the last few....

I will keep some of the updates short as there are 3 tournaments I've played since I last reported back.

1. $3000 H.O.R.S.E.
I had a great table draw and I felt really good about the event (until it started). I managed to lose every hand I put a chip in for and was knocked out on the last hand before dinner (4 hours in). I wasn't terribly upset about the event as I don't think I mis-played many hands. I did pay off on the last bet a few times in Omaha8 and Limit Hold'em when the river caught me but with a lot of bets in, these pots need to be sure misses to muck over 1 bet. The last hand was a bit tough to take, I start A4A, 86KQ... and get scooped by J4K, 6TJ4 for two pair. I was all in on 6th when he hit his first pair. I crap out and can't make aces up or a low. Tough to stomach when it's the hand that knocked me out.

2. $2500 1/2 PLO, 1/2 PLH (pot-limit omaha and hold'em).
I was really looking forward to this one. Although I don't play PLH hardly ever, it's very similar to NLHE except you can take a few more speculative hands in pre-flop as you can't be pushed out by late raises, they can only jam the size of the pot. Anyways, pot control is king in this game and I feel very comfortable in all PLO games. Vanessa Rousso (poker stars pro) was sitting to my immediate right. I doubled up in the first level of PLH as my 7d6d outdrew the 2h3h on a 4c5d6c Jd 3s board. I flopped an up and down straight draw with top pair, backdoor a diamond draw and spike a 3 on the end. I check-raised the turn and played the hand poorly but I did have 15 outs heading into the river. Thankfully I hit. So I had a double stack of 9k when this hand came up with Vanessa. I have AQo in my bb and she and 4 others limp into a pot. Qs 8s 5h was the flop, I lead for pot, she goes all in, I tank forever and decided she wouldn't play a set as fast as she moved in, decided she was on a spade draw and called. She showed the KsJs. For the 9k pot she spiked the 2s on the river and doubled up. Then a hand came vs. this loose-aggressive clueless kid in the middle of the table. He raised preflop I called in my bb with AcTc. Flop was QJ7. I checked, he did the chip dance and then after a minute, checked. The turn was a 8s (backdoor spade draw on the way). I led for 600, he makes it 1600. I thought for a while and eventually came up with his range being QQ, 88, backdoor Ahigh spades, QJ suited or an air ball (which in these wsop events is very likely). I thought if I called the 1000 more (with about 4.5k behind, and I hit my K or 9 for a straight I would scoop his whole stack as fold wasn't in his arsenal with a big hand. Anyways, I called and the river was 4 and he showed me the 64offsuit. He rivered a pair of fours. He had raised me on the turn with a gut shot to a small straight. I was shocked that he checked the hand down, thinking that his fours were good or perhaps he was just done with his bluff. Kind of sick and on the outset it looks like I misplayed the hand (which knowing his hand, I did) but I only led and called his raise on the turn because I figured that I could either take him off TT, 99 or AK or stack him off his big hand if I hit my 8 wins. I lost two PLO pots, one of them andy bloch rivered me, the second I mis-judged the strength of my set and called and got shown a straight than my opponent checked twice in last position and totally confused me. I ended up getting short and lost to andy bloch with my all in hand. I had an up and down straight flush draw and he had one pair, I missed, he wins, I'm out.

3. $2500 Deep Stack Venetian No Limit Hold'em Tournament (non wsop event).
So lets re-cap. I've played what, 6 wsop events and made only 1 day 2 and have had no cashes. Sound a little like last year? Things haven't gone well and I've been pretty frustrated but what should be mentioned is that the wsop provides the worlds worst tournament structures. I decided that I was going to play a no limit hold em tournament for the first time this trip and I was going to play in a tournament with a GOOD structure, one that doesn't shoe you out the door or make luck the largest element in the early rounds. So, 257 or so people bought in for this, 20k in starting chips, blinds start 25-50, 1 hour levels. I have a few key hands to talk about but first, I played 14 hours on day 1 and didn't have a pair above 99 all day and only saw AQ and AK once each. I ended up finishing 18th in this event for my first extremely shitty and shallow cash of around $5000 (net $2500). I have a few hands to re-tell and I'll let you decide how I should perceive my luck thus far.
a. First round, blinds 25-50. I raise to 150 utg+1 with 68 of spades. Flop 4c5d7c. Two callers. I led the flop for 400, both called. Turn Jd. I led the turn for 2000 (overbets with the nuts), they both called. River was the 5d (worst card in the deck). The river gets checked around, the last player goes 'I'm the best fucking player in here, ship that!' and shows the Qd3d for a winning flush. Large 8k pot for the first level of play.
b. It's late in day 1, I've been stealing and 3bet re-stealing to steal chips and stay alive without having any hands. I raise the 6c7c from mid-table position and the Big Blind calls. AT4rainbow flop, he checks, I bet 2/3rd's the pot, he check raises all in, I fold. He tells me later he had the Ks2s, no pair no draw and that he was on tilt and just needed the chips. It's funny how the bluffer always thinks he's stealing the pot but I had the 7 high so... lol, I guess it's fitting he won. It was my fault thought. I misplayed the hand. I should have just shoved all in and he would have folded. He really needs AK, AQ or AJ to call me there and he would have re-raised me preflop with those holdings (after having played with him for a few hours). I lost valuable chips by only thinking on the 2nd level whereas I knew that he was capable of making a play at my short stack, knowing I couldn't call without and ace. So anyways, average stack at this point is around 78k and I have 45k. I chip it all the way up to around 95k by stealing and re-stealing with no hands and then with 5 minutes left in day 1 I open-raised from the cut-off with 99. The big blind (a very solid player) re-raised all-in for another 35k. There was like 28k in the pot and against his range, 99 is often the best hand and I need the chips! after all, this is the first hand I've seen all day. He showed KK and I lost. So, I end day 1 with 48k and the average 105,000k. Day 2 began with 38 players trying to get to the money (27) and I had the fewest chips. Again, no hands the first 2 levels, I stole and re-stole in position and got all the way up to around 175k at my high point.

