Tuesday, June 25, 2013

WSOP Part Duex

Got back to Vegas around 5:30 last night and quickly jumped in the Venetian $1,100 Big O. Never really had much over avg when I played a good sized pot at 400/800 with 24 left (86 started 9 cash).

Inevitable AAxxx loss 

I open AAQ58ds in MP to 2k. LP shortstack jams like 8k total. BB inexplicably decides to 4b jam 22k total with A2568. I call obv and somehow the worst hand wins. I drop to 40k ish. Getting it in with 50% equity 3 ways Seems like a good spot  oh well gambol gambol

Same dude coolers/sick holds me for the rest

2 or 3 hands later I'm in BB. 4b from above full pots at 4/800 to 2800. I call BB with A234T (AThh). Flop T56 with 1 and 1  ( I had bd baby diamonds). I ch, he 5k, I c/r get it in and somehow he has AA22T. Only hand that has me in bad shape. But still have ~45%. Miss anyway and I'm out 

Walk over to Wynn to check in and get room on 51st floor overlooking strip. Pretty cool. Can't seem to fall asleep so I trundle down to the poker room for an hour or so of 2/5.

It's pretty reg filled and I'm sure I look like a mark; just roll out of bed, don't have my phone/headphones, etc. and I decided to use that image.

First Hand I play

Reggish dude with 1k opens to 25, BTN calls, I call AT

(Pot 75) Flop T64r ch/ch/ch

(Pot 75) Turn T I bet 45 only reg calls

(Pot 165) River T I feel like his calling range is somewhat wide still. Might call with a PP, A6, A4, A-broadway, etc. decide to make my hand look bluffy and bet 225. He calls rather quickly and I win a decent pot. I would use this hand later to my advantage.

I drifted between 1.1k and 1.3k playing a bunch of hands as we got shorter. Finally a hand comes up with the above reg that I played pretty well given history.

Sometimes we bet to induce

A LAG opens to 20 from EP. Reg from above calls BTN and I call in BB with A3

(Pot 60). Flop 4Q5 checks to BTN who bets 40. I c/r to 125. Only BTN calls.

My plan is to barrel through most non-Q boards

(Pot 310) Turn 7 ok that's a good card. Decided to play this different. I am normally a bet,bet,bet kinda guy just trying to squeeze value everywhere. But I felt this guy would try to outplay me somewhere so I obv need to give him room to do so. I bet 140 after double checking my cards. Make it look like I have bare A he calls immediately

(Pot 590). River is a total brick. Think 8 gotta follow through my turn plan. Decide that 105 would look like a "blocker" bet and I bet that. He almost instantly ships for 600 or so more and I snap him off.

Think I played that well given table dynamics and my read.

Anyway played a bit longer and bagged a +900ish 75 minutes or so.

Not sure what I'm doing today yet. May just grind cash

Friday, June 21, 2013

Sometimes we run bad...sometimes we play bad

So last night I had one of those sessions we all dread. Played 1/2 for a bit waiting for a seat, then moved to 2/5 waiting for 5/10 game to go off, then they called the 5/10 game and sat in that for about 5 hours. All told here are the breakdowns by stake:

1/2: +400
2/5: -700
5/10: -2,000

Total -2,300

See a trend there...lol. Ran bad...didn't play all that great and got coolered in a few spots.

Here are a few of the more interesting hands:

Hand 1-TP; meh kicker

1/2 I raise T9 in MP to 12. c/o calls and BTN calls. Both know I am waiting for bigger games and I am splashing a lot trying to loosen up the game.

(Pot ~38) Flop 962 I lead 25 and both call. I feel like c/o is stronger than BTN and BTN has a ton of draws in his range...gutters, fl draws, etc.

(Pot ~110) Turn 2 I think I need to lead here still for value and bet 65. Both call, although BTN almost folds then gives it the old WTF "I call" routine. At this point I feel like c/o can have TT, J9s, A9s, etc. and most of his range beats me. i still beat 89s, 79s and draws. I think BTN only has draws and I really did not expect a call from him on turn. After he calls I say out loud "Wow this hand is really weird"

(Pot ~305) River 5. Fills in the straight. I check...they have 150 and 200 behind respectively. I think I am folding to c/o and evaluating BTN. They both show 79s and I scoop. Don't think I bet the river though.

