Two Plus Two Newer Archives - A very delayed WSOPC win TR ($500 prelim) tl:dr

So after reading all of bonds amazingly well done TR's i decided to go into my saved files and finish off this trip report of my win of a WSOPC prelim event in New Orleans. This is in several parts i'll release throughout today as it is wayyyyyy too long and no one will read it if its all together:

Waking up after almost 12 hours of sleep is an amazing thing. Even more so when u had spent the previous 10 hours in a car as I had done driving to New Orleans with a friend. There is however an issue, it's about 11pm. I say to myself, hey its ok, I'll play cash games all night and when I bust in the tourney tomorrow I can crash whenever I want (notice the confidence in my play here is key). So I head across the street to the Harrahs casino and cut past half the city playing slots and find the poker room. I sit down at a nice juicy 2/5 game where your aloud to buyin for half the big stack, and with 2 guys with aprx 5k each infront of them, its more then I need. I buy in for 1k and am happy to see that both the big stacks are absolutly horrible. Sadly I would find out over the course of 10 hours of play that it doesnt matter how you play when you run like god. In one hand I have AA and get called down to the river by 42o on a 2T85 board only for him to river a 4, after i bet $300 on the turn. Thankfully i checked the river behind flip up my hand confidently for him to slowroll his river'd 2 pair. (just writing about that hand puts me on tilt). So at 9am i call it a wrap and leave down about $400. I head over and register for the tournament and pay the $550 buyin. As i'm leaving the casino I decide to take the last $50 in cash i had brought with me and place it on black on the roulette table saying to myself i might as well lose a strait thousand today. Of course with my luck its not black, but then nor is it red, its green, i just consider myself extra unlucky and head back to the room in hopes of catching a nap.

I lie in bed for an hour or so unable to fall asleep so i go with me and my friend order roomservice and and then go on down to the poker room so he can register and get ready to play. I sit down at my first table in the 10 seat b/c like i said im unlucky. I sit down and eye out the competition, i count 3 pairs of sunglasses, 2 hoodies (no ipods b/c they arent freaking aloud by state law along with cell phones) and 1 women who looks like she has a 2x4 squarely lodged up her ass. However the average age of the table was like 40 so that made me feel confident. However in the 8 seat was a young guy wearing a Full tilt hat (and i think an aussie accent?) who carried himself very confidently compared to the others and i could tell there was something different about him. Also seat 2 was wearing a "Pokerstars" polo, but like 1 that with his sunglasses looked like it goes to all the freeroll WSOP seat winners so no worries there either.

So with only 2k starting stacks there isnt alot of room for error early on (25/25 is 1st level though), but as the levels are 50mins long, there is actually a decent amount of time to pick your spots so early on i sit back and never limp and only raise in late position. As expected early on the table is limp happy but apparently no one told the young guy in the FTP hat as he kept raising up the limpers constantly, having them all call then fold the flop, man that guys so lucky. I pick up a few small pots by playing position against normally only 1 or 2 opponents and avoid much resistance building up to about 2500 before at the start of 25/50 i pick up AA on the button:

Guy in EP who i nicknamed "Bob" b/c he looks like a Bob, limps, c/o limps and i raise to 225. sb and bb folds (however bb is the lady whose appearance made me think she had a stick up her ass, and she glared at me with anger for raising a hand in which she had money in, like she always does), Bob folds and c/o calls. Flop comes QT6r and c/o leads for 75 (wtf?) i make it 300 and he folds saying something about a pocket pair. I show my AA for image purposes and make a what i felt was a smart quip doing my best crocodile dundey impersonation "you call that a pocket pair, now this is a pocket pair." Aussie pro guy laughs, the rest look slightly disturbed.

I proceed to fold alot and pick up more small pots for the next few levels. Then this interesting hand that I'm not involved in comes up. 2 people limp at 50/100, and Aussie pro pops it up to 450 from the button, first limper (wannabe moneymaker with the pokerstars shirt in seat 2) calls, other guy folds. Flop is 4s5s9h, wannabe-moneymaker checks aussie guy fires out 800 (with about 2.5k more behind), wannabe-moneymaker who has about 2k flatcalls (wtf?). Turn is 8s wannabe-moneymaker check/calls allin and shows 67s for the strait flush and Aussie pro's set of 5s are drawing dead. This hand puts up a slight predicament for me as me and the aussie had gotten along very well and he was a likable guy, but one of the worse players had just gotten strong while the best had gotten weaker.

