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!
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Day 37-38: Dealing and Payout Running
On Tuesday, I dealt another $1,500 No-Limit Hold 'em tournament. I dealt to Joe Sebok, but nobody else that I recognized. After a while, Jimmy came by and removed the break sticker from the table I was dealing at, meaning that there is no longer a break for the dealer after getting pushed from that table; the dealer just pushes into the next table in line. He told me not to push and to go see Amy when I got pushed. I thought for a minute that I was in trouble for something and then I heard him tell the dealer behind me the same thing. Then I realized that it was around 3:15, and that the Deepstack was probably delayed until 4PM and that I was probably going to be dealing it.
My suspicions were confirmed and I was sent to deal the Deepstack. The end result was that I dealt eight straight downs without a break. It was exhausting, but I did get a lot of downs in, so I'll be happy come payday.
On Wednesday my shift started at 1PM and I was right at the bottom of the alphabet. I got the option of being a payout runner for the $1,500 tournament, which was in day two and about to burst the money bubble. I was worried that if I turned it down I might get sent to cash so I took it. It was a very easy job. All I had to do was get players that had just busted, and escort them to the payout station which was twenty feet away. The down side was that I had nothing to do until 3:30 and I only worked for an hour, getting only two downs. When I went to Amy to get a new assignment, she was letting people leave for the day. My parents had just driven into town an hour before, so I decided to leave.
I met my parents at the Venetian and we walked around for a bit before going to dinner at Canaletto. Dinner was great and my Dad and I decided to go to the Rio and check out some tournaments afterwards. We watched the final eight players of the $10,000 Six-handed event for a bit, but then the $2,500 Mixed Stud/Omaha High/Low tournament went to the final table. We got a seat overlooking the table, which included Michael Mizrachi and Scotty Nguyen. We were pretty tired, so we left when there were still seven players remaining.
My suspicions were confirmed and I was sent to deal the Deepstack. The end result was that I dealt eight straight downs without a break. It was exhausting, but I did get a lot of downs in, so I'll be happy come payday.
On Wednesday my shift started at 1PM and I was right at the bottom of the alphabet. I got the option of being a payout runner for the $1,500 tournament, which was in day two and about to burst the money bubble. I was worried that if I turned it down I might get sent to cash so I took it. It was a very easy job. All I had to do was get players that had just busted, and escort them to the payout station which was twenty feet away. The down side was that I had nothing to do until 3:30 and I only worked for an hour, getting only two downs. When I went to Amy to get a new assignment, she was letting people leave for the day. My parents had just driven into town an hour before, so I decided to leave.
I met my parents at the Venetian and we walked around for a bit before going to dinner at Canaletto. Dinner was great and my Dad and I decided to go to the Rio and check out some tournaments afterwards. We watched the final eight players of the $10,000 Six-handed event for a bit, but then the $2,500 Mixed Stud/Omaha High/Low tournament went to the final table. We got a seat overlooking the table, which included Michael Mizrachi and Scotty Nguyen. We were pretty tired, so we left when there were still seven players remaining.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Day 31-36: Jessica's visit
On Wednesday I dealt another $1,500 No-Limit Hold 'em tournament. I dealt to Dennis Phillips, Adam Levy, and Rene Angelil, who is Celine Dion's husband and manager. I somehow scraped twelve downs out of the day, despite only getting three at a time between breaks. It looked for a while like I was going to be stuck in the box throughout the players' dinner break, but they sent a relief for me a little after 7:00.
Wednesday night I picked Jessica up from the airport. On Thursday it was 108 degrees and we went to the Hoover Dam. The full fledged tour wasn't for another couple of hours, so we did the power plant tour which starts every fifteen minutes instead. The video they showed us was incredibly corny, but the dam tour was fascinating! After leaving the dam, we went to the Rio for their seafood buffet which was really good, but expensive. Gotta love the employee discount!
On Friday, I worked the 1PM to 9PM shift for the first time. I was right at the top of the alphabet and had my choice between dealing day three of the $1,500 No-Limit Hold 'em, day three of the $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold 'em / Omaha mix, day two of the $5,000 Six-handed No-Limit Hold 'em, or the 2:00PM daily Deepstack tournament. In hopes of an easy day I chose the Deepstack. It also was the only tournament where I would start getting downs at 1:30; the others were either 2:30 or 3:00 restarts. I started on table 264 in the tan section of the Amazon Room, which was the first table in a set of six straight with no breaks. Fortunately, I didn't need to use the bathroom or anything! I dealt seven straight downs, getting stuck once when no push came, and then they broke my table. I was worried that they would send me to cash, but then I realized that my break would be over at 5:30, just in time for the 6:00PM Deepstack! Sure enough, I was sent to start the Deepstack and ended up back in the tan section again. Jamie, who runs the evening Deepstack, told us to pick a table so I went back to 264 again to maximize my downs. I got six more in before getting relieved, to bring my daily total to thirteen downs. Good day!