The nuts pre...then we do some stuff post


Get moved to the 2/5 game when I played a weird hand with AK

I raised to 25 in MP and got call from BTN and call from BB. BB is very fit or fold and BTN is a terribad LAG who thinks he is a super thinking player but is really just a spazz IMO. Every time it is checked to him he bets without fail, etc.

Pot (~75) Flop 567r. I lead 50, BTN almost folds then calls, BB folds. I feel like BTN is floating here some, has one pair type hands a lot A7s, A6s, etc.

Pot (~175) Turn 4-no flush draw. I decide I am going to ch/shove here as it is hard for him to call with many hands although I am only repping 88, 78s, A8s, etc. So I check, he bets 150 which looks really bluffy to me. I ch/r to all in for 525 total and he pretty much snaps with 35o.

I miss my chop outs and he scoops a good sized pot. I would use my knowledge of him later in 5/10 as he just tries to outplay you everytime he plays a pot. Think I thought it through well he just had 1 of the 2 or 3 hands that could call a ch/shove.

I have two more interesting hands that I played. Both are pretty standard but would like some opinion. Will post those in a bit.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

WSOP Part 1b

Tuesday June 11

Came back to Venetian (well Palazzo really) for Day 2 of the PLO at 2 p.m.  There were 20 left with 18 cashing and I had an above average stack...prob 6/20.  Did my normal research on the table and discovered quite a few accomplished players.  One player in particular, however, had very few cashes.  This could mean he was very young and only recently eligible to play poker in casinos or he was a very recreational player who simply didn't have a ton of cashes.  That info would actually help me make a call for a lot of chips.  This player opens in EP (we are playing 7 handed though) and I call on the button with QJT8 single suited.  Flop comes T85.  He bets and I call.  I can raise here for sure but I have the button against what appears to be an inexperienced player.  Turn is pretty bad-7.  Goes check check.  River is J.  He then leads for almost 3/4 pot.  This represents 1/3 of my stack and if I am wrong I will be one of the shortest remaining stacks.  So I have top 2 which is essentially a bluff catcher on that board.  Then I think through what I had found out about him: he has very few cashes and he doesn't handle his chips very well.  Generally less experienced players bluff a lot more than they should and don't tell a particularly good story with their bluffs.  I would have expected anyone with a 9 in their hand to also have middle run down cards 7,8,T,J something like those cards.  If they held those types of cards they would be betting turn most of the time.  So I decide the only hands that beat me now are sets and I block 3 of them.  So after 2-3 minutes I call and he tables KQQJ and I scoop a good sized pot.  Thought through that hand well.

Anyway we get inside the money and I get coolered twice with 2nd straight and 2nd flush and am suddenly short with 15 left.  I hang in there for a while before badly missplaying KKxx hand that leaves me rather short.  Eventually I call OTB with AJTx and take a J7x flop.  I jam over a c-bet and see 77xx and its GG me in 11th for $2,500.

Played well just got a bit unlucky with 2 tables left and couldn't come back.

Wednesday June 12

This was the event I was most looking forward to: the WSOP $1,500 PLO.  Generally people play these PLO tournaments so poorly and I think my edge in them is pretty huge.  Well, I still believe that but 60 minutes later I was virtually out.  First hand that comes up is the following: there is a raise UTG at 25/25.  I 3b AcQdJdTc and UTG calls.  Flop comes 8c9c3h and we get it all in.  Odds are as follows:

Omaha Hi Simulation ?
820 trials (Exhaustive)
board: 8c9c3h
Hand Equity Wins Ties
AcQdJdTc 70.12% 575 0
4c5c5h8s 29.88% 245 0


Seems like a good situation...lol.  But I lose obv and have to use my last 2 "rebuy" chips. So I now have 3k from original 4.5k and the next beauty comes up.  There is a raise up front to 75 (still 25/25), 1 call, I call in LP with JJT8 with spades and clubs, BB calls and we take the flop with a little over 300 in the pot.  Flop comes 79Q with 2 spades, 1 club.  Checks to me and I bet 200, UTG calls, original raiser calls.  Turn is a small club, checks to me I bet 600 into 900.  UTG c/r all in, original raiser sticks it in.  Amazingly neither of them has a spade of a club and I am looking good!

