Wow, already sold out. I'm flattered. A bunch of you have previously expressed interest but are currently locked out. I'm going to try to do my best to accommodate you and give you top priority in the event I open up more shares, which is more likely than not. Please just let me know that you're still interested and what % you'd like and I will take note. Thanks again for all of your support in this thread, everyone.

I woke up this morning and I realized I just didn't have much interest in playing PLO despite the fact that I had been planning forever on playing flight 1A of the $1100 PLO $150k gty at the Venetian today. This was in no small part due to the fact that the last two weeks of PLO cash games have amounted to an especially nasty stretch of negative variance for me, probably among the bottom 10% on the spectrum of possibilities, mostly in the form of me being extremely card dead, landing very few good value spots with flopped strong hands/draws running into some horrendous runouts or getting zero action or running into even bigger hands, and running poorly in allin pots, etc. I have no right to complain, especially after having enjoyed a nice, long stretch of positive variance earlier this year (running well in just about every facet of luck), but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't very frustrated by the timing, as I had planned on taking some shots in both cash games and tournaments and am now reluctant to do so without selling more action than I would like. The negative variance also provides some additional fodder for my ever-unwelcome mental chatter about how I run poorly in Vegas compared to everywhere else when there is a lol sample size problem and I know my edge is strong out here as I observe both amateurs and pros making mistakes galore on the reg. A guy who over three different 5-5 PLO cash sessions at the Venetian hit and ran after winning a gigantic multiway aipf pot where he committed his stack with zero fold equity (usually calling allin) with, respectively, Q1075ss, K764ss, and KJT4ss (this one was especially fun as I happened to have KKT3ds and way the best hand pre), complained to me about how bad he's been running this summer and I just sat there and listened in sad silence, nodding to keep him happy, this right after he had just won 3/4 of a $4k pot against me allin on the flop when we both flopped the nut straight with a flush redraw. On a sidenote, that goes to show that our perception of whether we're running bad can be subject to all kinds of unconscious biases (it's also of course possible this guy has ran awful when I haven't been at the table), but I'd like to think that if there was some kind of machine that could confirm I've been running awfully over the last two weeks it would.

Anyways, long story short, I've been running very poorly in PLO cash over the last two weeks, and to say it's been frustrating would be an understatement. But, I'm more frustrated by my frustration than I am the actual runbad, as I recognize it's just part of the game and I've experienced it all before, a bunch of times in fact. Negative variance is an unavoidable part of the poker experience and becoming frustrated over it simply defies the reality of poker to my own detriment; it's like getting upset when the seasons switch from fall to winter or when it starts raining. Just because it's the WSOP and I want to run well now more than I do other times of the year doesn't mean I'm entitled to feel badly when it turns out I'm not running well. Variance is variance, and all we can ever do is make the most of the situations in poker that present themselves to us, making good decisions based on the information available to us, of which we should always be attempting to improve the quantity and quality. We place ourselves in a much better position to succeed if we focus our attention on this decision-making process while feeling indifferent about the role of luck (or, better stated, all those factors beyond our control) in influencing the outcomes of decisions. Further, what we call "negative variance" is just a particularly "noisy" sample of events, clusters of neutral individual outcomes that viewed as a whole appear to be disproportionately bad, to which we are the ones assigning the meaning; in reality, obviously if I've been "running bad" for a week it has no bearing whatsoever on whether I'll win my next flip.

I know all of the above is what a healthy poker mindset looks like, but sometimes I struggle to adhere to it, and that bothers me more than the bad luck. Like a week ago I get AA aipf against JJ right away in an NLHE tourney, the old lady starts standing up from the table and collecting her things, and immediately I feel a sense of dread, and then the J rolls off on the river, and the stupid illogical part of my brain that believes in bad luck begetting immediate future bad luck scores a point against the will of the logical side of my brain. And then I'm upset that I expected the bad outcome because I know I'm just being an idiot, but damn is that superstitious side of my brain stubborn sometimes.

I've made a lot of strides in my mental game over the years, but there's still a lot of room for improvement.

Anyways, that was a bit of a rant, and I hadn't intended on typing any of it, but there it is. I primarily began writing this post with the intention of writing about the experience I actually ended up having today instead of the PLO tourney, playing the Little One for One Drop. I watched a bunch of NLHE MTT strat vids on Run It Once last night, followed by firing some bovada hu songs, and all that combined with the PLO runbad really gave me the itch to play some NLHE.

I had a lot of interesting spots come up, all of which I've enjoyed discussing with a couple poker friends in depth. Among the spots:

1) Blinds 75-150 super loose guy who is down to 2400ish stack already limps utg+1 at 8 handed table, kid who I've stereotyped as tight and solid flats next to act (7.5k stack), good player flats next to act (12k), pro-looking player new to table raises to 700 (10k) in the HJ, I have JJ in the CO (11k).

