I did not play in a tournament today and Julie flew in Yesterday for the WSOP ladies event that begins tomorrow at noon. So I will be on the sidelines rooting her on as she competes against over a thousand other women for a first prize of over 250K and a unique WSOP bracelet just for this event.
Until next time...
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Event #10 at the WSOP
Today was Event #10 No-Limit Holdem.
I sat down at my table to get the lay of the land and to my surprise there were no major pros at my table, which can be a good and a bad thing. The good is that you can take advantage of weak players. The bad, I sat down to a table of all unknown players that I had never played with before.
I told myself I am going to play very conservative and watch the players to pick up tells and the type of players I am playing against. It was very easy to do as in the first 2 hours I only saw one pair (7s) and only 3 hands with an Ace. So I was dumping almost every hand I saw. I don’t think there was one pot that wasn’t raised pre-flop.
After the end of the second round I was sitting at $4400 in chips and we started with 4000.
This is still fine as when we got back from break the blinds are 50/100 so I am still sitting at 44 times the big blind. I am going to skip forward about 4 hours. After we got back from break our table was broke and I moved from table 164 with no big players to table 5 with Harry Demetriou on my right and Erik Seidel on my left. For those who don’t know Erik has 7 WSOP bracelets. And Harry is one of the top European Players. I sit down and the cold deck continues for about 15 hands and the blinds go up to 100/200 with a 25 ante so pre-flop there is already 550 in the pot. I picked up a couple chips in the next hand I was in middle position and 2 folds to Harry; he raised to 600 and I called and so did one other player in the big blind. The Flop came 679 and both the big blind and Harry checked so I bet 2500 a pot size bet and both players fold, and I increase my stack to over 10,000 with the average being just under that. I picked up a few pots and then this crazy hand happened.
With the blinds now at 200/400 with a 50 ante, a guy in middle position raises to 1500 and then a re-raise from another player to 6000 and then the big blind says I am all in. The first raiser folds and then it is around to the player that raised to 6000 just mucks his hand to the dealer. Everyone at the table just stares in awe as the man says you have me. Not realizing the guy moved all in for only 400 more chips. It was the worst but not just because the guy didn’t call but the guy turned over a pair of 77 and the guy that mucked said he had A10 so he only had to throw in an additional 600 to win 14200 so now the guy that might be out had a fair amount of chips.
The reason this is so bad is about 6 hands later 3 callers and it comes around to me. I look down and have JJ and raise to 1500 I get 2 callers. The flop comes JJQ what a great flop. I have the nuts “4 of a kind” and even better the first guy bets out 3000 and then next guy raises to 7000 so I call because I don’t want to lose the first guy. The Turn comes a K and this time the first guy checks and second guy bets 5000, and now I want to just take it down now and not deal with any other cards just in case someone gets lucky… So I announce all in, and 2 my surprise and pleasure both players call. So now this is going to be a huge pot and will make me the chip leader. I turn over my JJ for quads and the first person turns over A10 for the straight so he is drawing dead as no card can help him but the second player turns over QQ for a full house. And then the river comes and my heart stops. I have never had such a BAD BEAT as this. It is the 2%, 1 remaining Queen in the deck for my 4 jacks have just been beat by 4 Queens. Every one just stared at me and said that it was the most brutal hand they have ever seen and I am putting my stuff in my backpack and heading out the door.
I just said nice hand and walked away from the table shaking my head that this just happened. But the reason I brought up the hand before this one is the guy that won the pot was the guy that should have been out on the crazy hand.
stats: 1500+ started
payed 140 players
first prize over 500k
until next time....
I sat down at my table to get the lay of the land and to my surprise there were no major pros at my table, which can be a good and a bad thing. The good is that you can take advantage of weak players. The bad, I sat down to a table of all unknown players that I had never played with before.
