Day 4 - WSOP ME Trip Report

[technologic]

Day 4

coming off the first consecutive day of play, and excited from the night before, i'm ready for action again for day 4 of the wsop. jason's been getting craploads of calls and he's already put 12m in his spreadsheet in the win column of the main event (disregarding of course the various pieces of himself he had sold out).

this is the first day i wake up and say to myself, wow [censored] is sick. this whole experience is sick. i'm alive in the tournament, and not only that, i'm doing well. got lucky just when i needed to, and just about everything is going right. i mean granted, i don't have the monster stack that jason has, but i'm chugging along ok. it's a weird feeling of invincibility, but at the same time knowing that at any moment, the cable could be cut with destruction soon to follow.

i get to the table and don't really notice anyone special. good i think to myself, except there are a couple of big stacks to my left. could be some trouble, hopefully i'll figure it out.

as i feel the table out, i play a bit more aggressively, taking down blinds, and lagging it up. however, a guy on my left wearing a full contact poker hat with a big stack, kept calling and putting pressure on me. he kept putting his whole face in his shirt phil laak style whenever he was in a hand. here's a hand that i played relatively meh against him.

blinds 2000/4000 ante 500
i raise to 12000 in the LP with 35o, he calls.

flop 24K. i think, then check. he checks behind.
turn K. i think, then check again. he checks behind.
river T. i think, then bet 30k. he calls, with A6o.

at this point i know that this guy is definitely going to give me trouble, and i'm going to have to get extra special tricky with him.

after the hand, at one point, i'm just doing a routine open late with JTo, and this guy goes all in on me, and says, come on let's gamble! i fold, obviously, and he shows me AKo. i get kind of pissed off, and go oh yeah, you're really gambling there, sir in the most sarcastic voice i can and furiously muck my hand. i can't wait to OWN this mofo i thought to myself.

at this point, our table gets a fill. it's none other than the slowrolling humberto brenes at my table. i thought to myself that losing to the shark card protector would probably be a very bad experience. humberto seemed to be playing really tight, it was just that other people seemed to want to give him money for some reason and went all in when he had aces or kings. he would always make a big deal when he raised, but i generally stayed out of his way. soon after, david chiu appeared right near me as well, two to my right. he arrived with a good amount of a stack. i tried to remember anything about his play i just kept remembering foxwoodfiend's remark that he was the nicest guy alive instead. thanks ariel.

during a break, i talk to my friend huskiez. at this point i'm kind of dejected, after getting sick value betted by chiu and having only around 40 bb or so, and i'm kind of worried that this might be it. he tells me, rightly so, to stfu, and get my head in the game, and that nothing is [censored] over. i take heed, and go back and play.

at some point after we take a break. i call up jason, who tells me about a huge beat where he loses AA to AK. i meet him outside the poker kitchen, and he's sitting outside on the rampish area. he's visibly shaken, i don't know what to say. i've never seen him this pissed off at a bad beat, and i don't blame him. if i were him, you'd have probably witnessed the first homicide at the wsop. he tried to lighten up, remarking that how yesterday he got more text messages than ever in his life, and how today, no one is even thinking about calling him after what happened. i couldn't even utter anything encouraging, even though he still had chips and was moderately healthy, i just felt the injustice that happened.

anyway, remembering that i still gotta play my game, and huskiez words of stfu and play encouragement, i go back to battle. a few hands into the level, this hand happens between me and chiu.

3000/6000 ante 1000

chiu opens for 18k in the CO, so i call with AJ in the SB, another call in the BB.

flop comes down AAQ two hearts. sweet juicy justice i think to myself. i check, BB checks, chiu bets out 30k, i push for another 165k or so, chiu thinks and calls.

he tables AT, and i show my AJ. i cross my fingers, and two bricks pop off giving me a big comeback pot. sweet. pep talks do work.

of course, being the idiot i am, get a bit cocky with the new found chips, and open in the CO with 23o. fcp guy calls, and BB calls. guess i'm going to have to get lucky...

flop 3A3. bingo bongo bango!
i bet 40k, fcp boy calls.

turn 3. hmmm, that's an interesting card.
i bet 100k, fcp boy calls.

river Q.
hmmm, what to do here i thought to myself. could zeebo's theorem really be infallible here? can i safely push all in? what's the move here? he knows that i know that he at least has an ace, so how would he interpret a push? i think for a bit, then i decide that check, check would be the worst disaster in history and probably put me on tilt, so i push.

fcp guy goes into the tank. he comes out of his protective shell, and starts asking me if i really have aces. i'm just PRAYING that he thinks i'm trying to avoid a chop with an ace, just PRAYING, but not knowing what's going on here. he debates about AA, QQ, maybe even a 3. problem is, i did play it exactly like a 3, or a monster bluff. finally, he remarks that he's folding an ace and folds. doesn't show the ace tho, so i can't be sure, and i just muck my hand. info doesn't come free, bro.

an interesting hand develops between brenes and chiu later on. finally chiu goes all in pf, and brenes calls over the espn cameras. it's quite obvious what humberto has, and chiu tells the cameras not to come. brenes calls and shows AA, and chiu shows AKo. i tell chiu that i'm rooting for him after the slowroll, and i predict that he's going to get a flush FTW.

sure enough, a club flush comes for his Kc, giving chiu the win. humberto doesn't look that upset tho, he's all cheery, as he takes another guy down with the very next hand, having KK, again calling the tv crew over. guy gets eliminated, and that's all folks.

