WSOP-C West Palm Beach Recap

Since I am writing this as day two is ongoing you can guess how it went. I am going to break this post into two parts, Odds and Ends followed by the Main Event.

Odds and Ends

When I arrived at the poker room on Saturday afternoon around 4:30 I wanted to walk around and see what kind of a place they had and also register for the 7pm mega-satellite. The room or rooms had a total of 65ish tables split between two levels on complete opposite sides of the building. The walk between them was no more than a couple minutes though.

In the state of Florida apparently it’s difficult to add additional tables for a tournament series, or so I have been told. It will be interesting to see how the WPT gets around this when their event at the Hard Rock Hollywood goes down. Not adding additional tables and the split between the rooms seemed to cause problems from what I saw. Throughout the two weeks they had to routinely shut down cash games in order to make space for tournaments. When I looked at the cash game lists on Saturday and Sunday they were endless, unless you wanted to play $2 straight limit hold’em. I would imagine your wait would be multiple hours.

The other major bummer was the lack of single table satellites. I believe I saw lists for $40, $65 and $125 ones that were quite long. Not once when I was there did I hear one go off. WSOP officials are going to really have to give the location a second thought if they are going to keep it on the schedule.

I tried registering for the 7pm mega about two hours before it started. That didn’t happen as their ‘system’ didn’t have it available yet. When I went back at 6:45 or so I registered without a line to speak of so it wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t great either. When playing the mega we didn’t have a tournament clock as three events were going on already and they only had three clocks available. Guess that $60 license for an additional clock was too much.

Also during the mega we had to bag our chips and move from the first floor room to the second floor room. This killed a little over five minutes of play. When the levels are 20 minutes and you only start with 60bbs its kind of a big deal.

The mega ended up generating 24 seats and I busted with six tables remaining. Only interesting thing was when I was down to t1400 and blinds jumped to 200/400 I doubled two hands in a row with AQ vs 1010 and KK vs QQ. I ended up busting when I shoved my 10bb stack in the cutoff with J10dd and the button found a call for 80% of his stack with A5dd. Soul read obviously.

Main Event

I opted to play the 11am flight which ended up getting 469 players. Surprised actually that only 244 played the late flight but a total of 713 is a solid number. Play was only scheduled for nine levels to accommodate the two flights and would end at the 300/600 level. With t20k to start a number of people would be advancing to day two, or so I thought. Only half the field survived the day.

All tables were set for nine handed and the five seat was in the well for late registrants. When cards were in the air there was only myself and one other player to my direct left at the table. The nine seat checked in but didn’t show back up for over an hour. We actually played heads-up for about 15-20 minutes. I was able to win about 600 chips in that time. A younger kid was the third to arrive and promptly tried to bluff me on the first hand when I flopped top pair and turned top two and wound up winning a t1500 pot.

As players slowly made it to the table by the end of the third level I was able to work my stack up to around t25k. A lot of small pot wins and nothing major of note. The game dynamic was good and most people were making 2.2x – 2.5x raises. Played a lot more hands because of that.

In the 4th – 6th levels the story would be win a few small pots and then turn around and lose it all back in one hand. One of the late arrivals was playing about 80%+ of his hands and was willing to throw chips in the middle. When we lost our first player about the 5th level he was replaced with a t40k stack who was a fairly aggressive player. I played a few hands where I flopped top pair, marginal kicker but folded after I faced big flop raises. I went to the second break with around t22k.

In the 7th – 8th levels the wheels fell off. First hand back I raised, flopped top pair and threw out a cbet of t900 and faced a raise to t3300 and folded and was back to the starting stack. The first of two big hands that would spell my fate occurred when I called a small raise with QJ along with two others. Flop comes 109x and ep player cbets for 900 and I call. Next to act flats and the 4th player puts in a raise to 2300. Original raiser calls, I call, then the 3rd to act who flatted shoves for 14k. Fold, fold, fold. Obvious set in that spot.

The hand that pretty much ended it for me was against the older guy in the nine seat. He raised UTG+1 and it folded to me in the BB and I called with QJ (again). The player was fairly straight forward and cbet every flop and turn. Flop comes KK7 rainbow and I check called his cbet looking to check raise any turn card. Turn was an ace. I checked, he bet t2300 and I check-raise to t7100 thinking he can’t call unless he has one of the two kings. If he does have one of them he is insta-shipping on me. He thought for about 20 seconds before calling. After my raise I had about t7400 behind. River is a brick and I bet out t6k. Dunno why I didn’t just shove. He gives the big sigh and two seconds later throws in the chips and turns over AJ. He really thought he was beat but decided to call. If I win that hand I am sitting on t30k or so and in plenty good shape. I didn’t and I busted less than a lap later.

When I was down to t15k at 250/500 I felt like I was short but really knew I still had 30bbs which is plenty. Not the best performance I have put together. I thought about staying for the last $345 the next day but ended up taking off.

