Sunday/WSOP recap
by Adanthar on 07/09/07
Big news today: the house has yet another 100K winner, as JCarver won the FTP 500K tonight while making some absolutely spectacular calldowns. Congratulations JC! Unfortunately, he was the only one at the house until a half hour after winning, as a bunch of us went over to Nath's place to play the Sunday tournaments. Other than ActionJeff getting to fourth in the 10K HU matches (then basically not flopping a pair for an hour and losing a 3:1 to end it - reminds me of me) for a 14K profit, none of us really went anywhere, but I did make a couple of deep runs, including a 10/95 in the 20K FTP HORSE before getting scooped on two big stud/8 pots on the river. Even through running cold, I'm definitely picking my spots much better lately, and it's showing in my aggression level and willingness to get a lot of chips in in some key hands.
So, the WSOP recap:
I started (and ended - we never broke) at table 18, seat 9. Most of the rest of the table was pretty weak/tight and extremely nitty (sample hand: 44 check/calls a bet from the PFR on a 664 board, bets the turn 3 flush ace, then *check/calls* the K river; AK is flabbergasted), with two exceptions - an Asian guy playing well in seat 6 who turned out to be ActionBob, and seat 10, who came in an hour in or so. More on him later.
The first hand I really played came about 20 minutes in (20K chips, 50/100). After calling a couple of raises and then folding the flop, I called an EP raise from Bob to 225 with 99 in MP. The BB, a young looking guy who seemed a little out of his depth and was already down to 17K or so, overcalled, and we saw an A
9
3 flop. BB bet out 1K, Bob folded, I made it 2500 and the BB quickly called. He check/called 4K on the 7 turn and then checked the T
river. I probably should've made it about 4K again - instead, I bet 7K and he managed to find a fold with A 3. Oops. The harbinger of things to come came about an hour later. With 26K, I overlimped 77 in LMP, someone else limped, the button in seat 2 - a 40-ish guy in a cowboy hat playing tight - made it 500, an EP limper called and I called. I led 1K on the Q
J 7 flop into the button, he raised to 3K and I called looking to CR the turn. "Un"fortunately, the turn was the Q, a bad card for me since it basically meant I'd only get one more street of action from an overpair, so I checked - obviously still planning to CR, or possibly check/call, bet, if he bet his aces etc. - and the button checked behind. I led the river 3
for 3K just to get a crying call from aces...except the button tried raising with a single 5K red chip, until the dealer told him he had to minraise to 6K. "Does he do this with AQ? Dammit...maybe. Okay, crying call. Nope, quads. lol, how the hell does he manage not to double up here?" I got to the break at 17,500 or so, still laughing that I managed to lose only a third of my stack with a full house.Level 2 (100/200) was up and down. While I hovered up and down, the tables shifted from 9 handed (some people were still buying in) to 10 handed, and a 30-ish British guy with 38K - with a few friends also playing in the event, but clearly not a pro - was moved to my left into seat 10. I asked him how he doubled up; the story went "I had AJ in the BB on an AKJ flop, got raised by the UTG limper, just called, then check/called the Ax turn and river." Having heard that, I immediately tagged him as loose passive, which was 'confirmed' a little later (I overlimped AJ, bet the A
8 7 board in a 6 way pot, got called by the Brit, and chopped with his AJ after checking through the 6 9 board). At that point, I figured I'd just treat him like the rest of the table and just play my cards until the antes started, then steal at will. Chipping up a little eventually left me at a little over 19K, which leads us to a hand just before the break:I raise A
Q in EMP. Seat 10 and ActionBob in the BB both call, the flop comes A 8 4, I lead 1200 into 1900 and Seat 10 quickly makes it 2600. Barf. After thinking it over for a minute, there's absolutely nothing I like on the turn or anywhere else, so I just fold.---
Sounds good, right? It seemed like it at the time, until I got back from the break and the roof caved in.
In a 40 minute span at level 3, 200/400:
-ActionBob makes a raise to 1100 in the cutoff, one of about a million he'd been making. He's down to somewhere around 12K - I've already repopped him PF once and none of his cbets have been working - when I look down at A
T in the BB and, since a 3 bet would be ugly stackwise, choose to just call. I check/call 1200 or so on the A 4 3 flop and, since I already saw him 2 barrel 88 on an Axxx board, decide to check the turn, too, which is the 5. He, of course, checks behind, except the river is the 2, the worst card in the deck. I check and he bets 2K, a really ugly amount that I want to simply fold to, but can't. Of course, he has 66. -I raise two limpers with AQ to 1800, get reraised to 5K behind me and muck.
