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Atlantic City Recap Part 2 - WSOP Circuit FT Bubble
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By Doylestown
on 12/22/2007
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read Doylestown's complete blog
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WSOP Circuit Event
After a long and successful cash day on Tuesday I woke up early Wednesday morning feeling good. After a quick detour down the corridor to Starbucks I headed to the Poker Room where I joined a $10/$20 NL game. My session was rather uneventful. After some room service and a shower I headed over to Harrah’s for WSOP Circuit event #5.
My goal for the day was just to play my best in every situation. The whole reason for the trip was to sharpen up my live game before Borgata’s WPT series next month so this was going to be my last shot at doing so.
My first table was pretty tight and for the most part lacked action. Fortunately we were the first table in the room to break. I headed to my second table down a few hundred chips from the 5000 we started with. We were on the back half of the hour long 1st level. Table 2 had a broad range of players, several who I recognized and knew to be very good players. Regrettably they were all to my direct left which really made things challenging. There were plenty of fireworks at the table but I remained on the sidelines until we were well into level 2 when I pulled a squeeze from the SB to recapture all the chips I had bled away to that point. The first hand of any consequence I played was from the BB in level 3 at the 100/200 25a level. An early position raise came in for 600 followed by a call from a pretty solid player in late position. I looked down to find 88 and decided to take a flop. The board came 6 high and I checked wanting to gauge the action behind before deciding how to proceed. To my surprise it checked around. The turn card was a 9 and I fired out 1400 which took down the pot.
After another lap around of inactivity, being completely card dead and having trouble finding any real good spots I picked up AKs utg at 200/400 50a. I opened for 1100 and it folded around to a young guy who moved in for @ 3000 from the SB. I obviously called and was unfortunately up against KK and lost which took me down to 2200 with the privilege of posting the blinds the next 2 hands. After a raise and call I had to muck my 83o in the BB but found a good spot with the SB to pick up some chips. With 2 limpers I moved in from the SB on the next hand. My table image picked up the pot and bought me a little breathing room, though I was still on fumes.
A few hands later the same young kid open raised and I shoved w AQ. He agonized for a while before calling me with KQ. I doubled and was back in business, albeit still chip challenged. I raised and stole the blinds on the very next hand then continued to chip up slowly but surely over the next hour. With my stack in the low teens a short stack of 4500ish open shoved from the cut off. I found 10 10 in the SB and re-shoved to isolate. I was up against JJ. The action flop of 10 9 8 put me in the lead but not out of the woods. The 8 on the turn made the 7 on the river irrelevant and I finally had a little room to maneuver. This was one of only two suck outs I had the entire tournament. The next one was colossal, stay tuned.
Things were pretty uneventful for a while as I unfortunately bled some chips away. This was a recurring theme, every time I built up I became more active which always resulted in a net loss. I stole plenty but got re-stolen from plenty too. I busted a couple of short stacks along the way but headed to my next table with only about 13000. I decided I needed to establish myself right away at the new table and get healthy or go home. There were 6 tables left with 36 getting paid. It was approaching bubble time. I was utg+2 and the big blind had a stack of less than 20K which was perfect to challenge. We were also a minute from the dinner break. On my 1st hand at my new table it folded to me utg+2 and I looked at one card and saw a K. That was good enough for me to shove in a sizable raise which won the blinds right before we went to dinner (I looked at the other before handing them back to the dealer and of course it was another K - could've used a call there). The 1st hand after the dinner break with my stack at 17,000 I found 66 utg+1 and I jammed. I was snap called by utg+2 who I had covered by a smidge. The snap call obviously had me worried. Everybody folded and I sheepishly flipped my 6’s over and delightfully saw I was up against 33, wow. I held and was now sitting on 30,000+. The very next hand I open raised utg w 66 yet again and had to fold when I got re popped by an older gentleman, nuff said. After the blinds passed me I tried to steal from the button but got re popped again. This was already becoming annoying but it did look like I was a maniac raising almost every hand since I sat down.
