Blair Rodman
12-18-2006, 05:35 PM
I came into the second day of the Bellagio WPT with about 20k, having started the tournament with 30k. The first day was pretty uneventful. I hovered around the 30k mark most of the day, not being able to get anything going. A couple of hands of note:
There was one empty seat at my table for about the first hour. I’m not really sure why, but it’s usually it’s a good player who comes late. Today’s mystery guest—Layne Flack. Layne played aggressively right away and lost almost 10k. Then, he raised up front to 600 (100-200 blinds). The player to my right made it 2300, and the SB made it 7300. Layne moved in for 14,300 more. The SB agonized over the decision, telling Layne that against anyone else he’d be in the muck. He finally followed through on his good instincts, calling and showing KK. Layne—JJ. Bye Layne.
The player who won that hand had a nice stack, but went on to blow most of it off in one hand. A player raised, another re-raised, and he put in a third raise of about 9k. The original raiser, who also had a big stack, smooth called, which should have raised a large caution flag. The flop came K-T-9. The caller checked and out hero bet 16k. The other player moved in for 21k more, which would leave our hero with only 6 or 7k. I was surprised to see him with AK, and more surprised he called. All he could beat was a bluff. The other player showed him a set of kings. He later said it was the worst hand he’d ever played.
The other hand relates somewhat to my hand in the PPT with Randy Jensen that we discussed on my forum last week. The blinds were 200-400/50. The button made it 1125. I called from the SB with 66. The BB (the same guy who had lost the above hand) moved in for 7300 more. The button folded. I was getting about 1.6/1 on the call, and knew there was a wide range of hands that he’d make this play with. I called and he showed 22, one of the hands I was hoping Randy Jensen had in the PPT. My hand held up and I was above 35k, but at the last level I lost a big pot with JJ vs KK to finish with 20k.
I liked my starting table for the second day—no big stacks and most of the players were unfamiliar. Unfortunately, they broke the table almost immediately. My new table featured Zack Stewart (who was on Paradise Hotel, and has had some other bit TV roles), Burt Boutin, Brian ‘sbrugby” Townsend, Jon Friedberg, Mike “Grinder” Mizrachi, Carl Olsen and Johan Storakers. Grinder was to my right, having already increased his stack from 127k to over 200k, primarily from busting Ted Forrest. Then he went on a rush! In one round he picked up AK twice, kings and queens. Soon after he busted Carl Olsen, who had well over 100k but overplayed QQ and got broke by Grinder’s KK. Then he busted Brian Townsend for another 100k when he flopped the nut flush against Brian’s lower flush, putting him over 400k. He did give me a few crumbs when he raised to 2300 from the cutoff, I moved in for 7300 more with As8s and he called with 23 offsuit. David Benyamine, with a big stack, was moved to our table and I was ready for some fireworks. I liked my position and felt I had a good shot to double through Grinder again if he got too frisky, but unfortunately they broke the table.
My new table featured the Dutch Boyd show. He seemed to be in the midst of some kind of mental meltdown. He’d stopped by my previous table while Zack Stewart, whom apparently Dutch had befriended earlier in the week, had just moved in for a rather large amount in a pot with the Grinder. He made some very inappropriate remarks along the lines of ‘you trying to bluff again, Zack’. Luckily for Zack, he had the goods and won a big pot when Grinder called. Zack was also moved along with me to the same table with Dutch. Zack raised from the 5-hole and Dutch, who was in the BB, put all his chips, about 20k, in the pot out of turn, saying ”I’m all in.” The dealer pushed his chips back. After a few of the other players folded, Dutch put his chips in again, declaring himself all in. Zack didn’t realize that the BB hadn’t folded yet and said ‘I call’ and turned over two aces. Dutch saw that the BB still had a hand, grabbed his chips back and mucked AQ. The Bellagio has some rules I dislike, and this is one of them. The ruling was that play out of turn isn’t binding, so Dutch got his chips back. He didn’t even get a penalty—both he and Zack got warnings. I’d venture that their budding friendship is over.
Al Krux is a respected player who has been around poker for many years. He’s also one of the nicest guys around. He was sitting next to Dutch and had been subjected to his antics all day. He was obviously flustered that this kind of disruptive behavior was being allowed to go on, especially in a tournament of this magnitude. I agree that something should have been done. Poker needs personalities, and I’m sure if the ESPN cameras had been there they would have followed Dutch around like he was the next coming, but this was out of hand. This was a major tournament for serious money and Dutch was disrupting not just his own table, but much of the room. Al had a chance to bust Dutch with AK against 65, but couldn’t nail it down and the show went on.
A few minutes later Dutch played out of turn again and finally got a penalty. In the meantime, I’d pick up some pots and worked my way up to about 28k. The button raised to 3600 and I moved in for 24,700 more with 88. He told me he knew I was capable of making a play with a worse hand than his. Probably a Kill Phil thing. I knew I had the best hand and was hoping to see 77 or 66. He finally called about 65% of his chips with AcJc. Ok, if I win this I’m back in the game with about 60k. The flop came Q-T-6. The turn was a 7 but the river came a king, making him a straight an my tournament was over.
This event marks the end of the poker year for most players, me included. I started out well this year, but not much good happened since the WSOP. When you’re a tournament player you have to accept the swings. However, I had some good success in Ultimate Blackjack Tour events, and will film some UBT TV finals in LA in January. I’m also working on a book on Elimination Blackjack, which I hope to get out sometime in the spring.