Saturday held yet another $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold 'em, and I was assigned a table in the prime real estate black section. My day was mostly uneventful, except for one table where I had my first major screw-up of the WSOP. One player moved all-in for 1,625 chips and another tossed in a blue 500 chip, a green 25 chip, and a handful of black 100 chips. My first mistake was not verifying the amount exactly, because this player had given me problems at the table already. He threw chips into the pot in phases, and I had already forced him to only call when he wanted to raise earlier. The all-in player showed 6♥ 6♣ and the caller showed A♥ 6♦. Another player said aloud that he folded A-5, so only two aces were left in the deck to eliminate the all-in player. I dragged the bets into the pot, burned a card, and started to put out a flop when another player stopped me and asked me to verify the call. The caller was actually 200 chips short, and after getting the chips from him I continued to put out a flop. One problem. I thought that I had put one flop card down already, when I had actually put two. So I rolled out a four card flop of A♠ 3♠ 3♥ 3♣. The worst part was that I knew immediately what had happened and that the ace was supposed to be the burn card for the turn. We called the floor, who instructed me to mix the cards together face down while he turned his back. I misunderstood him and mixed the flop cards with the entire deck stub to turn this into a full fledged fiasco! We had to call a tournament supervisor to the table and everything. I was supposed to only mix the flop cards together and the floor would randomly select the three to be the flop and the fourth would be the burn card for the turn. Now I had to continue mixing and put out a whole new board. I managed to flop the A♠ again to eliminate the all-in player from the tournament. I felt awful about him getting eliminated because of my mistake. Fortunately I was moving to the next table immediately afterwards so I was able to get composed again fairly quickly.
On Saturday night Jessica and I went to Japonais, which is an excellent restaurant inside the Mirage. We had a spicy octopus roll and sweet and sour calamari in a wasabi vinaigrette, which were both to die for! Jess ordered nori encrusted salmon and I ordered a pork loin with clams for our entrees which were both good, but not as good as the appetizers. It was a great meal overall though!
Sunday was yet another $1,000 No-Limit Hold 'em. I was near the bottom of the alphabet and started in the blue section of the Amazon Room. I didn't even know the Amazon had a blue section! My table broke after only a half hour of dealing and I had to go get a new assignment from Amy. Lucky for me, I pushed into the black section in the Pavilion again! The biggest name pro that I dealt to was Alex Jacob who won the US Poker Championship in 2006. Two interesting hands came up in the tournament, one because it was hilarious and one because it illustrates a subtle poker concept that apparently not all WSOP players understand.
The first hand occurred when a player made a bet with a board that read 10♥ 6♣ 10♠ Q♦ 6♥. The other player in the hand thought for a while and finally called. The first player instantly threw his cards face down across the table. Some players do this when they get caught bluffing, and it annoys some players to no end because they paid money to see the other player's hand. I properly mucked his cards and then the caller showed 5♦ 4♥. His cards didn't even play (he played the board, two pair with a queen kicker), but he won the entire pot because the bluffer mucked his hand!
The second hand is a subtle concept that all good players apply, and is one of the major leaks in the game of mediocre players. Four players saw a flop of A♥ 7♠ 4♦, and the player who had raised preflop bet. One player called. The turn was the 2♠ and the bettor bet again. The caller called again. The river was the J♦ and the bettor now checked. The caller now made a bet of around 400 into a pot of around 1,000. The other player called and showed A♠ 9♠ after the river bettor had shown A♣ 8♦. The river bettor made a large mistake in betting the river in my opinion. It is referred to as a reverse freeroll; it is a bet that can only lose money. The reason for this is that his opponent is almost never folding a better hand than his pair of aces, so the bet has no value as a bluff. Additionally, his opponent is almost never calling with a hand that he can beat, so the bet cannot be for value. So he can't win any more money with a bet, but he can lose more. His pair of aces has showdown value; checking behind the first player is the optimal play here. True, this level of thinking is a little advanced, but I would expect most WSOP players to be thinking on this level, or even above it.
Caesars' properties combine to offer a buffet deal where you can eat at any of the buffets as many times as you like within 24 hours for only $45! Sunday night Jessica and I went to the Paris Casino for our first buffet. The prime rib was awesome, and the rest of the buffet was pretty good. We went to Caesars Palace for breakfast on Monday, which wasn't all that good. We then hit the Rio buffet for lunch. While we were there I made Jessica put up with me giving her a tour of the WSOP. That evening we hit Planet Hollywood for dinner, which was the best of all the buffets. They had a Middle Eastern section, which no other buffets had, and their kabobs were excellent. Also their crab legs were even better than the seafood buffet at the Rio!