I told myself I am going to play very conservative and watch the players to pick up tells and the type of players I am playing against. It was very easy to do as in the first 2 hours I only saw one pair (7s) and only 3 hands with an Ace. So I was dumping almost every hand I saw. I don’t think there was one pot that wasn’t raised pre-flop.
After the end of the second round I was sitting at $4400 in chips and we started with 4000.
This is still fine as when we got back from break the blinds are 50/100 so I am still sitting at 44 times the big blind. I am going to skip forward about 4 hours. After we got back from break our table was broke and I moved from table 164 with no big players to table 5 with Harry Demetriou on my right and Erik Seidel on my left. For those who don’t know Erik has 7 WSOP bracelets. And Harry is one of the top European Players. I sit down and the cold deck continues for about 15 hands and the blinds go up to 100/200 with a 25 ante so pre-flop there is already 550 in the pot. I picked up a couple chips in the next hand I was in middle position and 2 folds to Harry; he raised to 600 and I called and so did one other player in the big blind. The Flop came 679 and both the big blind and Harry checked so I bet 2500 a pot size bet and both players fold, and I increase my stack to over 10,000 with the average being just under that. I picked up a few pots and then this crazy hand happened.
With the blinds now at 200/400 with a 50 ante, a guy in middle position raises to 1500 and then a re-raise from another player to 6000 and then the big blind says I am all in. The first raiser folds and then it is around to the player that raised to 6000 just mucks his hand to the dealer. Everyone at the table just stares in awe as the man says you have me. Not realizing the guy moved all in for only 400 more chips. It was the worst but not just because the guy didn’t call but the guy turned over a pair of 77 and the guy that mucked said he had A10 so he only had to throw in an additional 600 to win 14200 so now the guy that might be out had a fair amount of chips.
The reason this is so bad is about 6 hands later 3 callers and it comes around to me. I look down and have JJ and raise to 1500 I get 2 callers. The flop comes JJQ what a great flop. I have the nuts “4 of a kind” and even better the first guy bets out 3000 and then next guy raises to 7000 so I call because I don’t want to lose the first guy. The Turn comes a K and this time the first guy checks and second guy bets 5000, and now I want to just take it down now and not deal with any other cards just in case someone gets lucky… So I announce all in, and 2 my surprise and pleasure both players call. So now this is going to be a huge pot and will make me the chip leader. I turn over my JJ for quads and the first person turns over A10 for the straight so he is drawing dead as no card can help him but the second player turns over QQ for a full house. And then the river comes and my heart stops. I have never had such a BAD BEAT as this. It is the 2%, 1 remaining Queen in the deck for my 4 jacks have just been beat by 4 Queens. Every one just stared at me and said that it was the most brutal hand they have ever seen and I am putting my stuff in my backpack and heading out the door.
I just said nice hand and walked away from the table shaking my head that this just happened. But the reason I brought up the hand before this one is the guy that won the pot was the guy that should have been out on the crazy hand.
stats: 1500+ started
payed 140 players
first prize over 500k
until next time....
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Curse of the Queens
As in my last entry, Queens were not a very good hand for me, well today they were not very good to go up against. I was playing in the Venetian noon tournament and I was so lucky to get the table draw I had. As we played through the first round I realized I had all amateurs at my table and were not very good players. I picked my spots and with a starting stack of 10,000 after one hour of play I was up over 15,000 with the average chip stack only at 10,400. There was approximately 310 players in this event so a good field as it was the largest no-limit holdem (NLH) event going on today as the WSOP has a Pot-limit event today. So back to the event,
Everything was smooth sailing until this hand came up. I was on the button and there was one caller around to me. I looked down and had KK, the 2nd best starting hand in NLH. The blinds were at 50/100 and I raised to 600 so someone with Ace rag (low card) would not see the flop cheap. The small blind called (a crazy players, played lots of hands) the flop came 25Q, what a wonderful flop for me. He bet out 600 and I raised to 2600, here is where it got interesting. He pondered the play for a while and then announced he was all in for an additional 3300. Now this is only 1/3 my stack and I am sure I have the best hand but I wanted to replay it in my head.
