They have two Day 1s, Friday and Saturday. You can play both days. You don't even have to bust out Day 1a to play Day 1b. However, if you survive both days you will only go on to Day 2 with your larger stack...NO MERGE.
According to one of the tournament directors, posting on 2+2, tthe Venetian will play down to 12% of the field today, or play until 2am, whichever comes first. They had 557 runners and stopped with 76 left. So that's 12%. Stopped before 2am. Now I assume that the play for 1b will last for the same amount of time, and not just stop at 12%. I don't actually know.
Then Day 2 begins at 4pm Sunday.
Some observations.
The percentage of younger players in the Deepstack, as opposed to Caesars, Bellagio, and Orleans which were all played in April and May, is certainly higher. But not crazy. I would estimate that 20-25% of the field is under 25yo, and there are plenty of old guys too. But it's a distinct change.
Not many foreigners yet. There will be the hoards attending the WSOP--no doubt about it.
I didn't see a single piece of online gear. Weird, sort of, but not surprising given the Black Friday fallout. No PokerStars T-shirts. No Full Tilt caps. No UB jerseys. No nothing. Man, I guess the Feds really scared the crap out of all the players finally.
Day 1a starts promptly at noon. And I am still in line for registration. The line moves fast, and I just had some chores to finish before I got down there. I don't like arriving late, but it's no big deal. I draw Table 99, way out on the casino floor. It's clear my table will be one of the early to break. All the players at my table are also late registrants. This generally means a tougher table. I'm going to make sure I don't get here late ever again.
I win a couple of small pots. Nice to start out in the right direction. I'm taking more flops very early in the recent tournaments. Especially in late position. I limped with 74s after limpers. I use to fold that. We start with 12,500 chips and play 50/100. Levels are 40 minutes. And they have automatic shufflers. Good set up.
3 limpers and I ck my BB with
Flop
It checks to the UTG limper and he bets. It folds to me and I decide to call. This guy is not too good so well see.
Turn:
I decide to bet right out. He raises about 2.25x my bet. OK let's see. He's got a made hand. What are the odds he pays me off if I hit a flush or trips? I figure if an 8 comes on the river I might still lose so let's ignore that. In fact I'm probably very likely to lose so discount an 8 completely. He should have Aces up probably, and might even have a set. But my feeling is that I can make a healthy river bet if my heart comes. Implied I'm 8-1 or so. OK, let's call here. It's only 700 and I've got 14K behind.
River:
Bingo! Err, hope he doesn't have a bigger flush. Well have to trust my judgment. I bet 3500 into about a 3000 pot.
He doesn't like it. Doesn't like it at all. But he calls. I flip it up and he disgustingly mucks. 700 chip investment paid 5800. That works. I'm feeling good. About an orbit later he starts discussing this hand with another player at the table. He said he had a set. I believe it. Almost certainly 44.
I raise a limper with AJo and cbet a QJx. He calls but folds the turn. LIfe is good, live is good.
Err...maybe. Our table breaks. Too bad. The players were by and large decent but I had a good feel for that table. I'm moved to Table 92. Still way out in the casino. Not good, going to get moved again soon. This table is also active and has quite a lot of chips. I'm in Seat 6, and there's an older guy, very muscular, in Seat 10 with a huge stack. It turns out he is loose and terrible. Give me some chips please.
I get a free look in the BB with
. Four handed.Flop:
It is checked around.
Turn is a
SB checks to me, and I bet. There are two callers.
River
SB checks, I check, younger guy bets 1625 into a 1650 pot. His stack is well less than starting stack. OK, it's pretty clear I can only beat a bluff. Is he bluffing more than 1/3 of the time? I think so. I mean he's not bluffing over half the time I don't think, but maybe. I call, and he tables
. Oh well. Nicely played by him I think. Got to watch out for him.A late registrant shows up in Seat 5. He's one of these fast playing kids who splashes his chips around, both literally and figuratively. At least I'm on his left, but wish I were a bit further to his left. Seat 10 is spreading his money around the table. Twice he raises the river with the nut flush on a paired board. Twice the villains push, and he calls both times losing to full houses. OK he's doubled up two young guys, Seats 2 and the kind of obnoxious guy next to me in Seat 5. That's poker.
I'm down to about 13K now, and we are nearing the first break at the end of Level 3. I'm UTG and raise 3x to 600, no antes yet. I have
It folds to the SB who is loose and poor. He's unpredictable because I saw him win a hand with K3s, but he's clearly bad. He calls.Flop:
I cbet and he ck/raises me. Hmmm. Nut flush draw? Two pair? His check raise was 3 times my bet, so he's not trying to suck me in with a small raise. I'm not folding to him yet for sure. I call.
Turn:
. He bets, but it's a little less than half the pot. I don't know what to make of this. If he had a draw, which I thought very likely, then I thought he might check. I really don't know. But he's a poor player. I call. I could even see him with AQ.
River:
Now he checks. I'm feeling good. I'm pretty sure I have the best hand, but should I bet? I put him on A6, which just got counterfeited, or AQ or a busted flush draw. I decided to bet, and bet about 40% of the pot. He's not happy but calls. MR KNOW IT ALL in Seat 5 says, "Full house". I flip up my two pair with K kicker. And Seat 3 tables
. Nooooooooo! Oh boy, did I misread this one. Well, he did c/r with a draw on the flop, but it was a straight draw that of course came in on the turn. Nice call in the SB with 75s v an UTG preflop raise. But it worked. So how bad was my play? I think it was fine until the river. I had to call the turn, I think. But don't bet the river. I have overrepped my hand by calling the turn bet, so villain could figure that I filled up on the river, just like Seat 5 did. In fact the backdoor flush came in too.
....I'm short now but still have M-7 or so. I don't let it bother me. Just knuckle down and build my stack back up. I drift down a bit more and then this table breaks...and I'm off to Table 62. Well this table is still on the casino floor, but it's clear it won't break for a long time. And the table is fairly passive and there aren't a lot of chips on it either. This is fine. We go to break and I have M=5. Ugh, not good. But not out of it yet.
OK more later...
I fold fold fold for quite a while. I steal a couple of pots in the first hour. Still low. Some crazy play going on. Old man to my left raises and Seat 3 3bets all in 33BBs. Old guy folds. Very next hand he raises again and Seat 1 pushes 37BBs. This time he calls.
Here we go. "I'm all in." Folds to Seat 5 and he quickly mucks. Now Seat 6 is thinking. Let's see...it's 1675 to call and win 4475. Gus Hansen's directive floats into my consciousness...."If you are getting 2-1 against a short stack all in you call with Any Two...no brainer." Well that's not an exact quote but you get the idea. He has to call. 
...all in. BB calls. What does he have? My favorite horrid hand...Magriel special...
. 
Now he's got 2 high. The tables oohs and aahs. Cmon guys, I was the favorite.
.
. This hand would have been so nice had he held KK. Not to be.
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