On Tuesday morning I had to take Jessica to the airport, which sucked. At least she was able to spend five days with me, two of which I had off. It worked out really well, and we had a great time!
Wednesday night I picked Jessica up from the airport. On Thursday it was 108 degrees and we went to the Hoover Dam. The full fledged tour wasn't for another couple of hours, so we did the power plant tour which starts every fifteen minutes instead. The video they showed us was incredibly corny, but the dam tour was fascinating! After leaving the dam, we went to the Rio for their seafood buffet which was really good, but expensive. Gotta love the employee discount!
On Friday, I worked the 1PM to 9PM shift for the first time. I was right at the top of the alphabet and had my choice between dealing day three of the $1,500 No-Limit Hold 'em, day three of the $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold 'em / Omaha mix, day two of the $5,000 Six-handed No-Limit Hold 'em, or the 2:00PM daily Deepstack tournament. In hopes of an easy day I chose the Deepstack. It also was the only tournament where I would start getting downs at 1:30; the others were either 2:30 or 3:00 restarts. I started on table 264 in the tan section of the Amazon Room, which was the first table in a set of six straight with no breaks. Fortunately, I didn't need to use the bathroom or anything! I dealt seven straight downs, getting stuck once when no push came, and then they broke my table. I was worried that they would send me to cash, but then I realized that my break would be over at 5:30, just in time for the 6:00PM Deepstack! Sure enough, I was sent to start the Deepstack and ended up back in the tan section again. Jamie, who runs the evening Deepstack, told us to pick a table so I went back to 264 again to maximize my downs. I got six more in before getting relieved, to bring my daily total to thirteen downs. Good day!
Saturday held yet another $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold 'em, and I was assigned a table in the prime real estate black section. My day was mostly uneventful, except for one table where I had my first major screw-up of the WSOP. One player moved all-in for 1,625 chips and another tossed in a blue 500 chip, a green 25 chip, and a handful of black 100 chips. My first mistake was not verifying the amount exactly, because this player had given me problems at the table already. He threw chips into the pot in phases, and I had already forced him to only call when he wanted to raise earlier. The all-in player showed 6♥ 6♣ and the caller showed A♥ 6♦. Another player said aloud that he folded A-5, so only two aces were left in the deck to eliminate the all-in player. I dragged the bets into the pot, burned a card, and started to put out a flop when another player stopped me and asked me to verify the call. The caller was actually 200 chips short, and after getting the chips from him I continued to put out a flop. One problem. I thought that I had put one flop card down already, when I had actually put two. So I rolled out a four card flop of A♠ 3♠ 3♥ 3♣. The worst part was that I knew immediately what had happened and that the ace was supposed to be the burn card for the turn. We called the floor, who instructed me to mix the cards together face down while he turned his back. I misunderstood him and mixed the flop cards with the entire deck stub to turn this into a full fledged fiasco! We had to call a tournament supervisor to the table and everything. I was supposed to only mix the flop cards together and the floor would randomly select the three to be the flop and the fourth would be the burn card for the turn. Now I had to continue mixing and put out a whole new board. I managed to flop the A♠ again to eliminate the all-in player from the tournament. I felt awful about him getting eliminated because of my mistake. Fortunately I was moving to the next table immediately afterwards so I was able to get composed again fairly quickly.
On Saturday night Jessica and I went to Japonais, which is an excellent restaurant inside the Mirage. We had a spicy octopus roll and sweet and sour calamari in a wasabi vinaigrette, which were both to die for! Jess ordered nori encrusted salmon and I ordered a pork loin with clams for our entrees which were both good, but not as good as the appetizers. It was a great meal overall though!
Sunday was yet another $1,000 No-Limit Hold 'em. I was near the bottom of the alphabet and started in the blue section of the Amazon Room. I didn't even know the Amazon had a blue section! My table broke after only a half hour of dealing and I had to go get a new assignment from Amy. Lucky for me, I pushed into the black section in the Pavilion again! The biggest name pro that I dealt to was Alex Jacob who won the US Poker Championship in 2006. Two interesting hands came up in the tournament, one because it was hilarious and one because it illustrates a subtle poker concept that apparently not all WSOP players understand.
The first hand occurred when a player made a bet with a board that read 10♥ 6♣ 10♠ Q♦ 6♥. The other player in the hand thought for a while and finally called. The first player instantly threw his cards face down across the table. Some players do this when they get caught bluffing, and it annoys some players to no end because they paid money to see the other player's hand. I properly mucked his cards and then the caller showed 5♦ 4♥. His cards didn't even play (he played the board, two pair with a queen kicker), but he won the entire pot because the bluffer mucked his hand!
