Day 9 –July 12th – Day Three - Roller coaster ride with land mines abound.
Forgot to post the pic of dogs playing poker I took on Day 2. Incredibly trained dogs. They put glasses on one of them. My dog woulda ate the glasses.. Yum Yum Yum... I like glasses. Big dummy LOL.
The day starts of quite. I switched hotels because you can only stay for 7 nights free at Harrah’s property. Something to do with tax write off. I checked into Aria. They have really nice rooms. The beds are so comfortable I am going to find out what they are, I really want one.
Pic of Paris bathtub v. Aria. I am not sure who can actually fit in the Paris bathtub. It's like 4 feet long and can fit about 6 inches of water.... ok maybe a bit more but not really.
You can always tell the difference in hotels by the bathrooms.
The day starts of quite. I hop a ride over to the Rio with 3 other guys in line at the Aria. I switched hotels because you can only stay for 7 nights free at Harrah’s property. Something to do with tax write off. I checked into Aria. They have really nice rooms. The beds are so comfortable I am going to find out what they are, I really want one.
So I look up everyone on google prior to sitting down at the table to see who is who. It really does help to know what your opponents are capable of doing. Some players just are not going to be able to 3bet or 4 bet light unless proven otherwise. I figure if you have several cashes in major tournaments you have it in your play book.
Table:
Seat one – non pro
Seat two – non pro
Seat three – eventually pro from italy
Seat 4 – pro
Seat 5 - tight short stack
Seat 6 – player with a lot of cashes in tournaments
Seat 7 – Very aggressive player from NY
Seat 8 - Very aggressive player from London
Seat 9 – Hero – Seat where 7-2 8-3 7-4 go to hang out.
WSOP – Day 3:
I have 70k so I really have to pick my spots. The blinds are 800/1600 300 ante. First few hands are uneventful. I raised once, everyone folded and I pick up the blinds.
Eventually the table settles in and the action began. Seat 7 and 8 were at it all day. Seat 7 would raise and seat 8 would 3 bet constantly. I think he did it every time Seat 7 raised. I would bet more then 70%. It was good to be seat 9 so I could pick and choose. It would have been even better if I could have picked up any type of hand. I was in the "making stuff up with hands" mode because I am not going to blind out.
I raised UTG after folding forever with KcTd, 3 bet by tight player and seat 8 (most agressive guy from London) flat calls. Alarm bells went off in my head so I fold. I knew he wanted me to shove. No way he is flattin 3 bet with a weak hand. So I fold. Flop Ks3c2c Big pot ensues with guy from London folding a river shove because there was 4 clubs. The other guy says he had QQ with Qc. I think he had the Ace.. but could be wrong. Would have been nice if I played bad and ran good on this board. Seat 8 states he had KK. I believe him with the way the hands played out and stack sizes.
Continuing on, I would flat my blinds because it was a discount to play a pot just to see if I could flop something. Nothing was working. I 3 bet light 2x due to just having a good read on seat 8. I was surviving, trying to maintain a reasonable stack.
Quads
So the main event is filled with what I call land mines. They are hands that doom you. I had one yesterday with the QJs where I checked the set of queens on the river and the guy was slowplaying the full house. Today it was Q8s.
Blinds 1200/2400 300 ante
Stacks:
Hero 60k
Seat 3 – 300k
Seat 3 raises our blind every hand, mainly to get in position against SB seat 8 if he defends (my guess) and because I have a pretty tight image due to stack size.
Seat 3 raises to 5.2k. One other caller, and I defend with Qc8c. Questionable.
Flop 9c8h4d
I check, villain bets 6.1k. I flat.
Turn 4c villain bet 8.2k, I flat with medium pair, FD
River 8d
I check. I checked because I knew villain had a hand. I knew it was strong. In retrospect I should have bet. I think I was just in shock I got so lucky. Villain bets out 15.2k. His bet represented strength. There is no way he is going to pay off a shove without something better. I did not put him on a 4. I thought for a minute and asked myself, if I shove what does he call with? Nothing. I call. He flips over 44. Great start of the day, down to 30k ish.
