$2000NL - Event #22 - my first wsop event, my first cash (LONG)

[freekobe]

While it's still fairly fresh in my mind, I wanted to recap my first experience at the WSOP. It's long.

I woke up Friday morning much earlier than expected. Wanted to sleep til 1000, have breakfast, then head over to the Rio. The tournament started at noon. Instead, my friends and I woke up at 900 or so. We bumped up room service and had breakfast at 930. We finished breakfast and decided that the best way to prepare for the event was to play some blackjack at the Bellagio. We all lost. Awesome.

We head over to the Rio at 1100 or so. Vegas hasn't heated up quite yet. It was only 104 degrees. I pick up my registration card - Table 29, Seat 3. I like my position - seats 3, 4, 7, and 8 are my favorites, since you can see the whole table without turning your head.

I sit down at my table and only recognize one guy - Johnny "World" Hennigan. I guess that's probably a good sign. The guy to my immediate right looks like he's good. A young guy from Hawaii who has lots of unnecessary jewelry, but based on a few hands early on and the way he throws his chips in the middle, I can tell he knows what he's doing. I find out later he's a young pro who's had a lot of success at this WSOP (Cardplayer comes over to take pictures of him a bunch of times - i lean in to try to get a little pub).

Blinds are 25-25 to start out, 2000 in chips. Blinds move up every hour. Turned out to be a pretty decent structure.

About 20 minutes in, I get pocket kings. I'm 2nd to act. Guy to my right limps. I throw in a 100 chip, intending to raise. I forget to say "raise." It's a call. I'm not happy (though I don't say anything). I know that's the rule. I was just flustered. Guy to my right realizes I meant to raise. He says something to me. I tell him I did that "for deception." He doesn't buy it.

From comes K 4 2 all clubs. I bet. Everyone folds. We are on our way.

15 minutes later, I get AK diamonds under the gun. I make it 100 to go. A good-sized stack makes it 300 from middle position. He's re-raised a bunch of times already, so he doesn't need a premium hand to do this. All fold to me. I just call. Flop is K Q 4, two hearts. I check. He bets 400. I call. Turn is the 9 of hearts. I check. He checks. River is a 5, non-heart. I decide to check bc I don't feel like there's any hand he calls me with here that I’m ahead of since all of my draws got there, and if slow-played a big hand and raises, I'd have to fold. He checks, I show AK, and he mucks. Just like that, I'm in business.

Hennigan busts about 30 minutes into the event. He makes a tough call against a guy on a K 10 6 3 board with 76 and the guy hits an ace (he had AQ) after the other guy went all-in on the turn.

Later, I limp with KJ on the button win a pot when a jack flops and everyone folds to my flop bet.

Blinds still 25-25. I get AA in middle position. One limper. I make it 125. All fold to the limper. He calls. Flop is A K 4. He checks. I bet. He folds. Probably should've checked. Oh well.

We move to the 2nd level. Blinds are 25/50. I have around 3300 in chips. Feel very comfortable at the table. No one is too out of line.

I don't play too many hands. Feel like tight is still right. Nothing of note in this level (oh, except that one of my friends busts).

3rd level has some action. I raise one off the button with 99 to 325. Big blind, who has been aggressive and knows what he's doing goes all in for about 1600. It's about 1300 to win a 1900 pot. I think for a minute and decide that I can't call off 1300 more with pocket nines this early in the tournament. I fold. He doesn't show. If I had more chips, this is an easy decision. Probably debatable, but at this point, I didn’t feel like calling off half of my stack.

Then a big hand came up. I definitely have a tight image at the table. The pro to my right is very aware of this. All fold to him in the small blind. He makes it 300 to go. I look down and see aces. Go time. I just call. Because I was playing so tight, I thought a re-raise would give away my hand. In his opinion, a re-raise would let him put me on just a few hands. I needed some deception. Flop comes K 10 7 with two spades (I have the ace of spades). He checks. I bet 450. He has me covered. Thinks for a minute. He makes it 1700. I'm afraid he has a hand like K-10, but with the spade draw and the flush draw, and the fact that I'm just a random internet player, there's no way i can fold aces here. I go all-in for about 1500 more. He says "nice hand," and then calls off 1500 more behind he's basically committed to the hand. He has K-9. An 8 comes on the turn, giving him a ton of outs, but i manage to survive the river and double up. i'm at 7000 or so. game on.

players are shuffling in and out of my table. some pro gets moved to my left. we chat. seems like a decent guy. bitter, but nice. the guy two my right is an internet pro who is widely regarded as one of the top two or three tournament players on the internet. i recognize his screenname. belowabove is his name, for those who care. Lovely. Nice guy, dangerous player, and certainly not someone I want at my table.

we're still at the 50-100 level....i'm on the big blind.....pro to my left limps. button limps (belowabove). sb calls. I look down and find Ace-King. I make it 475 (in retrospect, probably too small). limper calls (i put him on a small pair). button calls (no clue what he had). sb folds. pot of 1375.

flop is a miraculous K K 7. I'm probably viewed as the kind of guy who makes a continuation bet 100% of the time, so I felt like checking would make my hand really obvious. I hoped someone would have KQ or would try to make a move. I bet 1000. Guy to my left thinks for about 45 seconds, then goes all-in for about 3000 more. Button thinks. He says he was going to push, but he can't call this bet. He reluctanctly folds.

