Day 53: Day 3 of the Main

Thursday was Day 3 of the Main Event and I went to work wondering if it was going to be my last day or not.  Amy started with the letter S, and I missed out on the Amazon Room by one person.  I started the day on table 1 in the Black section of the Pavilion.  Steve Brecher was at my first table and I also dealt to Jon "PearlJammer" Turner later in the day. 

There was a fascinating hand on my last table of the day.  There were TV cameras surrounding the table and when I got there I saw why.  There were monster stacks all over the table and the players were not shy about playing big pots.  The second hand after I sat down was a doozy and I'm pretty sure it's going to be on TV.  The blinds were 1,200/2,400/300 and a very talkative player, who turned out to be named Max Troccoli, raised preflop to around 7,000.  Tuan Vo, a young asian guy with a huge chipstack around 500,000, called from the button.  The flop came J♦ 6♣ 4♣ and Troccoli checked.  Vo bet 13,500 and Troccoli snap called.  The turn was the Q♣ and Troccoli checked again.  Vo bet 27,000 and Troccoli called quickly again.  The river was the 10♦ and I began counting the deck stub.  A voice in my ear told me to protect the muck pile when I was done and I thought I was being reprimanded by the floor, even though my hand was fairly close to the muck already.  Troccoli checked a third time.  Vo bet 35,000 and Troccoli went into the tank.  He seemed to be a very loose, uneducated player, but he seemed genuinely conflicted by this decision.  I heard the voice in my ear again, saying that he didn't want either hand to reach the muck and that they wanted to see both players' cards.  I realized that the voice must belong to an ESPN exec, not a floorman.  Troccoli asked me if he was allowed to call the clock on himself, to which I replied in the negative.  The player in seat nine accommodated his request and called the clock for him.  Troccoli thanked him and thought for about a minute more while the floor man came over.  I figured him for two pair, since A-K would make a straight and any two clubs would make a flush.  But then he said that he couldn't even beat two pair, and I couldn't believe he was still thinking about calling.  He finally folded K♥ K♣ face up, but then Vo flipped over 7♦ 5♦ for a stone cold bluff to win the pot!  Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to a great bluff!

Amy told me that I probably wouldn't get in to deal on Friday and asked me if I would take the day off and come in to work my shift on Saturday at 1PM.  AJ was flying in Thursday night, so I agreed to take off Friday to hang out with him.  I'll finish out the Vegas blog, containing my last three days soon!

Day 51-52: Pretty slow days

Tuesday was a pretty dull day after the excitement of the previous two days.  I didn't get a spot to start the day, but I was assigned to push into the Blue section of the Amazon Room, so I knew I wasn't going to be on a breaking table all day.  I dealt to Greg Mueller, but nobody else that I recognized.  After getting pushed out at 6:30, I went to the dealer coordinator desk, hoping to get overtime, but Monica didn't keep any 11AM dealers and sent us all home for the night.  I only got nine downs, but it could have been worse; my buddy Mike got three downs and spent the rest of the day dealing cash.

After work on Tuesday there was a dealer appreciation party at PT's, which is a bar that is a dealer hangout during the WSOP every year.  They had some free food and a free video poker tournament.  I was matched up against Kim, the head dealer coordinator.  Of course I jokingly asked her if I was going to be fired on the spot if I beat her, but I had nothing to worry about.  She whipped my ass.  I proceeded to get drunker than I have been in quite a while, but I caught a ride home with Matt so it was all good.

Wednesday was my first off day after eleven consecutive days of dealing.  Good thing too because I woke up with a slight hangover.  I ran a couple of errands after Matt took me back to my car and then I went to Green Valley Ranch to play in their $45 HORSE tournament.  Much to my chagrin, the tournament was already sold out!  I played a little video poker instead, which didn't come anywhere near satisfying my itch to play.  I'm picking AJ up from the airport tomorrow night after work and we'll probably play a tourney or two this weekend, so at least I'll get to play again before leaving.

I'm on the schedule to work through Saturday, but neither Matt nor I think that I actually will work that long.  They usually start sending dealers home after Day 3 of the Main Event, which is Thursday.  As a first year dealer, I should be among the first to be sent home, but Amy seems to like me so maybe I'll last longer than most first years.  It would be nice to get 20 more downs before I go!