The second hand is a subtle concept that all good players apply, and is one of the major leaks in the game of mediocre players. Four players saw a flop of A♥ 7♠ 4♦, and the player who had raised preflop bet. One player called. The turn was the 2♠ and the bettor bet again. The caller called again. The river was the J♦ and the bettor now checked. The caller now made a bet of around 400 into a pot of around 1,000. The other player called and showed A♠ 9♠ after the river bettor had shown A♣ 8♦. The river bettor made a large mistake in betting the river in my opinion. It is referred to as a reverse freeroll; it is a bet that can only lose money. The reason for this is that his opponent is almost never folding a better hand than his pair of aces, so the bet has no value as a bluff. Additionally, his opponent is almost never calling with a hand that he can beat, so the bet cannot be for value. So he can't win any more money with a bet, but he can lose more. His pair of aces has showdown value; checking behind the first player is the optimal play here. True, this level of thinking is a little advanced, but I would expect most WSOP players to be thinking on this level, or even above it.
Caesars' properties combine to offer a buffet deal where you can eat at any of the buffets as many times as you like within 24 hours for only $45! Sunday night Jessica and I went to the Paris Casino for our first buffet. The prime rib was awesome, and the rest of the buffet was pretty good. We went to Caesars Palace for breakfast on Monday, which wasn't all that good. We then hit the Rio buffet for lunch. While we were there I made Jessica put up with me giving her a tour of the WSOP. That evening we hit Planet Hollywood for dinner, which was the best of all the buffets. They had a Middle Eastern section, which no other buffets had, and their kabobs were excellent. Also their crab legs were even better than the seafood buffet at the Rio!
On Tuesday morning I had to take Jessica to the airport, which sucked. At least she was able to spend five days with me, two of which I had off. It worked out really well, and we had a great time!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Day 30: Satellite action
On Tuesday I was near the bottom of the list and I was homeless for the first hour. Amy met a group of us behind the Pavilion doors to give out assignments and said she had a couple of satellite spots available. A guy next to me and I both said "Sats" and put up our hands at the exact same time. Amy laughed and sent us both to the satellite section.
My first satellite was a $275 buy-in which sucks because the players get 1,500 starting chips instead of 1,000 and the blinds go up every 20 minutes instead of 15. Normally, the winner gets five $500 tournament chips and $120 in cash, though players work out deals once they are heads-up a lot of the time. When the satellite got three handed, they decided to play it out and give first place three chips, second place two chips, and third got the cash. Then they played the tightest poker imaginable, trying to not finish third. The satellite, which should take two hours or below, took over three hours. They were all such tightwads that I was thrilled when first and second both handed me $20 after the satellite was over. I was expecting to get stiffed.
I didn't get another satellite until 5:00 because there were too many dealers in the section and not enough tables available. Usually dealers can get four satellites in a day, but I was looking at two. Fortunately, my second satellite was a $1,050 buy-in, which awards 20 $500 chips and $120 cash, and I get paid $25 instead of the normal $15 for dealing it! A bunch of internet kids, an older foreign sounding guy, and Dan Heimiller sat down to play. I was a bad beat dealer at this table as I beat Q-Q with K-7 (two kings hit the board), A-A with 2-2 (deuce on the turn), A-K with K-Q (straight after ace flopped), A-7 with 7-5 (an ace in the window and two fives hit the board), and Q-Q with Q-9s (flush on turn). The two players remaining decided to chop it and gave me $105, so I went away happy even though the satellite finished at 8:30.
Jessica has been visiting me for five days, during which I have neglected to blog. I will blog more tonight and try to catch up a bit.
My first satellite was a $275 buy-in which sucks because the players get 1,500 starting chips instead of 1,000 and the blinds go up every 20 minutes instead of 15. Normally, the winner gets five $500 tournament chips and $120 in cash, though players work out deals once they are heads-up a lot of the time. When the satellite got three handed, they decided to play it out and give first place three chips, second place two chips, and third got the cash. Then they played the tightest poker imaginable, trying to not finish third. The satellite, which should take two hours or below, took over three hours. They were all such tightwads that I was thrilled when first and second both handed me $20 after the satellite was over. I was expecting to get stiffed.
I didn't get another satellite until 5:00 because there were too many dealers in the section and not enough tables available. Usually dealers can get four satellites in a day, but I was looking at two. Fortunately, my second satellite was a $1,050 buy-in, which awards 20 $500 chips and $120 cash, and I get paid $25 instead of the normal $15 for dealing it! A bunch of internet kids, an older foreign sounding guy, and Dan Heimiller sat down to play. I was a bad beat dealer at this table as I beat Q-Q with K-7 (two kings hit the board), A-A with 2-2 (deuce on the turn), A-K with K-Q (straight after ace flopped), A-7 with 7-5 (an ace in the window and two fives hit the board), and Q-Q with Q-9s (flush on turn). The two players remaining decided to chop it and gave me $105, so I went away happy even though the satellite finished at 8:30.
