Sunday, July 11, 2010

WSOP Main Event Day 2

Went into the day with 11,975 chips.

Level 5, 200/400/50:  Won a lot of small pots and never had to show down a hand, ended the level with 23k.

Level 6, 250/500/50:  Chipped up to 33k winning some more small pots when the following hand occurred.  I had been pretty active at the table so far, and raised to 1025 utg+1 with TT.  Folded to the big blind who called.  Flop T93, he checks, I bet 1500, he calls.  Turn 8 making the board T938, he checks, I bet 4500, he goes all in for about 22k, I obviously call.  He flips over J9, and the river is a queen giving him a straight, and now I'm down to 7k chips.  Kind of frustrating because I easily could have gotten to over 60k in about 1.5 hours after starting the day with 12k, but that's poker.

Next round I get 33 utg with 7k chips and shove, and the big blind calls with QTdd.  Not really sure what range he put me on to make that call but whatever.  The flop comes 448 with one diamond, and the turn comes the 5d, meaning he needs any 5 8 T Q or diamond to beat me, but somehow I fade it and double up to 15k.  After that hand I won the blinds quite a few times as my table was pretty tight, didn't really play any big pots the rest of the level, and ended the level with 23k.

Level 7, 300/600:  Lost like 6k chips when I 3bet a tight guy with A6cc knowing that he'd fold a lot, but he called, then we checked down the board of K64J8, and he showed TT.  Didn't really play any other big pots that level and ended the level with 23k.

Level 8, 400/800:  Chipped up to about 32k mostly from stealing the blinds and 3-betting.  Then a younger kid who just got moved to our table with a fairly big stack opens for 2k about 3 off the button, and I call in the big blind with 87hh.  Flop comes 843 rainbow and I check and he bets 3k and I call.  Turn is 5h putting two hearts on board.  I check and he bets 7k.  I consider both calling and raising but I really don't think he's ever laying down a better hand if I raise, and if I'm ahead he shouldn't have too many outs, and maybe I can induce him to bluff the river, so I call, leaving myself with about 22k chips.  River is an offsuit jack.  I check and after a few seconds of thought he sticks in a pile of 5k chips, putting me all in.  I think for a bit but I feel like I have to call here because I just feel like he could have a lot of hands he would 3-barrel on this board, and the range of value hands he can have isn't all that wide considering the pot-sized bet on the river.  So I call and he has KK and I'm busto.  I possibly could have found a better spot at my table I suppose but I'm not that disappointed because he definitely looked like someone who could be bluffing in that spot a lot.

Oh well, back to the online grind now.  :)

Friday, July 9, 2010

WSOP Day 1 Detailed Review

Sorry guys, been meaning to do this for a couple days now, but had a few things come up and I've been a little busy the last couple days.   I'll go level by level and talk about any interesting hands that I can remember.  The details might not be 100% accurate but it will be close enough.

Level 1, 50/100:  Only one interesting hand that I can remember from this level.  Early position guy opens for 300, middle position calls, button calls, I call in the small blind with 67dd.  Flop comes 445 with 2 spades.  I check, EP bets 800, MP folds, button calls, I call.  Turn is an offsuit queen.  I check, EP checks, button bets 1400 and I just get the sense that he's not all that strong and either has a 5 or a low pocket pair or a draw, so I checkraise to 4500, hoping that EP folds and then I'd bomb the river if the button calls the turn.  However, EP flat called the 4500 and so did the button, and I got the feeling that EP had KK/AA most likely, with a full house also being a possibility.  River comes a 9 and I decide to give up on the bluff, and it gets checked around, and EP wins with AQ.  I kind of wish I had fired like 10k on the river here as it would have been a really tough call for him with AQ but honestly I thought the chance that one of them had a big hand was too high to make it worth bluffing.  That was the only big pot I played in level 1 and I ended the level with 21k out of the starting stack of 30k.

Level 2, 100/200:  Won a decent pot where I bet every street with KK on a low board, and my opponent tank folded the river for his last 7k or so chips, when obviously I was rooting for him to call.  A few hands later the hijack opens for 400 and I call with KQo on the button and the big blind calls too.  Flop comes K87 with two clubs, big blind checks, hijack bets 800, I raise to 2200, big blind goes all in for like 9k, hijack thinks for a bit and folds, I obviously call because I'm crushing his range as he should have a lot of draws here, and he turns over Q9cc.  Dealer announces "all in and a call on table (whatever table we were on)" and the espn cameras come over to tape the hand.  So we wait like 30 seconds and they deal the turn which is a blank.  Then the dealer pauses and the camera guys have to fix something before the river comes so we wait like a minute before the river gets dealt, which is pretty annoying.  And after all that wait the river is the ace of clubs and the guy makes a flush.  I ended level 2 with 17k.

