WSOP 2006: MAIN EVENT DAY 1

Ok so here we are, after several posts telling about the first several days in Vegas, playing in various tournaments. It's now finally time for the whole reason of this trip: playing in the World Series of Poker Main Event. My start day was Day 1c, Sunday July 30th. Play began at 12pm, and I was well rested after having sequestered myself in my own room at Fitzgeralds with Emily (again, in separate beds...) while the rest of the party was at our room right there at the Rio. Emily and I stopped in before heading down. Here's a picture with Rahul in the room:

In case you're wondering about the pink shirt, it says "tracysangels.com," and we were wearing them in support of a woman named Tracy DuPont who was suffering from breast cancer. On the back of them, we wrote "TEAM CHI." Not a bad deal, we support a woman who needs help, and we get free uniforms. :)

Of course I also had to wear Full Tilt gear since that is part of the deal with winning a seat on their site. So I had my knit cap, and the pullover that they gave me. I also had a Full Tilt hoodie, but it was a little bit too warm for that.

So on to the tournament. Day 1c had notables Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harmon, Greg Raymer, Tuan Le, Nam Le, Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly, and Mike Matusow, among others. Fortunately, I never came close to any of them. Odds weren't really in favor of that anyways since there were over 2000 people per day (a grand total of 8773 entrants, spread out over 4 starting days). Oh yeah and 1st prize was a cool $12 million. Top 800 or so would get paid, with the first level of prize money at ~$14,000, and to make it to the first money level would mean lasting until roughly somewhere in the middle of Day 3.

So we started at noon. Unfortunately, since the ballroom was so packed, they did not allow spectators in until somewhere after the 2nd break (4pm). So I was somewhat on my own for the first several hours, although my peeps would periodically peek in through the doorway since my table was actually visible from there. Actually here's a shot of my table from there:



So ok. First several hours. My assessment of the table was that it was a bit weak-tight. Not surprising, for a $10k event with many amateurs like myself. I'm sure that I was not the only one for whom this was the largest event they had ever played in. So nerves were running a bit high, and no one wanted to bust out early. So, this meant I had to open up my game and steal, steal, steal. Which is exactly what I did. For the most part, it was working pretty well. I did get played back at a couple of times, and there were definitely a couple of tough spots at the table, but for the most part I felt in pretty good control of things.


Early on, I had two hands go badly:

1) I find KK in mid position. Blinds are still quite small, I made a standard raise and got called in one spot. Flop was all low, I bet out, got called. Turn was a Q, I bet again, got raised. I didn't really think about folding since I still thought there was a pretty good chance I had the best hand, but turn raises aren't a very comfortable thing to deal with, because they generally indicate great strength, and you also have to have an idea of what you're going to do on the river when they (most likely) bet again. I'm certainly in no mood to go broke with one pair, though it's never easy to muck kings. Anyways, I called, intending to call any modest bet on the river. Luckily, the river brought 4 to a straight on the board, and even though there was basically no way that I had it based on the way the hand went down, it caused the man to check behind after I checked to him, and he took the pot with his set of Queens that he hit on the turn. So I definitely could've lost a bit more on that one.

2) The next one was with AKo (which I KNEW was going to be my worst hand because I am basically still a limit-donk as hard as I try not to be, and AK is incredibly easy to play in limit but might be one of the toughest hands to play in no-limit with deep stacks). It folded to me in late position, I made a standard raise, got one caller (the same guy with QQ) from the SB. Flop came down all hearts with an Ace, I had no hearts. He checked to me, I bet about pot. He thought and called. Turn came a blank, he checked, I put him all-in (he had just slightly over the pot remaining at this point, a few thousand). He deliberated for a while, and then finally called with AQ no heart. BEAUTIFUL. Until, of course, the river came a Q and he doubles through me.

That one hurt the psyche a bit and I actually had to get up from the table and go find Emily and BG who were at the Gaming Expo down the hall. They did a good job of calming me down and telling me I have nothing to worry about, this put me back down to about the 10k starting stack but at least I'm not in any danger, and I had to just relax and play my game.