I raise pre-flop and he just calls, with AK or AQ he would probably re-raise or with a high pair like AA,KK,QQ. So now I had to determine the hands he would just smooth call my pre-flop raise out of position. Usually that would be any middle pair 66,77,88,99 or a hand like J10 suited or KQ. So I went into the tank (thinking) and finally decided he either has the middle pair or a hand like KQ. But that is risking all his chips on a semi- bluff. So I call. And he turns over KQ so I am a huge favorite to his hand. He only has 2 outs, the 2 Queens left in the deck. Any other card and I win so on the turn he has less then a 8% chance to win. But due to the curse of the Queens, the turn card comes a Q and now I only have a 4% chance to win with the remaining 2 Kings. BAD BEAT.
That was a crazy hand, but part of poker and why you cannot cash in every tournament. About 30 minutes later the queen sealed my fate. I again raised in position with Pocket 7s and had 2 callers. The flop was perfect 237 with no flush draw. The guy first to act bets out 1000 into a 1900 pot, and the second player calls, I move all in for my remaining 4700 in chips to take the large pot down right there and allow me to get close to the starting amount in chips, the original better folds and the second player calls immediately and turns over pocket QQ again I am a huge favorite he has to hit one of the two remaining Queens in the deck, or so I thought, the first guy that folds declares he had KQ so there is one remaining Queen in the deck and again on the turn hits the remaining Queen to knock me out of the tournament.
For the trip we are 2 for 4 and a lot more tournaments to go we should hit a big one soon.
Until next time.
Everything was smooth sailing until this hand came up. I was on the button and there was one caller around to me. I looked down and had KK, the 2nd best starting hand in NLH. The blinds were at 50/100 and I raised to 600 so someone with Ace rag (low card) would not see the flop cheap. The small blind called (a crazy players, played lots of hands) the flop came 25Q, what a wonderful flop for me. He bet out 600 and I raised to 2600, here is where it got interesting. He pondered the play for a while and then announced he was all in for an additional 3300. Now this is only 1/3 my stack and I am sure I have the best hand but I wanted to replay it in my head.
I raise pre-flop and he just calls, with AK or AQ he would probably re-raise or with a high pair like AA,KK,QQ. So now I had to determine the hands he would just smooth call my pre-flop raise out of position. Usually that would be any middle pair 66,77,88,99 or a hand like J10 suited or KQ. So I went into the tank (thinking) and finally decided he either has the middle pair or a hand like KQ. But that is risking all his chips on a semi- bluff. So I call. And he turns over KQ so I am a huge favorite to his hand. He only has 2 outs, the 2 Queens left in the deck. Any other card and I win so on the turn he has less then a 8% chance to win. But due to the curse of the Queens, the turn card comes a Q and now I only have a 4% chance to win with the remaining 2 Kings. BAD BEAT.
That was a crazy hand, but part of poker and why you cannot cash in every tournament. About 30 minutes later the queen sealed my fate. I again raised in position with Pocket 7s and had 2 callers. The flop was perfect 237 with no flush draw. The guy first to act bets out 1000 into a 1900 pot, and the second player calls, I move all in for my remaining 4700 in chips to take the large pot down right there and allow me to get close to the starting amount in chips, the original better folds and the second player calls immediately and turns over pocket QQ again I am a huge favorite he has to hit one of the two remaining Queens in the deck, or so I thought, the first guy that folds declares he had KQ so there is one remaining Queen in the deck and again on the turn hits the remaining Queen to knock me out of the tournament.
For the trip we are 2 for 4 and a lot more tournaments to go we should hit a big one soon.
Until next time.
Chaos turns to Mayhem
Today was Event #3 for the WSOP $1500 No-Limit Holdem. I got up pretty early and went down to the gym to get a work out before I got ready for the day. After a 40-minute ride on the bike I got ready and headed over to the Rio to have breakfast prior to the event starting. After a big bowl of oatmeal and coffee I headed down to the tournament area. It was insane; wall to wall players, spectators, dealers and event staff. Thousands and thousands of people, and I headed to find out where my table was located.
