I recently played the Big 50 at the 2019 World Series of Poker, and I wanted to document the experience in case anyone was interested in reading about it. The Big 50 was a tournament the WSOP decided to throw to commemorate their 50th anniversary. The buy-in was only $500, the players would all receive 50,000 starting chips, and the blinds would go up every 50 minutes. This is an amazing tournament structure that ended up attracting the largest field of any live tournament in history. 28,371 players would enter over four different starting days!
I had decided well ahead of time that I wanted to enter the first of the four flights, mostly due to my work schedule. I currently get every 2nd Thursday off, and the opening day of the first flight fell on one of those Thursdays, minimizing the time that I would need to take off from work. My plan was to play the first flight on Thursday, and hopefully play Day 2 on Friday. If I was eliminated on Thursday, I planned to re-enter the tournament, playing the second flight instead (which was also on Friday). That gave me a free Saturday that could either be a Las Vegas day or Day 2 of Friday's starting flight, before flying home Sunday morning. If I happened to make Day 3, which was to be played the following Wednesday, I would make a second trip.
My flight landed at 9:30 Wednesday night, and I decided to Uber to the Rio to check into the tournament before checking into my room at the Stratosphere. It turned into a long night. First, the lines to check into the tournament were long, and I didn't get out of the Rio until 11:15. Then, the check-in line at the Stratosphere was also very long, and I didn't get checked in until 12:30. So I ended up finally getting to bed around 1:00.
A quick word about the poker speak that you will read. If you are not familiar with the game, I have identified the position, relative to the dealer, that each player is at in each hand. The positions, in order of best to worst, are as follows:
- Button (also called dealer position) - this is the most advantageous position at the table, since you get to act last on every betting round.
- CO (cutoff) - this player is to the right of the button, and is in the next best position.
- HJ (hijack) - this player is to the right of the CO, two seats to the right of the button.
- LJ (lojack) - this player is to the right of the HJ, three seats to the right of the button.
- UTG+4 - this player is to the right of the LJ, four seats to the right of the button. This nomenclature is only used if the table has 10 players instead of the usual 9 players.
- UTG+3 - this player is to the right of the UTG+4, five seats to the right
of the button.
- UTG+2 - this player is to the right of the UTG+3, five seats to the left
of the button.
- UTG+1 - this player is to the right of the UTG+2, four seats to the left
of the button.
- UTG (under the gun) - this player is to the right of the UTG+1, three seats to the left
of the button. This player is the first to act before the flop.
- BB (big blind) - this player is two seats to the left of the button. This player has to pay the big blind and also has to ante for the entire table in a tournament with this type of structure.
- SB (small blind) - this player is to the left of the button. This player has to pay the small blind, and has to act first on every street after the flop.
The button moves one seat to the left every hand. So if a player was the SB on one particular hand, they will be on the button the next hand. That way everyone gets their turn in each position.
I will list the blinds as follows. Small Blind/Big blind/Big blind ante. So for example, the tournament began with a 100 chip small blind, a 200 chip big blind, and a 200 chip big blind ante, where the big blind pays the ante for the entire table. This will be listed as 100/200/200.
As it turned out, my decision to go to the Rio the night before was a great one! The place was jam packed the morning of the tournament, and people were waiting for three hours or more to get checked in. I was assigned to the Brasilia room, table 14, seat 2 to begin the tournament, which kicked off at 11:00 with the blinds at 100/200/200.
The second hand of the tournament, I was in the SB (small blind). The players all folded to me and I looked down at A♥ A♦. I raised to 600 and the BB called. The flop came Q♥ 9♠ 7♣. I bet 600 again and he called again. The turn was the 6♣. Because we were so deep stacked, I decided to check, planning to check-call the rest of the way. I didn't want to have to respond to my opponent raising me on the turn or river, which would put me in a dicey spot. The BB bet 1,100, I called, and the river was the 6♠. I checked again, and my opponent bet 1,300. I called, expecting to win this pot about 75% of the time. My opponent turned over K♥ Q♦ for an inferior two pair and I scooped the pot!