Level 3, 150/300:  Didn't really play any big pots this level, ended the level at 18k.

Level 4, 150/300/25:  Played a ton of big pots in this level.  Right at the beginning of the level the early position guy opened for 2200 and he had always been opening to really large amounts with his big pairs.  I look down at KK and I'm pretty sure he's not folding at any point so I reraise to 8k and he calls.  Flop comes all low cards and I get in my last 13k or so and he calls with JJ.  My KK holds up and I'm at 44k now.  Very next hand the same opponent opens for 800 under the gun and I call in mid position with AQo  Flop comes AK4 rainbow and he instantly checks and I know he's really weak so I check behind hoping to either induce a bluff or to let him catch up a little.  Turn is a blank and he bets 4k, which is a pretty big bet, and I call.  I still get the feeling that he's pretty weak though.  River is an 8 and he checks to me and I'm pretty sure I can get some value out of him here so I bet 6k and he calls.  I turn over my hand thinking I have to be good, but he turns over 84o (having raised under the gun) for a rivered 2 pair.  So that hand kind of sucked and now I'm at 32k.

Later in that level I get TT about 3 off the button and raise to 800, button calls, everyone else folds.  Flop comes 942, I bet 1400, button raises to 4k, I call.  turn is a 5, I check, button bets 8k and I just get the feeling he's trying to push me off my hand.   I call, and the river comes an ace, I check and he checks behind and shows AJ.  A bit later I get KK under the gun and raise and get a few callers.  Flop comes K23 and I bet like 2k and only the big blind calls. Turn comes a 4, and he checks and I bet 4500 and he calls.  River comes a 5 making the board K2345 and he bets like 10k and I really don't know what I can beat here and he doesn't seem like the type to bluff on this board, so I fold, and now I'm back down to 16k.

Next big hand I played, guy 3 off the button opens for 800, next to act calls, I call on the button with K9ss, small blind calls.  Flop comes 753 with 2 clubs, everyone checks to me and I bet 2400 because I just get the feeling that the flop missed everyone and easily could have hit me.  The small blind calls and everyone else folds.  Turn comes a 7 and he checks and I check behind.  River comes an offsuit ace and he bets 7500 almost instantly.  I think for a bit and I really feel like he's full of crap here as every draw missed and he would need a minimum of trip 7s to bet the river for value, but if I call and I'm wrong I only have like 4k chips left.  So after a few seconds of thought I call and he mucks his hand and I turn my hand over.  I got a few weird looks from the table for calling a pot-sized bet with king high but I thought it was a pretty easy call at the time since there were so many possible bluffs in his range and not many value hands.  My only real decision was between calling and raising my last 4k chips just in case he was trying to bluff with something like KQ/KJ/KT of clubs and actually had the best hand, but I thought calling was probably better because I could beat the vast majority of his bluff hands.

Next big pot, under the gun raises to 800, and I'm in next position with QQ and I decide to flat call.  Everyone else folds and the flop comes J55.  He bets 2k and I call.  Turn comes an 8 and he bets 5k and I call.  River comes a 5 so the board is J5585.  He bets 10k and I call.  He turns over AJ and my QQ is good, so now I'm up to 48k.  I feel like maybe I could have gotten more chips in here but he easily could have AA/KK/JJ here too and played it the same way, so I'm happy with how I played it.  I don't really play a hand after that and end the level with 46k.

Level 5, 200/400/50:  We're only scheduled to play half of level 5 on day 1.  Had a few sick spots in this level.  In separate hands I opened JJ and QQ in early position to 1025 and the guy who was overbetting all his big pairs raise to like 15k and 20k, and I folded both hands.  He had made bets like this throughout the day and never showed anything less than JJ so I think my folds are ok but it's pretty sick folding both of them, especially the QQ.  So anyway I don't really win any pots in this level and going into the last hand of the day I have like 35k.  The overbetting guy opens for 1200 and a couple other guys call and I call on the button with QJhh.  Flop comes AT9 the overbetting guy bets like 4k and everyone else folds and I call.  I'm pretty sure I'll be able to double up if I can hit the straight here because his overbets always meant strength.  Turn comes 3 of hearts giving me a flush draw to go with the straight draw and he fires 10k.  At this point if I call I only have 12k behind but I call because I should have 15 outs and I'm definitely getting paid off on the river if I hit. River comes an offsuit 9 and he puts me all in and I fold obviously, ending the day with 11,975.  Kind of disappointing considering I had 48k an hour earlier, but I guess anything can happen.  We restart at noon tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