Day 49-50: A Couple of Awesome Days!

As expected, Sunday (Day 1D) had the biggest turnout of the Main Event so far with 2,802 players, to bring the total number of players for the event to 6,865.  Consequently, for the first time in the Main Event, the dealers were spread a little thin.  I began in the Purple section of the Amazon Room at the beginning of a five table row.  I dealt to Men "The Master" Nguyen and Grant Hinkle, though my day was pretty uneventful.  I was pretty sick for days 1B and 1C, and I woke up still feeling sick on Sunday, but around 10:30AM I started feeling a lot better.  I felt so good that when I was pushed out of my rotation at 6:30PM, I went to the dealer coordinator desk and asked to work overtime.  I was sent to the Yellow section of the Pavilion and dealt about six hands before the players went on dinner break.

No pushes came on dinner break, it was just ninety minutes of getting paid to babysit an empty table.  After dinner the pushes came again, but I was at the beginning of five consecutive tables.  The last table in the chain was super strong.  The players were raising and re-raising so much that it bordered on reckless.  One player had on a Santa Claus costume and I found out afterwards that his name was Jay Houston.  He had already impressed me and so did an Englishman at the table who turned out to be James Bord, the 2010 WSOP Europe Main Event winner.  The table broke around 10:30PM, and I was sent home after setting a personal high with 20 downs!

On Monday, Day 2A, I was assigned to the White section of the Pavilion, which would be the second section to break.  I dealt to "Jovial Gent" Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Ryan Laplante.  I watched a hand between the two of them while I waited to push into the table.  Laplante was contemplating a 17,000 chip call on the river with a board of J♠ 8♦ 6♥ 3♠ 4♣ showing.  He called with A♥ J♦ and Timoshenko showed 8♥ 8♣ for the winning set.  Shortly afterward my table broke and I went to find Jimmy, the Monday dealer coordinator, for a new assignment.

Jimmy told me to come back at 4:25 for my new assignment, but fortunately I showed up early because he was looking for someone to replace another dealer immediately.  When the WSOP eliminates the small denomination chips from the table, they require one player at the table to trade higher denomination chips with the other players to buy all the lower denomination chips on the table.  Some high denomination chips are brought to the table, placed in the chip well, and the dealer is instructed not to touch them.  The floorperson verifies the amount of small denomination chips and uses the large denomination chips in the well to, in the presence of the dealer, buy the small chips from the player.  The procedure is in the Dealer Handbook and announcements are made over the loudspeaker as well.  The dealer that I was sent to replace had ignored all instructions, and was using the yellow 1,000 denomination chips in the well to buy the black 100 and green 25 denomination chips and was placing them in the well.  I relieved him and was instructed by the floorperson to count the chips in the well as soon as the players went on break.  The other dealer was probably sent home for the remainder of the WSOP, or at least sent to the cash games.  Luckily the well still had 20,000 chips, but instead of 20 yellow chips, there were 18 yellow, 10 black, and 40 green chips.

My next table had Scotty Nguyen and Marco Traniello.  I think Scotty had just doubled through Marco, because Scotty kept apologizing to Marco and seemed to feel pretty bad for him.  Marco was down to 8,000 chips or so, while Scotty had around 45,000.  A big stacked middle aged gentleman in seat one raised Scotty's big blind to 3,000 at the 400/800/75 level and Scotty called, saying "This is my favorite hand, baby!"  I put out a flop of J♦ 9♣ 4♦ and Scotty checked.  Seat one bet 6,000 and Scotty check-raised to 15,000.  Seat one asked, "Do I still get a picture if I put you all-in?"  Scotty just smiled and seat one moved all-in.  Scotty called and an ESPN exec quickly got my attention and told me to hold up.  While we waited for the cameras to show up, I had Scotty count his chips and he had 42,600.  Seat one's hands were shaking so badly that he couldn't even handle his chips, so I put his chips into the pot for him.  The cameras got in place and Scotty finally turned over J♥ 9♥ for top two pair.  But seat one turned over J♠ J♣ for top set and Scotty was drawing all but dead.  I looked around for someone to tell me to deal the turn; they tell the dealer when to deal the turn and river when a player is all-in, but nobody seemed to be around.  I finally found a floorperson, Charlie, and he mouthed "Go!" pretty urgently.  I put the 4♥ on the turn and Scotty's tournament was over.