4000/8000 1000 ante
a little while later, humberto opens relatively early for 27k. i call with 55 in the CO, and SB calls.

flop T65. checks to me, i think, then fire out 70k. SB calls, and brenes goes, no respect! i laugh to myself, but not out loud.

turn 2c brick. SB checks, and i start doing a bit of work here. i calculate his stack to be around 350-400 deep, so i fire out 150k. SB thinks, then moves in for 195k more. i call and he tables jacks.

river bricks off, and i win a big pot right before break. whew. the COMEBACK kid.

as i'm stacking up my chips jason comes by and tells me he's just been eliminated. bleck. he wishes me good luck, and i tell him i'll call him later.

pretty soon, we all get bumped up to the feature table. the felt kind of sucks, since i've got a crapload of 5k chips, i can't stack them in stacks of 40, so i have to get colored up. but it's pretty fun, getting wired for sound and all that, and thinking i'm going to be on tv.

of course dmitri nobles, the crazy loose pokerstars qualifier on a sick run of cards, is at my table, and two to my left. whoopdee frickin doo.

moderately good hand for me happens early...
blinds 5k/10k 1000 ante
folds to the SB, who completes, i check with 63d.

flop A62. SB bets 20k, i call.

turn 6. SB checks, i bet 40k, he calls.

river 5. SB checks, i think for a bit, then bet 80k. he calls. shows me an ace and then mucks when i show my 6, and berates himself for not raising pf.

so when you're on tv you think you do stupid [censored]. like this hand.

i pick up AQo on the button, and it's nobles, bb. being the idiot that i am, i open limp on the button, sb folds, nobles checks.

flop comes down 9J6 two clubs. nobles checks, i check, i have no club.

turn comes an 8c. nobles bets 10k, i call.

river comes an offsuit ace. nobles bets 50k, i think for a bit, then call. he shows A8. yep, misplayed on every street, [censored].

action ends soon after this hand, and i'm thinking great to myself, time to clear up and refocus for tomorrow. and that's how it was, 135 left for day 5.

[ajohnson16]

Awesome post but its bingo bango bongo, not bingo bongo bango. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[train.]

[ QUOTE ]
Awesome post but its bingo bango bongo, not bingo bongo bango. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

i gotcha back on this one tech....

Dick Die. /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[FoxwoodsFiend]

[ QUOTE ]
. he tells me, rightly so, to stfu, and get my head in the game, and that nothing is [censored] over. i take heed, and go back and play.


[/ QUOTE ]

Wait...THIS is the pep talk that gets mentioned? Shame... /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[technologic]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
. he tells me, rightly so, to stfu, and get my head in the game, and that nothing is [censored] over. i take heed, and go back and play.


[/ QUOTE ]

Wait...THIS is the pep talk that gets mentioned? Shame... /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

don't worry, your pep talk comes around day 6 or so

[Bob Sacamano]

Would've been awesome if he had called and you had turned to the cameras and said "lol, zeebo's theorem."

[technologic]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Awesome post but its bingo bango bongo, not bingo bongo bango. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

i gotcha back on this one tech....

Dick Die. /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

lol.

[stealyourface]

Great report again!

I am enjoying your ME posts alot but have one suggestion. Could you try to post your stack size more often? thanks.

Anyway, looking forward to Day 5.

[technologic]

[ QUOTE ]
Great report again!

I am enjoying your ME posts alot but have one suggestion. Could you try to post your stack size more often? thanks.

Anyway, looking forward to Day 5.

[/ QUOTE ]

heh i would if i could, but the trouble is i don't really remember that information accurately for every hand...i had 937k or so at the end of day 4 though

[technologic]

hm i don't mention it, but i move in for 270k against fcp boy at the river

[CarpeDiem]

Great post again. Just curious--when did you actually qualify? I qualified the Sunday before the ME and looking back we were both at the final table of a 160 shootout that I ended up winning (I got hit by the deck in a serious way--you got 8th or 7th.) I was just curious if you had already qualified or were trying to sneak in ultra late? I think the 160 we played in finished around 7:30 PM EST.

It's great reading your blog--you have some seriously sick moves.

[technologic]

i was playing in that 160 simultaneously with the 650. that was actually the first final table i got to in the 160, so i had two real shots at getting a seat that night. i busted in the 160, so i concentrated on the 650 and won that for my seat.

[csquard]

This is tech's post, but my worst two memories of the WSOP is watching that runner-runner beat on Jason then seeing that guy get a massage for an hour in front of all of his newfound chippies. I was sick for thirty minutes.

[NicksDad1970]

Congrats Tech, I enjoyed the report. Did you ever figure out who "FCP boy" was?

[Snarf]

[ QUOTE ]
Congrats Tech, I enjoyed the report. Did you ever figure out who "FCP boy" was?

[/ QUOTE ]

why do I feel like it was you?

[technologic]

[ QUOTE ]
Congrats Tech, I enjoyed the report. Did you ever figure out who "FCP boy" was?

[/ QUOTE ]

no, do you know him?

[NicksDad1970]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Congrats Tech, I enjoyed the report. Did you ever figure out who "FCP boy" was?

[/ QUOTE ]

why do I feel like it was you?

[/ QUOTE ]

Ummmmmmmmmmmm, I dunno.

No, it wasn't me. I go to FCP sometimes. When I think about FCP I don't think about it being near as big as many other poker site (safe assumption I think). So I was wondering if I had heard of him/her.

Kind of like when someone says they're from your town and only 50,000 people live there. For some reason you think you must know that person /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[2Fast]

nice Day 4 report....just wondering, on that quad 3s hand you have did you give any thought at all to some kind of 1/3 pot value bet on the river?

[FoxwoodsFiend]

[ QUOTE ]
nice Day 4 report....just wondering, on that quad 3s hand you have did you give any thought at all to some kind of 1/3 pot value bet on the river?

