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!
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