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[poker_Elmo]

WSOP trip report: Event 30: $1500 NL

Day 1

Before I get to the table, I meet both Yankees and Taardvark – great to meet these guys. Like most ITHers, I feel like I know them before I meet them – and as expected, they seem like great guys. Chris and Taard are also playing this event – naturally we all are hoping to make a nice run.

I arrive at my table about 20 seconds before things start. My initial table has two online pros speaking online pro speak, and one of them looks really familiar. After a short period of time – I realize it is Adam Levy – the top online pro named Roothlus. Another pro next to me and Roothlus are talking about wagering multiple thousands on fantasy football leagues. There is also a Northern European guy who seemed to spend a lot of time getting his hair to have that "just messed up enough" look. Seems pretty aggressive early first in, but I saw him call raises in position several times with good hands (QQ, 99, etc.). Good info here – if he reraises PF, he either has a monster or a bluff. My table seems tougher than I would like – but what am I going to do? This is the World Series of Poker – have to expect a few pros.

Things start slow for me. We start at 4500 chips in this event, with blinds at 25/50, so no need to get feisty early. I don’t get much for cards, but make a few chips when I put in a small squeeze reraise from late position with J8o and get a few hundred chips up. However, I quickly drop below 400 by having 2 hands that I raise PF and fire a CB before folding and losing a few blinds. E.g.: I raise A5s from the CO, get called in the bb. I CB a KJ2 flop and get called. The turn is a T and opponent checks – I check behind. River is a blank, and I check behind and villain wins with AJ. Yuck. At one point, I am down to 3500 chips. Things turned around a bit, thankfully.

At 50/100: Roothlus limps in EP, Northern European guy raises, folds to me, I put in a 3-bet with QQ and all fold. Also, HJ raises, CO reraises and it folds to me where I have AKo in the bb. I put in a hefty reraise, giving myself enough to push the flop with some fold equity if called, but both fold to me. I wouldn’t always reraise AK there, but my image was pretty tight, the 3-bets weren’t rare (including by this guy), and I thought I would probably get folds from most pairs here, including up to JJ. The guy took a long time to fold, but eventually did – making me think he probably had 99-JJ.

An orbit passes, and I raise to 250 AQs in EP. The flop comes K62 rainbow, and I make a C-bet of 425 or so. Villain calls. (Crap.) Turn is a J. Villain checks. I figure I probably have 7 outs, so is betting or checking better? Well, I am not sure still, but I really didn’t want to fire off an extra 700 or so in a turn bet – those chips are too valuable to my stack, so I checked. Turn was a ten, and I rived the backdoor nut straight. Wow. He now fires 425. I raise to 1100 or so. Unfortunately, after tanking, he decides to fold. Still – I picked up some chips.

Also at 50-100 but after another orbit or two. The Northern European Raised to 225 , gets one calleron the button, and I have 78s in the bb and call the additional 125. The flop comes Q86. The NE bets 450, the button folds, and I consider my move. I have to have the impression of a nit. I have been very inactive, although somewhat aggressive when playing hands. I had been plotting a ch-raise on this guy since I first sat down, and this seems to be the spot to try it. I haven’t ch-raised yet, and I should get a lot of respect. Without top pair or better, it will be very tough for him to call a bet here. I ch-raise to 1125 and get a fold.

In here, I had a few raises then c-bet/calls where I folded later that kept me from really building a stack but mostly my big hands let me keep chipping up.
I then picked up AK and flopped flop top 2 pair. The blinds donk-bet into me on a AK4 rainbow board. I was so stunned by this I just called. He check-folded the turn.

As we get to the break, I am planning on raising or reraising any two. I look like a tourist, so many will assume I will want to scoot on the break. I even project this by getting my backpack read. So, with 10 seconds left, an active player raises in 2nd position. I am ready to reraise any two, but actually pick up AK, lol. I reraise, and everyone folds. – last hand before break. End level 2 and start the break with 6,050 chips

Nothing big in level 3, I chip up a bit to about 7K. Shortly into level 4, my table breaks and I move to a new table. I recognize no one, which is good, but with internet kids, who knows how good any of these players are. First thing I notice is a huge stack two to my left. I am in seat 6, he is in seat 8. Seems like a laid back guy but has to have 24K+ in chips when the average is maybe 7K. Yikes.

