WSOP #11: $1500 LHE & Orleans Open Trip Report (long)

[danderso8]

I left LA Wednesday night to head to Vegas for the $1500 Limit Hold Em tourney on Thursday 7/6. The trip started off in spectacular fashion as I was treated to an awesome lightning storm in the desert near Baker. I pulled off the highway and watched for about ten minutes. Strangely, although the lightning was bright and frequent, the few times I heard thunder, it was pretty wimpy.

I checked into my hotel and planned to head to the Wynn for a short session to warm up for the tourney, but then decided food and sleep would be a better way to prepare. Sleep was gonna be important because I hadn't slept much during the week leading up to this, nerves and all. Going to bed early didn't really help, and I ended up messing around on the computer for a couple hours.

In the morning, I got to the hotel's free breakfast just in time, as they were closing at nine. Headed over to the Rio and relaxed for a couple hours, and then jumped in a 4/8 game just to play something to settle my nerves…with my limited live experience, every time I play, no matter what stakes, the first few hands I play, I end up having a huge adrenalin rush…I think it leads to a few tells and possibly even mis-plays, so I wanted them to happen outside the tourney. Made a few bucks-- maybe enough for tips during the tourney-- before the event was called, and the nerves were gone.

I headed to my table and was pleased to see that we had 4 seats open, 3 of them near me on the left. That meant that I would be button or close an extra time or two each round, at least till the players showed up. Didn't matter much, cause they had all filled in within about 4 orbits, and I never got to really take advantage of it. Found out a little while later that the fellow who came to the seat on my immediate left was 47-time WSOP in-the-money finisher and 1986 main event champion Barry Johnston. I only had one hand where I ended up tangling with him…

It folds around to me where I find K3hearts on the button, so I open-raise for the blind steal. Barry three bets me and I call. We go another three bets on the flop when it comes out King high and he leads into me. I knew I was behind, but was very happy to see a three on the turn. He leads again, I raise. He calls and I checked behind on the river. He had KQ, so I had been way behind. Phew. Barry was out about an hour after that.

The other big hand for me at that first table was when I had QQ and went 5 bets preflop with a guy who had raised in early position. I was happy when the flop came Q hi, and went on to take another 3 or 4 bets from his pocket aces. That put me at or near chip lead at that table, which broke shortly after that.

Around four o'clock, the fatigue started to set in and I went loose-tilty for about an hour or so, playing lots of hands I shouldn't have. I managed to reign it in and not lose too many chips, though, and was back to playing well soon. By dinner break, I was sitting at maybe second or third on my table.

I managed to continue to play tight and well for a couple hours after dinner, but started to run a little bit bad and saw my chips dwindling. Around 11, we hit the money. A CardPlayer intern came over and asked a guy for his name, apparently because he had the largest stack of chips at our table. Note that I didn't say most valuable-- he was like third or maybe even fourth at the table at the time, but he had a ton of the small chips. "Chalmers" he said…shortly after that, this happened:

[ QUOTE ]
Thu Jul 06 23:25:00 PDT 2006

Chalmers Rakes In Big Pot

With a board showing 8d7c5sJd10d, Ryan Mcguire bets, a player in mid-position raises and Bob Chalmers re-raises. Mcguire thinks for a moment and then folds, giving a glimpse of his pocket nines that completed a straight for him on the river. The mid-position player calls and Chalmers flips over Ad5d, for a rivered nut-flush, meaning Mcguire made the correct call, folding his straight. Chalmers' opponent mucks and he rakes in a pot of over $20,000, putting his stack at around $38,000.


[/ QUOTE ]
(from Cardplayer's coverage)


Yeah, I'm the other player. I don't remember exactly what I had that hand, maybe 6d7d?, but that was the hand that left me feeling like I needed to win some chips soon to stay in it. Feeling that--and adjusting my play to it--I'll chalk up to rookie mistake, because I still had a fair enough number of chips that I should have been able to play for quite a while.

