WSOP 2010 Main Event: Days 1 and 2
The majority of professional poker players consider the WSOP main event a combination of the most anticipated and most dreaded tournament of the year. Everyone dreams of the impossibly large score you make if you final table it, not to mention the fame and notoriety that comes with it within the industry. Others take the event with the seriousness of a zealot, finding themselves absolutely shattered when their journey through the event reaches it's destination in the form of an early knock out. I ran fairly deep in my first attempt at the age of 21 and haven't cashed it since. I view the main event as an excellent opportunity, but at the end of the day just another tournament and nothing to lose my shit over. I'm generally much too busy losing my backers money in it instead.
I elected to play day C of the main. Day A was not suitable because it was July 5th and I intended to be raging drunk throughout the 4th. Day B didn't work because I needed to pick someone up from the airport. Day D presented the highly improbable yet still possible chance of a lock out, and so Day C it was. I caught a ride with my roommate Aejones, who despite his online persona proved to be the most sensible and mature of the dozen or so young men who lived in our house throughout the summer. He also got us there in time for the start of the event, perhaps the second or third time that had happened on a day one all series for me.
I found my seat in the sea of tables full of people within the Pavillion room. It was mostly devoid of known and young players, outside online MTT player WiscoMurray a few seats on my left and a roommate of friend Mark Vos on my right. Much of the table was middle aged to older gentleman, and there was a woman perhaps in her young 30's on my direct left. Jack Effel brought Joe Cada on to the stage and had him make the "Shuffle up and deal!" announcement.
Things were pretty loose in the early goings. Some of the players were aggressive, but quite a few seemed pretty tight weak. Not long into the first level I played my first large pot:
Effective stacks: 30,000
Blinds: 50/100. I hold JsJc in the SB.
Preflop: UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to 225, two folds, MP2 calls, folds to me in the SB, I 3 bet to 1025, BB folds, UTG folds, MP2 calls.
I think flatting is fine here too, but the opener had been real active and MP2 was pretty loose passive post flop, so I wanted more money in the pot.
Flop: 4h 6h 8c
I bet 1500, MP2 calls.
Turn: 5c
I bet 2700, MP2 calls.
River: 5h
I check, MP2 bets 4500, I fold.
I think he was definitely loose enough to just be calling down with his flush draws, plus the possibility of a suited connector that'd made a straight, so I went with the fold.
The table allowed me to open pretty widely and there was very little 3 betting. Eventually the woman on my left decided to be the first one to make it happen:
Effective stacks: ~28,000
Blinds: 100/200. I hold 3c3h in MP1.
Preflop: Folds to me, I raise to 600, MP2 rerraises to 1400, folds back to me, I call.
Flop: Tc Kd Qs
I check, she checks behind.
Turn: 3c
I bet 2400, she calls.
River: Ac
And with that card I now beat nothing in her range that bets and absolutely no worse hands called a bet. I checked intending to fold but got a free showdown when she checked behind then tabled a set of queens.
Things continued to go poorly and I lost the majority of the small pots I played without note. We had a dealer sit down who was about 60 and an absolute stitch. One of the first thing he says upon arrival is "Hey did you guys hear they fixed that oil leak in the Gulf?"
"No they didn't" the guy in seat 5 replied instantly.
"Sure they did, they just put a wedding ring around it and it stopped putting out."
The table broke into unanimous laughter, lady beside me and all. His continual joking enticed conversation and the table become real fun. At one point we were discussing how some of us had sold off pieces or had backers, and the lady on my left discussed that many people she knew had a percent of her in the tournament. "You remind me of my ex-wife" said the dealer, "Everyone in the neighborhood had a piece of her too." Somewhere between the barrage of Dangerfieldesque one liners we also played some poker:
My stack: ~22,000
button: ~18,000
Blinds: 150/300 with 25 ante. I hold 3h 3d UTG.
Preflop: I raise to 800, folds to the button, the button calls, both blinds fold.
Flop: 4 6 7 rainbow
I bet 1200, the button called.
Turn: 5
The button was a very tight weak player who seemed totally incapable of betting without a big hand. He was also the type to fold some decent type over pairs on a scary board if I just barreled down hard. I decided to check because I thought he'd call a really large river bet a high percent of the time. Instead of the expected check, he bet 1275, and I called.
