WSOP Trip Report (General comments and Events 21 and 22) long

[renodoc]

This is my second WSOP. Last year I came down only for event #2 which had over 2500 people playing 11-handed all madly rushing for the bathrooms/food at the same time. That nightmare ended for me in 4 hours or so. After reading the updates and talking to people who played in the ME last year, I decided that the level of play was such that I would be competitive and I planned on buying in if I didn't win a seat. Bodog's overlays provided a nice opportunity to get in and I managed to snag a seat. Since I now had a freeroll into the ME, I came down this weekend to get my feet wet and check things out.

The tourney is being run much better as far as amenities go. They are staggering the first break so there is plenty of room for players to use the bathrooms and grab some food. They added a bunch of toilets outside that are far better than your standard port-a-potty, and the "poker kitchen" is also decent and fast. I had no trouble getting everything taken care of during the breaks! It is not possible to get to your hotel room during a break. Also, don't expect to be able to order room service and have it delivered in time to get back to the table after the dinner break (even though they gave up to 90 min).

The lounges for the various online rooms (Stars,FullTilt,Bodog,Doyles) are pretty gimmicky. They put some models at the entrance to entice you in, but I don't really see the point of it-- I'd like to see the stats on how many new players they sign up live during these six weeks.

I haven't seen any education or promotion regarding the Internet Gaming Bill HR4411 at all!! This shocks me. Everyone who sees the Amazon room here full of tables and players has their jaw drop the first time. The reason the WSOP is so huge is all about online players and there is a real risk of it going away. I expected to see all of the sites at the minimum education people about it, and perhaps a booth for the PPA to get signups and donations. Now is the time to lobby the senate, and this is a huge missed opportunity.

The media coverage is meh. I understand they tossed all the reporters except Card Player. This was a mistake. The CP guys are doing what they can, but pokerwire, pokerpages etc all have different flavors to their reporting and some accomodation should have been made. In event 21 I knew my office staff was checking the CP update log so I gave my business card to one kid and asked him for a shout out. Even just to be included in the chip count would have been cool, but I never saw it. Did I need to hand him a twenty also?

I made the mistake of playing the $540 second chance tourney today as it plays like an online tourney much more than what you'd expect at the WSOP. 1500 chips/30 min levels/25-25/25-50/50-100/100-200 and it becomes a preflop pushfest rapidly. Yuck. Quite a change from the deeper stack poker during the day. 30 min sails by when you've been playing hour levels.

They have a rule here that if you show one card, any player at the table can ask to see the other card. Most players don't know this.

Finally, I received W-2G's for each of my cashes. This was a first for me. When I had a five-digit cash at the WPT I got chips and no paperwork. Here, I cashed for barely double the buy-in and the taxman knoweth.

OK, here's what I wrote up about my two events:

2006 WSOP Event #21 $2500 buy in Short-handed NLHE

2500 in starting chips, one hour levels, 740 entries.

Quite excited to be back at the WSOP. I have more confidence than last year and I think this event will be fun. My first observation is that 2500 isn’t a big starting stack and it would be very very easy to bust from this tourney early. My first table was fairly benign—no one person tried to run over it, and most pre-flop raises were at least called. My stack went down at first as I found myself putting money in the pot and getting played back at where I didn’t have anything to call with. Eventually I found AQ UTG and raised to 175. I’m reraised to 400 by the button and I call. I have about 1300 or so left. Flop is three low cards and I bet 700. Now, if he pushes I have to fold, and if he calls me I almost have to push the turn. If I lose this pot I’m in deep trouble. He hems and haws and then mucks AK. I’m back to 2500 or so.

After that I catch cards. And I bust people. I get KK, flop a set and get a shorter stack to put all his money in on a flush draw. His flush doesn’t come. I play 75d and 4 people see the all diamond flop of 4-6-T. I get a guy holding the naked Ad to put all his money in and no more diamonds come. With blinds of 50-100 I raise to 400 utg with AK, get called by utg+1, and then John Hoang pushes 2000 more on squeeze play. I think about it and call and the other player folds. The bracelet winner Hoang has AQ and he’s gone. I play QJ and flop A-K-T. Another time a small stack in the SB completes and I raise half of his stack with 99. He puts all his stack in with AT and I call. I flop quads.