WSOP Main Event Day 1

I'll do a more in-depth update when I get around to it because I did have some interesting hands, but I don't feel like doing it right now.  Suffice to say I'm pretty disappointed with how I played a few hands, but really happy with how I played some others, and I ended the day with 11,975 chips, and I play again on Saturday.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

WSOP Day 37 Update

Event 54, $1k NLHE, Day 2:  Went into the day with 41k in chips, which put me in 40th out of about 600 people left, with just under 400 being paid.  Nothing really interesting before the bubble, lost about 20k in one pot with A2 vs AQ on an ace high flop with a lot of possible draws, but other than that I just stole the blinds a lot and when the bubble burst I had 47k.  Had a really interesting hand after the bubble, blinds were 600/1200, all relevant players had about 40-50k to start the hand, I opened for 2600 from the cutoff with KJdd, button called, big blind reraised to like 6000, I called and the button called.  Flop came A85 with 2 diamonds, big blind checks, I check because I think the button will bet with a lot of hands and also I can see whether the big blind is strong or not.  So the button bets 12k or so, big blind tanks for a few minutes and I'm pretty sure he has like JJ-KK or something and I kind of want him to call so I can push him off the hand on the flop.  But anyway he folds eventually and I go all in for about 25k more, and the button folds pretty much instantly, which I figured he would, because he shouldn't have very many hands in his range there that have an ace in it.  So that was nice to almost double up without even seeing a showdown and without even having a pair.  That hand put me at around 70k which is what I went to dinner break with.

After dinner break the first hand is folded to the button at 800/1600 and he opens for 4k with about 30k behind, and the small blind is not there so his hand is folded, so I figure the button has a pretty wide range, so I go all in with A6o and he snapcalls with KK and I don't suck out and I'm down to like 32k.  Then about 2 hands later I pick up AK and get it in vs AT and I hold and I'm back close to 70k.  Nothing eventful after that for about 2 hours until a hand at 1000/2000 where a guy with about 160k chips opens to 4500 in the cutoff, button calls, I have AKdd and raise to 14k, cutoff thinks for a bit and goes all in, button folds, I call obviously, he has QQ, time to race.  Flop comes with an ace, but queen on turn and I'm busto in 153rd place for $3182.

Just the main event left, I signed up for Day 1B, which is Tuesday the 6th.  Will be nice to have a couple days off from poker but obviously I wish I was still in that one.

WSOP Day 36 Update

Event 54, $1k NLHE:  Ran so good today, sucking out on people at least 5 different times, only lost one big pot all day when I had 99 vs KK and I thought for sure I was going to win that one too, but oh well.  Ended the day with 41,575 chips from the starting stack of 3k.  Should be about 600 people left with about 400 getting paid, and I have slightly over double the average stack.  Hopefully I don't make a quick exit like I did a few days ago in the $1500 nlhe when I had a ton of chips on day 2 then too.

No more events until the main event.

Friday, July 2, 2010

WSOP Day 35 Update

Event 55, $10k PLO:  Pretty much broke even the first 4 hours and never played any big pots and went into dinner break with 28k of the 30k starting stack.  Then the next 2 levels I got down to 20k or so then doubled up on a hand where I had the guy drawing dead on the flop (which is really hard to do in plo).  Then I won another decent pot to get to around 60k, then made a possibly bad call with the low end of the straight and a flush draw on the turn in a spot where the guy probably should have the nut straight almost always, and he did, and the flush didn't get there.  So that put me back at about 30k.  Lost a few chips after that and got my last 20k chips in with AAQ9 vs AKQ3 on a QJ4 board and couldn't fade it, and busted in the last level of the day.

$1k NLHE at noon tomorrow and $2500 NLHE at 5pm if I bust that.  Then the series is done except for the main event.

Still feeling a bit under the weather so I'm looking forward to having a break before the main event.  Don't really know which day I'll play for the main event yet but I will definitely take a few days off before I start, just to recover from being sick if nothing else.