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.