There was no overtime on Monday, so I had to be content with eleven downs and a good story.  I think I'll probably look pretty stupid just sitting there looking around on the ESPN coverage, but the good news is that I should be on TV when they show Day 2A!

Day 47-48: Finally Dealing the Main Event

Instead of starting with the letter W on Friday, Amy started with M, so I again missed out on dealing the Main Event.  I was assigned to deal the 1PM Mega Satellite, but my table was broken pretty quickly.  I asked Amy if there was any possibility of staying in tournaments instead of cash and she told me to come back at 3:25 if that's what I wanted.  It was only around 2:40, but I gladly took a long break in order to stay in tournaments.  Amy actually hooked me up too, as I got six consecutive downs dealing the 4PM Mega to salvage my day.

I was coming down with a head cold, and feeling increasingly sick as the day went on.  By Friday night I was in pretty bad shape with a headache, stuffy nose, and all that fun stuff.  My roommate Marc gave me some vitamin C pills and those helped quite a bit.

I went in early Saturday and that was almost a huge mistake.  When I walked into the break room, Amanda, one of the dealer coordinators, was standing with her back to me talking to some other 11AM dealers.  Carl was behind her, saw me, and frantically waved at me to leave.  I didn't need to ask any questions; I just spun around and walked away as quickly as I could.  Carl thought she was pulling dealers to go to cash, but it turned out that she was forcing dealers to clock in early to deal the 10AM Mega Satellite, which still would have screwed me out of dealing the Main Event for the third day running.  As I walked through the Pavilion Room later in the day, I saw most of those dealers in the cash section.  It sucks when showing up early to work gets you a raw deal.

Amy started with Z, so I finally got a prime spot in the Amazon Room for Day 1C of the Main Event.  Marco Traniello was at my first table, where I dealt out the hand of the series so far.  On the third hand of the tournament, I put out a board of 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ J♥ A♥.  One player showed 6♥ 5♥ for a straight flush and the other player showed Q♥ 10♥ for a higher straight flush!  It was pretty amazing.


Later I dealt to Bernard Lee and got my second hand of the WSOP on PokerNews.  Five players saw a flop of A♥ A♦ 9♠ and everyone checked.  The turn was the 4♦ and one player bet.  Bernie raised and the guy hemmed and hawed before calling.  The river was the J♣ and the guy bet out more confidently.  The guy was short stacked; they start with 30,000 chips and he only had 6,000 or so left.  Bernie raised him all-in and the guy snap called with A♣ 9♣.  But Bernie had A♠ J♦ and a better full house to eliminate him.

I also dealt to Gavin Smith.  I gave him a bad beat when I put out a board of 10♣ 9♠ 9♣ 7♣ 7♥ when he held K♥ K♣ against 10♦ 9♦.  If I keep this stuff up I'm going to get a reputation at the WSOP!

Day 45-46: Deepstack and Mega Satellites

On Wednesday I had my choice of assignments, since Amy started with the letter A.  I wanted to do day two of the $1,500 No-Limit tournament, but only two people had chosen it so far.  If a table is at either edge of the room, it stands a much larger chance of being broken than if it is somewhere in the middle.  So I went the safe route and chose the 2PM Deepstack instead.  It turned out to be a good choice as I saw several other B's turning in their downcards to the cage early in the day (meaning their table had been broken).

I started on table 11 in the Black section, and six and a half hours later I was waiting to push into table 21.  It was the highest numbered table still remaining and looked as if it was about to break any minute.  I went to Jena, who was the evening Dealer Coordinator, told her that 21 was about to break, and asked her if I could just push into table 1 instead.  She agreed and I ended up being stuck at table 1 for three downs and stuck in the tournament for a total of five more downs, bringing me to a new high of sixteen for one day!  I was finally sent home just as the tournament made the money, with 72 remaining out of the 745 player starting field. 
 