A few orbits later Aussie pro with about 2.5k in chips makes it 400 from the button and im in the BB with AQcc and 4k in chips, i raise to 1.2k and he quickly puts in the rest of his chips, i piss myself a little bit and call and he shows 88. The flop comes JTx with 2 clubs, he says "oh thats not good" and i tell him not to worry as i never get there, the turn is a blank but the river is a Q and i actually win and have the bonus of the best player at the table being gone and having quite a few chips.

Nothing much goes on until the 100/200 rounds start up and i try to get aggressive with my big stack and have mixed success (i.e no flop i win, a flop and i lose). I bust the woman who appears to have a baseball bat up her backside with 75s vs her AK(but at this point she was crippled with only like 2.5bbs and i was the BB), when she leaves i am pretty sure she went home and killed some puppies or something. Shortly after my table breaks and i carry what i very confidently feel at this time is surly a big stack of 8.5k or so to my new table. I sit down in seat 2 and on my left is an older gentlemen with about 28k infront of him, on my right is a freaking father time with about 20k infront of him, i feel like i stepped up at the urinal in between 2 NBA centers. They along with the rest of the table proceed to tell me how no one has lasted longer then 20 minutes in my seat. I say something about trying to do my best to break the trend while thinking to myself i only play about 1 hand every 20 mins anyway so ill just fold that first one and get it out of the way. I then proceed to see father time scoop a decent sized pot with 58o which he called a raise with out of the BB and say something about how much he loves them suited connectors. Wow.

My new table with the exception of the 2 big stacks who have me in the middle of their donkey sandwhich are all pretty short in the range of 2-5k. At my table i count fewer sunglasses and poker web site gear and smell more bengay. Also in seat 5 is the self appointed "ante police" God forbid you are the last one getting your ante out for whatever reason as he will say "ante please" 20 times within a second. I silently prey to god to smite him. And since i go to church on the last hand of the 100/200 25 ante level i pick up KK in the c/o and raise it up to 600, folds to the ante policemen in the BB who tanks for like half way into the break before pushing in his last 2k. I call and he shows AK, I ask what the hell took so long and he says "I was worried you'd have a pocket pair". The door card is an A and i sigh, but right below it is the Kc and and i fade the 2 outter. Then proceed to show the rest of the room how fast i can run as i have to take a monster piss. On the way back i grab beer number 4.

My table congradulates me for lasting longer then anyone else in this seat and I make a comment about how it was my lucky pee but its all gone now and plus its past my bed time. They look at me like im crazy. The new level is 150/300 50 ante. The first hand of the level takes 5mins to start b/c someone forgot their ante and no one knows who it was, i curse myself for busting the ante police guy before finally relaizing that we are 9 handed and thats why we are an ante short and tell the dealer so. He counts the pot like 10 more times then agrees with me. So we play an orbit or so before a new guy, a kid who looks so young that at 21 years old myself i feel old. First hand at the table and it folds around to him in the button, he looks at his cards and then the blinds and announces raise, with about 8k or so infront of him i begin to think to myself "gotta keep an eye on this kid he could be a real nuissance to me at this table." Then he proceeds to attempt to raise to 500... the dealer explains that the minimum raise is to 600 and the kid is sitting there looking dumbfounded and cant figure out why. The dealer says the blinds are 150/300 and so he must raise atleast 2x the BB. The kid thinks this is crazy but finally makes it 600, both blinds fold and he tables AA and my idiot alarm blows a fuse and i have an anerism and die... almost.

Sadly this is not a good level for me and I later find out that whenever i win the 1st hand of a level its a very bad level for me. I lose about a decent part of my 10k stack doubling up a shorty after he raises in MP to 900, i make it 2.5k from the BB with JJ and he calls with 1.5k or so left behind. The flop comes QT9 and i happily stick it allin and he instacalls showing QTo, and i am once again outplayed. The turn is a T and and the meaninless 8 comes on the river just to laugh at me. We go on dinner break and I'm starting to realize just how little sleep i'm on, that and how much the buffet there sucked and vowed to never eat it again while preying i didnt get the runs during the next level.