[/ QUOTE ]

Back at the hotel room, Strass and I both suggested a bet of around 140, 150Kish instead of around a pot-sized-bet all-in. Given Doug's relatively nitty image, just about no good player ever calls a psb to win half that amount hoping for a chop.

[The Ocho]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
nice Day 4 report....just wondering, on that quad 3s hand you have did you give any thought at all to some kind of 1/3 pot value bet on the river?

[/ QUOTE ]

Back at the hotel room, Strass and I both suggested a bet of around 140, 150Kish instead of around a pot-sized-bet all-in. Given Doug's relatively nitty image, just about no good player ever calls a psb to win half that amount hoping for a chop.

[/ QUOTE ]

did doug insta-orgasm his chips into the pot just like in the good old days back at duke? it's been a while since i've played with that nitty rascal... did he use a new, trickier 5-second-delay-then-chip-orgasm?

[technologic]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
nice Day 4 report....just wondering, on that quad 3s hand you have did you give any thought at all to some kind of 1/3 pot value bet on the river?

[/ QUOTE ]

Back at the hotel room, Strass and I both suggested a bet of around 140, 150Kish instead of around a pot-sized-bet all-in. Given Doug's relatively nitty image, just about no good player ever calls a psb to win half that amount hoping for a chop.

[/ QUOTE ]

did doug insta-orgasm his chips into the pot just like in the good old days back at duke? it's been a while since i've played with that nitty rascal... did he use a new, trickier 5-second-delay-then-chip-orgasm?

[/ QUOTE ]

it was a trickier TEN second delay type, i don't think i put my chips in tho

[2Fast]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
nice Day 4 report....just wondering, on that quad 3s hand you have did you give any thought at all to some kind of 1/3 pot value bet on the river?

[/ QUOTE ]

Back at the hotel room, Strass and I both suggested a bet of around 140, 150Kish instead of around a pot-sized-bet all-in. Given Doug's relatively nitty image, just about no good player ever calls a psb to win half that amount hoping for a chop.

[/ QUOTE ]

did doug insta-orgasm his chips into the pot just like in the good old days back at duke? it's been a while since i've played with that nitty rascal... did he use a new, trickier 5-second-delay-then-chip-orgasm?

[/ QUOTE ]

it was a trickier TEN second delay type, i don't think i put my chips in tho

[/ QUOTE ]

Nice. Too bad Villain didn't call though as it would have been awesome to see the look on people's faces as you tabled 23o - would guess this would have seriously hampered your table image & fold equity for awhile though!

[ace_in_the_hole]

great report and congrats on the score.

[technologic]

decided to revisit this post, one year after my tourney from last year, to finish this trip report partly for those that were interested, and partly for myself, even though it may not be as fresh as i'd like.

---------------------------

i went back to the palms hotel room where i was staying with jason, to find jason playing some 200/400 triple draw with FWF. i told them about the AQ hand i played against nobles, to which jason sighed and presumably went on some more life tilt.

there were 135 players left, and this is the point where i start checking up on info on the tournament and see that there are lines on who will make the final table. the line on me i believe was around even money...haha, ok it was probably around 9/1, which wasn't bad considering i had 930k in chips to start.

but i suppose this was when i started thinking seriously that i could make the final table, and it wasn't some pipe dream to play the world series and be on ESPN.

first things first, i thought to myself, everyday is another battle.

day 5

my starting table looks friendly enough, i reunite with my old buddy from day 1, thomas walhroos, and richard gryko, a short stacking ninja who i've played with on multiple days.

the blinds start at 6k/12k with a 2k ante. at this point of the tournament, i'm not as safe as i was on previous starting days, as i had around 80 BB, when i usually hovered around 100-120. i still had breathing room, but i knew there was never a time to let my foot off the gas.

"seat open, table xxx" kept going as rampantly as ever. i wondered why people still kept busting so fast, did they not realize they were playing for bajillions of dollars? in the first level, there were around 30 eliminations, almost 25% of the field gone.

meanwhilist, i chip up and chip down, trying to stay afloat. by the end of the 2nd level, i have around 800k, losing ground slowly. i wondered if i was just going to try to hold on...after some folding to some repops, i'm all the way down 750k, 700k, 650k...then i drop to around 600k or so. i was staying aggressive, but i was definitely getting outflopped and couldn't keep the pressure going.

then at 6:15pm, nearing the end of the 3rd level at 10k/20k blinds with a 3k ante and down to a paltry 560k, i look down at my hand to see some beautiful kings. i make a standard 60k open early position. the big blind, who seemed a bit tight, moved all in. he hadn't shown much aggression throughout the tournament, so thoughts of the scene with rounders with damon and malkovich started floating through my mind. but the day i fold pocket kings preflop for 25bb, is the day phil galfond and phil hellmuth can call me a nit.

i called and he table AKo. not the best hand i want to see, but i'll take it i suppose.

flop JJ9 two hearts.

the dealer slowrolls a...6h. i have Kh, giving the guy 2 outs.

the dealer gives me a juicy Td, and it's gogogo time.

my nit image is a success as i showed that i even thought about folding with pocket kings. the rest of the table bows down to my pressure and i go on a rush in a hurry. i win a 55 all in for 375k against my AQc w00t flipaments, and i'm almost up to two million.

then kevin aaronson and william thorsson decide to join my table. i can no longer take control and have to balance my strategy again. aaronson and i get into a couple tangles, but nothing too serious.

