there are two types of players – post-flop and pre-flop players –0 and I guess I am a pre-flop player.

Just over two hours into the WSOP and I was already all-in! In LP I attempt to steal with K9s. The button, an American directly to my left, calls. The flop comes a very nice JT8 with two spades. I had the flush draw, an overcard, and an open-ended straight draw. I bet 400, and he raises – and I push all-in! He calls, and the dealer yells, “All-in and a call! Table 127!” This is so the ESPN camera guys can rush over and film the hand.

A 7 hits the turn and my opponent let’s out a brief hoorah until he realizes it makes my straight. However, he did have a re-draw to make the full house – but he missed!

Later on, Jon Finkel gets moved into that guy’s seat when he busts. He just gave away his chips to one of the pros on the other side of the table. Finkel is one of the best Magic: The Gathering pros and is the subject of a new book coming out soon.

Soon after I again was all-in. This was much safer though, as I pushed over top a pre-flop raiser, who folded.

I attempted a steal on the button with A3dd, and got called by both blinds – Finkel and the French kid, who busted me earlier with 96s in EP. The flop came a nice JJx with two diamonds, but Finkel, in the SB bet out 500. The French kid in the BB folds, and I push all-in. Finkel deliberates for a couple minutes, and I find it kind of hard to play against a friend (albeit a friend I don’t see often) in such an important tournament like this. We are both pulling for each other, when we aren’t in the hand, so it was weird to be all of a sudden foes. He ends up folding.

In the very next hand we clash again. It’s folded to me again and I raise with 88. Finkel reraises me to 750 from 300. I am unsure whether to reraise or just call. I end up calling. The flop comes an interesting 77x, and Finkel puts me all-in when I checked to him. Checking was probably a bad play on my part. I end up folding.

Afterwards we talked about those two hands, and he tells me he folded 55 when I had the diamond draw, and he had AK in the last hand. Those two hands show the power of betting. Both times the underdog won the hand because the player bet or raised.

An interesting situation came up during a deal. There was some confusion for one of the cards dealt to the SB or BB. The two players weren’t sure whose card was whose. The dealer said, “Misdeal” and immediately the three players on my side of the table and I all mucked our cards, sort-of showing them to each other. Seat 8 (on the button), starts complaining, saying he could figure out what happened, and that it shouldn’t be a misdeal. The floor gets called over, and agrees with the pro that the hand wasn’t a misdeal – the floor pretty much ignored the rest of us. Immediately Finkel and I get suspicious. We find out that the pro is “Miami” Jon Cernuto – apparently some reasonably famous pro. No wonder the floor seemed to basically let him make the decision.

A little while later, the 50/100 level ends, and I had worked my way up to 3,200.

Next time I will continue on with Part 2 of my WSOP experience, including my comeback!

[Equal]

WSOP Report Part 2 The report and more pics from the WSOP.

The World Series of Poker Part 2 -- The End

The Scene: Over fours hours into the 2005 World Series of Poker. 200 poker tables in a huge convention room, split into four quadrants by two thin aisles absolutely jam-packed with spectators. Running around all the poker tables are staff, dealers, waitresses and a ton of reporters. A few camera crews are running around too, trying to get as many all-ins as they can. The levels are 100 minutes long, and we only get a 20-minute break in between. With 2000 players and spectators in the convention hallway, that means that’s just barely enough time to go to the washroom and back before the break ends.

I had to jump straight into the WSOP pool getting lots of good hands in the first orbit of the WSOP. Unfortunately, due to some bad luck and some bad plays, my stack was crippled within the first hour. I had whittled down my initial $10,000 in chips to a low of $2,200. I spent most of the second 100-minute level with my life on the line, and managed to get back to $3,200.

Level 3 – 100/200

The next level was 100/200. With only 16BB’s in my stack I was in trouble, but I could afford to wait a little while. Whereas in a regular tournament, I would only have a couple orbits to find a hand, here in the WSOP I was looking at least a half-dozen or even a dozen orbits to double up from $3,200 before the next level.