I stay around 6k before doubling through old man time early in the 200/400 level with QQ when i flop a set and he calls my allin with a gutshot and somehow my set sucks out to win and I'm up to 12k. I proceed to not go just card dead, but card murdered for the next several levels. People continue to bust out at my table with the exception of some random old guy at the far end of the table and the 2 old guys on both sides of me. The young looking kid is still in but has folded himself down to about 4 big blinds, when i raise AJo from the c/o and he pushes allin for like 1bb more. I call and he shows AQs, son of a biatch. However he's luckier then me but in a bad way, he proceeds to call for the J to come and so of course it hits on the river. I actually laugh out loud then say, sorry tough luck and shake his hand, he looks like some kid who just had his lunch money taken by a bully. The blinds are just now becoming 300/600 100 ante and there is currently about 100 people left in the tourney with 54 people paying. As soon as they announce this, all the air in the room is sucked out as peoples [censored] instantaniously pucker up. Thankfully mask drop from the rough until pressure is restored. I feel like things might be going my way when they move the guy on my left who is still a big stack with maybe 40k or so. Instead the proceed to replace him with another short stacked player who was very good and aggro and the only other person not afraid to mix it up.

Things start out well as I steal my way up to about 18k before i lose a huge pot with AK vs A5 for almost all my chips. I'm down to 6k and the blinds are just now going up to 400/800 200 ante. There are about 65 people left. I decide to play smart, push whenver i can unoppened and push over with any decent hand. Sadly father time is still limping in every pot, and despite his huge range i have no FE and no cards. After an orbit i pick up AJc in the BB with about 5k and tell myself i'm going with it no matter what. Yet a completely different older guy raises up to 2.4k from 1 spot before the hijack and i crap my pants a little bit. I sit there and say screw it and push allin. He tanks forever facing practically a minraise for about 3k more or so with 10k left behind. He counts it all out, puts it back in his stack, counts it out again, counts out how much he'd have left. Finally he ask if i'll show it if he folds. Now im more then happy to have him fold so i ofcourse tell him yes. He mucks i show him the AJc and he says "Yes! i folded TT i was sure you had those 2 overcards!" I do everything i can do to avoid laughing and say nice fold (I mean not like he was 55/45 needing to call 3k to win 10k or anything like that...). I continue to raise and even push allin twice with 55 left and i dont think anyone at the table looks at their hands. Finally I'm in the money and its not all a total wash, now i just have to keep it up. I have about 18k at 400/800 and things are starting to look up even if i havent slept in about 20 hours...

Part 2:

So now we're in the money and i can tell my table feels like its won the lottery and i think a few guys even called their wives to tell them about their mighty accomplishments. I just wanted to go to bed. I even gave serious consideration to busting just so i could go to sleep. I leave the theater/poker room and call one of my friends and ask him to buy me one of those starbucks expresso shot things. Now if any of you has had one of these, you should know they are liquid crack. My friend brings it to me in the poker room and i drink it and am like popeye after he gets his spinich and am feeling a thousand times better and am ready to play some poker... just as soon as i get dealt a hand. "Yup anytime" i tell myself, i steal a number of blinds in position but am back in card comma and on life support as the blinds hit 600/1200 and a trillion chip ante (incase you havent figured out, the antes are quite large live). Finally i pick up AcQc in the big blind, it folds to father time who has gotten relativly short through his donkish plays and i have him slightly covered with about 22k to his 20k. He raises to 4k and i shove, he instacalls and he shows KK. Apparently im the only person on earth who is behind with 1 over vs a pocket pair and sure enough the board bricks and im down to 2k chips. As they say online, kshfskldjfaskldjfsakljfaslkjfslkf.

It's a pretty devestating feeling really when 1/3 of your chips are in the pot to pay the small blind. So it folds around to father time who now has about 40k and he open shoves, I without looking am more then happy to stick it in there with the protection as i can more then tripple up. The big blind who is the only other young player and is very good looks at him with disqust and mucks the same AcQc i had the hand before. Old man time flips over TT and i flip mine and see them for the first time a 6c8c. As the dealer deals the flop im really wishing i had an over, but i quickly lose interest when the door card is the Tc. However behind it are 5c and the 4c and i flop the flush! BB looks on in absolute disqust knowing he'd of flopped the flush, the board fails to pair and im back up to almost 8k! The next hand i shove rags on the button and pick up the blinds and continue to push heavily and before i know it im back up to 20k like nothing even happened. However father time, with his experience being on his death bed is not ready to go quietly into that good night. A middle age guy who has about 30k limps utg and immediently warning bells are going off in my head. Donkish guy in MP raises to 3500 and father time pushes allin for for about 40k. UTG guy prettends like its the hardest decision ever and after forever finally calls allin. The donkish pfr instacalls which surprises me for a minute.