River: J
I check, the button bets 3025, and I call thinking that with this guy there's probably no worse hands that call a raise since he's a huge nit, though one could make an argument for check min raising here or something to get calls from sets. Either way he turned over Td8d. Looking at this hand on paper now it seems weird to justify playing it so passively as against many in the WSOP the turn seems like a clear bet for value, but I suppose I had a decent read at the time.
A little bit before dinner our table is broken up and I'm moved to the very far corner of the room. Waiting for me on the table are 2+2 posters Da_Captain, NoahSD (a guy who coached me a few years back), and USCSwimmer. There's also a loudly dressed older woman with dark hair with a strange demeanor with a mountain of chips a few on my left. She keeps saying that she hasn't had a drink in years, yet her words are slowly slurred out and her play is as erratic as a drunk. It was with that read that I entered my next major pot:
My stack: ~24,000
Lady UTG+1: ~75,000
Blinds 150/300, I hold KcTc in the SB.
Preflop: UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to 800, MP1 calls, two folds, CO calls, button folds, I call, BB folds.
Flop: Ks Qd 4c
I check, she bets 2400, MP1 and CO fold, I call.
Turn: 4h
I check, she checks behind.
River: 6s
I decided that if she had a better K she would bet it pretty much always on the turn, KQ included. I was splitting with KJ, and I assumed she would check back some of her queens and mid pairs that might peel a small river bet. I bet 2500, she raises to 7200, and I fold assuming she checked back a monster on the turn.
The woman continued to play a huge percentage of pots and bet with reckless abandon, but winning many of the hands she entered. She bet almost always at people who checked, and often barreled multiple streets. She had a certain obsession with keeping her stacks nice and even, and all chips that prevented this from happening were a certainty to be spewed into the pot, cast away for having created a flaw in her elaborate design. We got involved again at the 200/400 level:
My stack: ~22,000
Lady in BB: ~80,000
Blinds 200/400 with a 50 ante. I hold A5o in the CO.
Preflop: UTG folds, UTG+1 limps. UTG+1 had been a very loose passive player, that had limp folded and limp/called then check/folded the flop numerous times before. When it folded to me I raised it up to 1500. The button and SB folded, the lady in the BB called, and the limper called.
Flop: As 8c 2s
She checks, UTG+1 checks, I check.
Turn: 3s
She bets 3000, UTG+1 folds, I call.
River: 6h
She bets 4500, I call immediately expecting to be way good, and get AK put right down in my face. My starting stack crumbled all the way down to 13,000.
Conversation was also quite active at that table as well, particularly since I knew so many players. Mid way through the 200/400 level, Da_Captain, aka Lance, began attempting to talk the table into a large round of white Russians. Lance is a long haired guy of perhaps 40 who sailed around the world in a small boat and bears a striking resemblance to "The dude" from The Big Lebowski. I was ordered one despite my protests (I mean, who could resist the affable and easy going charm of "the dude"?), as were numerous others and USCSwimmer, who said he was something like eight or nine beers into the evening thus far. He was maintaining nicely. Our round arrived with only 20 minutes or so of play left as I continued to be card dead on my short stack. Finally, with three hands left in the evening, I got involved in a large pot while I slowly slipped my milky alcoholic concoction:
My stack: ~13,000
BB: ~90,000
Blinds 200/400 with a 50 ante. I hold QsQh on the HJ.
Preflop: folds to MP2, MP2 raises to 1000, folds to me on the HJ, I raise to 2650, folds to the BB, the BB calls, the MP2 player folds. The BB was an older guy who seemed to be playing real loose.
Flop: Jd Td Jc
The BB player checks, I bet 3500, he called. I feel like a lot of my bet sizing in this report seems odd, but players in the WSOP seem to take all-ins so deathly serious that I often go for betting smaller in favor of shoving in spots that are close when going for value. I figured with my sizing every under pair would peel one then be close to committed by the turn when it was so little more. I assumed most strong draws would be check shoving on me, so it'd wind up with the same result as shoving against that portion of his range.