Jessica has been visiting me for five days, during which I have neglected to blog. I will blog more tonight and try to catch up a bit.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Day 27-29: Fun Weekend and Good Monday
On Saturday, I dealt another $1,500 No-Limit Hold 'em. Matt Stout showed up ten minutes late at my first table and immediately wanted to speak to the floorman. Since he was one of the later signups for the event, he drew seat 8, which is left vacant at every table and seat 8's chips are not blinded off to allow late registrants to play with a full stack. The only penalty (if you can call it that) is that they have to wait until their big blind to be dealt in for the first time. He argued that he had bought his seat the night before and that he shouldn't have to wait to be dealt in. He threw a small fit about it and the floorman came over and told me to deal him in. So I dealt him in on the first hand he was at the table, which was one hand before he would be the big blind anyway. Really, dude?
My first break coincided with the players' first break which always sucks because there is no easier money than getting credit for a down spent babysitting chips. Strange as it is, I dealt to my cousin, Michael Kinney, on my second table after the break. He told me that my uncle Mick made it late into day one of the senior's event, but busted right before the day ended. Michael was pretty card dead; he only played a couple of pots while I dealt and won none of them.
On my very next table, I looked to my right and saw my roommate Marc seated next to me in seat ten. After dealing at the table for about ten minutes, a wild sequence of hands ensued. First, an early position short stacked player raised and a late position player raised all-in. Marc looked at his cards, thought for a few seconds, and said "I'm all-in". The first player called and flipped over A♣ K♣, the second showed 6♥ 6♦, and Marc showed his A♠ A♥. I put out a board of Q♠ 10♠ 4♣ 8♥ 4♦ and Marc knocked two players out of the tournament! Less than an orbit later, another early position player raised and was called. Marc re-raised and showed A-A again after both opponents folded. A couple of hands later, Marc won again and showed K-K. I was sure happy we hadn't told anyone we were staying in the same place. Marc actually made it to day two and cashed in the tournament! He made $3,000 for finishing 220th out of 2800ish players.
Sunday morning was another $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold 'em tournament. Adam "Roothlus" Levy and Hoyt Corkins were at my first table. Faraz Jaka was at my second table and Bruce Buffer was at my third. Bruce's brother Michael Buffer is the "Let's Get Ready to Rumble" guy that introduces every major boxing match, it seems. Later in the day, I dealt to Tom Schneider, the 2007 WSOP Player of the Year. I asked him if it's surreal to see his face blown up on one of the banners outside the poker room. He laughed and said that he doesn't really think about it anymore. He said that he was really lucky that year. I talked to him quite a bit and actually talked to him a little more after my shift. He is a really nice guy.
Monday was the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha six-handed event. Yikes! PLO is always difficult to deal anyway, and when you add in the pressure of many recognizable pros at the tables, it gets pretty rough. Barry Greenstein was at my first table and he was running those guys over. He check-raised almost every dangerous looking flop and his opponents almost always folded. I also dealt to Lex Veldhuis before I had the privilege of dealing to one of the many tables of death. This six-handed table contained Brandon Adams, Amnon Filippi, Layne Flack, JC Tran, Brian Hastings, and Ryan Dodge. Fortunately for those guys, the table broke after a half hour.
Since my table broke, I had to go and get a new assignment from Jimmy. Lots of people were getting sent back into the tournament, but he asked the woman in front of me if she wanted live (cash) or satellites. She replied that she didn't like either, and before Jimmy could respond I popped over her shoulder and said "I like satellites!" Jimmy said ok and sent me to satellites. Besides my six tournament downs, I worked two single table satellites ($15 each) and made $70 in tips. A good day overall!
My first break coincided with the players' first break which always sucks because there is no easier money than getting credit for a down spent babysitting chips. Strange as it is, I dealt to my cousin, Michael Kinney, on my second table after the break. He told me that my uncle Mick made it late into day one of the senior's event, but busted right before the day ended. Michael was pretty card dead; he only played a couple of pots while I dealt and won none of them.
On my very next table, I looked to my right and saw my roommate Marc seated next to me in seat ten. After dealing at the table for about ten minutes, a wild sequence of hands ensued. First, an early position short stacked player raised and a late position player raised all-in. Marc looked at his cards, thought for a few seconds, and said "I'm all-in". The first player called and flipped over A♣ K♣, the second showed 6♥ 6♦, and Marc showed his A♠ A♥. I put out a board of Q♠ 10♠ 4♣ 8♥ 4♦ and Marc knocked two players out of the tournament! Less than an orbit later, another early position player raised and was called. Marc re-raised and showed A-A again after both opponents folded. A couple of hands later, Marc won again and showed K-K. I was sure happy we hadn't told anyone we were staying in the same place. Marc actually made it to day two and cashed in the tournament! He made $3,000 for finishing 220th out of 2800ish players.