Sorry to the people who had percentages of me. Figures I would cash the one of three events in February that wasn’t a part of the deal. I did offer a free cut of that one so all was not lost for them.

Next up is Vegas in June.

PokerSlut Tour XX $1 Rebuy

ZIPS Survivor

Well this should be interesting. Decided to sign-up for ZIPS Survuvor. Details are at the new web site here. I have a feeling I need to keep winning to survive in this one.

PokerSlut Tour Stud Hi/Lo

PokerSlut Tour XX HORSE

Tunica–Rest of the Trip Report

Figured I should write up the rest of the trip report before it becomes ancient history in my mind.

Thursday

I arrived in Memphis around midday on Thursday. The first thing I played was a $65 single table satellite. We were down to 3-handed and I had t4200 and the other stacks were t4200 and t1600. At 200/400 the short stack folded the button and I found A-9 in the SB. I shipped and the BB woke up with A-J and I lost. That’s just a terrible way to play the hand there. I need to preserve my chips and see if we can knock out the short stack. Add to the fact that I was having my way three handed there is just no reason to push all in. I did chop the last longer though.

I played two more single table sats on the night and whiffed them both. I moved on the the cash games and sat in a 1/3 game for a few hours. I made enough money to pay for the single tables and wound up with around a $100 profit on the night.

Friday

Friday was pretty much a disaster for me. We started off at the Horseshoe playing 1/3. Over about 5 hours I dropped $700 in the game. Nothing was working. Twice in three hands I lost to a two outer. I had a flopped nut flush lose to runner runner quads on the first hand. I think I lost the absolute minimum of $100 on that one though. The other hand I lost to a rivered straight flush when I had my opponent all in on the turn.

We played a cheap $60 tournament over at the Gold Strike that night. I was all over the place in that one having some fun. I ended up busting somewhere in the middle of the pack when I had QQ v AK v 66 all in pre-flop and ended up in 3rd place after the hand was over. We made it back to Harrah’s after that and I played one more single table satellite and won nothing.

Saturday

First thing on the day was the $555 ring event. Looking at the field I certainly didn’t pull the easiest of tables but there were two players who were pretty bad that everyone was going after. With 12k to start there was plenty of time to sit back and wait for hands to happen. At the first break I barely increased my stack to 12.3k. Before the second break I fell all the way down to 7700 when I ended up chopping a hand with AA when the board ran out a straight. At the second break I had 8600 coming back to 22bbs.

When we moved to 300/600 I was all the way down to 10bbs and had a shove stack. I ended up shoving a total of 5 times before the dinner break with no callers. One time a player opened to 1500 and I shoved my 6k with A-A and he folded. What? At dinner break I had it to 15k coming back to 500/1k.

The very first hand back from dinner a 12bb stack shoved in EP and I found Ad-Kd in the SB and re-shipped. He turns over 7-7. Flop K, turn 7 and I am down to 3bbs. A couple hands later I get my last 3bbs into the middle with 22 against A-Q. Q in the door followed my a 2 and I double. I shoved another hand and I was back up to a 10bb stack again.

The bustout hand was kind of interesting. The button who had been fairly active early threw out 1500. I think he was intending just to call but he was forced to min-raise and I had Q-10 in the SB. I called and the BB called. Flop comes 10-X-Xcc and I ship. Button tanks for a bit and finally calls with Ac-8c. Well crubs didn’t get there but the A did on the turn and I was out the door in the 160s, paid top 45.

From my last post you saw how I ended up doing in the cash games that night and subsequent tournament on Sunday. It’s always good to make it home with more money than you left with.

Next up is the WSOP-C Main Event down in West Palm Beach at the end of the month. I will get there the day before the Main to play one or both of the mega-satellites. Getting in on the cheap would be good.

WSOP-C Tunica HORSE Recap

On Saturday night in the poker room I mentioned to Jerry and Brad that if I could turn $200 into $1k in the cash games that I was going to stay an extra day and play the $345 HORSE event. It took a few hours at 1/3 to go from $200 to $500. After dinner I sat with $500 at a six handed 2/5 game and 20 minutes later the table broke and I had $900 in front of me. Close enough, I’m playing HORSE.

There were a total of 76 runners and just the final table of eight would be paid with 1st winning just under $7k. We started with 10k in chips and 40 minute levels with the game switching every eight hands. The early levels of the tournament meant pretty much nothing. The only good thing about them was figuring out who the idiots at the table were. I saw more defending in Razz with jacks and queens than I have ever seen in my life.

At the end of the first three levels I was sitting on 9.2k. In the 5th level there was one guy who apparently didn’t want to be there. He was gone for ages and comes back during Razz and says he want to complete dark. Well you can’t do that but he was the bring-in with the K and decides to complete. I’m next to act with 3 wheel cards and 2-bet. Everyone folds and he calls. Pretty sure you can guess what happens after this but I make a J low to his 10 and I lose a big pot. I was able to build back up a bit and at the end of the 6th level I was above my starting stack at 11.3k.

