WPT CHAMPIONSHIP DAY 1

[Blair Rodman]

Level 1

The structure of this event is great. You start with 50k in chips at the 50-100 level. Each level is 90 minutes, and you only play 5 levels the first day, which was split into two sessions, Tuesday and Wednesday. I drew the second day, which I didn’t really like. I’d prefer the extra day of rest. The only big negative is that we were forced to play 10-handed. In the second most important event of the year? Absurd.

A big factor in major events is your first day table draw. This is particularly true in the WPT championship because the large starting chip stack means that relatively few players will be knocked out on the first day. Therefore, you’ll probably be at the same table all day. In fact, no one got broke at my table the entire day. This was fine by me, as I liked the makeup of the table. I was in the 4-seat. To my right was 2002 WSOP champ Robert Varkoni, in the 10-seat was Paul Maxfield, and three to my left was long-time cash player Phil Matthews. Other than that, I didn’t know anybody. On the first day, there’s lot of chips in the hands of players who have little chance of getting very far. The real edge in these events comes in having the opportunity to get some of those chips from them before they get ko’d and the tournament gets tougher.

In the 9-seat was a guy who was obviously new to the scene. He looked positively pained at every decision. I said as much to him. He told me he had been playing for about nine months, and was being tutored by Men Nuygen and Brain Haverson, with whom he does business. and had read so many poker books that he was completely confused. Turns out his name is Lance Funston, and he was tons of fun to play with. He bought massages for the entire table, tipped every dealer as they got out of the box, and generally had a good time. Guys like this are great for poker, and anybody who doesn’t go out of their way to be nice and make the experience as much fun as possible for them should be drummed out of poker.

When I was playing cash games, if a social player, as I call them, would get in the game, I would do two things—be nice to them, and give them action. If the other players were nitting around trying to pick up the nuts, and you were in there playing with them, these types of players would be much happier to see you get their chips than someone else. The axiom that you need to give action to get action is doubly true against social players. I’ve seen a social player lay down kings face up against a miserable nit because he didn’t want to give him any action, then turn around and pay me off with garbage.

Anyway, Lance was trying hard to compete, and didn’t do a bad job. He’s obviously an intelligent guy who’s very successful in his field, and I have nothing but respect for that. He got involved with Varkoni in a hand that went like this: 100-200 blinds, Lance made it 400 up front, whereas he usually mmade it 3 times the blind. Varkoni re-raised to 1200 on the button and Lance quickly made it 5000. Varkoni called. The flop came K-x-x. Lance checked, Varkoni bet 5000 and Lance raised to 10,000. Varkoni folded and Lance showed aces. (In fact, he showed every winning hand all day). Varkoni must have had queens or jacks.


I’d been pretty active, and went to the first break with 54k. I’d spent the evening before re-reading Harrington o Hold’em, and came to the conclusion that I’ve been trying to get too tricky on too many occasions. Today I was going to play my good hands more straight forward, which would help set up some different things.


Level 2

We started out by getting a ruling. Lance had been asking if he could ask the dealer how much was in the pot. Pretty much everyone, including the floor person who came over, agreed that the dealer could be asked to spread out the chips, but couldn’t be asked for an exact count. I’d been down this road before in a previous Bellagio event, and knew the Bellagio policy. I told her to check with Jack McClelland. The ruling came back that any player could ask for a count of the pot at any time. I think this is a bad rule. For one thing, I think keeping track of the pot is a poker skill, and this is another example of dumbing down the game. For another, it could lead to abuses and further slowing of a game that is already too slow.

With blinds 100/200-25, Lance made it 400 from the one-hole, the first time he’d made less than a 3x the blind raise since the hand with Varkoni. I had queens in late position. I raised, curious as to what he would do. If he had a big pair, I wanted to know now. Sure enough, he put in a blue 5k chip, but he forgot to say raise! With some players these days, you need to be careful of them taking a shot with this play. But I knew Lance had meant to raise. Had he made the raise correctly, I would have called because I could break him if I flopped a set, but instead I got a free look. The flop came three babies, and he bet 5k into a 3200 pot. I quickly made an easy fold, and he showed two kings.

I raised with 44, and Lance called behind. The flop came 9-9-7. I bet 1000 into a 1200 pot. He called. The turn came a ten, which I was pretty sure helped him. I checked, he bet 5k, showing KT after I folded.

Level 3

I lost some chips with 99, other than that I was card dead until near the end. Then, I had QT in the BB and called a raise to 400, as had another player. The flop came Kh-Jh-3s. The original raiser checked, but the player in the cutoff bet 1000. Since he had just called the mini-raise, I didn’t give him credit for a hand that he could call a check-raise with, so I made it 3500, figuring to pick it up. To my surprise, he called. The turn came a beautiful 9. I bet 4000, and he called again. The river came the 7h. Even though he could have made the flush, I wasn’t dogging it. I bet 10,000, he called and mucked.

I went to the break with about 70k.


Level 4

I raised with AT three off the button and got called by the button. The flop came Kc-Tc-9 I bet 2000 and he called. I didn’t like it, putting him on AK or KQ. The turn came another ten. I bet 4000, and he called again. A small club came on the river. I was confident in my read, and bet 6000. He just called, and mucked to my hand.

I had been building a nice stack without getting any of Lance’s chips. I finally played a pot with him. I raised with AQ, and he called, as did the blinds. The flop came Jc-8c-4h. It was checked around. The turn came a 7d. The blinds checked, so I didn’t give either of them credit for anything. I bet 2000, and Lance called. When he didn’t raise, I put him on an ace with a gutshot draw, as I’d seen him play this kind of hand this way before. The river was the Kc. Not a dream card, but I was prepared to call if he bet. He thought about it, but checked behind me and showed A8.

Level 5

I was using my stack effectively, and was picking up some chips. Toward the end of the day I had a little flurry of hands.

I picked up QQ and raised to 1500. Phil Matthews called from behind. The flop came 7-6-5. I bet 2000, and he called, which I didn’t like. The turn came a 3. I bet 5000 and thankfully he folded. Shortly after I picked up aces and won a nice pot. Then Phil raised and I called from the blind with with 44. The door card was a 4, and behind it was the other 4. Even though I didn’t want to get too tricky, I felt good checking quads here. He bet 5k and I just called. The turn was an ace. I checked again, hoping it hit him. He checked again. The river was a blank, and I made a good-sized bet of 11k. He called, showing AQ. Phil’s an old-school guy and he made a great check on the turn. Otherwise he could have lost a lot more.

I ended the day with 123,700, putting me in great position. I felt really good about my play and was excited about tomorrow. Lance ended the day with about 35k. I wished him luck, and meant it.