Sunday morning was another $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold 'em tournament. Adam "Roothlus" Levy and Hoyt Corkins were at my first table. Faraz Jaka was at my second table and Bruce Buffer was at my third. Bruce's brother Michael Buffer is the "Let's Get Ready to Rumble" guy that introduces every major boxing match, it seems. Later in the day, I dealt to Tom Schneider, the 2007 WSOP Player of the Year. I asked him if it's surreal to see his face blown up on one of the banners outside the poker room. He laughed and said that he doesn't really think about it anymore. He said that he was really lucky that year. I talked to him quite a bit and actually talked to him a little more after my shift. He is a really nice guy.
Monday was the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha six-handed event. Yikes! PLO is always difficult to deal anyway, and when you add in the pressure of many recognizable pros at the tables, it gets pretty rough. Barry Greenstein was at my first table and he was running those guys over. He check-raised almost every dangerous looking flop and his opponents almost always folded. I also dealt to Lex Veldhuis before I had the privilege of dealing to one of the many tables of death. This six-handed table contained Brandon Adams, Amnon Filippi, Layne Flack, JC Tran, Brian Hastings, and Ryan Dodge. Fortunately for those guys, the table broke after a half hour.
Since my table broke, I had to go and get a new assignment from Jimmy. Lots of people were getting sent back into the tournament, but he asked the woman in front of me if she wanted live (cash) or satellites. She replied that she didn't like either, and before Jimmy could respond I popped over her shoulder and said "I like satellites!" Jimmy said ok and sent me to satellites. Besides my six tournament downs, I worked two single table satellites ($15 each) and made $70 in tips. A good day overall!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Day 24-26: A lot of dealing
Wednesday was the start of eight straight working days for me. It was the $2,500 6-handed No Limit Hold 'em tournament. Amy started with dealers whose last names start with D, so I was right near the bottom of the list and I did not get an assignment to start the tournament. However, I did get to push into the Black section, which meant that I would be dealing the tourney all day. The only interesting thing that happened all day was that I had a pot where a woman moved all-in with A♥ A♦ and was called by a guy with Q♠ Q♣. The flop came K♦ Q♦ 4♦ giving the queens a set, but giving the aces a flush draw. The turn and river were the 10♦ and 5♦, doubling the aces with a flush.
On Wednesday morning my Uncle Mick from Alaska called me up and told me that he was staying at the Rio for the Seniors event and asked if I wanted to meet for breakfast Thursday morning. So I met up with him, his son Michael, and their friend at the Sao Paolo Cafe and had my favorite breakfast dish, Eggs Benedict. It was great to see him again and to finally meet Michael, who has won a $10K buy-in televised WPT event in Reno. They told me a few poker war stories and I told them a few of mine too. We had a lot of fun.
Thursday's tournament was $1,500 No Limit Hold 'em and Amy started with the letter B, giving me a prime location where I was assured of dealing the tournament all day! I dealt to Liv Boeree, but she was short stacked and not in a chatty mood. The most interesting thing that happened all day was getting a player all-in w/ K-K against A-A and flopping a king to double him up.
Friday was the $1,000 Seniors No Limit Hold 'em. The tournament was pretty fun to deal as most of the players were friendly and talkative. My first table featured the defending champion of the event, Harold Angle. They tried to do the pledge of allegiance before the event started, but first "Oklahoma" Johnny Hale, then his daughter screwed it up. It was lame and hilarious at the same time. The event was the largest live single day starting event in history, with 3,752 entrants! Every table in the Rio was used for the tournament and one thing about the seniors, they are conservative. Nobody was in a hurry to bust out and consequently, the 2PM Deepstack tourney and both day twos of tourneys from the day before were delayed until 4PM. I dealt my first straight flush of the tournament when a player tabled 5♠ 2♠ to perfectly match my board of A♥ J♠ 4♠ 3♠ A♠! I dealt ten downs of the seniors tournament and then I was assigned to start the 6PM Deepstack tournament. I needed to drop Matt off at the airport at 7, but nobody came to push me off of my table. Good thing Cheng, who roomed with Matt last year, was staying at our place and carpooling with us. He borrowed my keys and took Matt to the airport while I dealt for two hours before my relief came. I was pretty happy with fourteen downs.
This weekend is another $1,500 and $1,000 Hold 'em. Should be extremely busy. Hopefully I get a lot more tournament downs in!