In the 7th – 9th levels is when play really picked up. I worked my stack up to 20k on one particularly sick read. In LHE I raised UTG with A-10 and just the BB called. Flop comes K-J-3 and the BB leads and I call. Turn is a 6, he checks and I check it back. River pairs the 3 and he leads again. The line he took really looks like nothing otherwise he is betting the turn. I called and he said “Good call, I missed diamonds” and my Ace high was good. I really would have looked like an idiot if he turned over something like 4-4 there. When we reached dinner break at the end of the 9th level I was sitting on 18k and when we came back the betting would be 600/1200.

Starting in the 10th level there was still six tables playing but not for long. We dropped to four tables fast and I was still on a slightly above average stack. When we dropped another table I was slipping below average. With 19 players left I doubled-up to 28k but was still kinda short.

With two tables left is when I started to accumulate some chips. When we were down to 16 I had half the average around 30k or so. With 15 remaining I scooped a big O8 pot to get to 42k. I flopped a flush draw, nut low draw and an overpair heads-up against an all-in player. I busted the 13th place player in a razz hand to climb to 65k when my opponent was all-in on 4th with 3 wheel cards and a brick against my 3 cards to and 7 and a brick. I binked a 4 in the river to make a 6 low to beat my opponents worse 6 to eliminate him. I recognized him from the tournament trail before. He is horrid when he loses and swore approximately 20 times before he left the table.

When we were 11 handed I lost a huge pot in Stud to drop to 39k and was in a bit of trouble. I was able to win quite a few pots in a row after that and when we were down to 10 people I busted the next player in LHE when he got his last 4 bets in pre with AK against my AQcc. Flop was QXXcc and he was dead to two outs. They didn’t come and I was up to 90k to start the unofficial nine handed final table.

Starting the nine handed final table I was in 4th or 5th in chips. In back-to-back Stud hands I was on the losing end to the same player and dropped all the way down to 48k. When we lost 9th place I was sitting 6th in chips with 44k with two players down to less than 20k. One of the short stacks got his last few bets in with QJ83 and wound up with runner runner boat to quad up to 80k. The next shortest stack let himself get so low that when he played it didn’t matter and he busted.

Before 8th was eliminated though I was able to double-up in LHE when I defended my BB with K-Q. Flop come queen high and I was able to get my last four bets in and was against A-10. Turn was a Q and I doubled to 73k. When we reached five handed I built my stack up to 120k which was good for 4th place but would bleed down a bit after that.

Once we lost 5th place and the blinds at 10k/20k I got my last 50k in the middle in O8 with Q-Q-8-6hh. All three opponents saw the flop and I ended up winning the low half after the ace river killed everyone else’s low.

My bustout hand happened in Razz. The Q brought it in and I completed with (A-Q)6 and the Q defended. 4th street brought me a Q and my opponent a J. I bet again and he called. On 5th street I catch and 2 and my opponent a 5. I lead again and he put me in for my last bet and I called. Hands were:

Me: (A-Q) 6-Q-2 vs Opponent (6-3) Q-J-5

On 6th I caught a wheel card and my opponent caught a 2. On 7th he flipped up and 8 for the 8 low and I was drawing live but peeled a J and I was out the door in 4th for $1,991. I think Razz is my El Guapo now.

I will take it. I think I still could have moved up to 3rd place and after that it would have been a lot of work to get any higher.

One hand in particular that I questioned my play was when we were four handed and the shortest stack at the table had 3 1/2 bbs left and raised UTG in O8. The two big stacks folded to me in the BB and after posting I had 4 bbs left with KJ66 single suited. If I put in 2 1/2 bets to put him all in that leaves me with 1 1/2 bbs if I lose but I have a chance to eliminate a player. The expert O8 player says fold and the other person I asked said fold as well. I ended up folding leaving myself with 4bbs and him with 5bbs.

Tournament equity wise I was wondering if I should play just about any four cards there. Either way I play the hand I will be 4th in chips if I lose or fold. It was the last hand of O8 and Stud games were up next which I like my chances in a little better. That was probably the dominating factor in my thinking.

The tournament recap is on the WSOP site now. Look at the chip counts. The short stack entering is the one who finished 2nd. Greatest luckboxing at a final table I have personally witnessed in a while. What made it a little worse was when he won he would yell ship it. From a 45 year old dude, seriously?

Next up for me will be the WSOP-C Main Event down in West Palm Beach at the end of the month.

WSOP-C Tunica Quick Update

Finished 4th in the $345 HORSE event today. Will give a proper wrap-up once I get home and get some sleep. Gotta catch a flight in 5 hours.

Super Bowl Sunday!!!

Enjoy the Super Bowl!  The PokerSlut Tour will not be playing tonight so all of you degenerates can eat like pigs, drink like fish, and win/lose your bankroll at the sportsbook.  Oh, don’t give me that look.  You know who you are.