2nd hand at the new table – I get AQ. I have about 7K at this point, and raise from the HJ to 500 (100/200 blinds). The big stack calls from the button and the blinds fold. Pot is 1300. Flop is K83 rainbow. I fire 725 and the big stack calls. Crap – what could he have? Well, I have nothing, so it really doesn’t matter until … A queen turns. Now I have 2nd pair, top kicker. I check, and he bets 1250. I ponder for a 2nd and wonder what kind of hand has me beat? Perhaps a set or 8s or 3s, but does he really have many kings in his range here? He might, but he could easily be betting his pair of 66, 77, 99, A8, etc. , so I decide to call. The river brings a jack. I check again and now he bets 2400. Yikes. I have about 4500 left with a tough decision. The problem here is it’s tough to put him on anything but a monster or an underpair he turns into a bluff. With his massive stack, I think he very well might be super-duper laggy, and decide to call. He shows KT and I lose and am down to 2K in chips. That really sucked. I am kicking myself now for this hand, but the only part I think I could question is the river – no way I don’t C-bet or ch-call the turn. Without knowing the opponent, the river is super-tough.

Anyway, I am short-chipped, but the internal voice in my head goes off: “Matt, every single tourney you have made a huge score in there was a point in the tourney that looked really, really bad. You have chips still – so fight on.” With about 2K in chips left, I am looking for a spot to push and double. Thankfully, about 2 hands I picked up aces and a player who is about as short stacked as me pushes in front of me. My aces hold (no sweat even) , and I double to a bit over 4K. I then pick up TT and raise – with the big stack calling again. Flop J72. It goes check-check. Turn is another jack – I bet and take down the pot.
My stack is a bit over 4K, but I take the blinds a couple times a whittle back down to around 4K when a player in EP raises to 500. I reraise AK to 2100, the EP player pushes, and we are off to the raises when he flips JJ. Board runs 836-6-A. Wow – ace on the river. The dealer counts the chips and he had me outchipped by 75. I feel bad for the guy. I am thrilled I won – but can emphasize. Still, thrilled to have about 8.6K now. Now I can play poker again. Unfortunately, every time I tried to build my stack – I got slapped around. E.g. – raise A5s in HJ. Big stack calls again. I c-bet flop. Big stack calls. I turn a gutshot wheel draw, it goes check-check, and brick the river when I check-fold.

I found this next hand fascinating. I raise AT from MP. The big blind (an internet looking kid) calls. The flop is 962. He checks, I check. Turn is a 3. He bets half the pot. I sense weakness and call. The river is a another 9. He bets half the pot again. I think, and he just seems super weak – like he has two broadway cards. I call, and I was right! Sort of … He has AQ. Crap – my read is spot on but he was bluffing with the best hand. The table seems to respect my call down – including the nice guy (shortstack) who is next to me. I start talking to him – and he discusses he has played 10 events and cashed once so he is down. His neighbor says he has won several seats online, though. I ask him his username and he says “Imalucksac”. Crap – I know that name. That means he has been a ranked player. Nice guy, but not the guy I want at my table.

I enter the 2nd break with 5725 in chips. Could be worse, could be better.
In level 5, nothing much happens – I pretty much maintain my stack. In level 6 – 150/300, right away there are fireworks. First, I raise 66 from the CO. I have about 5500 in chips and raise to 750. The big blind – another internet looking kid – pushes all in. Once again – I am not certain of his strength, but think he is the type to push a super-wide range here. Given I raised with under 20 big blinds PF, I would need a good reason to fold, and I don’t find one here. I call, and he shows A4o! My 66 holds, and for the 2nd time today, I “ammbo” someone. He has 50 chips left. (Technically, to ammbo means one chip left, but I think this was close enough.)

A few hands later, a short stack raises PF – this is the same player who beat mea AQ to AT. I reraise my AKs PF, and he calls all in with KK. Shoot. The flop is QQT, giving me four jack outs in addition to my 3 ace outs. The turn was the 2 of spades, giving me a flush draw and a huge number of outs. A jack hits the river and I chip up to 16K.