So I went back to my table. One of the very next hands I picked up was KK, there were two limps and a raise in front of me. YUMMY. I thought about smooth calling, but I certainly did not want to play this hand 4-way. On the other hand, I don't know if my table thought I was crazy enough to re-steal here, so if I re-raise, I'm almost announcing that I have AA/KK. And even if someone did think I was re-stealing, there wasn't really anyone at the table with enough balls to play back at me without having something. So, I'm just hoping someone would call with a smaller pocket pair to try and flop a set but miss. I was laying just slightly worse than the right implied odds for that. If I had more confidence in my post-flop skills I think I could smooth call here, especially being that I was in position. But no messing around right now. I re-raised. Everyone folded to me and I took a couple thousand without even seeing a flop. Dang, I should be doing this with rags too.

Another semi-interesting hand... I was UTG, getting dealt my cards, and before I even looked at them, I started thinking, "You know what hand I hate getting UTG? AJ. I don't know how to play it out of position. Raising sucks, but I just hate folding. But, it's a tough hand to from early position... I think I should start folding it there." And then I look down at my cards, and what do I see? AJ. So I'm about to fold like I just told myself. But wait, it's SUITED! Ok, I raise!! haha. yeah... I get one caller. Flop comes down J-high no obvious draws, I bet out 300 (about half-pot), get raised to 900. AUGH, THIS IS EXACTLY WHY I SHOULDN'T BE PLAYING THIS HAND. But... I'm not quite ready to give it up yet. My opponent was a semi-aggressive young kid, so he could be making a play. I call. Turn comes another blank, I'm thinking... how can I best get to showdown without getting into a lot of trouble? I bet 1500. Probably not the best idea. However, he thinks for a second, and folds. Weird. I think I played that hand absolutely terribly, so I was feeling lucky to come out alive.

Around 4pm they allow spectators in, so my crew enters the arena. We're 2 hours from the dinner break. I get a nice run going, I bust someone with AA against his JJ, steal a few more pots, and run my stack up to about 20k and top 2 in chips at my table. At this rate, I'm thinking I can almost cruise into tomorrow with that stack which would be roughly average, though I do want a bit more.

But then, the table breaks. I get sent to a new table, and my early assessment is that this table is going to be a bit rougher. Way more aggression, and much bigger stacks. There were a couple with over 50k, and most people had like 30k. I was thinking that this table could be a lot of trouble.

I wasn't wrong.

We'll start there in the next post.

WSOP 2006: Interlude

Ok where were we. We're in the middle of my 2-week trip to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker. So far I have played in 3 other tournaments, lasting somewhat deep in each but no cash. My start day in the Main Event is on Sunday, and I left off on Thursday night with my last post.

So on Friday, we moved from MGM to the Rio. Wendy got in that day, with Anne and Rick in her car. I made Emily be my "secretary," because I was starting to feel the stress of everything so I just had her deal with it all. Also arriving that day was Steve, and then much later in the night, Rahul.

When Rahul arrived, he immediately announced that the party needed to get going, because he was only in town for less than 48 hours. Well, I was already in no-party mode so I couldn't join him. But Wendy and BG did. Apparently they partied quite late into the night and totally took over a craps table, haha.

That's about it for Friday. On Saturday, I had some business to take care of. On 2+2, the poker forum that I read, there happened to be some trash talking between Michigan and Ohio State. So I suggested a "last-longer" bet between those from the two schools playing in the WSOP. So each of us put down $100, and whichever side lastest the longest would split the prize. On Saturday, I had to meet up with the other participants and collect the monies. Which took more effort than one might expect. And the Rio was already bustling at this point because the Main Event started on Friday (even though I wasn't starting until Sunday).

Also on Saturday, Anne and I went to church. We found a nice Catholic church on the northern-ish part of the Strip, though I can't remember what it was called. Not surprisingly, they were accustomed to having tourists and catered to us nicely, i.e. being very clear on what path to take up there during communion and stuff.

I also had to check into my hotel room at Fitzgeralds. It was becoming quite the party room at the Rio, which I had anticipated. And since I wanted to get a good night's sleep before playing on Sunday, I decided to get my own hotel room for that night. And I had Emily come with me. No we did not share a bed :-P

I guess that's about it. Not very exciting, but I want to start on the Main Event as its own thing, so this post is just the interlude between everything else and that.

