spamalot
07-20-2006, 05:35 PM
Every poker player wants to play in the WSOP. I am no different. The difference is I don't have an unlimited bankroll. I asked my wife if she would mind if I played in an event. I told her I would win the money online so it wouldn't cost anything. She said sure. She is always down for a Vegas trip. So 3 weeks before I decide I am going to play in event #27 as long as I can win the money by then. I generally play 50nl, so $1500 can be a lot in 3 weeks. But the poker gods were smiling down on me, and I had the $1500 plus enough to keep my online bankroll at $1000. Ok dear, we are going to Vegas.
We get there late Monday night. We check in at the Rio and then head down to the WSOP room. I have never been and I have never seen anything like it. I play pretty regularly at Commerce so I am used to big rooms, but nothing could prepare me for the sight of walking into the Convention Center. It was like poker Disneyland. It was midnight and still the place was hopping. They had cash games of all sizes and types going. Everyone who was anyone was playing. I walk up to the registration window, hand over my $1500, and get my ticket. It's real now. It's really happening. I can't wait for the next day.
First a little about my tournament experience. I don't have much. I 4 tabled $10 SNG's on Party for a while. I have played 4 previous live events, although nothing over $120 buyin. I cashed in one. I have played a few online MTT's, but nothing significant. In short, I don't have a lot of experience. But I do play a lot of cash games. PT has me at over 100k hands in the last year. Plus I have spent a lot of time at the 100nl tables at Commerce. I know my way around a poker table. That being said I set what I thought was a modest goal, make it to Day 2.
I walk into the room at about 11:50 and find my table. I wait until 11:57 when we are actually able to sit. I sit down, hand the dealer my ticket and ID and count my chips. The excitement is palpable. It is also a little intimidating. The entire room is filled with people in my tournament. The odds are enormous. But hey, it's the WSOP and I am playing. I draw seat 9, so I am one off the button. I'll try to get aggressive early and see if I can build up some chips.
First hand I look down and see suited connectors. One limper to me so I raise it up. BB calls, limper calls. Flop is JJ2. I don't have a jack. Checked to me, I C bet 200. SB folds, limper minraises. CRAP CRAP CRAP. I muck. First hand I am down 325 chips.
A round later I am dealt 88 on the button. UTG+1 is short stacked and pushes for his last 400 chips. I call. Everyone else folds. He flips 99. Flop is 982. I do not catch the case 8 and I lose. I am down to 775 chips. Crap again.
A round later another short stack pushes for his last 450 chips. I look down and see AK. I need to get some chips sometime or I am out of here. I call. He flips 44. Flop is 235. Turn is a 4. YES a wheel. River is a 3. CRAP CRAP CRAP. I am down to my last 200 chips. Oh well. My first World Series will be over in 40 minutes. At least I got to play. I muck a couple hands. I am UTG and look down to find 55. Here we go. ALL IN BABY. It is folded around to BB who calls with A7. I dodge the bullet and double up. A few hands later I push with 10 10. AQ calls me but does not improve and I double up again. I now have about 1000 chips and am off life support. Nothing happens for the next few rounds. Eventually the blinds make their way up to 100-200. I have about 1000 in chips still. It is folded to me on the button. I have K2 of diamonds. Time to steal. I push. SB repushes. BB folds. SB flips QQ. CRAP. Time to go home. Flop is diamond diamond diamond. YAHTZEE!!!! I sit back down with my 2000 chips. It was still below the average but I was still playing.
What followed for the next 10 hours was a surreal experience. I could never accumulate any chips. I always stayed below the average. But I survived. I was card dead the entire day. But that allowed me the occasional steal. Any time I raised everyone folded. Everytime I came over the top, everyone folded. I kept watching the TV count down the number of players. The next thing I knew it was after 10PM and I was in the money. But I still had no chips. I had 7000, and the average was over 14000. Finally I caught some cards and went on a mini run. Just before the end of the night I doubled up with AA and ended the day with 32000 chips. It was my first time over the average. I made it to Day 2. There were 121 people left.
Day 2 unfortunately sucked, and it was my fault. I made a horrible read. A few hands in I pick up K10 of hearts in the SB. One limper to me. I complete. BB checks. Flop is 99J with 2 hearts. I check. BB checks. Limper bets 3000. I call. The turn is a Jack. The limper was tricky and had minraised Aces the first hand of the round. I was pretty sure he didn't have a jack. Also, when the jack came I was first to act. He said check before I had a chance to say anything. The dealer reminded him it was my turn first. I bet 5000. He thought for a very long time. Finally he called. I was sure now he didn't have a jack. I figured he probably had an overpair. the river was a blank. I bet 10000. I was trying to make it seem like a value bet. but he instacalled and flipped A9. This was one of 2 mistakes I made all tournament and it was brutal. I was now left with 8000 chips. It was 4400 per round at this point so I pretty much had to shove the first hand I saw that was half way decent. 2 hands later I got A5. It was folded to me so I pushed. SB called with 77 and I did not improve. I was stunned and done. What started as a promising day turned to disaster.