towards the end of the day an interesting hand with aaronson and another player comes up. EP raises to 100k pf, and aaronson calls late position. flop comes 876 two hearts, and EP overbets all in for around 850k. ridonkulous. aaronson thinks for a while. EP goads him saying, "you'll be on TV if you make this call." by this time, ESPN cameras were all over, and it seemed certain that this hand would be televised anyway. (it wasn't) aaronson quips by saying, "let me see if i've made enough money to call you." (164k at that point was the payout) aaronson decides to call with QQ. EP tables ATh, and it's close.

turn K, river 6, and QQ is g00t. aaronson remarks that he had made a mistake earlier against EP, and i say to aaronson, now you'll be on TV, LDO. (again, it wasn't, i suck at telecastaments)

after a few more eliminations they decide to end early (around 11:30) before the 5th level was finished, because they were simply eliminating people a lot faster than they expected. they announced that day 8 would be an off day, because of the speedy tournament, and we packed up our baggies with goodies. i only increased my stack by around 40% or so, which wasn't too bad.

at the end of the day, i went back to the hotel room to be greeted by FWF. it was his last day in vegas, as he was going back home from all the craziness.

FWF looked at the payout sheet and told me,

"man, play for like 15th," he remarked. "there's a [censored] of money at the top of the tournament, you should probably be still trying to chip up. oh yeah and one other thing, don't get involved with prahlad friedman. if it ever gets heads up with you and him with even stacks, you should deal for 2nd place + 1 dollar."

"thanks for the confidence, jackass," as i pondered looking out of the hotel room. but nothing really could take away from the thrill of victory.

another day, another battle.

[Cat]

Great TR, I missed the original first time round. Please continue with the rest! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[tuq]

Great stuff techno. Thanks.

[Praetor]

[ QUOTE ]
Great TR, I missed the original first time round. Please continue with the rest! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

[Matt Williams]

Better late than never!

[technologic]

will write one a week, hopefully it's not too boring to read about

[Salmo Trutta]

[ QUOTE ]
will write one a week, hopefully it's not too boring to read about

[/ QUOTE ]

Great stuff. Not boring at all. I look forward to the next one. Thanks!

[Pokerbrat]

Very interesting, thanks for writing them.

[raconteur]

Thanks for this excuse to recall former glories...

Regards,
Ninja

[technologic]

day 6

http://media.cardplayer.com/image/k/Kim_Doug-4.jpg

at this point, as a young gun in the field with 45 left, i'm getting a bit more coverage. the pokerstars blogger who was originally covering jason was now exclusively covering me. a bit more pressure was mounting, and i knew it wasn't going to get any easier.

right off the bat as i unload my chips, i notice a bag that was literally bursting at the seams. wtf, i thought to myself...at least it was the other side of the table. as everyone else is getting settled in, the owner of that bag finally found the table.

gold. jamie gold. my first encounter with the chip leader, i was going to figure out his every move before i got involved in a big pot with him.

gold was conversing with aaronson and two other guys at the table, one sid jain and another. it seems that they are regulars at the commerce 25/50 game in LA...thanks for alerting me, pals. gold has over 7 million in chips, around 5 times my stack. it probably takes him around a full 10 minutes to fully organize his chips, as he starts to play the first hand with just a mountain in front of him.

blinds 15k/30k 5k ante

the first hand we get dealt, jain raises to 97k. gold calls in the bb.

flop Q66 rainbow.
jain bets 160k, and gold calls.

turn T
both check

river Q
gold bets 125k, and jain thinks for a while. finally he calls, and tables J8o. i make a mental note that these guys are obv going to be going in guns ablazing.

gold doesn't have much to worry, though. about an hour later, gold opens a pot and guy on his immediate left calls.

flop is 984 two diamonds, and gold shoves for around 1.8 million, hansen snap calls with TT. as gold shows AA, i groan in disgust. you can see allen cunningham in disbelief in this video here:

TT is teh nutz!!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ulr5gqpkfxA&mode=related&search=)

how the hell was i supposed to win when people were just giving chips to gold left and right?

around 30 minutes later, gold wins another pot getting it all in on an AK6 board with AK against someone elses AJ for around 2.3 million pot. while the carnage continues, i'm forced to steer clear as i'm card dead and cannot afford any ill-timed aggression.

by the 2nd level, there were 9 eliminations. we were only playing to 27, so with 36 left, it looked to be a short day.

for the second level with 20k/40k blinds and a 5k ante, i manage to tread water by using my tight image to steal every so often. but with gold willing to play a lot of pots and repop at will, i couldn't really manuever too much as my cards were just not there for me.

towards the end of the second level,

there's one limper, i pick up KQo on the button, i raise to 150k. gold calls, limper calls and we go to the flop.

flop J63c
gold checks, limper checks, i lead out for around 300k, gold calls, limper folds. (i have Kc) i'm thinking gold probably had a weak jack or a underpair to a J.

turn T offsuit
gold checks, i believe that gold will probably fold to a shove given my tight image and that i have a good number of outs if i'm behind, so i move in for 925k. gold thinks about it, and says, "i'm getting 3-1 i call!" (he was getting around 2.4-1, and his call was incorrect even if he thought he was getting 3-1) at this point i'm thinking wtf was i thinking that he'd fold anything...

as i see him flip over his 98h, i'm thinking omg, wtf. please don't let this lunatic who called me with crap oop on the flop suck out. wtf?!?!!?

but the river brought the beautiful As, and i shouted for joy, "Yes! Yeah baby! The nuts! Well, the nut straight!"

gold quickly tries to save face by saying, "no no, not the nuts." i probably should've pointed out that a 9 would not have helped him, and that it was a terrible call, and that sweet juicy justice had been served and subsequently inked a 10 year deal with pokerstars for doing so, but in the heat of the moment i was just happy to be alive.

the hand is at the end of this video:

video of me pwning gold (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ofkRZf0gXc&mode=related&search=)

the short day ends around 10 minutes later, and i end with a decent 3.6m in chips. was in better shape because there were only 2.5 levels of play and i tripled my stack. the short day was a big relief for all of us players, as we haven't gotten a break in a while.

the day felt kind of anticlimactic, ending so early, but i wasn't complaining. i had dinner with alex jacob and his gf with jason and craftsteak. awesome place, kobe beef filet is exceptional. probably my favorite place to eat in vegas, but i guess i haven't done too much eating when i'm usually busy gambling to have a good opinion on the places. all in all, it was a nice way to cap off a fine evening in LV.