It's an interesting question as to what's optimal between flatting and raising. After some thought and discussion, I think flatting > raising, but in game I elected to raise to 1600. The first flatter (utg +2) and the pro-looking guy both call. Flop A86cc (I have Jc). Kid leads 900 for a tiny bet, with less than the pot behind in his stack. Other player folds. Hero...?

2) Blinds 100-200-25, I open to 550 with TT from MP (7.5k), good player in SB (8k) flats, loose bad player in BB also calls (5.5k). Flop 33J, checked around. Turn 7h, adding heart draw. SB checks, BB bets 1025, I call, SB raises to 3200. Hero...?

3) Blinds 150-300-25. I've been battling all day with the aforementioned pro-looking guy who I have direct position on; I've done well against him while he has been winning pot after pot against the rest of the table. I've been fortunate and am probably 5/5 in pots we've played against each other, not having it a couple times; I think he's been playing very well, I spot his first name written on an All-American Dave's bag, it's unique and I google him, and I see he's had a couple six figure scores. A couple orbits earlier, it got folded to him in the SB at 100-200-25, he raised to 600, I reraised to 1400 in the BB, he called and check-folded on a K33 board. Now it gets folded to him on the SB again. He raises to 800 (17k). I have 7d9s (9.3k) and call. Flop 752hhh. He bets 800, I call. Turn 4x he bets 2400, I call. River Kx. He goes allin, committing my stack if I call. Hero...?

Hopefully I'll have the time to discuss these spots within the next few days, just wanted to preserve them for now to remember for the future. Despite the cash runbad, I'm still feeling enthusiastic about poker enough, and specifically tournament poker having enjoyed the Little One for One Drop a lot despite busting pre-ITM, and really feeling as if I'm starting to develop a very solid understanding of tournament play. I will most likely be playing the Venetian PLO and the $1500 stud8 over the next few days, then will be concentrating on NLHE for the rest of the trip in anticipation of the Main Event.

Maybe you've seen/read this. I'm not saying with 100% certainty I believe in any of it, but I do find a lot of it interesting. Anyway - to kill time or check something out watch "The Secret" on Netflix. This is also a book by Rhonda Byrne. It's essentially about the power of positive thinking.

I agree that its probably best to flat here pre flop. But this is a very interesting spot on the flop. There is about $5.3K in pot going to flop and Kid only makes it $900 leaving himself $5K back. You are obviously getting great odds, almost 7:1, but you obviously have to assume the remaining $5K is going in on the turn. I don't think he's leading out with an Ace here and don't like calling with intention to fold any non-jack. To me it's either all-in or a fold, it's close but I move all-in. I think if he flopped a set of 8's or 6's he would let you C-bet for around 1/2 pot [$2,500 ish] and then check raise his additional $3K ish. Small bet with 70% stack size to pot ratio left seems more like some sort of combo draw.

SB being good player probably has good range for you after checking flop and calling turn. Obviously you have showdown value, but your likely betting a J or overpair on flop, he's likely pinned your range to something around 88-TT. If BB calls I think this is a fold. If BB folds, I still don't like a call leaving Hero with only 19 bigs left ($3,750 behind with $9,275 in pot) and a bad spot facing potential river jam with any paint or . I again like a fold or jam in this spot if BB folds. Since you rarely have an overpair here, and SB being good player likely knows this, I think a jam is the right play since you are near top of your range.

I think this is a fold. SB likely doesn't put you on a draw only since you're a top end player and have limited implied odds hitting 4th . He's probably narrowed you down to 1 pair with maybe to go with it. At same time if he thinks you have a middling pair at best why bet so much if he has a made hand. Either way I don't like calling off entire stack with just a 7 here, triple barrel bluff seems unlikely in this spot. I actually don't mind a fold on the turn even with top pair. When calling turn, there is now about $8,250 in pot and you only have $5,300 behind; this pretty much tells us everything is getting in on the river. Too many river cards are bad for our hand, any or T+. I don't mind a re-raise all in on the turn, but don't really like a call on the turn just because its always going to put us in a weird river spot like this.



All this being said, I'm no where near the NLHE player that you are, especially in tournaments. Wanted to put my thoughts out there and see your (and others) opinion on it. Stay strong and keep crushing life!

Hand 1 is a gross spot. Its probably a fold but in game I probably end up calling flop and reevaluate on the turn. I mean he's leading into two players one of them raised and the other 3 bet, so yea I don't think he's on flush draw as he's more likely to C/R all in. If you had some read that he's doing this with like a weak ace no kicker then I'd put it in, but read less I don't mind calling and trying to get to a cheap show dow.

Hand 2 I like a continuation bet on the flop, as played if bb folded I like putting it in. His C/R range on the turn has a lot more flush draws then made hands

Hand 3 I have no idea its another gross spot. What do you think of shoving turn here?