I stay patient for a while and then pick up AKs. The French pro in Seat 1 raises pre-flop and I push all-in. Everyone folds to him and he goes into the tank. I started hoping he would fold, and then stopped and told myself, “I HOPE he CALLS” instead, because if he had a big pocket pair he wouldn’t take so long to think. After a couple minutes he decides to call and shows A9s. He looks over at me and says, “I put you on a small pair”. Well, I guess that’s good for me – my AK holds up. Finally I got the big double I needed the last two hours!

I was back in the game. I now had over $7,000 in chips, and with the blinds 100/200 I was very comfortable even though I was just above half the average stack.

As I tend to do, whenever I get some chips I get a little too aggressive. It was folded to me in the CO seat, and I raised it to 700 with A4o. The French kid (who took a chunk of my chips early on with 96s from UTG when he hit his gut-shot on the turn) called from the SB. With 1600 in the pot, I bet 900 on a Jxx flop. He called. The turn came a ten and we both checked. The river was a queen and when he checked again I saw an opportunity. Harrington states in his NL book that most times you can snap off a bluff because the bluff bet doesn’t fit in with the rest of the opponent’s play in the hand.

Well, I reasoned that I could make a play at this pot. I did have position and he checked to me twice. It sure looked to me like I could legitimately represent AK here with a bet. I thought about what I would if I did have AK. With the pot 3400, I decided to bet 2200. It was a decent amount, but wasn’t an overbet. A pretty standard 2/3’s pot bet actually.

If I got called, I would still have just under 4000 chips. I wouldn’t be crippled. So I bet 2200 and the French kid took his time. He didn’t even look at me once. After a few minutes he called, and showed J9o. What a great call by him. In retrospect, I’m not sure how he made this call, other than he might have decided with a decent stack it was worth it to him for the pot odds. He did a ton of calling throughout the most of the day, even when he showed down some big hands.

A few days later, when I would come by the Rio to watch one of the final days of the tournament, I would be surprised to see him still playing with only five tables of players remaining. Congrats kid on the good play and the good finish!

I started to get that burning feeling inside. Was that whole hand a mistake? Did I bet too little on the river? Should I have just given up on the hand after the flop? All the work over the last few hours trying to build up my short stack wasted on a hand of ace-four-offsuit. I tried to focus back on the task at hand. After all, I was doing well with the short stack beforehand, and with my experience I was certainly a much better pre-flop and flop player than turn and river.

I watch Jon Finkel in the seat beside me double up when the action goes raise, re-raise to him and he basically shoves with aces. He almost triples up as the first guy (the French pro) calls with KK. Finkel then doubles up to almost 40k when another guy gives Jon his stack.

It was an interesting phenomenon. Unlike me, where I gave away most of my stack early, it seemed like most of the other players would play tight and well for the first few hours, but then, one by one, they would crack, make a mistake and lose their stack on a rookie error.

It was almost like a staring contest. Endurance truly was a huge factor, and this was only a few hours into Day 1! What a difference it makes when you aren’t sitting at home with a comfortable chair, muted lighting, and a fridge nearby. Or even not having a waitress that will bring you food.

As I watched Finkel double up with aces, I reasoned I was due for a pair of bullets soon.

Near the end of the level, I make a dangerous play that Harrington calls the “Squeeze play”. A very tight player raised to 600 and got a caller, who had a fairly large stack at this point. I look down at 77 and shove all-in for 3800. It seemed like two folds was reasonable, but if I did get a call I was lucky enough to have a decent hand.

The tight guy folded quickly, but the caller looked at me for a while before folding. I picked up a lot of chips there considering we didn’t even see a flop.

With only a couple minutes left in the level the blinds are about to come to me. One of the players in the hand says to the other, “Do you want to just take your time, so this is the last hand of the level?” The other agrees. I was dumbfounded. Why would they want to do that? Why not get in another hand before the level ends? So the one guy sits there waiting for time to run out before folding his hand. I was UTG+1 and of course would have been going absolutely ballistic if the blinds were going up next level and I would have had to pay bigger blinds just because they wanted to waste the last few minutes of the level.

Fortunately, antes were being introduced, so I didn’t get screwed over. Anyway, it just didn’t make sense to me. They had to sit there and wait for the level to end anyway, why not try to fit in another hand? If anyone knows why people would do this, let me know in the forums.