[gobboboy]

Why the hell did you not win.

[momo_the_kid]

so Gold called that flop with no pair and no draw. wtf?

[technologic]

[ QUOTE ]
so Gold called that flop with no pair and no draw. wtf?

[/ QUOTE ]

yep. float oop ftl?

[yimyammer]

when you say:

sweet juicy justice had been served and subsequently inked a 10 year deal with pokerstars for doing so

Are you referring to yourself?

Care to enlighten us what the deal entails (pardon if thats too personal to ask)?

[Bdidd]

[ QUOTE ]
day 6

http://media.cardplayer.com/image/k/Kim_Doug-4.jpg

at this point, as a young gun in the field with 45 left, i'm getting a bit more coverage. the pokerstars blogger who was originally covering jason was now exclusively covering me. a bit more pressure was mounting, and i knew it wasn't going to get any easier.

right off the bat as i unload my chips, i notice a bag that was literally bursting at the seams. wtf, i thought to myself...at least it was the other side of the table. as everyone else is getting settled in, the owner of that bag finally found the table.

gold. jamie gold. my first encounter with the chip leader, i was going to figure out his every move before i got involved in a big pot with him.

gold was conversing with aaronson and two other guys at the table, one sid jain and another. it seems that they are regulars at the commerce 25/50 game in LA...thanks for alerting me, pals. gold has over 7 million in chips, around 5 times my stack. it probably takes him around a full 10 minutes to fully organize his chips, as he starts to play the first hand with just a mountain in front of him.

blinds 15k/30k 5k ante

the first hand we get dealt, jain raises to 97k. gold calls in the bb.

flop Q66 rainbow.
jain bets 160k, and gold calls.

turn T
both check

river Q
gold bets 125k, and jain thinks for a while. finally he calls, and tables J8o. i make a mental note that these guys are obv going to be going in guns ablazing.

gold doesn't have much to worry, though. about an hour later, gold opens a pot and guy on his immediate left calls.

flop is 984 two diamonds, and gold shoves for around 1.8 million, hansen snap calls with TT. as gold shows AA, i groan in disgust. you can see allen cunningham in disbelief in this video here:

TT is teh nutz!!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ulr5gqpkfxA&mode=related&search=)

how the hell was i supposed to win when people were just giving chips to gold left and right?

around 30 minutes later, gold wins another pot getting it all in on an AK6 board with AK against someone elses AJ for around 2.3 million pot. while the carnage continues, i'm forced to steer clear as i'm card dead and cannot afford any ill-timed aggression.

by the 2nd level, there were 9 eliminations. we were only playing to 27, so with 36 left, it looked to be a short day.

for the second level with 20k/40k blinds and a 5k ante, i manage to tread water by using my tight image to steal every so often. but with gold willing to play a lot of pots and repop at will, i couldn't really manuever too much as my cards were just not there for me.

towards the end of the second level,

there's one limper, i pick up KQo on the button, i raise to 150k. gold calls, limper calls and we go to the flop.

flop J63c
gold checks, limper checks, i lead out for around 300k, gold calls, limper folds. (i have Kc) i'm thinking gold probably had a weak jack or a underpair to a J.

turn T offsuit
gold checks, i believe that gold will probably fold to a shove given my tight image and that i have a good number of outs if i'm behind, so i move in for 925k. gold thinks about it, and says, "i'm getting 3-1 i call!" (he was getting around 2.4-1, and his call was incorrect even if he thought he was getting 3-1) at this point i'm thinking wtf was i thinking that he'd fold anything...

as i see him flip over his 98h, i'm thinking omg, wtf. please don't let this lunatic who called me with crap oop on the flop suck out. wtf?!?!!?

but the river brought the beautiful As, and i shouted for joy, "Yes! Yeah baby! The nuts! Well, the nut straight!"

gold quickly tries to save face by saying, "no no, not the nuts." i probably should've pointed out that a 9 would not have helped him, and that it was a terrible call, and that sweet juicy justice had been served and subsequently inked a 10 year deal with pokerstars for doing so, but in the heat of the moment i was just happy to be alive.

the hand is at the end of this video:

video of me pwning gold (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ofkRZf0gXc&mode=related&search=)

the short day ends around 10 minutes later, and i end with a decent 3.6m in chips. was in better shape because there were only 2.5 levels of play and i tripled my stack. the short day was a big relief for all of us players, as we haven't gotten a break in a while.

the day felt kind of anticlimactic, ending so early, but i wasn't complaining. i had dinner with alex jacob and his gf with jason and craftsteak. awesome place, kobe beef filet is exceptional. probably my favorite place to eat in vegas, but i guess i haven't done too much eating when i'm usually busy gambling to have a good opinion on the places. all in all, it was a nice way to cap off a fine evening in LV.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your TR is awesome but please put your hand on straight. I get douche chills just looking at anyone who wears a hat like that.