But between the fatigue and my inexperience, I started playing a lot looser during the next and final hour of the first day, and got involved in about three hands that I should have just folded preflop. Each one, I caught a little piece of, and ended up bleeding off chips to. The final one was a horrid play where Chalmers raised in early position and I--giving into the feeling of desperation that I shouldn't have yet had-- three bet with QJ offsuit. The flop brought a gutshot and only one over card, so I got the rest of my chips in, only to find that I was dominated by his KQ.

So I went out in 46th, only about 5 minutes or less from another rung on the pay-ladder. Bleh. From an average stack to out on three nuthin hands. Bleh.

Chalmers went on to win the event.

.

So the next morning, I awoke pissed off that I hadn't been smart and patient enough to survive to play the second day. Was still pretty tired, and thought about just spending the day reading by the pool. I decided at about 11 that even though I didn't really want to, I should go play in the Orleans $330 Limit HE tourney at noon, if only to prove to myself that I could get QJ and fold to a raise, and to reinforce the lessons learned the previous day and get a little more tourney experience.

This tourney was definitely different from the WSOP tourney. My first table was very passive, with me and one other player doing most of the betting. Tired as I was, I struggled to stay focused and keep from playing too many hands. I caught myself playing crap hands for a few minutes once or twice in the first three hours, and generally not paying attention pretty frequently during that time.

Early in the afternoon, I had AA cracked on the river twice, both times in fairly large pots. Both times led to me being all-in a short while later, but I was lucky enough to double and triple up to stay in the tourney. I just had to keep forcing myself to be patient while I was short stacked.

Amazingly enough, our table still had 7 of its original members after the dinner break. The other three seats had cycled through about three players each.

I don't remember too much of that day after that, because I was getting tired again. I did get lucky at one point with A8 against AA, flopping an 8 and then hitting my two-outer on the turn. We finally quit playing with 18 players left at 3:15 am. I had about 20k in chips at this point, while the two tourney leaders had about 60k each. Other stacks were similar to mine, with a couple short stacks in the mix.

On Saturday, play resumed at three in the afternoon with the final two tables. I may have caught a break early on, when the dealer accidentally gave me three cards, and the table's chip leader flung in AA after I announced the misdeal. Chances are, I wouldn't have been involved in the hand anyhow, but it may have saved me. I didn't look at my cards, so who knows.

Another hour or two, and we were down to 5 players at each table. We started playing hand-for-hand, and someone suggested that we combine the tables and just play ten handed instead of the standard nine...I almost balked at this, because I like playing shorthanded, had a pretty good handle on the players at my table, and it was also my button. But I didn't object, and we collapsed to one table. Not sure what I would do if the same situation came up again. After reading Blair Rodman's post and having it reinforce my prior feelings on the subject, I think I would have stayed at the short tables.

At the final table, I was pretty short stacked, but had even smaller stacks sitting on my right and left. The largest stacks were two seats to my left and at the far end of the table. After a couple of orbits, it was clear that these two players had been seeing a lot of flops, hoping to get something they could pressure a small stack with.

The limit at this point was 3000/6000, and I had built up a bit, but was still short-stacked at about 34000. In middle position, the short stack on my left open raises, and I three-bet with KQ. He checks when the flop brings rags, so I bet once more, and that puts him all-in. He is ahead with A5, until I hit a K on the turn...until he hits an A on the river. Bleh. Now I'm down to 22000, and only a couple more hands before I will have to pay the blinds.

The short stack that I had just doubled up open raises again, and i look down to find the lovely AA. I three bet again, and everyone folds to the short stack, who calls. On a flop of all spades, he bets out and I raise him all in, leaving me with 7000. He turns over his 77, with a spade, so he has eleven outs, twice. And wouldn't you know it, he rivers a 7.

The next hand, I'm under the gun and get K5o or something, raise, lose, and that's it for me. IGHN.

On sunday, Duke and I had lunch at the RedRock casino, where we watched Zidane's headbutt, and then the trip ended in the same way it had begun, with me being amazed by nature when we headed out for a little hiking and rockclimbing in Red Rock , west of Las Vegas.

--Dan

ps. thanks to all the 2p2ers who've given great advice over the years, and especially to Josh W, Duke, and RocketManJames for sweating & coaching me in the past.