Omaha Hi Simulation ?
36 trials (Exhaustive)
board: 7s9sQc4c
Hand Equity Wins Ties
JsJcTs8c 50.00% 17 2
Qh9hKh7d 41.67% 15 0
JhThKdAd 8.33% 2 2

Obviously I missed any 6, 8, T, J, K, club or spade and am down to 500.  Hang around for next 20 mins and finally bust when I stick it in with 6899 and board runs out all high cards.  Shortest $1,500 of my life!

Once I got short I started trying to figure out where to go if I busted.  Finally decided I would run back to Palazzo to play their $1,100 NLHE day 1b.  Got there about half way through the second level and quickly discovered this would be a very tough field.  My table had several name pros at it along with a few young internet players.  But I played my game and quickly had my stack up to 35k from 15k in 3 levels and kept it about there until dinner when I had ~38k.  Nothing super exciting happened after dinner and I slowly chipped up to 74k which I bagged and tagged for the night. 

Thursday June 13

We came back at 2 p.m. with 90 left, 45 making the money and 98k up top.  A lot of incentive to grind it up!  As with the 400 from the other day I would quickly lose a flip.  70-ish left and I have been really tight as there were 2 Euros and a Russian at my table just never giving up and trying to win every pot.  Finally I opened TT from middle position.  Blinds were 8/1600/200 and I opened to 3500.  BTN was a bad player and he just rips 32k in the middle.  This just seems like AK, AQ maybe 88-JJ.  I count down his stack and decide to call.  He has AJ...lol.  I mean I am playing super tight and he ships that garbage.  Basically the only hand he can hope I have is TT and fortunately for him...I have it.  Of course, I lose a flip to this jackass when he 4 flushes me..river Th just to rub it in. 

Anyway I grinded it out and won AKss>JJ all in on QsTsx flop.  Finally we were in the money and I was looking to double up.  Did win AA>AQ aipf but nothing else materialized.  Finally at 4/8,000/1ka I shipped QTdd  with 90k stack and Button woke up JJ and it GG Big Man for ~$3,100.

Played in an absurd 2/5/10 PLO8 game that night for quite some time and won ~500 after being stuck over 1k in about 2 hours.  I was the only player raising and finally got Ac2c8sTs and got ~$1,500 in on a 3cTc7h flop.  He never tabled his hand on an 8, K runout but tried to tell me I was behind on the flop....ummmm ok.

Flew home Friday the 14th for Father's Day weekend and to get some work done in the office this week.  I head back to Vegas on Monday 24th for another week of summer camp.  I am scheduled again to play a bunch of events...mostly at Venetian/Palazzo.  Going to stay at the Wynn this time as I got a really good rate and I couldn't give 2 shits about going back to the Rio.  My intended schedule:

6/24/13    Monday    Palazzo 4:00 PM   $1,100    Big-O 
6/25/13    Tuesday    Rio              11:00 AM        $580    NLHE
6/26/13    Wednesday    Palazzo        12:00 PM        $500    NLHE
6/27/13    Thursday    Palazzo        12:00 PM        $500    NLHE
6/28/13    Friday    Palazzo        12:00 PM        $1,100   NLHE
6/28/13    Friday    Palazzo        4:00 PM        $1,100    PLO8
6/29/13    Saturday    Palazzo        12:00 PM        $600    NLHE

We shall see though.  Nothing is set in stone and hopefully there will be a few Day 2's mixed in as well.  Might play the $3k PLO8 on Tuesday the 25th at WSOP too.

Monday, June 17, 2013

WSOP Part 1a

I set off for the desert Friday June 7th for ~a week of poker.  The plan was to play a lot of tournaments and a bunch of cash games but the tournaments ended up taking most of the time and limiting the amount of cash games I played.  I did play a bit but the possibility of 50+ hours of cash never materialized.  Anyway here is a quick summary of the events I did play (will probably break into 2 parts since there are a few interesting spots)