[technologic]

[ QUOTE ]
when you say:

sweet juicy justice had been served and subsequently inked a 10 year deal with pokerstars for doing so

Are you referring to yourself?

Care to enlighten us what the deal entails (pardon if thats too personal to ask)?

[/ QUOTE ]

was referring to how rainkhan got a deal with pstars for supposedly acting like a douche (sort of, not really sure)

[technologic]

sorry, the hat just didn't feel comfortable when i wore it straight because i didn't want to get hat hair

[Bdidd]

[ QUOTE ]
sorry, the hat just didn't feel comfortable when i wore it straight because i didn't want to get hat hair

[/ QUOTE ]

Bleh, i'm just bustin balls.

[T_Mac]

[ QUOTE ]
Great TR, I missed the original first time round. Please continue with the rest! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

[A_C_Slater]

gold thinks about it, and says, "i'm getting 3-1 i call!" (he was getting around 2.4-1, and his call was incorrect even if he thought he was getting 3-1)


"How many fingers am I holding up, Doug?"

"Four."

"And if the Champ says that it is not four--but five, then how many?"

"Four."


(*BZZZZZZZZZZZT*) HYACHACHACHACHACHACHA!

[technologic]

day 7, 27 down to 9

i decided not to wear my rivera jersey today, thinking that if i did make the final table, i'd wear it then, following the old torre adage of never bringing in the closer without a lead. (though i had worn it on days 5 and 6, since i figured i was going to bust each of those days)

i started with around 3.6 million in chips. they had 3 tables left, both of which were positioned pretty close to the featured table.

here was the complete seating of my first table, which began as the featured table:

seat 1: jamie gold
seat 2: me
seat 3: lee kort
seat 4: rhett butler
seat 5: prahlad friedman
seat 6: fred goldberg
seat 7: sid jain
seat 8: paul wasicka
seat 9: richard wyrick

http://media.cardplayer.com/image/j/JamieGold_DougKim.jpg

here was the payout structure for that day:
10-12 $1,154,527
13-15 $907,128
16-18 $659,730
19-27 $494,797

not too shabby looking, things were looking pretty good. and as crazy as it sounds, my nit side moved aside and i was not at all concerned with this. i was getting to the final table. it was going to happen.

blinds 25k/50k 5k ante

this day starts with ppl firing out million dollar bets, to which i cannot resist but do my dr. evil impressions of "ONE MILLION DOLLARS." prob too lame to make it on espn.

around a couple minutes in, wyrick (the short stack ninja who i played with at multiple tables throughout the series) moves in in the CO for around 550k. gold calls with AKo against wyrick's A7o. KT588 and we're down to 26.

8 minutes later we get prahlad and jain AIPF, prahlad with KK and jain with 88. prahlad actually flops a set with KQx flop, to which jain says, let me get a 200-1 or 1000-1 shot here. to which i nerdly reply, "actually it's a 989-1 shot."

two bustouts (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr_EcQWHzfM)

a player busted out at another table nearby. once there was a multiple of 3 at the table, they always reshuffled the tables so they would be even. i imagined that they would do this until it got down to 18. as a result, eric lynch came to our table. we exchanged a few words, being fellow 2p2ers, but he seemed to be all business.

soon after he sat down, wasicka doubles up with QQ vs AQ all in against prahlad. the fireworks were not stopping for the first orbit.

then lynch gets into this hand with gold at around 4:15 on this video:

lynch vs. gold (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvJAjrBIbZ8&NR=1)

rizen pushes all in for around 1.7m against gold when gold makes a big raise pf to around 500k with A6o when gold had TT.

i'm thinking wtf...you have to know there was no FE against gold in that spot...and gold wins another big pot, obv.

again, when the fireworks fly and you're nothing but card dead, you can't really do much...i whittle down to around under 3 million and keep on struggling.

i witness a few interesting hands though. the jamie gold bluff and the top top hands speak for themselves on this clip:

top top! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuBLxwus1-w&NR=1)

my only big hand with kort was when we had gotten into a big pot on the end of one of the earlier days where he bluffed all in with trash against me where i almost called him down light. i forget the hand exactly, but he was obviously prone to tilt. the hand pissed me off because he slammed down his hand when i folded.

people ask why i didn't say anything during the top top hand. part of me didn't mind because i wanted kort finished off, but part of me didn't know what to say exactly, since it happened pretty quickly, and it didn't seem like the talk would've changed the action at all (i.e. gold probably calls anyway)

30k/60k 10k ante

i dropped to around 2m, being totally card dead. i had to make something going, so given my tight image, i tried to raise UTG K6o to just go for a blind steal. unfortunately, rhett butler and prahlad call me behind.

flop 457 two hearts. i continuation bet for 450k, prahlad calls. time to get lucky i thought...

turn 8.
i think for a bit, and decide that the heart draw out there is not worth getting tricky here. i push for my stack, and prahlad ends up folding. oh wellz. i'm back up to around 2.5m again.
me vs. prah (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnlVZWpdCe0&mode=related&search=)

soon after, prah goes all in against gold. gold ponders for a bit and does one of his funky tv producer math and says i'm getting 2-1 i call, obv. clip here:

prah vs. gold (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnlVZWpdCe0&mode=related&search=)

then comes my hand where i utterly destroy gold. the action folds to gold in the SB, who bumps it to 200k pf. i call with A8d in the BB.

flop comes AA7 two hearts. gold bets 400k, and i move in for around 2m more. he almost insta calls with 76, to which i show him he's all but dead to that very same 989-1 shot. blank on turn, and i'm up to over 5 mil. word.

