Event 39: $1500 No Limit Hold'em

2720 players started today with 3000 tournament chips. We played 10 hours today and play ended with 218 of us making the money and making it to day 2. I ended the day with 93,000 chips (average is just above 40k I believe). It's great that I finally broke the no-cash streak this trip but anything short of a final table would be a disappointment. The money is very shallow until the final 9 so there is plenty more work to do tomorrow. New tables have been assigned so I have know clue who I am playing with tomorrow. Here are the key hands from today, some very interesting ones, perhaps even the best call I've ever made in a tournament.

My first table I chipped up from 3k to around 9k without having any real showdowns. I had Theo Tran on my left, who in my opinion plays about as good tournament No Limit as I've seen. That table broke and my first key hand came on my new one. I had 3-bet re-stealed twice already, once with JJ, once with A2 so my image was very good. There was one limper, I had AA and made it 900 (blinds: 100-200 w 25 ante), one key called behind, then the small blind (see thugish young kid) makes it 2500 to go in the small blind. The limper folds, I jam, the caller behind me calls all in, the SB folds after the attempted squeeze. My AA holds against KJs and I'm up to around 18,000 in the 4th level.

Timing is everything. I proceed to lose 6k in the next hour, once on a raise and continuation bet with K9 (up against KK) and once with AQ (same raise + Cbet) vs. bottom set. I released after my Cbet's failed so I lose the minimum instead of losing my mind and doing something silly by trying to push them through. Anyways.... the scene is set for the coolest hand yet.

First hand after the break, we're playing 150-300, the Big Blind is not at his chair yet so I decide it's my time to thieve, I raise Kc9h from UTG+1, the button calls. The button is a tight young kid, only shown down winners and played them cautiously. I didn't like the looks of it so far. Flop was Qc 9c 6d. I bet around 1500 into the say 2600 or so pot. He calls. Turn is a 5h. I bet 2200, he calls. Now I really wanted the hand to end on the turn, I know I priced in any draw he may have but since he only had 5k remaining for the river, I thought that 2200 would be enough to shake any flush draw/straight draw or raggedy suited Q (QJ,QT,KQ) out, especially if he's playing his first wsop event (I thought it might be the case as he'd left to speak to an older man, presumably his father, a few times). Anyways, the river was the 7h. Now any 8 makes a straight. I felt like my 9 may have showdown value and plus, if I was ahead, he may give up on the river and check it down, not wanting to risk his last few thousand. I check and he almost instantly moves in for 6k. Hmmm. lets take a lot at this. My thinking went like this.
- He can't be a good enough player to value bet any Queen, tough to do so with 2 pair. Even then, he's only getting called by worse so better go for value than go for his whole stack.
- He may lose his mind and bluff a missed flush draw/straight draw
- He may be value betting a set or a club draw with a random 8 (Jc8c, Ac8c, Tc8c).
- If he had a combo draw, he would have jammed earlier instead of trying to hit for 1/2 his chips.
- He didn't even think before he bet, usually if you had the nuts, he'd think about value, perhaps put on the I'm weak show.
- What did he put me on? 4 to a straight obviously worried me if I checked, if he did have a real hand, are KK or AA or AQ really going to call a value shove: no.
- His range is either air or a straight for the above reasons.
Anyways, I felt that there were more combinations of bluffs in his polarized range than hands that call 3 streets and not jam a draw. So after a few minutes I called, he showed JT and I won a huge 14k pot with 2nd pair. Joe Hachem, who had moved to my table a few hands before gave me this wry Australian smile as I was chipping up. Sort of a cool hand. It was for literally for all but 2k of my chips so this was the turning point in my day.

That table broke after I jammed on AJ with AK and won that showdown.
We then moved into the main room in level 6 or so. The guy who busted Hachem had about 9k in chips and 3.5x opened from UTG+2. I look down at QQ, reraise, he gets it in and shows AA. I flopped quads and get from 38k to around 50k. Ugly but the hand plays itself.....I get super crazy lucky. Thankfully I had the chips to spare even if I lost that 4.5-1 dog showdown. Uh oh, someone's running good. :)

Eventually that table breaks as well and I get moved to the final table of the day. 3 nits, 1 wild card, 3 very good European online players. The good players are on my left (read bad), the wild card is on my right (read bad) and I'm surrounded by the nits. For the next three levels I steal and re-steal to survive the blinds and antes and hover around 45k until the bubble burst and we made the money at 270 people.

Two hands happened in that time that are of note. I made sure I played pots with the nits because I knew what cards and ranges that hit them. I stole two big pots on double barrel bluffs that didn't go to showdown, both times they showed me top pair and folded. After all, I had a good image, I showed aces after a 3-bet re-steal and generally layed low. I had no choice, I had a horrendous table draw and a bad seating arrangement.

Anyways, the one European online genius (and he really played well, very aggressive, very good at accumulating, I'd swear he was a Pantling) accumulated around 90k in chips. The biggest pot of the day for me came with 30 minutes left in level ten. He opened to 3500 mid table (playing 500-1000 with a 100ante) and everyone folded to me in the Big Blind with 44. I called, flop came 3d4dQh. I checked, he bet 5200, I check raised to 12,500. I left myself with around 36,000, enough room I thought for him to read my check raise as a re-steal and jam over top. He did, I called, he tabled 56offsuit, turn blanked and river paired the 3. That ended my day doubling through and up to 93,700.

I hope some of these explanations make sense as I'm sure I'm rushing through the hand replays. They're really clear in my head as I tried my best to pay very close attention today. Knowing stack sizes, calling+opening+3-betting ranges for my opponents, who will fail to C-Bet, who will bet light in position when in the lead, who will defend their blinds and who is paying attention. Overall I think I made 3-4 big mistakes that could have had me up past 120,000 but there's no point dwelling on them. I don't mind recognizing how lucky I was to outrun AA with QQ or how lucky I was that I flopped a set when a dude decided to lose his mind. But there is another part of tournament poker luck that I want to make clear.

Twice today I raised and C-Bet with air vs. 1. an overpair and 2. a set. I am LUCKY that I decided to shut down and give up my bluff early, minimizing chip spews (the line between genius and idiot are close in poker). I am LUCKY that I found a few hands in good spots to 3-bet re-steal against nitty opponents who need a big hand to play back at me. I am LUCKY that I got a few walks in the big blind to stay alive between lulls. I am LUCKY that my timing on 3 barrel bluffs was good. So basically, luck comes in many forms in my opinion. I just hope it keeps on my side tomorrow as I try to make it deeper into this event. I don't want to miss the 12pm 2-7 triple draw for nothing now do I.