I played a few small pots that didn't make it past the flop over the next hour, and I was sitting with 51,800 chips when my first big confrontation came up. The blinds had risen to 100/300/300 (BB ante), and I was second to act (UTG+1) w/ 10♦ 10♣. I raised to 900 and four players (LJ, HJ, CO, and SB) called. The flop came Q♠ 10♠ 8♠, which is one of the ugliest ways possible to flop a set! After the SB checked, I led out for 3,000 into the 5,100 chip pot. The LJ seat folded, but the older man in the HJ seat raised to 6,000. Everyone folded and it was back to me. My opponent had been very loose and fairly passive, playing around 35-40% of hands, and calling more often than raising. I was almost certain that he had the flush, but I had seven outs to make a full house or better, and I'm just never folding for only 3,000 more. I called, and the turn was the 2♥. I checked and my opponent bet 6,000 into the pot of 17,100 chip pot. I only need to make the best hand 26% of the time to make a call correct, and though I will only make a full house 22% of the time, the difference is easily made up by the chips that I stand to win on the river if I make my hand. I called, and the river was the beautiful 2♣ to give me a full house! I checked again, and my opponent bet 10,000. I stalled for a few seconds to make it look like I was mulling a tough decision, and then raised all-in. I had him covered, so it would cost him his tournament if he called and lost. He looked confused and frustrated, but he called off his remaining 17,000 chips fairly quickly and showed K♠ 5♠. I scooped the giant pot, eliminated a player from the tournament, and increased my chipstack to 95,000 chips!
About a half hour later, I was dealt K♠ Q♣ in the HJ (hijack) seat. The player in the UTG+1 seat raised to 800, I called, and player on the button called as well. The flop came 9♥ 9♦ 5♦ and we all checked. The turn was the Q♠ and the preflop raiser checked again. I bet 1,300, and much to my surprise, the button raised to 3,300. To this point, the button had been aggressive, but he had not been wild. I decided to make a very conservative fold, and give my opponent credit for either having a 9, or running a creative bluff. This was the last hand of note before the first break. The tournament had 20 minute breaks after every second level (every 1:40). I had 87,500 chips as thousands of players streamed into the halls, most looking for the nearest bathroom.
The next two hours were mostly uneventful. Most of the pots I played ended preflop or on the flop. The last hand before the second break I was dealt A♥ 5♥ in the UTG+1 seat. I would usually fold this hand in early position, but three players had already left to get a jump on the bathroom line, and several others were already starting to rise as well. So I raised to 1,600 (the blinds were 300/600/600) and only the lady in the BB called. We saw a flop of A♠ K♣ 9♦ and she checked to me. I bet 2,000, hoping that she would just fold, but she called. The turn was the 5♣ and she checked again. Now with two pair, I bet 3,000 hoping for her to call. She folded and I had boosted my stack a little bit to 95,200 at the second break.
At this point, a new player was seated on my right. He was super aggressive, raising and re-raising a lot of pots. He was also playing a cash game on his phone, which we later found out was $10/$20 Pot Limit Omaha. Near the end of the 400/800/800 level, I was dealt A♠ K♥ in the LJ (lojack) seat. An early position player limped in for 800, and the maniac to my right raised to 2,500. Since he has already shown down hands like 10-7 after making raises like this, my hand is far ahead of his range. I three-bet over his raise to 7,200. Everyone else folded, and the maniac called as expected. The flop came 3♥ 3♦ 2♦ and the maniac checked. This board almost certainly missed his hand, so I bet 11,500. He folded after a thinking for a few moments and I dragged a nice little pot.
At the third break of the day, my stack sat at 102,600. The blinds were at 600/1,200/1,200 when we started Level 7 after the break. I largely was card dead at this point and just stayed out of the way. I did play one pot where an early position player raised to 2,500, and I called from the SB w/ A♠ J♠. The BB called as well and the flop came J♥ 10♠ 4♦. I checked, the BB checked, and the initial raiser bet 5,000. I called, and to my surprise the BB called as well. The turn was the 7♦, and I led out for 11,000. The BB folded, but the original raiser called. The river was the 2♣, and we both checked. My opponent surprised me by showing down 8♣ 6♣ with only a missed inside straight draw, and I won another pot. Since I was folding so much, my stack at the dinner break (after Level 8) had dropped down to 100,000. I was still pretty happy as I strolled out to All-American Dave's outside the Amazon room for a grilled salmon and cauliflower plate dinner.