Soon after with somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 chips a key hand occurs. I’m in early position and again I raise it up, this time from 1200 to 3000 holding AQo. A player a few seats to me left who had lost a major pot on the last hand moves all in for 35,000. I’m thinking wow that’s a pretty big raise, why so much? It folds back to me and I’m concerned that my table image is suffering because I’ve been moved off a lot of my raises at this new table. A crazy image is OK but weak crazy isn’t. I’m seriously puzzled by his over shove and I ask him if he wants a call. He tells me he doesn’t care, hmmm. Being that we’re heads up I then ask the dealer if I can turn my cards face up. She assures me that I can. I flip my AQ face up and try to gauge a reaction. Villain then yells out for the floor trying to have my hand declared dead. The floor rules that what I’ve done is legal. So I have to figure out if villain’s reaction was an act or did he really want my hand declared dead? I think for a while longer and the only feeling I really get is that I’m up against a pair. Based on his body language and bet size I put him on a range of JJ-88. I finally decide to call for many reasons including metagame. If I win the hand I’m going to be healthy and it will also signal to the table to stop re-raising me because I’ll gamble. I called and villain slams down KK, oops. I can’t explain it but even after seeing his cards I still felt I was going to win this hand. The flop and turn bricked out but the Ace on the river took me north of 60,000.
The rest of the tournament was pretty frustrating. I continued to stay aggressive and I picked up a bunch of blinds but didn’t win many big hands. So up and down I went. 60,000+ was my continual high water mark. I floated between 60K and 40K up and down. We made the money after a lengthy hand for hand and then found a much needed break. It was after 10PM and I was a bit tired, this being the final day of my first live trip in 6 months. I have to also remember that I was up too early again and I started playing $10/$20 NL at like 7:00 AM at Borgata. Harrah’s WSOP Circuit plan is to play until either the final table is reached or 2:00 AM whichever comes first.
The big problem when we were finally in the money was that the eventual winner of the tournament got moved 2 seats to my left when we redrew at 3 tables. I think he was playing in his 1st live tournament. I had kept my eye on him throughout the day at the table next to me and saw that although he was the perfect gentleman he was also the world’s biggest calling station. He came to the table with a mountain of chips. Every time I picked up a big Ace and raised it up I got flat called by him and bricked. He was calling me with seemingly any 2 and he always hit a pair, it was absolutely insane. No matter how I played post flop I couldn’t move him off of his made hand. I think I won only one hand against him. At the final 3 tables he put in an early position raise to my BB. It folded to me and I had 76o and defended. The flop came 965 and I check raised his continuation bet all in figuring I likely had a bunch of clean outs if I was called. He folded.
We redrew again at 2 tables and as fate would have it my nemesis was on my direct left, meh. I did all I could to try to build a stack as we approached the final table but kept hitting a brick wall, literally. He had so many chips. He just kept eliminating players one after another with his rag hands, so sick. We were now 5 handed and I had dipped below the 40K mark for the 1st time in hours. Said villain open raises utg to my BB. I have A2s and just have to be best here. I shove em’ in and he calls with Q10o. The board comes K93 9 J nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo he hits the gutter ball and I’m on the rail at precisely 1:58AM out in 11th place. GG me.
In retrospect if I could have connected just once here or there against said villain while in the money I would’ve been paid off and in my mind I would’ve had a serious shot at the ring. Even winning that last hand should’ve put me in the mix but what can you do. I think all things considered I lost as little as possible in all of those confrontations with him while winning most of my hands against everybody else which ultimately kept me alive. I didn’t tilt, though I was very frustrated and I definitely achieved my goal of playing my best after not having done so in the prior event I played.
I’m sure I’ve forgotten plenty from the long 14 hour day but I did my best to remember with it having ended over a week ago already. Unfortunately I didn't take any notes. I hope you guys enjoyed the read. I know I had a good time finally holding real cards in my hand instead of a mouse after too long of a break. Can't wait for Borgata in January.
-Doyle-
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