after dustin holmes gets knocked out in 19th, the tables combine two make two. i get seated at the non-featured table, here's the seating:

Table 1:

1. Richard Lee
2. Michael Binger
3. Dan Nassif
4. John Magill
5. Doug Kim
6. Kevin Aaronson
7. Erik Friberg
8. Fred Goldburg
9. Sirous Jamshidi

not the hugest fan of mcgill, he came off as pretty much an [censored]. jamshidi did not seem to know wtf was going on, so i figured to try to play a big pot with him. alas, jamshidi, after making some donk moves, is eliminated soon in 16th place, so no dice on that.

in fact, 14 players remain at the end of the 3rd level. the day was going at blinding speed...i get moved to the final spot for the rest of the tournament at the featured table. one to the left of gold. luke chung suffers a big beat in this hand here:

chung vs. gold (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCDWTshJkbc&mode=related&search=)

i bet here because i figure i've got a tight image and can probably double barrel successfully with a decent amount of outs, however luke chung saves me from losing a lot of chips as he fires all in after gold calls. disgusting beat yet once again, and gold wins more chips. you can see me rolling my eyes as gold claims it's a good thing for me that he's getting everyone's chips.

i then witness another gold pot...thorson against gold all in JJ vs. KK...does this guy ever lose? wtf? while i'm somewhat glad that a dangerous player like thorson is out, i can't imagine surmounting gold's ridiculous lead to take the title. heh, so i'm a bit ambitious.

after thorson is eliminated, they announce that everyone's a millionaire. i'm not impressed, as i know that the tax man will make it impossible for me to be a millionaire at this point. so i remark, "time to go for 12..." did i mention i was ambitious?

they conveniently replace chung and thorson with...cunningham and friberg. my luck during the last two days were not the best.

they change the dynamic of the table almost instantly, as cunningham and friberg both take big pots of gold, slowing him down.

leif force at the table, is probably the worst player i've seen in the final 100. he was playing the worst short stack strategy, limp/folding. he gets completely owned by erik friberg in this hand:

friberg vs. force (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIluo4B_COQ&mode=related&search=)

after force is eliminated, we combine to make one table of ten. this is the first time we play ten handed since day 1, so it's a bit scrunched. the seating is as follows:

Seat 1 - Richard Lee $8,465,000
Seat 2 - Erik Friberg $5,905,000
Seat 3 - Paul Wasicka $4,750,000
Seat 4 - Dan Nassif $5,865,000
Seat 5 - Allen Cunningham $18,000,000
Seat 6 - Michael Binger $3,640,000
Seat 7 - Doug Kim $6,190,000
Seat 8 - Fred Goldberg $4,265,000
Seat 9 - Jamie Gold $27,330,000
Seat 10 - Rhett Butler $5,165,000

a bit better than before, at least i have position on cunningham. visions of the final table were going through my head. although this wasn't the official final table, it was like the most intense game of musical chairs i've ever played. nobody wanted to be the first one out, yet i knew that jamie/cunningham were going to try to use that to their advantage. i adjusted accordingly and kept on some aggression to stay alive.

level 60k/120k 20k ante

richard lee takes a big one off me early on, as i pop his 400k bet to 1.5m with air. he moves in on me, and i throw my hand in the muck. bleck.

a hand soon came up between gold and wasicka. paul makes it 400k to go pf, and gold calls.

flop KT5 two spades.
paul bets 600k, and gold calls.

turn is an offsuit Q
paul checks, gold bets 1.5m, paul moves in for 3m total. gold calls with K7 and paul shows 55 FTW. i was like man, jamie is now going to experience some HURT.

an interesting hand that wasn't shown on ESPN comes up. butler and cunningham limp, i limp with 88, gold limps, and we go fourway.

flop Q74 two clubs.
checks to cunningham, who bets 700k. i bump it to 2.1 million, cause there's a pretty good chance he's on a draw, which he would fold, and i'm pretty sure that even if cunningham had a Q, i have some FE from my nit image. folds to cunningham, who thinks for a bit and then folds. i played with the best, and i won! w00t.

goldberg made some of the most idiot plays. in a limped pot 5 handed, he moves all in on a 742 rainbow flop for probably 5x pot, which folds to gold, who shows J7. goldberg proudly tables 74, and says, "i'm not messing around fellas." good job...i guess? he then follows up by moving all in at random times in small pots...wow. i guess the donkeys still remain even after 8763 eliminations...

but goldberg goes on tilt shortly after binger doubles through him with AQ vs TT AIPF. binger turns an A after a low flop, and goldberg acts like he just got one outered, as if the hand was a lock.

a significant hand soon after happens with me and gold. gold limps in the EP, wasicka and binger limp. i check the BB with K8o.

flop KQ9 all diamonds.
i check here and gold bets 300k, and binger and wasicka fold. i call.

turn 4c
we both check. at this point, i put jamie on a flush draw, air, etc.

river Jo
i check, jamie bets 800k, and i snap it off. i was planning to snap call any non-diamond, non-ace river. i wait till he shows his hand, to which he mucks, and show K8.

goldberg, still muttering to himself about the loss, goes all in pf for around 2.6 million. yep, 16x BB AIPF. richard lee insta calls with KK against his Q3. richard lee takes it down, and the final table is set. sweet justice...i take a swig out of my gatorade bottle and congratulate the other players. it's go time, mofoers.

i ended the day around 6.77m in chips, not too bad, for 5th in chips. ESPN handed out cards for when we would be scheduled interviews, and we did the usual procedure of writing down chip counts, bagging, etc. it was almost surreal, the thought of making the final table, actually becoming a reality. but one thought remained in my head. time to do one thing. take it down.