Unfortunately, the deck stopped hitting me in the face the second two hours. I got moved several times and each time I noticed that I had fewer and fewer chips in my rack. Yuck. By the dinner break I have less than 8000 with average around 25000 and 130 people left. They are paying 72. Worse, my table has a ton of chips on it so most of the players can make moves on me for all my chips fairly easily. One of the players, Don Mullis, was playing very well. He played back ferociously and built a huge stack. There were then 3 hands that defined the tourney.

I had been waiting for an opportunity to get some chips and picked up AK in the BB. With blinds at 200-400 everyone limped and I pushed. They all thought I was making a move and this induced Mullis to call with AQ. I doubled up and had some breathing room.

I then raised from the button with AQ and was called by the BB. The flop came Q-9-6, and he check-called my 2000 bet. The turn was another queen. He bet, I raised, he pushed, and I was seeing monsters under the bed. I called, but I really thought he might have flopped a set and filled up and I was quite pleased to see him turn over QT. The river missed him and I doubled up again. Now I had about $35K in chips, above average and cruised into the money.


At this point I made a big mistake. I completely spaced on the fact that Mullis would limp with a hand like AQ in this game. So when he limped in second position for 800, I didn’t put him on AK/AQ etc. Three people saw the flop of K-Q-7 with me holding KT in the big blind. The SB checked and I figured Don for a Q when he made a pretty big overbet of $10K. The SB folded. I don’t know why he bet so much. He must have been weak. I’m taking his $10K right now. I push. He instacalls and shows KQ. I’m done and feel like I made one donkey play all night and picked a bad spot to do it. I had a long way to go to be competitive in this tourney, but there was no good reason to make this move at this time and heeeeeeee haaaaaaaaaw. At least I got my first WSOP cash, and it was almost enough to cover my buy in for tomorrow.


2006 WSOP Event #22 $2000 buy in NLHE

2000 in starting chips, one hour levels, 1579 entries.

My first two levels were the most card dead I can imagine. I think I had K3 seventeen times and the times I didn’t I had 92, 84, 73 etc. My table was so passive that I just wanted some hands I could raise with- anything! 3 gapped suited connectors, T8s, 9T, anything. I got almost nothing. Until near the end of the second hour when an utg player with a stack less than mine raised the 50 BB to 200 and I made it 600 with KK, he pushed with AQ, my cowboys held up and I had some chips. Yee haw.

After the first two hours, I knew my luck would change. I almost prefer it this way- much better to get the good cards when the levels go up. And come they did. I had QQ 3 or 4 times in the level, busting a kid in a bodog sweatshirt who had AK on one of them. I had AK, AT, AQ, all winners. I built my stack to near 8000 and then made my donkey play of the day. I had 88 on the button and raised one limper to 400. The BB and the limper called. Flop came J-7-4 and it was checked to me. I put in 600 or so and the BB raised me to 1800. Now I don’t’ know what kind of vibe I got that he was full of [censored] but it was the wrong vibe and I decided that he would have to play with his set of 7’s for all of his chips which meant that I gave him half of my very hard earned stack. Yuck. Note to self: feeler bets are a good thing and don’t commit your stack when the other guy is basically slapping you in the face that he has a real hand.

I get moved to a table with John Juanda on it but he doesn’t last long as he is short stacked. I chip away and get myself back in contention slowly winning small pots. There is a chip leader who is a bully and difficult to deal with. In fact, I’m finding the whole table trouble- I want to control it but they are fairly aggressive.

Just after the second break with blinds at 100-200 I find JJ UTG and make it 800 to go. A middle position short stack goes all-in for 1500, and the next player goes all-in for about 3500. If I call and lose I will have about 2200 or so left. I took a long time. Eventually I mucked and was disappointed to see the first player have nothing and the second player turn over TT which didn’t improve. I really needed to knock this guy out because he turned into a pain in the ass later.

There was also a very obnoxious player two to my right who raised my first BB when I sat down. I called him with Q9dd and the flop came A-A-K, one diamond. I check-folded to his bet and he showed a K. New rule here is that if you show one card anyone at the table can ask to see the other card. So I did, and he had to flip over a trey. Thief.