I finish the level up from where I started, at 4600. I run as fast as I can to the washrooms and discover that even though they converted the women’s bathroom to a men’s, there still was a huge line-up of guys. I have to run down through the exhibition hall to the next set of washrooms. I barely make it back in time for the next level: 100/200 with 25 ante.

Although with antes, you are often paying as much, or more per orbit than you would if the blinds increased, it a way it’s a relief. One, when you steal the blinds and antes you win more chips. However, when you do get called, you are usually playing a smaller pot than you would had the blinds gone up.

For example, the standard raise was about 600 with 100/200/25. If the blinds went to 150/300 instead of having the antes, the standard raise would have been 900. This exponentially affects the future bets. A 2/3rds pot bet with the antes would be around 1000. With 150/300 blinds, it would be around 1400. Turn and river betting would be proportionately bigger as well. So even though you are paying 550 a round with antes and only 450 without, the antes give you more play with a medium or small stack.

Level 4 – 100/200/25

So I was happy to see the blinds stay at 100/200. I got back just in time for the level to start, and I throw in my 25 ante. Beautiful pocket aces. Hmm, this is my chance. With 4600, I am looking to double up. I briefly consider shoving or limping, but make the generic correct play and raise to 3 times the BB. I pray for someone to pick up a hand, but everyone folds and I pick up the blinds.

I rue my bad luck at not picking up aces when my friend Finkel did. He almost triples up and I win the blinds. I’m envious.

Anyway, I had to focus again – nothing wrong with winning the first hand of the initial ante level, especially when running the short stack. I was slowly increasing my stack (save for the ill-advised bluff for 2200 chips).

Later on I complete in the SB with 76 after a LP limper. Finkel checks the big blind. The flop comes a nice J54. I like the 850 pot right now so I bet out 500. Finkel calls and the LP player folds. The turn comes a ten I check and Finkel checks behind. I start to wonder what he has. He does have a 40k stack, so I wonder why he bother taking a shot on the turn with a bet. No matter, because when the river is an 8, I make the nut straight. The only problem is that it put three spades on the table. I’m not too concerned and bet 800. I figure it’s an amount Finkel will call if he has anything. Almost immediately, he announces, “I’m all-in.”

What?

I sit back. Damn. This went from a tiny small, nothing pot that I was hoping to pick up. He certainly didn’t need another 1k in chips. Over the last few hours we’ve played together we’ve been pulling for each other, as we’ve known each other for years. And now he’s pulling this!

I think. Is he trying to help me? Is pushing his way of legally saying to me, “fold, I don’t want to bust you.” I decide no, that can’t be the case. He’s very competitive and I think he’s like me – there’s no friends in a competition. And that meant that I had to decide on whether or not he had the flush. It certainly seemed plausible, but unlikely.

I make the biggest decision of my poker life. “If you have it, you have it… I call.”

He scares me for a second when he says, “I think I have you,” but flips over the same hand as me 76!! I gleefully show my 76 and we have a good laugh. I breathe a sigh of relief. Still alive.

On a Rush

Later on in the level, an EP player raised to 600, and seat 8, the Asian guy with huge headphones and Top Gun sunglasses calls. It folds to me in the Big Blind and I look at AJdd. I put a chip on my cards and contemplate. I think about pushing my stack of ~6k in, trying the squeeze play again. I decide against it, as Harrington says you don’t really want to waste your good hand on a bluff-type play. I call.

The flop comes quite good for me – J9x rainbow. I check, the raiser checks, and the Asian guy bets 1000 into the over 2k pot. I push all-in. With his stack, I thought he could easily call me with many worse hands. The pre-flop raiser folds and the Asian guy calls quickly.

He shows QJhh and I’m almost in the best position I could be. A heart hits the turn, giving him a flush draw, but he misses his 12 outs on the river and suddenly – after over 7 hours of play I finally got my stack over the initial 10,000! Finkel gives me a quiet, “good work” as I stack up my chips. I have over 13,000 now, and I am officially back up to full speed and in the thick of things. I look up to the giant projection and see that over half of the 1900 players that started today have been eliminated.

I was still stacking my chips, thinking about the dinner break coming up, when it came to be my turn on the very next hand. I look at 77, and see that only the Asian player is in so far – he limped in LP. I decide to complete, and Finkel checks his option.