TOMORROW I PLAY IN THE WORLD SERIES OF POKER MAIN EVENT WOOOOOOO!!!!

WSOP 2006: Bellagio $1k

Again continuing with the WSOP 2006 story. We're now on Thursday of the ~2 week long trip. So far I've played in the $1500 NL WSOP Event #37, and a Caesars $220 daily tournament with no cash in either, lasting roughly 5 hours in each tournament. My start day for the Main Event is getting closer, just now 3 days away. It's still just me and Emily in Vegas at this point, with BG and Rebecca arriving that night.

Bellagio was running daily $1000 tournaments, so I wanted to try and satellite into this on Thursday. They were continually running single-table satellites for $240, with top 2 winning a seat into the $1000. I headed over there around 10am and took a shot at one of these, as Emily slept in and watched some episodes of Grey's on my computer.

Early on in the satellite, I picked up QQ but took it down on the flop for a small pot. I basically hovered through the first several levels, stealing blinds but not getting much else going on. The table was pretty soft though, not too much aggression and too much calling.

However, one guy was absolutely running over the entire table. The guy directly to my right. He doubled up through one guy with KK against 22 (yeah). Then just kept rolling after that, and eventually he had over half of the entire amount of chips on the table, with 5 players left. At this point it was a virtual certainty that HE was going to get a seat. But the remaining 4 of us had to fight it out with our small stacks at this point.

To make a long story short, I had to bust each of the remaining opponents out myself; I did not get ANY help from the super-stack in this matter :-P The blinds were big enough that it was push-or-fold mode at this point, and I had AT hold against A9, A9 hold against KJo (pretty bad and unnecessary call at that point IMO), and 55 hold against A3o (blinds had gotten even bigger that he HAD to call with that) to bust out 3 players and take one of the top 2 spots.

So WOOHOO I got my seat into the $1k tournament starting at 2pm. I called Emily to give her the good news, and she said she was on her way to play some 2/4 at Bally's or somewhere, and she would swing by the Bellagio if I made it deep.

There were 432 players in this tournament with top 50 getting paid, and a 1st prize of about $126,000. I was so incredibly jacked up for this tournament, I REALLY wanted to cash. Maybe even moreso in this tournament than in the Main Event; I wanted to try and get some momentum going into the weekend.

My first table was medium-tough. There was an old guy who was playing loose-aggressive pre-flop but then weak-tight post-flop. There was a guy wearing a WSOP bracelet (that was real, and not bought from the pawn shop). There were a few young guys who seemed to be playing fairly standard tight-aggressive. I couldn't take control of the table, so I sat back for a bit.

Starting stack was 5000, and level 1 blinds were 25/50 with 40 minute levels. Good, good tournament.

Somewhere around level 3, I had 99 in the big blind. Old guy raised pre-flop, small blind called, I called and we went 3-way to the flop. Flop came king-high with no obvious draws, I wasn't ready to put either of them on a king so I didn't think I was folding yet. I intended to check-raise the old guy if he bet and the SB did not call, but unfortunately, he checked behind after the two of us checked. I actually hadn't read him as weak-tight post-flop yet, so I was actually quite surprised that he didn't make the standard continuation bet. Turn came a blank, and now the SB bet. I insta-raised. In retrospect, I'm not sure that I like this because I didn't have that good of a read on him yet. I was just thinking that it was likely that I had the best hand still, even with the K on board. Anyways, the old guy folded, the SB tanked for like 2 minutes, finally folded and said he was laying down Jacks. Well, that worked out. :)

In another big hand, I had pocket 4s and we went 5-way to the flop in an unraised pot. I was in last position. Flop came with 2 spades, all low but no 4. It checked to me, I bet and got 1 caller. Turn came a 4!! ...but of SPADES. My opponent instantly moved in, for about 3 times the size of the pot. ummmm... NOW WHAT?? Well I tanked, thought about his range, thinking pair with A of spades was quite likely. And if he did just hit the flush already, well that's a weird bet. And I have a lot of outs even if so. So, I called. He turns over 67s so he actually had flopped a straight draw as well, damn he could've played that a bit stronger on the flop. Anyways, I start picking up my things, and then... BOOM the river comes 4!! w00t!!