It's important to be clear, I don't fancy my no limit game to be world class by any means. Hell, there are 3 people in my house right now who probably play better no limit hold em than I do but I'm not exaggerating by saying that I didn't have one pocket pair over 99's or AK more than once all the way up to the money bubble, 16 hours of play!!!!. This is the advantage of long slow no limit hold em structures, it allows for artistic play where your cards really do play a secondary role in chip accumulation. Anyways, the bubble broke, tables got re-shuffled and I had chips because of a flip I took vs. the chip leader. I had AK, he had 88, I won the flip and thus doubled up to 170+k. We got down to around 19 people and we were going to move tables to two of 9 people when everyone folded to me in the small blind. I had 125k in chips and the Big Blind had me covered.

I had folded the small blind to him once, raised him out once and this time I looked down at 8T offsuit and decided that this one was going to be won without a shown down. I made it 24k to go at the 4k-8k limits with 1k ante (21k out there). He defended by just calling. Head's up to the flop.

c. Before I spoil this story. I watched this guy play yesterday. He played a hand about as poorly as possible with a huge stack. He raised UTG with 56of hearts. the Big Blind called. Flop was 578 all diamonds. BB checked, he bet, BB check raised 3x more, he called. The turn was a 6s (giving our villan two pair), the BB bet half of his 3/4 of his remaining stack, the villain goes all in, the BB calls. The BB shows AA with the ace of diamonds, river was a Kd and the villain was decimated. The villain was more than a 70-30 dog on the flop, a 60-40 favourite on the turn. He must have told this 'bad beat story' 5 times when I was in ear shot of him. He is totally clueless to stack sizes, equity, stack-blind dynamics, player ranges... he just doesn't have a clue. Anyways. so back to the hand in question. The pot now contains around 65k and the flop was Td 8d 2c. I flopped top two in a blind war. I lead out for 42k with exactly 50k left. Lets be clear about one thing. I was committed to the pot no matter what he did, I had 2/3rds of my chips in there. He takes all of 2 seconds to announce all in, I call he shows me QJoffsuit and he's dead to a gut shot. Turn was an Ace, (giving him a double belly buster) and the river was 9 knocking me out in 18th place, leaving this world class player with a lot of chips and a good shot at a large pay day. As I said, first place was almost $300,000.

I was really rocked after that hand. I usually do pretty well at containing myself when the beats start happening but that hand, combined with trying so hard to overcome being card dead, the sick beat when I flopped the straight, and all the tournament bad luck/beats so far in the wsop, I couldn't take it, I hurled a few disparaging remarks his way and left. I'm supremely frustrated, I'm running pretty poorly and I watch guy after guy get so lucky for big pay days that don't have a clue. Anyways, I left the tournament with Wes, watched 'the happening' and resolved to suck up the bad luck as I really can't do anything to thwart it unless I stop playing.

I really deserved better today but karma doesn't play a part in poker and I can't change how the cards fall. This player got his money in with 20% equity for near 300k pot with 18 left, deep in the money for $300,000. He won, I lost. If I let my emotions get the best of me I will never be in that position again. Suffice it to say, I'll never have it in there with zero fold equity or 20% hand equity deep in the money. That variance won't even out because I won't be in that position.

Not sure what's next on the list for me, I'm going to take a few days off. Andrew went home for a few days, Derek is out of the house for a while. Isn't this fun!!!