Level 9's blinds were 1,000/2,000/2,000, so I still had 50 big blinds as we returned from dinner. I was dealt 10♠ 10♣ in the UTG+1 seat and I raised to 5,000. The woman in the SB called. The flop came J♥ 6♣ 4♥, and she checked. I bet 7,000 and she called. The turn was the 6♦ and she checked again. I checked behind and the river was the K♥. She very quickly bet 10,000, and I folded, losing my first meaningful pot of the tournament.
About an hour later the blinds had risen again to 1,000/2,500/2,500. One of the players at the table had been short stacked for about 90 minutes, and had pushed all-in preflop five times already without being called. He pushed all-in for 42,000 on my BB, and I looked down at A♦ Q♦. This was for a little over half of my remaining chips, but it looked like too good of an opportunity to pass up. I called, and he said, "I only looked at one" before flipping the A♠ face up. I showed my hand, and he looked at his other card. He looked genuinely shocked and laid the A♥ in front of him, apologizing profusely for the slowroll. The board came out K♦ 9♣ 3♦ 7♠ J♥, and my opponent doubled up, leaving me with only 38,500 chips remaining. I was really bummed. Subconsciously, I had already been counting on making Day 2, and now that was in serious doubt. Fortunately, the very next hand I was dealt K♥ Q♥ in the SB, facing a raise to 5,500 from the player in the HJ seat. I jammed all-in, and he folded, raising my chipstack to 49,000. A few hands later, we went on our final break of the night.
We came back from the break with the blinds at 2,000/3,000/3,000, leaving me with only 16BBs. After stealing the blinds once, I was dealt 9♠ 9♥ in the LJ seat, and raised to 8,000. The players on the button and BB (who was also the player that I had just doubled up) called. The flop came 7♠ 6♣ 3♠, and the BB checked. I bet 15,000, the button folded, and the BB called. The turn was the 3♦, the BB checked again, and I shoved all-in for 32,000. He thought for a minute or so and folded, boosting my stack back up to 91,000.
Several hands later, I was in the BB with 5♠ 5♦, and the UTG player to my left raised to 8,000. He had been sitting next to me all day, and he seemed to be a very solid player. I called, and the flop came 7♠ 5♣ 2♠ to spike me a set. I checked, my opponent bet 10,000, and I called. The turn came the 2♦ to give me a full house, and I checked again, planning to check-raise to set up a river jam. My opponent bet 16,000, and as I sat back to pretend to think, I inadvertently exhaled quite loudly. This exasperated sound, followed by a raise is the oldest trick in the book, and always means a monster hand. I felt like I had to abandon my plan if I wanted to win any more chips, so I thought for a minute or so and only called. The river was the 3♣, and I checked a third time, hoping he would bet again, so that I could raise all-in. He thought for about two minutes and finally moved all-in. I snap called, showed my full house, and raked in a monster pot to increase my stack to 181,000 and cripple my opponent in the process!
A few hands later, I looked up to see the lady in the LJ seat place two 5,000 chips in front of her. She had come to the table a couple of hours earlier with 300,000 chips or so, and she still had about the same amount. I looked down at Q♥ Q♣ in the CO seat, and decided to only call. I didn't want to 3-bet and have to make a decision for my whole stack if she 4-bet me. As I watched the BB call as well, I realized with a shock that the UTG player had raised to 8,000, and I had missed it completely. I was getting a little rummy after over ten hours of poker! So we saw the flop four handed and it came 8♥ 8♦ 5♠. After the BB and UTG players checked, the lady in the LJ bet 16,000. I was a little worried that someone was slowplaying an 8, so I only called. To my relief, both the BB and UTG players folded. The turn was the K♥, and my opponent checked. I debated betting, but I eventually decided to check behind. The river was the 6♥, and she checked again. She seemed wary of the king, which meant that my hand had to be best. I bet 30,000 and after deliberating for about 90 seconds, my opponent called. Upon seeing my queens, she said, "I can't beat that", and mucked her hand. Suddenly, in the space of about 20 minutes, my stack had gone from 49,000 to 256,000!