With around 95 players remaining, there was a huge hand at my table.  The blinds were 3,000/6,000/500 and a player in early position raised to 25,000.  The player to his right called and another player called as well.  Then another player pushed all-in for 69,000 total.  The first raiser called, as did the first caller.  The second caller asked how much they had left, but eventually folded.  The flop came K♠ Q♣ 7♣ and the first raiser pushed his remaining 8,000 into the pot.  The other player called and the first all-in player disgustedly flipped over J♥ J♦.  The other all-in player then showed 3♠ 3♥ and the caller showed 4♦ 4♣.  The first all-in player suddenly realized that he was ahead and let out a yell of excitement.  The turn and river came 8♥ and A♦ and he more than tripled up!  The funny part was that the player who folded after calling the 25,000 said that he also could not have beaten the jacks even with an ace, king, and queen on the board.  What the hell did he have?

When the field reached less than 80 players, the big stack at my table really abused the money bubble.  As everyone played tighter to ensure making it into the money, he started raising every hand to steal the blinds and antes.  He was even 3-betting preflop when others raised and making them lay their hands down.  Finally a short stack 3-bet all-in for about 34,000 over his raise of 17,000 and he reluctantly called.  The short stack showed 4♠ 4♦ and he showed A♥ 2♣.  The flop came K♠ 10♠ 4♣ and the short stack yelled "YES!".  But poker can be a cruel game and I can be a cruel dealer.  The turn and river were the Q♦ and J♥ and the big stack made a straight to eliminate the short stack.

Thursday was Day 1A of the Main Event.  After much excitement and anticipation, my day was a big letdown.  Amy started with the letter C, so I was screwed.  I started at 11AM and my first assignment didn't come until 1:30.  I pushed into the 1PM Mega Satellite for three downs, then I went on break and was sent to start the 4PM Mega Satellite.  I was sent to a break table, so a half hour into it I went on break again.  I came back from break, dealt two tables and went on break again.  I'm here to make money, not spend my whole damn day on break!  When I came back, the 6PM shift had taken over and I was sent home.  It was a lousy day, but I did deal to Darus Suharto and Leif Force.  Hopefully today is a much better day, since Amy should be starting on W!

Day 42-44: Lot of Tournament Downs

Sunday was the second starting day of the last $1,000 No-Limit Hold 'em tournament of the WSOP.  I thought I was in for an awful day because Amy started with the letter C when she gave out assignments.  The day before, she started with the letter G, and Matt, whose last name is Francis, ended up getting sent to the cash games along with all the other F's, because Amy was out of assignments when she got to them.  Luckily, Sunday was a busier start day than Saturday and I was sent to the Orange section of the Amazon Room to start the tournament.  So many dealers were needed that they pulled dealers from earlier shifts out of cash and satellites to start the tournament too.

Christian Harder was at my first table and later I dealt to Andre Akkari and Maria Mayrnick.  I hit another sweet spot as my table broke between 3:00 and 3:30, which resulted in my assignment to start the 4:00PM Deepstack tournament.  It's always a nice day when I get to spend the whole shift dealing tournaments!

I was scheduled to work at 1PM on Monday and I got to do my first day two restart.  The $1,000 No-Limit Hold 'em had 638 players returning for day two out of a starting field of 4,576, 468 of which would make it into the money.  Unfortunately, I only got to deal for about twenty minutes before they broke my table.  It was enough time to dish out a bad beat however.  Angel Guillen moved all-in and an older gentleman with a smaller stack called himself all-in w/ J♦ 6♦.  Guillen had K♠ K♣ and I put out a board of A♥ K♥ 4♣ Q♣ 10♠ to give the older guy a straight to beat Guillen's set of kings.

After my table was broken, I was assigned to be a cage runner yet again.  This time I got six downs out of it, so it wasn't as much of a waste of time.  After I was released from that assignment, I was sent to the White section to start the 8PM Mega satellite.  The buy-in was $550 and a whopping 483 players entered!  So they sent 24 winners to the Main Event.  We were locked into dealing; there were not enough dealers to push us, so I got seven consecutive downs without a break.  It brought my total for the day to fifteen downs, which is tied for my best ever day!  Also, I got to deal to Richard Lee, who finished 6th in the 2006 WSOP Main Event after running J-J into Jamie Gold's Q-Q.