On Wednesday morning my Uncle Mick from Alaska called me up and told me that he was staying at the Rio for the Seniors event and asked if I wanted to meet for breakfast Thursday morning. So I met up with him, his son Michael, and their friend at the Sao Paolo Cafe and had my favorite breakfast dish, Eggs Benedict. It was great to see him again and to finally meet Michael, who has won a $10K buy-in televised WPT event in Reno. They told me a few poker war stories and I told them a few of mine too. We had a lot of fun.
Thursday's tournament was $1,500 No Limit Hold 'em and Amy started with the letter B, giving me a prime location where I was assured of dealing the tournament all day! I dealt to Liv Boeree, but she was short stacked and not in a chatty mood. The most interesting thing that happened all day was getting a player all-in w/ K-K against A-A and flopping a king to double him up.
Friday was the $1,000 Seniors No Limit Hold 'em. The tournament was pretty fun to deal as most of the players were friendly and talkative. My first table featured the defending champion of the event, Harold Angle. They tried to do the pledge of allegiance before the event started, but first "Oklahoma" Johnny Hale, then his daughter screwed it up. It was lame and hilarious at the same time. The event was the largest live single day starting event in history, with 3,752 entrants! Every table in the Rio was used for the tournament and one thing about the seniors, they are conservative. Nobody was in a hurry to bust out and consequently, the 2PM Deepstack tourney and both day twos of tourneys from the day before were delayed until 4PM. I dealt my first straight flush of the tournament when a player tabled 5♠ 2♠ to perfectly match my board of A♥ J♠ 4♠ 3♠ A♠! I dealt ten downs of the seniors tournament and then I was assigned to start the 6PM Deepstack tournament. I needed to drop Matt off at the airport at 7, but nobody came to push me off of my table. Good thing Cheng, who roomed with Matt last year, was staying at our place and carpooling with us. He borrowed my keys and took Matt to the airport while I dealt for two hours before my relief came. I was pretty happy with fourteen downs.
This weekend is another $1,500 and $1,000 Hold 'em. Should be extremely busy. Hopefully I get a lot more tournament downs in!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Day 23: Finally a breakthrough!
On Monday night I got a facebook message from one of my old E-Division buddies, Art Hinahon, from the submarine. He and his family had just checked into the Rio! We decided to meet up for coffee on Tuesday morning at 9:30. It was great to see him again and we had a good time hanging out and I showed him the Pavilion, the Amazon Room, and the WSOP store also. I ended up buying myself a sweatshirt that has ear buds on the ties and an I-Pod connection in the pocket. It's pretty sweet!
After hanging out with Art for a bit, I drove to the Orleans to meet up with Paul and Amy. Amy went to the spa while Paul and I played the $75 Hold 'em tournament at noon. The tournament drew 48 players and five would make the money. The Orleans allows re-entries for the first two levels and one guy at my table re-entered after the first hand. Seeing as everyone starts with 7,500 chips, I don't know how anyone goes bust on the first hand, but this guy got all his chips in on the river with 7♦ 5♦ against A♦ 9♦ on a K♣ 10♦ 8♠ 3♦ 2♦ board.
My tournament started well. At the 50/100 level I had A♥ 10♠ in the SB and it folded to me. I raised to 250 and the BB called. The flop came Q♠ 4♥ 2♣; I bet 300 and the BB folded. The next revolution, I had A♦ 5♣ on the button and raised to 250 again. The SB called and we saw a flop of 4♣ 4♦ 2♥. He checked and I checked behind. He checked again when the 9♠ hit the turn, I bet 350, and he folded.
On the last hand of the 50/100 level I had K♥ K♣ UTG+1 and the UTG player raised to 350. I raised to 1,200 and only the UTG player called. The flop came 10♠ 8♦ 4♣, and my opponent checked. I bet 2,100 and he folded. I showed him the kings and he told me he had folded A-K.
With the blinds at 75/150 later I had 3♠ 3♣ in middle position facing a raise to 350. I called to try to flop a set and two more players called as well. The flop came Q♥ 7♥ 4♦ and two players went to war over the pot. They had A-Q and K-Q which eliminated the second player. This was the only hand that I played for quite a while.
Late in the 100/200 blind level I was dealt A♥ A♣ UTG. I raised to 600 and was called by an older man in the cutoff seat. The flop came 10♦ 7♣ 7♦ and I bet 1,100. I was willing to go broke with my hand I think, but my opponent folded. This brought my chip stack to 9,125 at the first break. Paul was down a bit at the break, at 5,500 or so, but he felt good about the way he was playing, so we were both pretty upbeat.