I say "if you have 77, so be it. no chance i fold here. i call." i flip up AK and he shows 88. he misses his two-outer and i am now sitting pretty at 11,000 in chips with blinds at 50-100. the button said he folded jacks. easy fold on the flop, no clue why he didn't raise preflop.

the blinds move to 75-150 shortly thereafter. i steal a few blinds with some decent hands. i stay about even for this level.

we break. blinds move to 100-200. i have about 11,000 in chips. average is 4500 or so. guy to my left is very inexperienced. he says he normally plays $11 and $22 events on party poker. i believe him.

random guy with sunglasses who takes himself too seriously raises to 600 utg. i have AK again. i make it 1800 one off the button. guy to my left goes all-in for 1300. he had been complaining for the last 30 minutes that he's just looking for a hand to go all-in with. blinds fold. limper thinks, then calls.

Flop is 10 4 2, all diamonds. Limper checks. Main pot is 4200. Side pot is 1000. i decide to bet. i throw out 1500 (betting in live events is so hard - had i realized the pot was so big, i would've bet more). luckily, the limper folded (he said he folded AK, and when i showed my AK, he was NOT happy). even better for me, the guy who was all-in had K-J (though he had the king of diamonds). jack on the turn gave him the pot. so, i missed an opportunity for 5000 more chips. disappointing. it was the first real pot that i lost and it didn't feel good.

then this hand came up. by far my worst hand of the tournament. a new guy limps in middle position. sb completes. i check with K-6 hearts. flop is K Q 2, no hearts. we both check. he bets 500 into the pot. sb folds. i think and call. turn is a 2. pot is 1600 or so. i bet 3000 and put him all-in. i cringe as i write this. he calls after thinking for a second. he has AA. no king on the river. i'm down to 4000. this play is so bad on so many levels. i think i need to take more time for my decisions when playing live.

lucklily, shortly thereafter, i had 10 10 on the button. all fold to me. i make it 700 to go. sb goes all-in for 3000 more. his insta-all-in makes me think he has a hand like AK or AQ (same guy who called all-in with KJ earlier). I call. He has AK. I flop another set (3rd set in the first 5 levels or so) and i'm back up to 9500 or so.

from then on, i played uber-tight, probably to my detriment. the internet pro to my right was raising a lot of hands and i went card dead. blinds moved to 100-200 with a 25 ante. i won a few uncontested pots, but probably lost chips during the level. the last hand before the break, everyone at the table knows i really need to go to the bathroom. i was going to leave the level early, but my big blind was approaching and i didn't want to give that away for free. all fold to the internet pro. he makes it 725 from the button. i look down at J-10 diamonds. i say "damn, i can't fold this." i call.

Flop is A A 9, one diamond. i check. he makes a small bet of 800 into a 1800 chip pot. i think for a minute and contemplate check-raising. he knows i have a decent hand since i really needed to go to the bathroom. but something about that small bet scared me. i decided to make a move another time and fold. he shows 9 9. i am relieved as i go to relieve myself. he asks me if i folded an ace. he obviously thinks i'm better than i actually am. can't imagine folding an ace there.

ok, this is getting too long....

i get moved to a table with julian gardner two to my left. he has a TON of chips (of note, he finished third).

i don't play too many pots. I steal the blinds with 10-8diamonds when I’m getting pretty short. Then, the second to last hand before the dinner break, i have Q-9 spades. blinds at 200-400-50. i raise to 1200 in middle position. table has been playing tight and i like raising with these kinds of hands. i have about 9,000 in chips. unfortunately for me, i didn't realize that there was a limper under the gun. oops. blinds fold. limper calls (it looked reluctant). flop is 3 4 5 rainbow. he checks. i bet 2500. he folds. phew. nice way to end the level. i'm back at 11,000 or so.

i cab over to the bellagio. grab a bite. see my friends. Grab a bite at the bellagio cafe. i'm above avg in chips with 310 people left. i feel good. tired, but good.