Tuesday was the last tournament starting day of the WSOP before the Main Event.  I started the $1,500 No-Limit Hold 'em tournament, which had 3,389 players, far more than anticipated.  I dealt to Lauren Kling, Melanie Weisner, and Jean-Robert Bellande.  I dished out a bad beat to Mr. Bellande too.  He called two all-ins in front of him with A♥ K♠.  The first all-in, with the shortest stack, had K♦ 4♠ and the second all-in had A♣ 6♣.  So he had both of them dominated.  The flop was safe, but I put a 6 on the turn to take away most of Jean-Robert's chips.  I ended up with a very respectable thirteen downs, but that paled to my roommate Matt, who was locked in much of the day and didn't get off until 10:00, earning nineteen downs in the process!

I start at 1PM tomorrow (Wednesday) and hopefully I get either the $1,500 restart, the 2PM Deepstack, or satellites.  I do not want cash games or the restart of the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High/Low Split.  Thursday is Day 1A of the Main Event, so things should be getting really interesting real soon!

Day 39-41: Parents' Visit

Thursday started out as a letdown.  My parents were excited to watch me deal.  I started at 1PM and volunteered for the 2PM Deepstack, but I was sent to a section for late registering players.  I literally sat at an empty table for over two hours with the starting chip stacks in front of me, just waiting for customers.  Finally my parents couldn't wait any longer, because they had tickets to see the Blue Man Group.  Soon after they left, players finally came to my section.  I dealt two hands and then my table was broken.

My day finally got better after that.  Amy sent me to deal the 5PM start of the $2,500 Mixed Limit / No-Limit Hold 'em.  I was in a good rhythm and probably had my best dealing day of the WSOP so far.  I dealt to Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke, Gavin Griffin, Nick Binger, Erica Schoenberg, Ray Henson, and Fabrice Soulier.  Fabrice was in the one seat, and man did he reek of cigarette smoke!  I ended the day with twelve downs, which brought my final weekly total to a new high of 63 downs!

I spent Friday with my parents and then Dad and I went to the Orleans to play in their Friday night $125 No-Limit Hold 'em tournament.  I didn't play a hand in the first level of the tournament and I only played one in the second level where the blinds were 75/150.  That hand was 10♠ 7♠, where I limped on the button after two players had limped already.  The flop came 6♦ 3♠ 2♥ and we all checked.  The turn was the K♠ and I bet 275.  One player called and the river was the 8♠.  I bet 775 with my flush and my opponent folded.

I also only played one hand in the 100/200 level and it was a doozy.  I had 6♥ 6♣ UTG (UTG = under the gun, meaning that I'm first to act before the flop) and raised to 475.  Three players called and the flop came Q♣ 6♠ 4♥.  I bet 1,150 with my set of sixes and only the small blind called.  The turn was the 8♥ and the SB checked again.  I bet 2,300 and he called.  The river was the 2♦ and the SB moved all-in for 5,900 more.  My first thought was that both straight draws on the flop had gotten there; if he called with 7-5 or 5-3 he had me beat.  There was 14,300 in the pot and it cost me 5,900 to call, so I had to be pretty sure I was beat if I was going to fold a set.  My opponent seemed a little loose, but he seemed competent and I really didn't see him going nuts with A-Q or 8-6 or anything like that.  And since my betting line had been super strong all hand, he couldn't be expecting me to fold.  He expected me to call.  But I didn't have the guts to go with my read and fold a monster hand.  I told him that I thought he had 7-5 or 5-3, but that I wasn't good enough to fold my set and I called.  He flipped over 7♣ 5♣, just like I thought and my stack was decimated from the starting stack of 12,500 all the way down to 3,100.