I come to find out that there was an additional 50 tables above and beyond the 250 that are in the main area in big outdoor tents behind the conference center. When I went in I didn’t think it looked that bad, and only the second time I was looking at my cards with natural sunlight, the other was the final table last year in Aruba. As I sat down ready to play with a noon start I looked around the table and realized that I only recognized one player. And that is due to the tournament size; this year they are setting records. As we were getting ready to get the cards in the air the tournament director got on the microphone and stated that we would be starting an hour late due to the large line of people still trying to register for the days event.
The tournament was sold out with over 3000 players and 1500 alternates, these players are not seated until someone is knocked out and they take that players seat. We did finally get started around 1:00 and played for about 2 hours and they still had about 500 alternates that needed to be seated. I had not played a lot of hands in the first 2 rounds as most every pot was being raised pre-flop and I just wasn’t catching any cards. And every time I did someone would have something better. Just to explain this accurately, in the first 4 rounds of play I had pocked Queens 6 times and lost 5 of them. I just was getting very unlucky. But the good thing is most players would have been busted out of the tournament by the second time but I lost the minimum I could on each pot.
Due to the lack of quality hands I had to make a few moves just so I could survive through round 5. When this crazy hand came up. The blinds were 150/300 with antes of 50 and I was in the big blind, it was folded around to the cut off position and he bet just 600. This was kind of a small bet so I thought he may be limping in with AQ or AK as he would have made a bigger raise with a small pair or he could have a hand like QJ suited. The small blind called and as I was in the big blind I looked down and had 67 of diamonds, and since I was already committed to my blind of 300 I called the additional 300. The pot was laying almost 6 to 1 so it was a easy call and this is the type of hand if I hit could take down a large pot.
The flop came 258 with 2 diamonds and the small blind checked, now I have a open ended straight draw, flush draw and I have put the raiser on two high cards I have to be a favorite so I bet 900 which is a pretty small bet into that big of a pot hoping I just get a call but even better if he pushes all in. he goes into the tank for about 2 minutes and then moves all in, the small blind folds and I have only 2100 left so I call. He turns over to my surprise K2 with no diamonds so I have 19 outs, which is a 72%, favorite even though he has 1 pair. Well the 9 comes on the turn and I hit the straight and more then double up.
I am now sitting with 7800 and feeling pretty good, but 2 hands later this comes up and I lose a big amount of my stack. I am one behind the button and with one raise before me up to 900 I call with AK of clubs. There is only 2 of us in the hand and the flop comes KJ4 he bets out 2100 and I raise to 5500 to put him all in. He thinks for a long time and then calls and turns over A4 I am a huge favorite as he only had 2 outs (only 2 cards that can beat me) The turn comes an Ace which is a great card as he has less than a 5% chance to win the hand but hits the 4 on the river and I lose 6400 out of my 7800 chips. What a bad beat, so I am now down to 1400 in chips. The hand I was knocked out was anything that crazy but I had JJ and moved all in and was called by a person with AQ and he caught a Q and I was out of the tournament 20 minutes before the dinner break.
It was frustrating to lose that key hand as if I would have won that hand I would have had over 15000 in chips and near the chip leader at that time and in great position to make a run. But it wasn’t meant to be this time. That is why there are 55 events; we have many more to take down, just for you that care first prize in this small event would have been over 780K.
All is not lost though after I busted out I went and had dinner and headed back to my hotel. They were having a small tournament in the card room at Harrah’s and I played in it. There were only around 40 players but I took 4th and it was a 300% return on our investment so that works as a good practice even though it was only a $100 buy-in and last night played in the same tourney and took 3rd but was only a profit of 270%. But good practice for short-handed play.
Will be playing in the Venetian Double stack tournament tomorrow, great value. It is $1090.00 buy-in and you get 10,000 in chips so hope to win us some money tomorrow.