Thanks very much for the analysis, lincolns edge and trade2win, some very good points and I look forward to discussing them; I'll post my own thoughts soon.

Just wanted to provide a quick update that I busted the $1100 PLO but the silver lining is I get to play the $1500 stud8. I'm more excited about this particular tournament than any I've played since the Planet Hollywood headsup. Hoping for a better table draw than last year, when I had possibly the worst draw in the room (three recent stud8 final tablists including a stud8 champ). Hoping tomorrow begins a turnaround from the last couple weeks and I crush the home stretch of this WSOP.

Well, as silly as it might seem to say this about a Day 1 of a tournament, today has been one of my proudest days as a poker professional. I woke up as excited as I've been any day this summer, really looking forward to playing the $1500 stud8, having a bit of a score to settle after going decently deep last year despite a very tough table draw/running fairly bad and then busting pre-ITM on Day 1.

The tourney started on a challenging note when I figured out quickly I was yet again at a very tough table, quite possibly the toughest starting table of the entire tournament. I recognized Huck Seed two to my left immediately, but it didn't take much time to figure out that the guy in seat 8 to his left was also a beast. I picked up a couple of google-able bread crumbs on him, did some research, and discovered he was Adam Owen, a young English pro who's been crushing this summer with two final tables in mixed $10k events. I played 4 handed with those two and another guy who played pretty well for about 30 mins. before our table was joined by a pro who I learned thru his conversation w/ Huck was "0/4" in $10k events this summer having just busted the $10k HORSE (with plans to play the $10k Dealer's Choice), and another player who was an older rec player (and extremely nice guy) but I was dismayed to see played pretty well. Meanwhile I looked around and barely recognized anyone sitting in the dozen tables or so surrounding me, all tables looking infinitely better than mine.

After hovering right around the starting stack of 7.5k the first level, I had a very rough patch of hands the second level. I lost a bunch of chips with (A5)KA that didn't improve check-calling down against a guy showing four unconnected low cards who ended up making two pair, then lost a big pot bricking out with 2345 to start on 4th street, then lost a big pot with (AK)754A(blank) against a guy with two pair, then lost a big pot with (A6)6887 against a guy who rivered the wheel. All of these hands were during short-handed play and the odds of me losing all of them were very low. I then finally made a big hand (AxAd)5d7d6d2d, only to find myself up against a boat and have to chop.

In only the third level, I was down to 1.7k from the 7.5k starting stack and I felt like my spirit was on the verge of breaking. I had already ran quite awful the last few weeks and now it was happening again; despite all my excitement and hope I seemed to be stuck in the same rut. Worse, despite playing well during most of this mini-downswing I had finally cracked some the previous day and played some of my worst poker of the summer in a NLHE cash game at the Wynn after I busted the $1100 PLO; I was eager to bounce back strong to atone for the mental game lapse. In this tournament, I felt I was playing well through these first couple levels, maybe even very well, but the cards weren't cooperating at all. I was starting to feel doomed, my stack seemingly on death row.

Then, in the blink of an eye, everything turned around. All of a sudden I scooped three pots in an orbit, rivering a wheel in a hand that was likely going to be a chop heading to 7th, turning 865ccc to start into a flush and 7 low to scoop, and winning a decently sized pot with (AT)A when I improved to aces up against what was likely an inferior two pair. With my stack back to a much more healthy 5.3k, I was delighted to see the floor heading over to break my table.

My second table was excellent (or at least it was by comparison's sake), and, better, my hot run continued and I kept making big hands, including getting dealt rolled up jacks and improving to a full house on seventh against two other hands that developed into their own monsters (unfortunately this one got chopped). Anthony Zinno sat down about halfway through fresh off his $10k HORSE bustout, but I was fortunate to run well against him and won a couple of sizable pots in hands involving him. He had a really friendly, humble table presence and seemed like a cool dude, admitting to the table he was exhausted from his crazy run over the last few days and even asking when he sat down what event it was.

Unfortunately, I wasn't at this table long before it also broke, but I was able to chip up to 15k and an above average stack at it.

Heading to my third table, it didn't look promising at all, and I recognized a player: the one and only David Sklansky, who I thanked for helping to improve my nl game significantly with his books. Despite the table being pretty skilled, I continued to get dealt a lot of strong hands and kept gradually chipping up; I also felt like I had at least a little bit of an edge against the table. Continuing how I had been playing all tournament, I was very focused on the action including in hands I wasn't involved in and developed a pretty good idea of how everyone else at the table played. For maybe the first time in a tournament all summer, I didn't listen to music at all, and I think it proved very beneficial.