Lucky me. I'm sitting at about 10k in chips now, as I hadn't really gotten too much going before that double-up. Then around level 5 or so, I got moved to another table. THIS one was MUCH softer than my 1st one. Less aggression and more mistakes. We're down to under 200 at this point.

I worked my stack all the way up to about 25k at this new table. Just got some bad calls from my opponents and had my hands hold up. I had AA to bust a guy who flopped 1 pair with T7o and committed his stack to that. And some other stuff too.

Then right before the 2nd break, I got AQo in late position. The guy to my right limps in. He had literally been playing any two cards, and his stack was on a wild roller coaster. At this point it was a bit on the low side. I raised, he called with not much left behind. I put him all-in on the flop, he called with Q7c and actually had flopped a pair of 7s AND club draw so I was way behind. No help came, and he doubled up through me.

Emily had just arrived around now and had to calm me down as I steamed a bit from this. Not exactly the way I wanted to go into the break. But I still had a healthy stack, just around average now instead of being a bit above.

Unfortunately, things didn't get much better. Blinds were still getting higher, so more drastic measures were now necessary. In a subsequent hand, the same guy playing any two cards raises from the button. I had AQo in the small-blind, and I thought at the time that this was an obvious all-in, which is what I did.

In retrospect, I'm uncertain. Button raises are often steals, but this guy, despite playing any two cards, actually hadn't been RAISING a whole lot. I get the two blended together sometimes; it's tough, when you see someone playing every hand, it's easy to think that their raising range might be quite wide as well. And this is probably true more often than not, but I think it's still important to pay attention and make sure that it is. With this guy, he really had not been raising often at all. Just limping with everything.

So, now he raised. I moved all-in. He calls, with KK. bah. No ace comes, and I'm now running on life-support as I did have him covered, but barely. I double up once, as pocket 6s holds against KJ or something, but it's not enough. I still only have like 4 big blinds, so I move in again with like K8 or something, get called twice, augh, and I'm out the door in 128th.

So once again I lasted about 5 hours and no cash. It was good practice, but I was feeling extremely frustrated after this one. I got some bad luck, and I could've played some spots better too.

Emily and I headed back to the MGM, intending to hit the gym so that I could blow off some steam. But the gym was closed!! :( So instead we went for a run.

BG and Bec came in later that night. When BG got in, we went to Bally's with him to get him playing some 2/4, which I believe was his first poker experience ever. He did ok, a little slow but not too bad :) Bec actually got in really late; her flight was delayed out of NYC due to some storms I think. She arrived around midnight, and BG took a cab from Bally's to McCarran to go and get her. aww. Emily and I stuck there a bit longer, and then eventually headed down to MGM where we met up with them again.

This was to be my last night of drinking before the tournament, as I wanted to put myself on 48-hour detox. But so I had to go out with a bang :) So yeah my memory is a little fuzzy, but I remember playing 3/6 at MGM and ordering a lot of drinks. Bec and BG were around, and actually Bec saw a guy from her flight in the poker room, who apparently was here for the WSOP as well. We started talking about that for a bit, and then so now my table knows I'm playing in the WSOP, but also currently playing like a drunken donkey. haha. There was one hand where I hit a full house with 62o, and the whole table just laughed as I raked in the pot. It was a happy, friendly table and I don't think I was even the most drunk one :)

Then eventually we ended up in one of the MGM's restaurant for a late-night/early-morning meal. I almost went pukey in the bathroom right before this meal, but nothing came out, for better or worse. I was able to take food down ok though. And when we were done, BG picked up the tab! ahh baller.

It's now like 6am and I'm about ready to call it a night. BG and Bec wanted to go to the pool though, so they hung out downstairs a bit longer until it opened, as Emily and I went to bed. They eventually joined us back at the room at whatever hour, I don't even know.

Friday was pretty uneventful, other than a whole bunch of my crew arriving that day, and switching hotels from MGM to the Rio so we could be at the heart of the action during the Main Event, and in a bigger room too as the Rio rooms are pretty amazing.

Next post will start somewhere in there.