[jessicaalbiel]

nice post

[Pokerbrat]

nice TR

[A_C_Slater]

Goldberg won a bracelet this year in the mixed holdem event.... forever proving that tournaments are stupid.

[g33z3r]

Very nice read! I am following all those updates eagerly.

[Rottersod]

[ QUOTE ]
ESPN handed out cards for when we would be scheduled interviews, and we did the usual procedure of writing down chip counts, bagging, etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

Doug, would you post the details for how these interviews are set up, when they take place, where, continuity shots, leads from producers, etc?

Thanks.

[Rizen]

[ QUOTE ]
rizen pushes all in for around 1.7m against gold when gold makes a big raise pf to around 500k with A6o when gold had TT.

i'm thinking wtf...you have to know there was no FE against gold in that spot...and gold wins another big pot, obv.

again, when the fireworks fly and you're nothing but card dead, you can't really do much...i whittle down to around under 3 million and keep on struggling.


[/ QUOTE ]

Everyone always gets this wrong. I had over 2.5 million to start this hand, and my raise was for over 2 million more. I definitely have fold equity here if he doesn't have a real hand. Based on prior play with him in previous days I felt he could lay down here, after seeing the rest of how he played the final couple of days I probably misjudged that. But knowing what I knew at the time, I feel it was a fine play and would do it again.

You should know I had more than 1.7 million at this point, as I'd just won a huge pot off you when you folded to my river push /images/graemlins/smile.gif

-Rizen

[technologic]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
rizen pushes all in for around 1.7m against gold when gold makes a big raise pf to around 500k with A6o when gold had TT.

i'm thinking wtf...you have to know there was no FE against gold in that spot...and gold wins another big pot, obv.

again, when the fireworks fly and you're nothing but card dead, you can't really do much...i whittle down to around under 3 million and keep on struggling.


[/ QUOTE ]

Everyone always gets this wrong. I had over 2.5 million to start this hand, and my raise was for over 2 million more. I definitely have fold equity here if he doesn't have a real hand. Based on prior play with him in previous days I felt he could lay down here, after seeing the rest of how he played the final couple of days I probably misjudged that. But knowing what I knew at the time, I feel it was a fine play and would do it again.

You should know I had more than 1.7 million at this point, as I'd just won a huge pot off you when you folded to my river push /images/graemlins/smile.gif

-Rizen

[/ QUOTE ]

touche, i was going based on cardplayer counts.

i still don't agree that pushing against a massive chip leader who was willing to call big bets on several occasions full well knowing he was behind to send a message was a bad idea.

are you rizen on pstars?

[Rizen]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
rizen pushes all in for around 1.7m against gold when gold makes a big raise pf to around 500k with A6o when gold had TT.

i'm thinking wtf...you have to know there was no FE against gold in that spot...and gold wins another big pot, obv.

again, when the fireworks fly and you're nothing but card dead, you can't really do much...i whittle down to around under 3 million and keep on struggling.


[/ QUOTE ]

Everyone always gets this wrong. I had over 2.5 million to start this hand, and my raise was for over 2 million more. I definitely have fold equity here if he doesn't have a real hand. Based on prior play with him in previous days I felt he could lay down here, after seeing the rest of how he played the final couple of days I probably misjudged that. But knowing what I knew at the time, I feel it was a fine play and would do it again.

You should know I had more than 1.7 million at this point, as I'd just won a huge pot off you when you folded to my river push /images/graemlins/smile.gif

-Rizen

[/ QUOTE ]

touche, i was going based on cardplayer counts.

i still don't agree that pushing against a massive chip leader who was willing to call big bets on several occasions full well knowing he was behind to send a message was a bad idea.

are you rizen on pstars?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes I am... CP counts were way off for me there. Like I said, when I played with him 2 days before that he was capable of making laydowns there. Obviously after seeing him call Prahlad with 78o I realize that was wrong. Had I known that then I don't push, but given what I knew at the time, I liked the play and still do.

-Rizen

[lamgabejambo]

I still don't understand why you still like that play Rizen. I have tremendous respect for your game, and enjoy your articles a lot. But knowing you still have deep stack and Gold is just insane, why didn't you just wait for a better spot with aces or kings and double up, instead of donking it off for nothing with ace rag?

[Rottersod]

10 days and no updates. C'mon Doug. Don't leave us hanging for another year. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[technologic]

hahaha sorry, been busy this labor day weekend, i'll prob write it this weekend.

[Perk76]

I keep checking for it! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Rottersod]

[ QUOTE ]
hahaha sorry, been busy this labor day weekend, i'll prob write it this weekend.

[/ QUOTE ]

Great.

Not sure if you saw this earlier post:

Doug, would you post the details for how these interviews are set up, when they take place, where, continuity shots, leads from producers, etc?

Thanks.

[technologic]

at the end of day 7, they gave each of us cards with times to show up at the rio for interviews.

my interview was at 3:30pm. at first, they made me sit at a table with chips for around 15 minutes, while they moved a camera around, getting every single shot i suppose, moving the camera in all directions, etc.

then lon came in and asked me a series of questions, some about allen, some about gold, some about my background in poker, etc. it was around a 20-30 minute interview. most of my interview was not shown, probably a function of me not making the final 4.

[rakemeplz]

Can anyone find links to the start of his trip report?

[Uncle_Billy]

bump as a reminder to please finish this thing - this is cruel...

[Zetack]

[ QUOTE ]
bump as a reminder to please finish this thing - this is cruel...

[/ QUOTE ]

No worries, I'm sure Tech will have the next installment out within a year...

--Zetack

[entertainme]

VB Bump