By the last break, with ~30% of the field left, I had an average stack of ~$19k and felt very good, extremely pleased with my play throughout the day and my bounceback from being crippled and on the verge of losing hope. Level 9 (second to last level) started on a scary note, when I had to fold an unimproved (A5)A against a guy whose board eventually showed (xx)8765 and then lost a bunch doubling a shorty with my four to a low and gutterball against his trip sixes allin on fifth street. Suddenly, I was down to 12k and pretty worried. Nevertheless, I didn't flinch and just kept playing well, and eventually the deck returned to being my friend, with me landing several monsters (including two full houses that scooped and a miracle trips on seventh in a hand that was likely to chop to bust a shorty) and running very hot in the last level.

I ultimately bagged right around the average stack, 33k, with ~20% of the field remaining. I think I played my A game for almost the whole day, being very well aware all day of the table dynamics and which spots to look to exploit with a laser focus honed in on the table, making some big folds at the right times, and generally just playing some of my best stud8 ever. Even if I don't cash, I'm already very proud of this tournament experience.

Take it down! Really enjoy your writing style.

ITM of the stud8 with 42 players left (contrary to wsop.com currently, I'm not busto); crippled right now on dinner break but I still have hope. Send some rungood my way!

Good luck! I actually looked it up on wsop.com and it said you were busted. Was coming here to say gg. Run it up!!

Haha, thanks, xazel. Unfortunately, I ended up busting immediately post-dinner break. I'm too exhausted to type up details about the day, but I'll just say for now that I'm satisfied enough with the result.

Even though I'd rate my summer as disappointing as of today due to the two weeks of obscene runbad in PLO cash (with some spillover into tourneys), I have to say I'm pleased overall with how I've done in tournaments (with the Main still to play!). Finished 2nd in a Venetian PLO for my first five figure score, finished ITM of the toughest $1500 of the WSOP, the 6 Max NLHE, despite not running very hot at any point in that tourney, finished 9th in the Venetian Big O tourney when I had only played two-three hours lifetime of the game previously, and now finished halfway ITM of the $1500 stud8. That's four different variants of poker cashed and four cashes I'm very proud of including two bracelet events when I had previously cashed none after several very close calls. I also ran up a huge stack in the Monster Stack with 1/3 field left and arguably got coolered to lose it. Not bad!

On a sidenote, just wanted to mention that while I have obviously made it pretty easy to figure out my name, I'd prefer it not be mentioned in this thread (which everyone has respected so far). Thanks.

Still pretty exhausted but feeling much better spirit-wise than I was a few days ago; going to take it relatively easy for a couple days and then most likely play Day 1C of the Main (if not, Day 1B). I've already spent a few hours off the felt this week thinking through NLHE tournament strategy, mostly through watching RIO vids and now also listening to foucault's premium podcast series. I'm absorbing a lot of good stuff and getting excited to fulfill a dream I've had for over a decade to play this tournament.

I'm going to play only NLHE from now through the Main. Going to be playing some live (and maybe also online) NLHE cash and also some bovada hu sngs.

Hopefully I'll have some time later this weekend to run through analysis of those Little One for One Drop hands and provide more of a recap regarding my $1500 stud8 experience.

Thanks for the good wishes and compliment.

How did you like the premium podcasts?

I've only listened to the first one and 1/4 of the second one so far (out of a series of five) but, after a bit of a slow start to the first one, I ended up liking the content quite a bit. Already content with my purchase.

Thanks.

Still pretty tired from my $1500 stud8 tournament experience but I continue to feel good otherwise heading into the Main Event (officially playing Day 1C, on Tuesday). I haven't mentioned it in here yet, but the night after Day 1 I fell prey to one of my historical tournament problems and had a bad bout of insomnia, only managing to get an hour or less of sleep. I wasn't nervous so much as I was full of adrenaline; I had a very hard time finding my "off" switch mentally, with my mind whirling about strategy and hands played during the day and reliving what had been a very intense day. I screwed up by not allotting any time to meditate between the end of the day's play and sleep, which I think would have done a lot to help still my over-active mind. From now on I'm going to try to view meditation as mandatory the night after any long tournament day. FWIW, while the tiredness did eventually hit me on Day 2, I don't think it hindered my play much if at all, so it was good to be reminded I'm capable of playing well even when very sleep-deprived (it seems to be a toss-up).

Went to the laundromat today and listened to a couple episodes of the Thinking Poker podcast premium tournament poker series while washing and drying my clothes. I then headed to the Bellagio, playing there for the first time this trip and putting in a five hour 5-10 nl session at an amazing must move followed by a good main game. The session started poorly when I found myself in a weird spot and lost $1400 in a hand trying to bluff a guy who had quads (AJ on J86rJJ runout) when I flopped an oesd and turned a club draw and didn't think anyone would play a Jx hand the way this guy played his hand. I felt kind of dumb afterwards, but I'm not sure I misplayed the hand. Fortunately, I was able to turn things around from there and ended up booking only a small $200 loser.