Happy New Year.
There was one empty seat at my table for about the first hour. I’m not really sure why, but it’s usually it’s a good player who comes late. Today’s mystery guest—Layne Flack. Layne played aggressively right away and lost almost 10k. Then, he raised up front to 600 (100-200 blinds). The player to my right made it 2300, and the SB made it 7300. Layne moved in for 14,300 more. The SB agonized over the decision, telling Layne that against anyone else he’d be in the muck. He finally followed through on his good instincts, calling and showing KK. Layne—JJ. Bye Layne.
The player who won that hand had a nice stack, but went on to blow most of it off in one hand. A player raised, another re-raised, and he put in a third raise of about 9k. The original raiser, who also had a big stack, smooth called, which should have raised a large caution flag. The flop came K-T-9. The caller checked and out hero bet 16k. The other player moved in for 21k more, which would leave our hero with only 6 or 7k. I was surprised to see him with AK, and more surprised he called. All he could beat was a bluff. The other player showed him a set of kings. He later said it was the worst hand he’d ever played.
The other hand relates somewhat to my hand in the PPT with Randy Jensen that we discussed on my forum last week. The blinds were 200-400/50. The button made it 1125. I called from the SB with 66. The BB (the same guy who had lost the above hand) moved in for 7300 more. The button folded. I was getting about 1.6/1 on the call, and knew there was a wide range of hands that he’d make this play with. I called and he showed 22, one of the hands I was hoping Randy Jensen had in the PPT. My hand held up and I was above 35k, but at the last level I lost a big pot with JJ vs KK to finish with 20k.
I liked my starting table for the second day—no big stacks and most of the players were unfamiliar. Unfortunately, they broke the table almost immediately. My new table featured Zack Stewart (who was on Paradise Hotel, and has had some other bit TV roles), Burt Boutin, Brian ‘sbrugby” Townsend, Jon Friedberg, Mike “Grinder” Mizrachi, Carl Olsen and Johan Storakers. Grinder was to my right, having already increased his stack from 127k to over 200k, primarily from busting Ted Forrest. Then he went on a rush! In one round he picked up AK twice, kings and queens. Soon after he busted Carl Olsen, who had well over 100k but overplayed QQ and got broke by Grinder’s KK. Then he busted Brian Townsend for another 100k when he flopped the nut flush against Brian’s lower flush, putting him over 400k. He did give me a few crumbs when he raised to 2300 from the cutoff, I moved in for 7300 more with As8s and he called with 23 offsuit. David Benyamine, with a big stack, was moved to our table and I was ready for some fireworks. I liked my position and felt I had a good shot to double through Grinder again if he got too frisky, but unfortunately they broke the table.
My new table featured the Dutch Boyd show. He seemed to be in the midst of some kind of mental meltdown. He’d stopped by my previous table while Zack Stewart, whom apparently Dutch had befriended earlier in the week, had just moved in for a rather large amount in a pot with the Grinder. He made some very inappropriate remarks along the lines of ‘you trying to bluff again, Zack’. Luckily for Zack, he had the goods and won a big pot when Grinder called. Zack was also moved along with me to the same table with Dutch. Zack raised from the 5-hole and Dutch, who was in the BB, put all his chips, about 20k, in the pot out of turn, saying ”I’m all in.” The dealer pushed his chips back. After a few of the other players folded, Dutch put his chips in again, declaring himself all in. Zack didn’t realize that the BB hadn’t folded yet and said ‘I call’ and turned over two aces. Dutch saw that the BB still had a hand, grabbed his chips back and mucked AQ. The Bellagio has some rules I dislike, and this is one of them. The ruling was that play out of turn isn’t binding, so Dutch got his chips back. He didn’t even get a penalty—both he and Zack got warnings. I’d venture that their budding friendship is over.
Al Krux is a respected player who has been around poker for many years. He’s also one of the nicest guys around. He was sitting next to Dutch and had been subjected to his antics all day. He was obviously flustered that this kind of disruptive behavior was being allowed to go on, especially in a tournament of this magnitude. I agree that something should have been done. Poker needs personalities, and I’m sure if the ESPN cameras had been there they would have followed Dutch around like he was the next coming, but this was out of hand. This was a major tournament for serious money and Dutch was disrupting not just his own table, but much of the room. Al had a chance to bust Dutch with AK against 65, but couldn’t nail it down and the show went on.
A few minutes later Dutch played out of turn again and finally got a penalty. In the meantime, I’d pick up some pots and worked my way up to about 28k. The button raised to 3600 and I moved in for 24,700 more with 88. He told me he knew I was capable of making a play with a worse hand than his. Probably a Kill Phil thing. I knew I had the best hand and was hoping to see 77 or 66. He finally called about 65% of his chips with AcJc. Ok, if I win this I’m back in the game with about 60k. The flop came Q-T-6. The turn was a 7 but the river came a king, making him a straight an my tournament was over.
This event marks the end of the poker year for most players, me included. I started out well this year, but not much good happened since the WSOP. When you’re a tournament player you have to accept the swings. However, I had some good success in Ultimate Blackjack Tour events, and will film some UBT TV finals in LA in January. I’m also working on a book on Elimination Blackjack, which I hope to get out sometime in the spring.
Happy New Year.