The blinds were still pretty small, and I did a good job of berating myself while staying off of tilt.  In the next level of 150/300/25, an early position player limped, a lady raised to 800, and another player called.  I looked down at A♠ A♣ and moved all-in for 2,650 total.  The limper folded, but both other players called and checked down a board of A♥ K♦ Q♠ 6♣ 7♥.  I flipped over my aces and tripled up to 7,650.

A few hands later, at the 200/400/50 level, I picked up 10♠ 10♥ after an early position player had raised to 1,500.  I moved all-in for 7,500 and he called with A♦ K♣.  The board came 8♥ 7♥ 6♣ 7♦ 10♦ and I doubled up with my full house to 16,150, which was above the average stack!  A few hands later I limped Q♣ 4♣ from the button to see a six handed flop, but it came K♠ 5♦ 3♠ and I folded to a bet.

Four people had limped and I looked down at 10♠ 10♣ the next time the button came to me.  I decided to limp along to minimize my risk, while concealing the strength of my hand.  The flop came Q♦ 10♥ 9♦ and the UTG limper bet 1,500.  One player called before the decision came to me.  I was afraid of K-J, but I think the worst mistake I could make would be to call (aside from folding of course), since a king, jack, or eight could easily come and make my decision much more difficult.  I raised to 6,000 and both players folded to boost my stack over 20,000.

Right before the end of the level I decided to use my stack a little bit, and I raised to 1,025 from the hijack with A♠ 5♠.  The cutoff called and we saw a flop of 9♠ 3♦ 2♠.  I bet 1,625 with my flush and straight draws, he called, and the turn was the 2♥.  I bet 2,100, hoping to force a fold, but my opponent called again.  The river was the Q♠ to bring home my flush, but with a pair on board and my opponent's actions, he could easily have a full house to beat me.  I decided to check with the intention of calling any bet.  He bet 3,000, I called, and he showed 3♥ 3♣ for a full house.  He was shocked that I didn't raise with my flush and a little irritated that I didn't double him up.  Bad break for me, but I think that I played the hand very well, so I was happy even though my stack was reduced to 12,600.

After that I moved tables, and with the blinds at 300/600/75, I looked down at Q♥ Q♣.  The woman to my right had raised to 1,200 and I 3-bet to 4,200.  She called, the flop came A♠ J♣ 4♦ and she shoved all-in for around 8,000.  I snap folded my hand face up and she showed me her A♣ J♦.  Good laydown, but it was a pretty easy decision.  An orbit or so later I was dealt A♦ A♣ and raised to 1,500.  The BB called and we saw a flop of K♥ 9♠ 8♣.  I bet 2,000 after the BB checked and she called.  The turn was the Q♠ and she checked again.  I moved all-in and she folded to raise my stack to 11,075.  A few hands later, I raised from UTG+1 with K♥ Q♥ and stole the blinds and antes.

At the 400/800/100 level I decided to get aggressive since I had a pretty short stack of 11,500.  I raised to 2,100 from the button with J♥ 7♦ only to have the SB shove all-in on me, forcing me to fold (he showed Q♦ Q♣).  Then I shoved all-in from middle position w/ 4♠ 4♥ and stole the blinds.  I raised w/ Q♦ 8♦ from the hijack, but the button pushed all-in, and I had to fold again.  Finally, with the blinds about to go up again, I shoved my final 6,600 with K♦ 4♦ from UTG.  I was called by K♥ K♣ and I was eliminated when the board came 10♠ 5♥ 2♣ 4♠ 2♦.  The tournament had around 200 players and paid 20.  Dad finished 22nd.

Saturday was the first starting day of the last $1,000 No-Limit Hold 'em tournament of the WSOP.  I somehow ended up with thirteen downs, despite being near the bottom of the alphabet.  I started in the Purple section of the Amazon Room and my section was getting broken first, but they stopped when they got to my row and broke the Orange section instead.  They broke my table ninety minutes later and I approached Amy for a new assignment.  The girl in front of me was sent to the cash games and I braced for the worst.  But then Amy got on her radio and said "Ok, I sent you six, do you need any more?"  The answer was no and I was sent to the White section of the Pavilion to replace a dealer that wanted to EO.  White is the second best tournament spot after the Black section so all in all, it was a nice day!