A few hands later, I am moved to a new table about 40 minutes before dinner break with a 16K stack and I am feeling pretty good about things, naturally. The average at this point is probably 12K or so, my stack is above average but not a massive stack by any means. My hope is to try to be somewhat active in playing small pots in +EV situations to build up a big stack. I think I play a big stack extremely well and when I can accumulate a bunch of chips I can often then continue increasing my stack almost regardless of my cards. My plan would run into some roadbumps, unfortunately.

I get one steal about 7-8 hands into the new table with 78s. I take the blinds, then wake up with KK on the button. There is a Frenchman at my table who looks familiar; I think he might be the French guy who made a deep run in the main event last year. Anyway – he is in my bb, and calls my 2.5x the bb raise. The flop is A53. He checks, and I check behind – no need to C-bet here. He would likely fold most non-aces, and would never fold an ace or better, and may even try to ch-raise bluff me here (which would work if he tried it). Turn is an 8, I check, he checks. River is a 4. He now bets 800 – which was less than my continuation bet would have been on the flop. I call, but he shows A7s for top pair and wins the pot. Small ball saved me chips, but I still lost 1500 chips or so.

Hand before dinner break – 86o in EP. Once again – the hand before the break I plan on being aggressive. I raise thinking players will want to get to dinner. I was wrong. I got 3 callers (1 in MP, 1 in LP, and the bb). The flop is a Q62 rainbow. Well, with 3 callers, someone could easily have a queen. But, they might not and might have easily missed this flop. I decide to c-bet about 60% of the pot. Only the bb calls. The turn is a 5. He checks, I check. The river is an ace. He checks. I decide to represent the ace and bet. The key is how much. I want to get folds, but risk as little as possible for when I am called. I bet about 2300 and he says crap – what a sick river. He thinks for about a minute and calls with KQ and I lose a big pot. I am once again kicking myself – everytime I seem to build up chips I lose a big hand. Going into supper break, I have 8550 chips.

I am bummed about that hand, but I am still in and not too far below the average. Chris and Taardvark are also both in - and they both have much nicer stacks. Time to eat and get ready to make a run.

More to come …

[krazytxan]

Awesome story!!

Can't wait for more.

[chrisjp]

Wow, lots of action. Great report so far!

[Taardvark]

Great report and great to meet you. You certainly had more interesting hands than I did.

[fatshaft]

How do you remember so much detail?

[Damien]

How do you remember so much detail?

I always wonder this when reading trip reports as well. I envision ITHers sitting at the table with a laptop in their lap. No way would I be able to remember my hands, the specific action, who was in on the hands, the board, etc, etc. Must be a trick to it.

[MacTaiga]

Great read, good luck to all of you!

[poker_Elmo]

How do you remember so much detail?

I always wonder this when reading trip reports as well. I envision ITHers sitting at the table with a laptop in their lap. No way would I be able to remember my hands, the specific action, who was in on the hands, the board, etc, etc. Must be a trick to it.

Chris is the master at it. I just try to remember key hands at the time and jot a few down after the event.

Speaking of that - writing part 2 now.

[poker_Elmo]

Elmo WSOP event 30 report - part 2/2

I come back from dinner with 8550 in chips. Bummed about that last hand, but still have 21 big blinds, so a good stack to be patient. Need to be tight first in, but can reraise a bit ligher than normal.

First half hour or so back I tread water. I steal once with KJ. About halfway through the level there has been about 2 orbits and I have only stolen once, so I am down a bit below 8K now. I am in the CO now with AQ. An aggro guy next to me in the hijack raises to just over 1K. I reraise to 2.9K intending to call any one push, but not two. Thankfully everyone folds and I am now up over 9K. One more steal raise in this level, and I end level 7 with just under 9K in chips.

300/600. I keep looking for spots to steal or resteal, but nothing good is arising. I blind down to a bit under 8K, but then I pick up KK. The same guy who was the hijack in the AQ hand raises now to about 1700. I then push. He calls relatively quickly and tables KQ. A queen flops, but that is all he sees and I double to over 16K. The rest of the this level is uneventful. I have a one successful steal and one steal called and a C-bet called by an older gentleman and I give up. Thankfully there is a hand where I am the big blind where that older gentleman limped the button, the sb limped, and I checked my T3o in the bb. The board ran 962-7-2. One the J river, when nobody had bet the whole way, I bet 900 into the 1800 chip pot and both players folded. Small pot, but important. That was about all I had this level, and I end level 8 at 14,400 going into the break.