I flop my first set of the WSOP. The flop is a gorgeous Q97 rainbow. I check, Finkel checks, and the Asian guy bets 600. With the pot only about 750 it was a fairly big bet. I call and Finkel folds. The king of spades hits on the turn, putting two spades on the table. I check again, fairly sure that this guy would bet again.

Sure enough, he throws 2200 on the table. Another overbet. I think about what I want to raise too. I can’t just shove this time – I have too many chips. I certainly can’t just call as that gives him a shot at out-drawing me, and I won’t get any more chips from him if he misses.

I throw in a 5k chip and raise it. He thinks for a few seconds then firmly says, “ALL-IN!” What the hell have I gotten myself into?

I gather my senses for a few seconds. I clear my head and start thinking. First thing I tell myself is that I can take as much time as I need to think this through. I don’t want to rush the decision – this IS the WSOP after all – and I have heard of people taking 10 or 15 minutes to make a play before.

What am I behind? Well, the bigger sets and JT – which made a straight. Would he overbet the turn with a straight? I didn’t think it was too likely. Would he limp with QQ or KK? Maybe, but I didn’t think he would overbet the flop or the turn with a set – and he overbet both streets.

It sure seemed like I was ahead. I was unsure though… I know that sometimes I have the Inability to lay down a big hand when I know I was beaten – but this time was different. I was pretty damn sure I was ahead. He did seemed awful miffed when he saw I had AJ last hand too.

Again I take a deep breath, look up to the sky (I’m not religious but I can still pray to the Poker Gods) and say, “I call,” and shove in my last 8k.

Immediately my opponent takes off his sunglasses and headphones and asks, “What do you have?”

“I only have a set of 7’s… what do you have?” I ask back.

“I have nothing!”

I am taken aback. Nothing? I get up from Seat 1 to glance at his cards as he flipped them over, across the table. I see a four. I see a ten. Ten-four? Ten-four of… spades.

I look at the board. Yep, 9 of spades on the flop and the king of spades on the turn. Wow. I had never seen tilt affect someone so massively. In the WSOP of all places! After he played pretty well for over seven hours and now this! All he had was a spade draw and a jack would that give him a straight.

I take a look at my hand. I have the 7 of spades, so that’s one gone. The queen of spades would give him the flush but me the full house, so even his flush draw was smaller than he thought.

The dealer burns, I’m just praying for red, and turns the 8 of spades. Done just like that. Seven hours and over two hundred hands of rebuilding my stack, and I finally get it over my initial 10,000 and I can’t even hold onto it for one single hand.

I just stand there, waiting for the dealer to make sure he had me covered, hoping that even though I know he does, I’ll have some chips left. The Asian guy says, “Sorry man”. Sorry.

Finkel says some condolences, and the French pro across the dealer grabs me and says, “Nothing you can do. You played well today.”

I pick up my stuff, wish the table good luck, and tell Finkel to kick some ass. I look around, and wonder which way out of the maze of poker tables. What a walk of shame. 10 seconds after you bust out, no one cares. You’re just one of the nameless thousands that busted out on Day 1.

10 outs in 44 unknown cards. 23%. I take many worse beats daily but this one seemed a million times worse. Of course, the what-ifs pop into my head. 77% of the time, I gather up ~29,000 in chips, sit on my 145BB stack that’s well over the average, go to dinner break a guy on a mission, and have a rest day the next day before starting day 3 as a real contender more than half way to the money in poker’s biggest event.

[baronzeus]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Good job (on most of the hands [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] ) and tough luck at the end there. There's always next year bro.

[Equal]

[ QUOTE ]
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Good job (on most of the hands [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] ) and tough luck at the end there. There's always next year bro.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol! Thanks a lot, I appreciate it.

[smartalecc5]

Ya, tough luck. I enjoyed the art.. "so these are what the people I play on aprtypoker are like"


Except, you forgot about the illegal kids who play online [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

[Equal]

[ QUOTE ]
Ya, tough luck. I enjoyed the art.. "so these are what the people I play on aprtypoker are like"


Except, you forgot about the illegal kids who play online [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

lol true - there were something like a dozen underage kids who showed up and got denied entry after winning seats.