i come back to my table and it gets broken fairly quickly. i get moved to a table with david "the dragon" pham to my right and a couple of huge stacks to my left. not ideal. as we get closer to the money, i start to really want to cash. this is a horrible way to play, and it affected me. i didn't play too many hands, and when i did, i played them passively. i wasn't confident enough in my game to commit 1/3 of my stack preflop with a raise and then continuation bet if i missed. the money was too important to me. that's no good.

in any case...i don't remember too many hands from the 200-400-50 level or the 300-600-75 level. one hand from the 200-400 level. two limpers. i limp with 6 7 spades. five players in the hand. flop is 4 5 8. good lord. like a retard, everyone checks, i make a 1/2 pot bet with a player to act behind me. everyone folds. damn. I need to work on this slow-playing thing.

i kept getting blinded down as most pots were raised preflop and i never picked up a hand. as we neared the bubble, one guy at my table literally raised every other hand and was never called. it was masterful. he probably picked up 10,000 chips without seeing a flop. there was nothing anyone could do. If I had any kind of stack, I would’ve repopped him, but I was helpless with my stack.

finally, i was down to 4200 in chips with blinds at 400-800 and a 100 ante. i had 99 and pushed. everyone folded except the bb. he flipped his cards up one at a time. the first one was a deuce. the second was a 4. he said "i think i have to call." in truth, he was right. the pot was 6400 and he only had to call 3400. he was getting 2:1. at this point, there were 156 people left in the event, and top 153 paid. i said, "come on, you're going to bust me from my first wsop event with 4-2. don't do that." the thing is, i probably wanted a call. and eventually, i got one. i flopped another set and doubled up. i was in business again, though i was still short.

a few minutes later, the bubble burst and i made the money. shortly thereafter, david pham, who wasn't playing very many pots, went all-in (second to act) for about 18,000. i thought that bet was huge, and earlier he had done that with 99. ultimately, i didn't take enough time to consider my options, and i called with 10 10. he had J J and that was it for me (the one time i actually needed to flop a set, i didn't.).

i busted around 150 / 1579. for my first event, i was happy. i didn't feel that outclassed, though nuances of my live game need a ton of work. even for someone who doesn't play live, i felt like i had a pretty good read on how everyone played. it's a lot different than playing four tables on the internet.

thanks for reading.

kobe

[renodoc]

nice report.

nice run of cards too!

[0evg0]

Nice job, play a few more times live and you shouldn't have a problem. Estimating pot size and betting the correct amount is probably the hardest thing to get used to, just make sure to take your time.

[PJ94z]

how much did you win? thats what i wanna know..

[freekobe]

[ QUOTE ]
how much did you win? thats what i wanna know..

[/ QUOTE ]

i was in the group that got screwed - i "won" $1,437. It was like a Party Super - you cash and lose money.

[Lurshy]

great job, nice report

[MrBrightside]

[ QUOTE ]
finally, i was down to 4200 in chips with blinds at 400-800 and a 100 ante. i had 99 and pushed. everyone folded except the bb. he flipped his cards up one at a time. the first one was a deuce. the second was a 4. he said "i think i have to call." in truth, he was right. the pot was 6400 and he only had to call 3400. he was getting 2:1. at this point, there were 156 people left in the event, and top 153 paid. i said, "come on, you're going to bust me from my first wsop event with 4-2. don't do that."

[/ QUOTE ]

Man, I may be called a jerk here, but I would have been shouting FLOOR! at the top of my lungs. He exposed his hand, it's dead, right? ship me the pot.

[codewarrior]

[ QUOTE ]
Man, I may be called a jerk here, but I would have been shouting FLOOR! at the top of my lungs. He exposed his hand, it's dead, right? ship me the pot.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think it's dead since they are HU.

[freekobe]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
finally, i was down to 4200 in chips with blinds at 400-800 and a 100 ante. i had 99 and pushed. everyone folded except the bb. he flipped his cards up one at a time. the first one was a deuce. the second was a 4. he said "i think i have to call." in truth, he was right. the pot was 6400 and he only had to call 3400. he was getting 2:1. at this point, there were 156 people left in the event, and top 153 paid. i said, "come on, you're going to bust me from my first wsop event with 4-2. don't do that."

[/ QUOTE ]

Man, I may be called a jerk here, but I would have been shouting FLOOR! at the top of my lungs. He exposed his hand, it's dead, right? ship me the pot.

[/ QUOTE ]

The thought crossed my mind, but a small part of me wanted to tempt fate and have him call. I figured I was about an 85% fav there (maybe 20). Hard to turn that down

[texman]

it is nice to be able to tell people back home you cashed; i got to aggressive near the bubble in my first wsop event this year and went out 7 from the bubble. I made a move to keep my m high but it cost me, your story is more fun to tell.