In retrospect you live and learn. I accomplished my goal of making it to day 2. I outlasted over 2000 people. I cashed out over $4300. I should be ecstatic. But I can't help thinking what if. One mistake and I was done. Oh well, there is always next time. If I can win another 5k this week, I'll be back for the ME. ;-)
We get there late Monday night. We check in at the Rio and then head down to the WSOP room. I have never been and I have never seen anything like it. I play pretty regularly at Commerce so I am used to big rooms, but nothing could prepare me for the sight of walking into the Convention Center. It was like poker Disneyland. It was midnight and still the place was hopping. They had cash games of all sizes and types going. Everyone who was anyone was playing. I walk up to the registration window, hand over my $1500, and get my ticket. It's real now. It's really happening. I can't wait for the next day.
First a little about my tournament experience. I don't have much. I 4 tabled $10 SNG's on Party for a while. I have played 4 previous live events, although nothing over $120 buyin. I cashed in one. I have played a few online MTT's, but nothing significant. In short, I don't have a lot of experience. But I do play a lot of cash games. PT has me at over 100k hands in the last year. Plus I have spent a lot of time at the 100nl tables at Commerce. I know my way around a poker table. That being said I set what I thought was a modest goal, make it to Day 2.
I walk into the room at about 11:50 and find my table. I wait until 11:57 when we are actually able to sit. I sit down, hand the dealer my ticket and ID and count my chips. The excitement is palpable. It is also a little intimidating. The entire room is filled with people in my tournament. The odds are enormous. But hey, it's the WSOP and I am playing. I draw seat 9, so I am one off the button. I'll try to get aggressive early and see if I can build up some chips.
First hand I look down and see suited connectors. One limper to me so I raise it up. BB calls, limper calls. Flop is JJ2. I don't have a jack. Checked to me, I C bet 200. SB folds, limper minraises. CRAP CRAP CRAP. I muck. First hand I am down 325 chips.
A round later I am dealt 88 on the button. UTG+1 is short stacked and pushes for his last 400 chips. I call. Everyone else folds. He flips 99. Flop is 982. I do not catch the case 8 and I lose. I am down to 775 chips. Crap again.
A round later another short stack pushes for his last 450 chips. I look down and see AK. I need to get some chips sometime or I am out of here. I call. He flips 44. Flop is 235. Turn is a 4. YES a wheel. River is a 3. CRAP CRAP CRAP. I am down to my last 200 chips. Oh well. My first World Series will be over in 40 minutes. At least I got to play. I muck a couple hands. I am UTG and look down to find 55. Here we go. ALL IN BABY. It is folded around to BB who calls with A7. I dodge the bullet and double up. A few hands later I push with 10 10. AQ calls me but does not improve and I double up again. I now have about 1000 chips and am off life support. Nothing happens for the next few rounds. Eventually the blinds make their way up to 100-200. I have about 1000 in chips still. It is folded to me on the button. I have K2 of diamonds. Time to steal. I push. SB repushes. BB folds. SB flips QQ. CRAP. Time to go home. Flop is diamond diamond diamond. YAHTZEE!!!! I sit back down with my 2000 chips. It was still below the average but I was still playing.
What followed for the next 10 hours was a surreal experience. I could never accumulate any chips. I always stayed below the average. But I survived. I was card dead the entire day. But that allowed me the occasional steal. Any time I raised everyone folded. Everytime I came over the top, everyone folded. I kept watching the TV count down the number of players. The next thing I knew it was after 10PM and I was in the money. But I still had no chips. I had 7000, and the average was over 14000. Finally I caught some cards and went on a mini run. Just before the end of the night I doubled up with AA and ended the day with 32000 chips. It was my first time over the average. I made it to Day 2. There were 121 people left.
Day 2 unfortunately sucked, and it was my fault. I made a horrible read. A few hands in I pick up K10 of hearts in the SB. One limper to me. I complete. BB checks. Flop is 99J with 2 hearts. I check. BB checks. Limper bets 3000. I call. The turn is a Jack. The limper was tricky and had minraised Aces the first hand of the round. I was pretty sure he didn't have a jack. Also, when the jack came I was first to act. He said check before I had a chance to say anything. The dealer reminded him it was my turn first. I bet 5000. He thought for a very long time. Finally he called. I was sure now he didn't have a jack. I figured he probably had an overpair. the river was a blank. I bet 10000. I was trying to make it seem like a value bet. but he instacalled and flipped A9. This was one of 2 mistakes I made all tournament and it was brutal. I was now left with 8000 chips. It was 4400 per round at this point so I pretty much had to shove the first hand I saw that was half way decent. 2 hands later I got A5. It was folded to me so I pushed. SB called with 77 and I did not improve. I was stunned and done. What started as a promising day turned to disaster.
In retrospect you live and learn. I accomplished my goal of making it to day 2. I outlasted over 2000 people. I cashed out over $4300. I should be ecstatic. But I can't help thinking what if. One mistake and I was done. Oh well, there is always next time. If I can win another 5k this week, I'll be back for the ME. ;-)