A few hands later, I was dealt K♠ K♦ in the UTG+4 seat, and I raised to 8,000. The player to my left that I had recently crippled, pushed all-in for 41,000. I called and he flipped over J♥ J♦. The board came out a painful Q♠ Q♥ 8♣ 9♥ 10♣, to give my opponent a straight and the double up.
The blinds went up again as we hit Level 12, the last level of Day 1. With the blinds at 2,000/4,000/4,000, I raised to 10,000 with K♥ Q♥ from the UTG+1 seat. The woman in the SB, who had played back at me earlier a few times, called. The flop came Q♦ 2♠ 2♣, she checked, and I bet 12,000. She called, and then led out with a bet of 17,000 on the turn of the 3♠. I called, the river was the 8♥, and she checked. I decided to check behind. She stated, "King high", and mucked when she saw my hand. This hand put me back up to 225,000. After a couple more nondescript hands, and going through the blinds a couple of times, I finished Day 1 with 201,000 chips.
The night ended around 12:15AM, and I got back to the Stratosphere around 1:00. I was able get some sleep and get back to the Rio around 3:30PM for our 5:00PM restart on Friday. The tournament was originally supposed to restart at 2:00, but the immense size of the field necessitated pushing the time back in order to free up the necessary tables. Our flight ended up drawing 6,095 players, with 1,580 players making it to Day 2. At 3:30 I walked in the Pavilion, where my table assignment was, and I saw that the entire section was still full of players playing Day 1 of the second flight of the tournament. At 5:00, our section was still half full, and they announced that we should return at 6:15. We finally started playing at 6:50PM, with eight levels on the schedule.
Though I started the day at table 173, seat 3 in the yellow section, within three hands the players at my table (and four other tables) were all given bags to carry our chips to the Amazon room and given new seat assignments. I was handed a card that said Table 482, Seat 4. As I walked to my table, I saw that Max Steinberg was two seats to my left. Max has won a WSOP bracelet, and even more impressively, he finished 4th in the 2015 WSOP Main Event for $2,615,361. And then, as I sat down, I watched Max 3-bet from his BB with what turned out to be Q♥ 8♦. So yeah, pretty intimidating.
About this time, they finally announced that out of the 1,580 players that made Day 2, 915 of us would make the money. The minimum payout was also revealed to be $750. The blinds started the day at 3,000/5,000/5,000. In one of my first hands at the table, I was dealt K♠ J♠ in the CO seat. I raised to 13,000, and the player to my left 3-bet me to 29,000 from the button. I decided not to play a big pot out of position with my awkward size chipstack, so I just folded. Several hands later, the player two to my right limped in the UTG+1 seat. I was UTG+3 and looked down at 9♠ 9♣. I decided to raise to 16,000 to isolate the limper, but the player to my left 3-bet me again to 37,000. I was a bit worried that he planned to make plays at me all day, and I was seriously contemplating moving all-in. However, the young Indian guy in the BB shoved all-in before I got a chance. He had all three of us covered in chips; he had to have 400,000 or so. The player to my left had around 300,000 chips as well, so it was extremely unlikely that the BB had anything other than a monster hand. The original limper folded after a few seconds of deliberation, I snap folded, and the player on my left took about two minutes before folding as well. He claimed to have folded Q-Q and the original limper claimed to have folded 10-10. I was glad the BB shoved all-in, or I may have been busted right there! The BB later admitted that he had A-K that hand.
About an hour later, I was the recipient of some great fortune. The blinds had risen to 3,000/6,000/6,000, and the player in the LJ seat raised. As a side note, the 25,000 denomination chips were red and the 5,000 denomination chips were a burnt orange color. They were not too difficult to tell apart, but they were close enough in color where you could grab the wrong chips if you were not paying attention. The LJ was in the process of getting a massage which may have caused a lapse in his concentration, and he grabbed three red chips and one yellow chip, instead of three orange chips and one yellow chip. So he raised to 76,000 instead of 16,000. I looked down at A♥ A♦ on the button and moved all-in for 157,000 total. He looked disgusted when he realized his mistake, and finally folded 9♣ 8♣ face up. His blunder allowed me to boost my stack back up to 248,000.