Hand two:
I fold… and fold.. and fold. I literally fold for the first few hours of day 3. I think raised at least a few times in there but literally it was either raise or 3 bet prior to getting to me. I used stop and go from BB against shorter stack in seat 5 when I picked up T3s and took a flop of 543. I couldn’t even pickup and reasonable hands to re shove with. I couldn’t just raise and fold so I am waiting patiently to find my all in hand. After re shoving over seat 8 once with QJo to pick up 10k, I get KTs UTG +3.
I open shove KdTd with 35kish. I really do not like the play because I only get called by better Kx and Ax hands. It looked like KK to me... No going back now. Seat two snap calls, everyone else folds. I am hoping for a fair race (IE he does not have AA) He flips up JJ.
Board runs out
Txxx
I am ready to leave when I hit my K on the river to stay alive. Seat two is crippled to 25k where I was at. I am up to 80k.
Big hand:
Seat 6 loses monster pot (180K) to seat 3 when he overplays AA on a T94 board. Note: When raised/reraised/4bet/5 bet… its ok to let AA go against relatively tight player. He is not going to 5 bet you with A6 like the guy last year against Deebs.
Next hand:
Seat 8 raises my button, I reraise with 5-3s. He thinks for a bit and folds KJo. I had been playing tight all day. Up to 90k.
Folds around an orbit
Next hand:
I defend my blind against seat 6 raise, I defend with T7s. I should have just folded or reraised.
Flop 86K. I flop a gutshot. He bets, I call – throwing chips away.
Turn x – I check, he bets I fold. I need to stop throwing away valuable chips. I will work on blind plays this year.
Right before dinner break a guy shows up in seat 2 with 2 bags of chips. I am like great, just what I hoped for.. out of position on the guy with tons of chips.
Break time:
We go on dinner break and I have 75k in chips. I am happy to have chips, unhappy I cannot pick up hands. I eat at the fish restaurant at the Rio. I forget its name, right next to the pool. The snapper was overcooked. At least the béarnaise sauce was good and rice filling. I talk with my wife about how the day went, how I ran into quads and survived and other stuff. She acknowledges with the uh huh, playing well so that is good, hang in there... etc. She has zero idea about how to play poker or most of the terminology I use. I know this, but it's still nice to talk with her about it. There is nothing better then a supportive wife on your quest in the Main Event.
I head up to the diamond club, looking for Travis a guy I had been talking with every day. He had made day 3 also but he was not up there. He may have been knocked out. So I sit with my coffee talking with guys from LA. One was WPT producer and the other a pro player. We talk about the games in CA and the dumb rules of max buy ins for 1-2NL of $40. I shake my head.... government shouldnt get involved in those type of issues. I head back down to the Amazon room. Once I get there all my chips are gone. I am like WTF? We had been moved to the second feature table. Great!
Life flashing before eyes:
So we move over to the feature table, I go to grab my iPhone and its gone. My life flashes before my eyes! I leave the table, run to the diamond club. If you haven’t been to the Rio… it’s literally like 20 miles to anywhere from the Amazon room. I end up running into the guys from LA, they were on their way to search for me to give me my phone. They devised a plan to scour the field of two rooms to find me. Awesome! I thanked them and they wished me luck. There are good people out there in this world. Good Kharma to them!
Second feature table.
Description: They make you fill out a bio form and get a microphone for TV. The table is bigger, much bigger. The felt is smooth, the rails are taller for the TV hole cameras. You have to show your cards every time to the hole camera or they come remind you. I am in seat 9 so the hole cam is way off to the right of the seat. Hopefully so I can stack more chips. It is so hot. The lights are blazing in your face. It makes people easier to read for sure. I am glad I wore a reasonable shirt and v. Bob's supply shack or something and hopefully don't look to scruffy. Wish they were sponsoring people like they did a few years ago during the internet poker boom. They were paying 2k-10k per person.