I tried to play some at the Wynn later after eating dinner, but I ended up making a disciplined quit about an hour in after making $200 when I realized I was too tired to play my best and decided I'd rather go back to my hotel room and watch vids/grind some bovada.

Returned to my hotel room and fired up bovada, making $200 in an hour of 5-10 stud8 and then going 4-0 in $55 nl hu sngs against the same opponent. Ironically, I've been running super hot on bovada the little I've played out here, when I had been putting in a lot more volume at home.

Between the 6 hours of live nl cash action and the hu sngs, feeling comfortable in both, and spending a lot of time thinking about ME tournament strategy specifically, I'm feeling good heading into the Main and am developing a solid game plan.

Good luck tomorrow! Have you popped any zzzQuils yet?

Thanks, Dody! Feeling good on the sleep front; slept 12 hours last night and finally felt recharged today after feeling fatigued the previous couple of days. Didn't drink any coffee and drank minimal other caffeine, also went for a run and plan on meditating shortly before sleep. All those things will help.

Didn't play at all today other than a bit on bovada (ran hot again!); instead I did some off the felt strategy work and focused on preparing for what I hope is a long grind. I'm going to try to bring my absolute A+ game this entire tournament. I'm going to try to facilitate that by minimizing distraction and paying especially close attention to all hands and what I can learn from, regardless of whether I am meaningfully involved. I'll try to update at the end of every day of play but don't anticipate I'll be writing much.

Well, I'm pretty exhausted, but for the sake of preserving my own memories and contributing to the collective sweat of subscribers and investors, I'm going to try my best to post a good Day 1 recap:

WSOP Main Event, Day 1

I'm going to share something somewhat embarrassing on here: when I held the receipt for this tournament in my hands, I teared up. For a very long stretch during the early to mid 2000s, I was a hardcore WSOP ME fanboy. I watched the Moneymaker WSOP in real time, riveted just like everyone else, and then I watched every subsequent year until finally starting to lose interest the Pius Heinz year. I listened to countless podcast interviews with November Niners, watched replays of some of my favorite moments on YouTube, could probably still tell you 50% of the names of the first three batches of N9ers, etc. It had been a dream of mine for a very long time to play this tournament, and with the moment finally arriving the reality of it all hit me like a ton of bricks.

The day started off on a great note when I woke up with 6.5-7 quality hours of sleep, which I had been worried about given my pre-tournament sleep issues in the past. I then did a couple of things which have become near ritual for me prior to a tournament, picked up a Chipotle burrito bowl and a Starbucks coffee. Entering the Rio, the atmosphere really did feel different, electric. I walked around the Brasilia room to find one of my friends from home, a rec player and one of the nicest people ever who had won a seat via local poker club satellite. I spotted him and he immediately gave me a major bear hug, nervous excitement radiating as he admitted he had hardcore jitters. I realized as we were talking that I felt quite calm by comparison, and that gave me even more confidence heading to my starting table.

I arrived at my table in the Amazon room and was somewhat surprised to not recognize anyone at my table, even as all the seats got occupied. Based on physical stereotypes, the table draw seemed about average. Seat 1 was an early 20s kid I pegged as a pro, seat 2 me, seat 3 a guy around my age (young 30s) who seemed like he might be a pro, seat 4 a rich looking late 40sish dude who looked likely to be the spot at the table, seat 5 a 40-something rec player who also looked like a spot, seat 6 a mid-20s looking likely pro, seat 7 another pro-looking player around my age, seat 8 a guy around my age who didn't seem like a pro (most likely some kind of satellite winner), and seat 9 a late 20s looking very likely pro who looked somewhat familiar.

Level 1 (50-100)

I won two out of the first five pots, one with a pretty good thin river value bet with third pair, and felt good, any jitters seemingly not affecting my game. Then, an interesting hand occurred about 30 minutes in.

HH1: MP seat 1 raises to 250. I flat TT in the HJ. SB, seat 5, had not yet played a hand and had folded every hand very quickly; I was beginning to peg him as someone reluctant to put a lot of chips in the pot early on w/o a strong hand. He raises to 750 in the SB in a manner that radiated strength. MP folds. I call.

Flop QJ9r (1850) SB leads 1k and again in his betting motion I feel like I detect a lot of strength. I call. Turn Tx. He checks. I decide to check back. River 2x. He checks. I tank for a little awhile and then ultimately check. He turns over QQ for a flopped set (which later hands indicate he never would have folded). I had run into a set over set situation but had lost almost nothing. Sweet.

HH2: Same villain opens to 250 from utg+1. I defend the BB with ATo. Flop AT9dd (600). I check, he checks. Turn 6x. I lead 325; he calls quickly. River Kx. I bet 700. Almost the moment I bet he snap throws in three yellow chips for a raise to 3k total. I hadn't been expecting that! Given I had pegged this guy as someone not likely to bluff, I decided I'd give him credit for QJ or a set of kings and folded.