Until next time.
I come to find out that there was an additional 50 tables above and beyond the 250 that are in the main area in big outdoor tents behind the conference center. When I went in I didn’t think it looked that bad, and only the second time I was looking at my cards with natural sunlight, the other was the final table last year in Aruba. As I sat down ready to play with a noon start I looked around the table and realized that I only recognized one player. And that is due to the tournament size; this year they are setting records. As we were getting ready to get the cards in the air the tournament director got on the microphone and stated that we would be starting an hour late due to the large line of people still trying to register for the days event.
The tournament was sold out with over 3000 players and 1500 alternates, these players are not seated until someone is knocked out and they take that players seat. We did finally get started around 1:00 and played for about 2 hours and they still had about 500 alternates that needed to be seated. I had not played a lot of hands in the first 2 rounds as most every pot was being raised pre-flop and I just wasn’t catching any cards. And every time I did someone would have something better. Just to explain this accurately, in the first 4 rounds of play I had pocked Queens 6 times and lost 5 of them. I just was getting very unlucky. But the good thing is most players would have been busted out of the tournament by the second time but I lost the minimum I could on each pot.
Due to the lack of quality hands I had to make a few moves just so I could survive through round 5. When this crazy hand came up. The blinds were 150/300 with antes of 50 and I was in the big blind, it was folded around to the cut off position and he bet just 600. This was kind of a small bet so I thought he may be limping in with AQ or AK as he would have made a bigger raise with a small pair or he could have a hand like QJ suited. The small blind called and as I was in the big blind I looked down and had 67 of diamonds, and since I was already committed to my blind of 300 I called the additional 300. The pot was laying almost 6 to 1 so it was a easy call and this is the type of hand if I hit could take down a large pot.
The flop came 258 with 2 diamonds and the small blind checked, now I have a open ended straight draw, flush draw and I have put the raiser on two high cards I have to be a favorite so I bet 900 which is a pretty small bet into that big of a pot hoping I just get a call but even better if he pushes all in. he goes into the tank for about 2 minutes and then moves all in, the small blind folds and I have only 2100 left so I call. He turns over to my surprise K2 with no diamonds so I have 19 outs, which is a 72%, favorite even though he has 1 pair. Well the 9 comes on the turn and I hit the straight and more then double up.
I am now sitting with 7800 and feeling pretty good, but 2 hands later this comes up and I lose a big amount of my stack. I am one behind the button and with one raise before me up to 900 I call with AK of clubs. There is only 2 of us in the hand and the flop comes KJ4 he bets out 2100 and I raise to 5500 to put him all in. He thinks for a long time and then calls and turns over A4 I am a huge favorite as he only had 2 outs (only 2 cards that can beat me) The turn comes an Ace which is a great card as he has less than a 5% chance to win the hand but hits the 4 on the river and I lose 6400 out of my 7800 chips. What a bad beat, so I am now down to 1400 in chips. The hand I was knocked out was anything that crazy but I had JJ and moved all in and was called by a person with AQ and he caught a Q and I was out of the tournament 20 minutes before the dinner break.
It was frustrating to lose that key hand as if I would have won that hand I would have had over 15000 in chips and near the chip leader at that time and in great position to make a run. But it wasn’t meant to be this time. That is why there are 55 events; we have many more to take down, just for you that care first prize in this small event would have been over 780K.
All is not lost though after I busted out I went and had dinner and headed back to my hotel. They were having a small tournament in the card room at Harrah’s and I played in it. There were only around 40 players but I took 4th and it was a 300% return on our investment so that works as a good practice even though it was only a $100 buy-in and last night played in the same tourney and took 3rd but was only a profit of 270%. But good practice for short-handed play.
Will be playing in the Venetian Double stack tournament tomorrow, great value. It is $1090.00 buy-in and you get 10,000 in chips so hope to win us some money tomorrow.
Until next time.
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