Friday June 7

I got out there ~9:30 a.m. PST and was intending to play the Binions 1k NLHE.  I actually rented a car for this trip since I was planning on being around the strip and downtown a bit throughout the week.  Anyway, I checked in to the cess pool that is the Rio and set off for downtown .  Once there I quickly realized they were going to have a VERY small field in the 1k and walked across Freemont Street to The Golden Nugget and jumped in their $240 PLO8.  The field was predictably LOL but I never really accumulated any chips and busted about 2/3 of the way through losing AK24
After busting I hightailed it to Venetian to play their nightly $300 busting right before the first break AK
Saturday June 8

I had regged the night before for the Venetian $400 Day 1a so for once I wasn't rushing around all morning to get there on time.  With 12k starting stack, 40 minute levels and 2 day 1's, it looked like a pretty good prize pool was likely.  Nothing super interesting happened early until just before the second break:


  • Blinds are 200/400/50a and I have abt 35k.  I open to 1k in MP with 89dd.  C/O calls, BB calls and we take a flop with ~3500 in pot.  Flop comes 567r and I lead 1.5k and old man in c/o raises to 6k.  Pretty sure he is strong here as he has flat called AA 3 times and KK 2 times just in the 6 levels we have played.  So I go 15k, he ships and I call to see his AA...lol.  That got me to 80k.
From there I chipped up to 100kish when I played a hand perhaps a bit too fast:

  • Blinds 600/1200/200a.  UTG opens to 2.5k, 2 callers and I call in SB with QJhh.  Flop comes QT5 with T and 5 of hearts.  I choose to lead for 6k into 12.5.  Not sure how I feel about this but anyway only the C/O calls with 28k behind.  He was a tight solid English kid and I should be behind here almost always (at least AQ or KQ), sets, two pairs, I guess he could have Axhh where I am a bit ahead.  Anyway, turn is an 8 which now gives me a gutshot.  Made another marginal decision to lead here for 9k and when he ships I know I am drawing.  He has TT obv and I brick river and am back down to 40k.  Hate the way I played this pot.
Anyway I buck up and grind the next 3 or 4 levels until we bag with 25 players and I have ~90k coming back to 1200/2400/300a which was pretty much avg stack.

Sunday  June 9

Since Day 2 of the Venetian wasn't until Monday, I had the day off Sunday and decided to find a one day tournament.  Found a PLO event down at Binions so I went down there.  First 2 levels I played virtually every pot against these fish and finally smashed a few flops and had it to 60k in a few levels.  When we got down to 20ish I was chip leader and was rolling my table.  I literally opened 2/3 of the pots for raises and pots I didn't win pre-flop I won rather easily post flop.  Did lose a big pot on the final table bubble with top 2 vs. a bare J hi flush draw where the guy more or less said he couldn't take it anymore and stuck it in really bad only to get there.We combined at 9 with 7 paying, one guy busted and they all wanted to have 8th get their money back.  I finally agreed then proceeded to lose a big flip with a wrap and flush draw to top set and finally lost AK75 to 9854 of the big stack all in on A96 flop...turn T river 7 obv.  GG Big Man.

Monday June 10

Call the wife for our 13th Anniversary! She's a good sport! Then back to Venetian at 2 for Day 2 of the $400.  63 came back with 54 cashing and $42k up top.  This wouldn't last long.  Blinds 1.5/3k/400a.  I open AKcc to 6.5k...BB is an older dude and he rips like 50k.  I count it down to make sure and I call to see what I expect...QQ.  He never shoves AA or KK (at least I don't think he does).  Anyway I brick and now have to limp into the money ultimately busting 41st for peanuts.

Since I busted around 4 p.m. I was able to jump into the 4 p.m. $600 PLO right there at Venetian.  Started with 15k and at first break I had 90k.  Don't remember a ton of hands but it was absurd.  I just had the nuts a lot and others couldn't fold due to my absurd table image.  From here I folded a lot until the last few hands of the night.  We were down to 22 or so (18 cashed) and I flatted a raise on the BTN with 89TJ rainbow.  If I was suited I would have raised pre-flop but rather play in position then just raise and flip.  Flop comes 567dd and fishy big stack in BB leads for full pot (think like 15k).  I say "No diamonds" and bomb.  He calls off my stack and shows KK34dd with bottom end of the straight and K hi flush draw.  I hold and double to 160k.  Pick up a few more pots and bag 179k with 20 left.  Avg stack was ~140ish so I was in good shape.

Will post Part 1b tomorrow or Wednesday....