HH3: Same villain opens to 225 UTG. I raise to 750 on the BTN with QQ. SB (seat 3) had not yet played a meaningful hand; he tanks for close to a minute then tosses in calling chips. Seat 5 also calls. Flop K52dd (2350). Checked to me. I bet 1k. SB calls, other guy folds. Turn Qh. Checked to me. I bet 2400 (a sizing which I now wish had been larger; admittedly as I was betting I thought the pot was smaller than it actually was). He calls. River Jd. He checks.

In most tournaments, I would bet here for value and expect to get called by a decent range of inferior hands and happily risk getting check-raised. However, I had decided in this tournament I was going to avoid marginal spots in the early hours as I developed a feel for table dynamics. I made a painfully nitty check consistent with that plan. To my astonishment (and disappointment given the turn), the SB turned over AA.

HH4: I raise to 300 with AQo UTG. Seat 9 (reminder: tough-looking younger player) flats in the SB. Seat 1 raises to 950 on the BB. By this point, I had noticed Seat 1 had been playing pretty out of line, raising 68o, Q9o, J7s type hands from middle position, but I hadn't seen him 3bet yet. I called, as did SB, and we both folded to a bet on a dry board. In retrospect, I think this call of the 3b preflop was a mistake, even if I thought seat 1 was capable of 3betting light in this spot. He was most likely good enough he'd perceive my UTG raising range as pretty strong based on the first couple hours, and I should have just avoided the potentially problematic spot by giving him credit this time around.

HH5: I don't remember the preflop action very well, but I remember I flatted a raise with 78hh and four players saw a flop of KQJhh. At this point, it was clear that seats 4 and 5 were indeed the two biggest spots at the table, 4 especially, as he had attempted a couple bad bluffs and was playing too loose; he was also getting visibly frustrated, irritated he had gotten called by ace hi in a hand when he was obviously bluffing. In this hand, it got checked to seat 5 on the flop, who bet something like 800 into 1400. Folded to me and I call with my heart draw to close the action. Turn 6x. As the turn is dealt, the clock hits break time. I check, he bets 1300, I call again expecting to get paid if I hit the heart with the intention of bluffing some other rivers, like an A or 9. River 9x. I decide it's unlikely this guy has a straight and think that he's likely to fold to any normal bet size. I bet 3100. He tanks. We're now 2.5 minutes into the break. After looking like he's about to muck a couple times, he calls. I turn over my hand and he thinks he's lost then says "Oh, wow, I won!" and turns over QJ for flopped bottom two pair. Whoops.

I entered the first break with 28.3k.

Level 2 (100-200)

Level 2 starts off on a lousy note when seats 4 and 5 both bust within the first thirty minutes. Seat 5 got in an unnecessary aipf KK < AA then punted his remaining 11k, and Seat 4 was unable to fold KK on a 943 board against the tightest player at the table's bet/shove with top set. They're replaced by two older but better players, both pretty tight, straightforward players.

It's clear at this point that the two biggest threats are seat 6 and seat 9. Unfortunately, seat 9 had lost a decent chunk early on but then was the beneficiary of the AA > KK hand to build a nice stack.

HH6: Seat 6 raises to 600 utg+1. I flat the SB with AxKc. BB seat 3 calls as well and is still playing very conservatively. Flop 1073cc. At this point I thought I had a decently nitty image I could exploit as the rest of the table had missed the failed river bluff earlier while on break. I bet 900 where I figured betting > check/calling and I thought I could double barrell successfully a lot. Of course, check/folding would have been fine, too, but I thought I had the best hand a decent % of the time and even if not could steal it a decent % of the time. BB folds; seat 6 calls. Turn Jx, a good card to double barrell. I bet 1700, seat 6 calls. River 8x. I bet 2400. I think my range hits this board harder than his and I expect to get credit for a straight. He tanks for a minute then calls...with T9 for flopped top pair and a rivered straight. I'm not sure about this one. I think I'm happy with my line, this is the kind of spot where I'm happy to admit I may have misplayed the hand and gotten over-ambitious.

HH7: Between HH6 and HH7 I had again gotten caught bluffing, this time in a small pot. I had lost a couple others as well for my stack to dwindle down to 18.5k. My image seemed to shift from nitty to maniac; moreover while the table had seemingly feared me a bit before I could feel people becoming more willing to play pots with me. I decided I'd tone down the aggression but try to use the image to my advantage. Seat 8 opens HJ to 550. I flat the BTN w/ QTo. Blinds fold. Flop QJ6ss (1400). He checks, I bet 900, he calls. Turn Qs. He checks, I bet 2100. He calls. River Jx. Boatage. He checks, I bet 6k. He tanks for a minute, calls, then mucks. Excellent. Not sure I would have gotten that call w/o my image at the time.