Funny story: Seat 8 had a shirt on with a stripper. They made him turn it inside out….. so he takes his shirt off right there showing off his “six” pack. He is like if they are going to make me take it off I will do it right here. It was amusing and probably will be on TV with some comments.
Next hand
Blinds 1500/3000 400 ante:
I raise CO with QJo, folded around and I pick up the pot. I figure people will play tighter on TV because they didn’t want to screw it up in front of their friends etc. I still have a tight image and my stack was around 75k or so. Surviving to pick my spots.
I am planning on raising more just because I can get away with it more due to TV impact. At least in my mind that was my strategy.
The chip leader raised a few hands, gave some away, took some back with 98o turning a set and rivering a straight. He is raising real light.
Not so funny story:
Next hand
Chip leader raises UTG to 8k, Seat 5 flats, Seat 7 flats, I call from the SB with K8s. I need to win a big pot.
Flop: 8d 8h Td
I check, Chip leader C-bets 11k, Seat 5 folds, Seat 7 calls, I shove from the SB for 65k.
Folded back to Seat 7. He thinks about it for a while, asks what I have, etc. I am stone silent. I want a call. I want him to think I am bluffing or on a diamond draw. Call Call Call I say telepathically. For the first time this tournament it works...
Eventually he calls and says I hope you have diamonds.
I flip over Kc8c he turns over KhTh. He looks severly disappointed.
Turn card…6h…. river 4h.
Just like that 150k pot ships to seat 7 and I am out.
Out of the main event.
The things I could have done with those chips….. sigh.
It will most likely be on TV, mainly because they love to show the loser walking away…. Well I can honestly say it really does suck. All I had to say was “runner runner flush, really?” It was funny; the guy from London says that’s all you have to say? as if he expected some blow up…. I mean what else is there to say? I have been playing since 1998 started with 1-5 7 card stud and seen more bad beats then I care to think about. I think I was more in shock then anything.
So I exit the area and the WSOP guys are like we need your picture. Are you kidding me? I just got screwed out of 10k and you want my picture? GTFO. So….. I get my solemn picture taken and exit the room. Several people try to console me, but what really can you say when you get your money in post flop 87% favorite and 75% favorite on the turn? Not much. I played the best I know how and the cards just didn’t land right. Day two and three it was hard to hit anything, most draws missed (except that K) and I avoided huge land mines. I 3 and 4 bet in several spots and played what I can play. There were a couple of spots I wish I would have slow played a bit more, however I live and learn. If I went out with a bad play or just donked off my chips I would have been pissed. I am not… just disappointed.
Mark from London: I had the K of clubs with offsuite T on the hand you flatted seat 6, 3 bet. I would have drawn out on you if I shoved like I figured you were hoping. If I flatted, the K23 flop I open shove you call and I 2.5x my stack.
The aftermath:
So I sit here waiting for my flight Saturday morning back to NJ. I have a Friday night in Vegas to myself. What will I do? I doubt anything; maybe visit the piano bar or something. I am done with poker/playing anything for this trip. Thankfully I go home to a very hot supportive wife, super awesome dog who always says “It’s the best day ever!” and a good job. I consider myself very lucky in the big picture scheme of things.
I will no doubt think of this hand and will reluctantly tell people about it when asked. Expecially if I am on TV. Last time was when we were in the money and I took a video of everyone celebrating. It was like 15 seconds. Alot of people recognized me. When asked about the main event this year… got it in good and sometimes it just doesn’t hold.
I hope you enjoyed my journey in Vegas. If you are ever in AC; PM me and we can shoot the breeze. You can find me at the Borgata several weekends a month; grinding the cash games and some Open events to take a shot for big money in the WSOP events. Later all!