-Bob raises something or other to 1050 UTG+1. I now only have 13K and look down at red tens in MP, can't really reraise here and flat call. Seat 10 now instantly makes it 3300, Bob folds, I sigh and muck.
-I raise some random hand like Q6 in the SB, seat 10 instashoves and I muck.
-I...someone else...I muck...it goes on like that for a while. When I'm down to 8K, seat 10 raises PF, some action happens, and he eventually has to show his hand down - which turns out to be 65o, ie, the winning bottom end of a straight that puts him at something like 65K. I'm absolutely stunned, because not only does that make everything else I did in the last two hours suspect - it's the most flawed read on a player I've had this WSOP - it means I now have to play much tighter with 20 BB than I was hoping to.
---
In retrospect, the guy simply switched gears and probably did have legitimate hands at the time. Nonetheless, even chipping up a little, I went to dinner break with only 11K and no particular plan of attack other than 'wait for a hand'.
I wound up waiting for almost the entire next level (200/400/50), going incredibly card dead, when I finally picked up tens in the SB after two limpers in the CO/button. By then, I only had 8800, so I decided I'd just shove - planning to get called by some worse pairs and maybe fold out something like AJ - except I live misclicked and left out my lone 5K chip. It didn't matter, because Seat 10 instantly put me all in with aces (sigh)...flop J8x...turn Q...river 9 and I somehow double to 19K. True to form, CO immediately said he folded nines (yes, after open limping. I think he probably calls a shove if Seat 10 didn't.)
Because of that, I started 300/600/75 with just over 20K, trying to wait out seat 10, who was playing every pot to my left with his massive stack and running over the nits in every other position. Of course, I raised two of my first three buttons with Ax, seat 10 instantly made it some large number and I folded. I wound up restealing from other people a few times and treading water until the defining three hand sequence of the tournament:
-Hand 1: it's folded to the SB, Karin Lundgren, a Swedish pro who's been playing pretty passive. She opens to something like 1400 (previously, she'd complete/folded once, gave me a walk and raised once each.) I have AT in the BB with ~18K and make it 3600...and she instantly 4 bets to 10K. Siiiiiigh. Muck.
-Hand 2: on the very next hand, it's folded to my SB and I look down on aces, the first time I've gotten them all tourney. With only 14K and change, I complete. Seat 10 throws out five yellow chips, I Hollywood for 20 seconds and shove, he snap calls getting 2:1 with KQ and is actually pissed off at me when MHIG, because, apparently, I had no fold equity and was slowrolling him. I apologize and make a mental note.
-Hand 3: So, now, I've got 32K, seat 10 is down to something like 40 and definitely steaming about my two double ups off him, the rest of the table is still ridiculously weak tight (only ActionBob is playing any pots at all, usually winding up in tough situations OOP vs. the LAG) and I'm ready to go nuts. *Exactly one orbit later*, the guy from the boat < quads hand earlier makes it 2500 of his 17K or so UTG, still at 300/600. My playing range on the button in this spot is exactly four hands - AA-QQ, AK (and I just call with AK). Of course, I look down on QQ, make it 7500, and am not at all surprised when he shoves and shows aces. Yay, back to 14K.
I mentioned the end of the tourney in my last post, but that was basically it; I chipped up where I could but lost the last, critical flip with Seat 10 for a combined 55K. In the end, with the exception of missing the Seat 10 read for that key half an hour (which, to be honest, probably results in me being out eight hours earlier, because if I knew he was that LAGgy I'd go broke with tens the first time - and in retrospect, he always had a big hand when squeezing), I think I played very good poker. There are a bunch of hands in the report that I'm not mentioning - the reraise with Q8s, the flat call with AK PF/value bet the T92 board combo, a few big multiway cbets with air - all of which were based off solid reads and turned out to be right, and I feel like I have a very good grasp on every aspect of the live game at this point. It's really a shame that the cards didn't cooperate, but c'est la vie. I'll be back next year.
Up next: the recap of the 1500 NL/rebuy events I've been setting aside, and refocusing on online poker. I'll probably throw in some razz lessons when I'm feeling frisky.
Comments
Mr_Taterhead says
Hey as long as you had a good time right?Sounds like you played well, sometimes even the best lose.
Cheers
07/12/07
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