I end up playing a hand against him with JTdd. Flop came Qd-9d-x for the OESFD. I bet, he pushed with QT and I called and hit one of my 15 outs to knock him out. A couple players applauded his demise.

Shortly thereafter, I look down at red aces UTG. I raise a little. Bully reraises. I make the third raise. He pushes into me with KK and I double up. Beauty. He apparently didn’t read Phil Gordon’s book- especially since an ace flopped and he might have gotten away from his hand.

We go to the dinner break with me at about 18,000, about double the average. I go completely card dead the next two hours. Still, my table is all about the pre-flop raise and then everyone laying down. I keep thinking I will make some kind of “fancy play syndrome” move where I reraise all-in with nothing after someone has put in a healthy first raise. It would likely work very well at this table but I just don’t want to go home this close to the money on a move. Maybe I need to be able to do this to get some more chips, but my brains are winning over my balls at this point. I do make one play, however. I raise UTG with KTo (red cards) and get called by a fairly conservative player who had been at the table a long time. I have taken him off at least one hand previously. The flop misses me completely: Q-7-4 with two spades. I bet out 3000 and he calls. Yuck. I’m getting into trouble. The turn is the 3 of spades which completes the flush I decide to represent. I “check aggressively”, planning to put him all in if he makes a bet. He checks behind. The river is a brick and I have King high. I bet another 3000 into what is now about an 8000 pot. He takes a very long time and finally mucks. One of my better bluffs. My friend who was watching told me later he thought I had the flush.

Just before the final break I am the fourth limper into the pot with ATo. Flop comes A-Q-2 and its checked to me. I bet 2500 (blinds were 200-400 with 50 ante) I get one caller. The turn is a 9 and he comes out betting 5000. He has another 5000 left so he has bet half his stack. Now I really go in the tank. Given how this table has been he would have likely raised preflop with AK, AQ, AJ, QQ, 99. He could have limped with A9, Q9, A2 or 22, and after about 3 minutes I figure him for one of those and fold. I dunno. People observing the hand thought it was a correct fold. I suppose he could have had A8 or worse and was making a play, but that was about the only hands I could beat in that spot.

I piss off a bunch of blinds and antes as we are approaching the bubble. It blows, but I have no cards, crappy position compared to the big stacks and short stacks, and just not much room to maneuver. After we make the money I raise UTG with AT and the guy who I let live hours ago when I laid down my JJ pushes. Its another 5000 to call, but the pot has close to 15000 in it. Its better than 3-1 on my money and I’m hoping he’s got 99 or worse so I call. He’s got TT and no ace comes. Crap. Now I’m actually short. It’s a lot easier to play! I just push and no one calls. I end up the night with close to 16K in chips which stinks but is still better than 30% of the field. I get to play Harrington red zone holdem tomorrow and who knows, maybe I get to the orange or yellow zone with a timely double up.


Day 2

Short entry.

On the third hand I catch JJ UTG and push. This is a good play. Very bad luck for the UTG+2 player with a slightly shorter stack to wake up with QQ and call. I miss. I’m have to post the BB and I have less than 1 BB behind. Folded to the giant stack SB who pushes and I figure my J7 are live so I call. I miss. I’m done. Meh.

[rmgustaf]

The CardPlayer "kids" have to cover fields as large as 2000 players with maybe 4 people. Forget about being covered early in the unless you're a big name or you've got a monster chip stack.

[Shrug]

Thanks for the report...good reading.
Congrats on two cashes.

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[ QUOTE ]
The CardPlayer "kids" have to cover fields as large as 2000 players with maybe 4 people. Forget about being covered early in the unless you're a big name or you've got a monster chip stack.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which is exactly my point.

[rmgustaf]

Adding more media won't solve the problem - you'd just have more reporters ignoring you. Unless you're in really tight with PokerReport or something like that.

[Solitare]

Thanks for the report, particularly the first few paragraphs on the general atmosphere there.

I'm disappointed but not surprised about the lack of action around HR4411. So far from what I've seen I'm less than impressed with the PPA. Missed opportunity.

[MyTurn2Raise]

good read