400/800. I start this level with 18 big blinds, so again I am going to be tight first in, but a bit looser restealing. I get one steal raise with KJ before my table breaks. I was at table 81, and moved to 72 – not far. These means after 90 more people bust, this new table will break, so I won’t be here too long. I move to the 8 seat of the new table, and the 9 seat is the older gentleman from the previous hand where I gave up after the C-bet. He has been limping often and generally is just a bad player. He had one big suckout on the previous table where he hit a 4-outer to survive and he has about 25K in chips. I pick up AQ and raise to 2100. The older gentleman with position on me calls and we see an A42 flop. Given there is 5K in the middle and I have about 12K behind, there is no way I am folding this. I am likely ahead, but want to figure how to extract chips. Since he is a donk, I figure best plan is just to C-bet. He may call super loose and may raise a draw (although since we chatted some and he seems nice – I doubt he would raise a draw on me- seems crazy, but that was the vibe). I bet about 4200, leaving one shell for a turn bet too. He calls. Turn is a queen. I bet all in, which in retrospect might have been a mistake. He folds and tells me he had 55 but that I made it too expensive. I completely believed him there – he just wasn’t the type of guy to lie to me there (we had nice small talk). This hand was huge, as it pushed me over 20K.

Honestly, I remember almost nothing else in this level – except that I hovered in the 20K neighborhood.

500/1000 – last level of night. About 20K in chips. I raised a mid-suited ace once to steal the blinds. Then, in the bb, the CO raises to 2200 chips and I see an AQo. This is as good a time as any to reraise, and I do. I decide to simply push and after a small bit of thought the bb folds. I am up to over 22K – my highest point of the tourney, although that is still below average. From here – I don’t think I played another hand the rest of the night – literally. I blinded down a bit. I debated a reship with AJ once but declined because the initial raiser hadn’t been too active. I also turned down a chance to reraise with 44 from an EP raiser after I moved to my final table of the night, where I took about 15 hands. I ended the night with 15.5K. A short stack, unfortunately.

Day 2. I find out later there are 261 left, 18 until the money which starts at 243. I am not going to fold into the money, but also with my short stack I am not going to be dumb. A lot of the value in this tourney now is in the cash. Even if I double I am well below average, so I am going to play tighter than normal calling – super tight, in fact. Talking with ChrisJP that morning, I figured my calling off range needed to be AK or QQ+. This bubble for me played a lot like a SNG – I can’t call off chips – I have to be first in.

I get there and there is crazy action all around, but I don’t have much for hands. After just 11 minutes, we go hand for hand because we lost 15 players quickly. This is very good! I have no hands to speak of though. When we got right to 244 players, I am the big blind and I fold a pair of nines to an utg raiser who made his first raise of the day. If it weren’t the bubble, I would have shipped there, but I had no fold equity with only 11 big blinds and I don’t think I could be more than 50% against his range. I feel like a wimp, but I think it was the right play.

The bubble finally burst, and the 2nd hand I am in the sb. An aggro Israeli raises the button and I am hoping for anything – I get a good hand with 88 and ship on him. He reluctantly calls with T8o and I hold and double to approximately 26K.

I fold for an orbit and take the blinds. Looking for good hands first in or to resteal, but with 15 big blinds, am not finding much. I have about 22K when I pick up AQs utg. This is 14 big blinds, and an easy raise. I decide simply to push. I think this might have been a mistake – I could have raised smaller. However, I really didn’t want an ackward spot OOP with about 1.5x the pot in my stack. What do I do on a K82 flop? I decide to just push. I get called by a late position player who has AK. A king hits the flop and I am out.

The silver lining in the cloud. The player in front of me (who busted from another table right before me) gets paid $2900. I am the first of the higher payouts - $3200. When I was playing – I paid no attention to the money jumps. But when I was out – the extra $300 was nice.

I was bummed I could never build a stack, but overall was happy. Only 1/10 will cash, and I didn’t play to cash – I took shots at building a stack several times, they just never worked out.

Next year, I want to play the main event. I am 10 tabling six-max PLO now and the FPPs come quick. I expect to be supernova in September and hopefully can earn enough points to pay for a main event buyin. Until then – gl this year guys!

[chrisjp]

Nice report and well done!

[mash_tun]

Excellent report, Elmo...

Seems like you played really, really well...congratulations!