Turn: 3c
He leads 7000 which was the remains of my stack, and I called immediately. He tabled KcQc and I stood up thinking I was about to bust on the third to last hand of the day. Fortunately for me the river bricked out a 6s and I moved up to a bit over 27,000 in chips, just below starting stack. The dude ordered another round of white Russians, and all was well in the world. I caught a ride home with KingDan, Ansky, and Starky, with Dan particularly enthralled as he'd ended with a very large stack.
~
I woke up at the start of day 2 a little before 11:00am. It normally doesn't take me long to get ready despite my addiction to thorough attire, and I was out in the kitchen by 11:20. I had anticipated catching a ride with the three guys I'd been driven home by on our day one, but I found the kitchen to be empty. Matty was hanging around the couch, which he'd been living on since moving in a week or so prior.
"Where are the other guys? Did they leave?"
"Uhhh, yea....I think so."
"Shit...that's not good. I'll give them a call."
I called Starky and found they'd left but were merely a few blocks away on Cactus road. I'd never imagined they'd get out the door so early. They turned around, picked me up, and apologized for forgetting. I was quiet and lost in my own thoughts most of the ride while Dan was chirping away excitedly about how he was going to crush it all day. The parking lot was filled to the brim and we found some spot near the back. We hurried up into the players entrance of the Rio, wished each other luck, and ran off to our tables. Waiting for me at mine was online MTT regular BadcardsAA aka Raj, and Australian old school pro and consummate gentleman Gary Benson. Raj is always happy to have a chat on the table, and the young guy on my immediate right was soon involved and asking all kinds of questions about the guys I was living with.
Things went very smoothly early. I found many good hands, and the times I whiffed the flop my opponent often folded to a bet. At one point while chipping up I used a quick maneuver I thought up on the fly. I'd noticed an attractive and revealingly dressed woman give David Williams a kiss on the rail then continue to sweat him for some time. At one point I opened wide in MP1 and it folded to Raj in the BB who looked down at his cards then went for chips as if to call. "Don't do Raj" I announced "I'm trying to stare at David Williams girlfriend here." The entire table quickly head turned in the direction of my comment, Raj and the dealer included. Conversation broke out about the young woman of such prominent decolletage, distracting the action. Raj looked back at his cards, glanced again to the woman, re-checked his cards, then folded. The Italian guy who looked like Rafael Nadal said something brightly in Italian to nobody in particular. I turned to him and said slyly "Maaaaalto bene."
"Ah yes! Malto bene!!" he repeated with a smile.
Everything went easily all day. I won almost all my small and medium pots, all the small bluffs worked, and I was put in zero difficult decisions. I'd run my stack up to 42,000 before I got involved in a large pot:
My stack: ~42,000
Gary Benson's stack: ~90,000
Blinds are 300/600 with a 75 ante. I hold 8c8d UTG.
Preflop: I raise to 1500, folds around to Gary in the SB, Gary calls, BB folds. Gary generally plays on the tight side, but a very smart and generally aggressive tight, and he's been one of the more successful guys over the history of tournament poker in Australia.
Flop: K 9 8 rainbow
Gary checks, I bet 2500, Gary calls.
Turn: K
Gary bets, I bet 6000, Gary check raises to 15000, I call.
River: T
Gary bets 18000, I shove for 5400 more, and after unhappily thinking a moment he makes the call. I table my hand and he elects to muck his, which I'd guess was likely AK seeing as I doubt Gary raises the turn for value since there aren't many worse hands that will call him.
I continued to chip up steadily until dinner, which I went to with a group of guys included the now busted Raj, 2+2 poster Foucault, the guy who was sitting next to me, and my roommate KingDan. Throughout the entire WSOP I ate every dinner break I made except one at the Indian restaurant, Gaylord's. I feel it's definitely the best food in the Rio and the service there is excellent about attending to the guys who are in the tournaments.
The day wound up playing out quietly. I won a few small pots, semi bluff turn raised an open ended straight draw on one of the last hands of the day, and finished up with a little over 100,000 in chips. I caught a ride home with Starky and Dan, Ansky having made his escape of the Rio after busting. Even though the day proceeded without incident, I found myself surprisingly exhausted for a not so long day of poker. I looked forward to getting some rest over the next couple of off days.