Father time sheepishly flips over a 9dTd, donkish guy very proudly shows his AJo and the UTG still putting on the act finally shows his AA. The entire table congradulates him and his act that apparently fooled all of them. The flop is J65 rainbow, the turn is the 8d and all the sudden father time has a bunch of outs, and the river is a random diamond. Father time all the sudden leaps from his seat and at the top of his lounges screams "THATS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT BABY!" The donkish guys head asplodes and the utg guy commits harry karry.

The next hour or so is rather uneventful and im actually quite shocked when they announce that there are only 2 tables left each 10 handed. My table breaks and I head to my new table with about 25k at 800/1600 400 ante. I sit in the 8 seat and size up the new table, the good young player who ive become quite friendly with is in the the 6 seat with about 60k infront of him and i kiss my blinds good bye. Father time is in seat 9 on my left with 800 jillion chips and seat 7 is a middle aged guy with a big stack. Accross the table a youngish kid in seat 1 who has a look that says "I have more money then god and its all from playing poker," thankfully he's pretty short. Seat 2 is another old donk, seat 3 is a 30ish looking guy with a moderate stack, seat 4 is super short and seat 5 has like 50k. The tourney directors announce that we will be playing till 2am, which is about 27 hours after i woke up, and im pretty psyched about that as its midway thru the next level. I eventually double as father time is spreading the wealth around and i am able to double with 88 when i he calls my raise on the button and i flop a set, i c/r allin he tanks forever then finally calls me with K high stating "I didnt think you had anything" and i am able to hold back a "well first your wrong i did, and 2nd even if i didnt neither did you," anways i hold. For the life of me i cannot figure out how some live players thought processes work. Sometimes it seems like they are all super weak/tight, but then sometimes they make such super loose calls and raises that it seriously boggles my mind.

Nothing else interesting happens to me and if something does then I dont remember it b/c i was too tired, father time eventually goes from the CL with 20 left to out in 17th. The dangerous looking kid does double with just a few hands left when he shoves TT on the button, the 30ish guy tanks forever and finally calls with AQ but bricks out. The last 15mins of the night are him asking the entire table if we think he made a good call. Anyway he is crippled pretty much with the blinds at 1k/2k 500 ante. Oh and i almost fogot to mention this, the crem de le crem (is that how its even spelt?) is the kid in seat 10. He's relativly short stacked, he's wearing a kentucky wildcats hat and a wifebeater? Wow. Anyway any hand he plays he always has to interrogate the whoever is left in the hand and continues to do so regardless of how much i mentally bitch slap him. With about 5mins left in the day and seat 9 knocked out he scoots over and ask me "hey if your willingg to stall i think we can avoid the blinds for the rest of the night." In my mind im saying "well no crap what do u think ive been doing for the past 10 minutes?" But what comes out is a "we'll see." Anyway thanks to me and him the last hand of the night is me folding utg, him taking forever then raising, the 30ish guy blind shoves for less then a minraise more. Wifebeater guy tanks hard, interrogates the 30ish guy who admits to having not looked at his cards, then he tanks some more, ask him again if he looked, tanks a bit more (by this point the clock is out and im trying to use the force to push his chips into the pot). He finally calls and shows AQ, the 30ish guy flips over a J5 and binks the flop to double up to like 16k. I actually laugh out loud. Anyway we finally bag up and i have like 58k. I proceed to head to the buffet with the kid in seat 6, run into the 2+2er with the really hot GF who was at the other table, then eat some food, remember that it sucked and that it is why i cursed it what seemed like days ago. I then go back to my room ready to sleep only to have my friend interrogate me for the next 30mins, at 3am after 28 hours of being awake i fall asleep, for 6 hours...

Tune in later for the final(?) part of my story...