Last hand before the break, I pick up another 5k with AQ on a 66AA5 runout when opponent called all three streets in position then mucked.

I entered the second break with 34.6k, a great turnaround from where I had been an hour earlier.

Level 3 (150-300)

HH8: Seat 6 opens to 700 from MP, seat 7 calls, seat 8 calls on CO, seat 9 calls BTN, and I decide to peel a flop with 79o on the BB. Flop 974r. I check, seat 6 bets 900, seat 8 flats, seat 9 folds, and I decide despite the fact I'm up against two ranges that appear pretty weak it's probably optimal to take the pot now. I raise to 4100. Both fold quickly.

HH9: I open AQcc on the HJ to 700. Seat 3, who along with seat 8 has been pretty tight, 3bets to 1800. Folded around to me. Again I'm not sure whether folding or calling is optimal but given the price and the fact I think he might size a little larger with KK/AA type hands I call intending to play the hand pretty conservatively. Flop 742r with one club. I check/fold to a 2k bet.

HH10: Though Seat 3 had been quite tight the first few hours, at some point he woke up and somehow he had 3bet like 4/5 my opens at a point in this level. I was pretty sure he just had it every time, but I was starting to get suspicious. I raise to 800 in the CO with Q9o w/ the tight players in the blinds, he makes it 1400 on the BTN. Oh hell no. With this villain the sizing told me his hand probably wasn't that strong, but I decided I'd try to steal post flop if a good situation arose instead. Flop T85hh. I check, he bets 1500, I raise to 4100, and he folds pretty quickly.

I entered the dinner break with 40.5k.

Level 4 (150-300-25)

In this level it's apparent the table has gotten tougher. In addition to the two weakest spots having busted and being replaced by better players, the 3betting/4betting frequency has gone way up. One of the weakest parts of my tournament game is adjusting to these kinds of dynamics so I responded by tightening up a bit but looking for some good spots to do some light 3betting and 4betting.

The first 45 mins of this level I fold almost every hand but win a couple small pots to stay around the 35k-38k zone.

HH11: There are only 7 players sitting at the table. Despite winning some pots about half an hour earlier, I've been pretty quiet for a couple orbits. I raise to 800 with KQo utg+1. Seat 4 (now an older, straightforward player) calls, seat 6 also calls. Seat 4 had lost a bunch of pots recently and his stack is 15k to start hand, I'm not sure but I suspect he might be a bit tilted. Flop Q84hh. I decide to check for balance/deception/pot control, and also because I want to limit playing out of position against seat 6. Seat 4 bets 1500, seat 6 folds, I call. Turn 5x. I check, he bets 2400, I call. River 2x. I check, he bets 3800. At this point, I probably should have contemplated folding a little harder, but given my perception this player might be a little tilted I called. He had AQ for the notch.

HH12: I lose about 5k 3betting KQo from the SB against seat 9 (CO), who had been extremely aggressive in late position ever since accumulating the bigger stack. In retrospect, I wish I had just flatted, as I think my pre flop fold equity was pretty limited as this guy just wasn't the type to fold in position facing a raise from the blinds. I cbet the flop and then gave up on a bad range-versus-range runout, 863hh4x8x, unfortunately he had only AT hi. I wasn't expecting to get called that light on the flop given I had been playing pretty snug for awhile.

HH13: Seats 9 and 1 have both been extremely aggressive in late position and I'd been largely letting them get away with it either on my BTN or in the blinds, waiting for a good spot to develop. Finally, one seemed to materialize. Seat 9 opens the BTN to 800, SB (who had become quite 3bet happy from all positions) raises to 2300, I look at Ah2d on the BB and decide a squeeze has a pretty good shot of getting through. I raise to 4700. BTN snap folds. SB tanks a good 90 seconds then calls. Flop T63r. He checks, I bet 5200, he looks pained for a minute then mucks reluctantly.

I entered this final break with 29.6k.

Level 5 (200-400-50)

HH14:Another hand involving seat 9 being aggro from LP. This time, he opens BTN to 1050. I defend the BB with A7dd. Flop AK4dd. Gin. I check, he bets 1300, I call. In retrospect, I think a small check-raise that looked potentially FOS would have been better. Turn Ax. I check (not sure I like this as played). He checks. River 9x. I lead 3600. He thinks for awhile then folds. Not too pleased with how I played this hand.

HH15: Another hand involving seat 9 being aggro from LP. This time, he opens to 1050 in the CO, I defend SB KsJx, BB folds. Flop JT6sss. I decide to lead and bet 1700. He calls. Turn 6x. I bet 3100. He calls. River Qh. I check, he checks quickly. I table my hand expecting to have the best hand; he tables JT for flopped top two. Bleh.

I win a couple small to medium sized pots and build my stack back up to 35k.

HH16: Some context: Seat 4 (older player) had just lost a big pot with a set after having had a rollercoaster day where he went from short to decently stacked many times; he seemed to be on the verge of giving up when losing with the set got him down to 9500. This hand had just happened when I open AQo UTG to 1100. He 3bets in MP to 2500 and I feel he's 80+% to go with whatever he has. Folds back to me and I shove to put him in. He calls. He has TT and the window is a T. I lose a decent % of my stack. In retrospect, I don't like this decision on my part at all and I regret this hand as much as any I played. Even having the correct equity against his range, I think it's too marginal a spot to be advantageous for me. I'd like going with my hand a lot more if he had 7500 or less.

HH17: Seat 9 opens to 1000 (his raising % when folded to on the BTN was probably 90%). I have KQhh in the SB and decide to 3bet for value. I raise to 2600, BB folds, he calls. Flop 974r with one heart. I check, he checks. Turn Ah. I pick up the nfd and it's a mandatory bet spot. I bet 3100. He calls. River Tx. I check, he checks. He has T8 for an oesd which has become a rivered pair. I had the best hand until the river. Brutal.

Between these hands and some small ones my stack falls to 17k and I'm frustrated; in particular I'm not happy with myself for going with it the AQ hand (which was especially annoying as the guy who won the flip then proceeded to bust within an orbit). I win a couple small pots to close the night and end up bagging just over 20k.

When bagging, I ask the seemingly tight guy who kept 3betting me for a couple hours whether he just had it every time; he says he did. Meanwhile, seat 1 asks me what I had the hand I squeezed with A2o and I tell him the truth and he said he was pretty sure he'd gotten bluffed.


Whew. That took awhile but I'm glad I did it. Although I'm not pleased with how I played a few hands (in particular HHs 6, 14-16), I do think I played well overall at what ended up being not too great a table after the first few hours. I also didn't have much to work with, not getting too many great value spots and getting almost no premium hands the last few levels.

I go into Day 2 ready to learn from my mistakes and hoping for some rungood. I'm not necessarily looking for feedback on the hands above more than I am chronicling the experience, but all thoughts and suggestions welcome as always. Day 2 on Thursday.

Awesome thread and honest writing.

Congrats on your success and good luck on day 2 and beyond.

I realize you warned us, but come on; you've got to put more into your recaps than these few meager sentences you just fired off.

But seriously, good luck Day 2. Looking forward to hearing more.

That's awesome man. I am glad to hear you are still recognizing just how special a summer this is for you, even after several weeks out there.

Congrats on making day 2, plenty of biebers (40?) to make a splash too. Also, do they redraw the tables for the start of day 2 or are you going to be sitting back down at the same table you finished Day 1 on? And what would you prefer--sticking to the same table that you are comfortable with but isn't super soft, or taking a chance at a new table with fresh faces and potentially more spots?

Lastly, I'm interested in how you are going to spend today in preparation for tomorrow? Taking the day off or are you playing some cash to stay loose?

Good luck bud and thanks for the awesome write up. I was aggressively refreshing twitter to find your updates yesterday

Met bob_124 for lunch today and had an absolute blast; he's a great guy and I'm happy to have met him and to have contributed to his poker writing project. Stepping away from this Vegas experience for a bit and reflecting on it as well as the last few years was a great way to provide my mind a welcome distraction from obsessing over the Main Event.


Thanks very much for reading and for posting the kind words; hoping the ME will be a long sweat!

Haha, I'm glad I went ahead and wrote in so much detail about the experience but I doubt I'll be able to do it for any subsequent days. I wouldn't have written nearly as much without the day off today.

Thanks a lot, Dody. I'll indeed be starting with 40bb. As disappointing as it might have been to end the night at less than half my peak stack, you're absolutely right it's far from panic mode. Not only will I have 40bb, but I will have the benefit of 2 hour levels and what appears to be an above average table draw, albeit a weird one as there are somehow three stacks out of the other eight stacks smaller than mine without any huge stacks at the table. If I had to choose between the table I actually drew and last night's table, I would definitely choose the one I drew. Between a random table and last night's table, I would choose a random table. Seats 4 and 6 both busted and were replaced by young pros w/ heaps at what was already a decently tough table, so that's an easy choice.

So today I met bob_124, then I headed back to my hotel to get a run in, then I did some strategy work, then went for dinner, and now I'm back playing some bovada hu sngs and doing strat analysis as well with meditation planned for later. Restart at noon tomorrow. I'm excited but trying to keep my focus restricted to playing well and trying to disregard any kind of special emotional investment in this tournament.

Likewise! Great meeting you.

FYI, I ran bad as planned, which means that my rungood was in fact transferred to you. Enjoy it today.

Sent from my XT1031 using 2+2 Forums

cool thread