Soon after the break I was dealt A♠ K♦ in middle position. The blinds were 150/300 with a 25 ante and an early position player raised to 800. I decided to 3-bet to 2,200. He seemed close to folding, but ended up calling my raise. The flop came 9♥ 5♥ 4♣ and he checked. It scared the hell out of me, but I decided to bet 3,000. Not betting here is like waving a white flag, letting my opponent take the pot away from me. I was worried that he had a small to medium pocket pair and would move all-in, hoping that I have A-K or a similar hand. Much to my relief, my opponent folded. I was moved to another table right afterwards and I didn't see Paul or his chips at his table when I got up. Turns out he got in a battle of the blinds with the maniac from the first hand that re-entered the tournament and was now at Paul's table. Paul had A-J on a flop of J-8-x and the maniac raised him all-in. Paul thought he was on a draw and called. He was right; the maniac flipped over 10-9, meaning that Paul was around 67% to win and double-up. Unfortunately, a 7 hit the turn and Paul lost to the maniac's straight and was eliminated.
I was extremely card dead at my new table. I did raise UTG holding 6♥ 6♣ to steal the blinds, but I did nothing but fold other than that for over an hour. There was a middle aged man at the table that did not like seeing flops and just pushed all-in any time that he liked his hand (or thought he found a good spot). I will push all-in liberally when I get short stacked, but this guy was shoving 7,000 chips into the pot when the BB was only 300 chips!
At the 200/400/50 level I had 9♥ 9♦, and the bozo shoved all-in for 8,500 chips. I had about 10,000 and I thought about it for quite a while. The thought occurred to me that if I called and lost I could hang out with Paul and Amy, but then I thought "Screw that! This is a poker decision and I shouldn't let any outside parameters influence my decision." I finally decided that I was in a decent position in the tournament and that I did not need to gamble in this spot, so I grudgingly folded.
At the 300/600/75 level I was dealt 10♦ 9♥ in the BB. A player limped from early position and the SB completed. I happily checked to see a free flop with my dangerous hand. The flop came A♠ J♣ 9♠ and we all checked. The turn was the 7♣ and the SB checked again. I thought there was a very good chance that I was best, so I bet 1,100. The limper folded, but to my surprise the SB called. The river was the K♠ and the SB checked again. Betting would be pretty pointless since I'm not making a better hand fold and a worse hand would almost never call, so I checked as well. The SB showed A♣ 8♦ to win the pot.
A few hands later I had J♠ J♦ in middle position and an early position player moved all-in for 4,900. With roughly 7,500 chips, my decision was easy. I raised all-in. Nobody called and the all-in player showed K♣ 10♥. The board came A♥ 9♠ 4♣ 6♣ Q♥ and I knocked a player out of the tournament and raised my stack to 13,200 at the break in the process!
At the 400/800/100 level I had 5♦ 5♣ in the SB. The player UTG min-raised to 1,600 and UTG+1 called. I decided to call, hoping to flop a 5 and win a big pot. The flop came Q♣ 4♣ 2♦ and I checked. UTG bet 2,100, UTG+1 raised all-in and UTG folded. A few hands later I was dealt K♥ Q♠ on the button and the UTG player raised to 2,500. I seriously considered raising all-in, but I decided to fold and he showed the table A♠ K♦. Glad I folded!
Finally our table broke as the tournament moved to the final two tables. I stole the blinds w/ Q-9 once and shoved my remaining 8,500 with 8-8 after a player limped in to steal his limp. After the blinds went up to 600/1200/200 I looked down at Q♥ Q♦ UTG and I raised to 2,500. The player to my left, who was on my first table as well, 3-bet to 6,000. I moved all-in for 10,800 total and he called with A♣ J♠. The board came 6♥ 5♥ 4♠ 2♥ 7♥ and I more than doubled my stack to 24,600! My opponent was left with only about 4,000 and went out on the next hand.
A few hands after that I had 7♦ 6♦ in middle position and decided to try and steal the blinds. I raised to 3,000, but the SB moved all-in for 9,200 total. There was 12,000 in the pot and I had to call 6,200 which is pretty close to 2-to-1 pot odds. I only need to win 33% of the time to make calling correct so I called, hoping he would show A-K or 4-4, both of which I would be only a slight underdog against. He actually had 8♥ 8♦ which had me in big trouble. But the dealer rolled out Q♣ 5♥ 4♣ 3♠ A♣ and I sucked out with a straight to knock him out of the tournament and increase my stack to 38,000! There were a couple of guys shaking their heads so when I stole the blinds a few hands later I showed my A♥ Q♣ and said, "Figured I'd show you guys a legitimate hand this time." We got a decent laugh out of it.
I picked up J♥ 10♥ on the button a couple revolutions later and raised to 3,000. The BB called and pushed all-in on a flop of A♠ J♠ 2♦ for 5,200 more. We had played together for quite a while and he was even tighter than me. He had to have an ace. I folded my middle pair and he showed the ace. I told him that I'd folded a jack, which I'm sure surprised everyone that saw my call with 7-6 earlier.
At the 800/1600/300 level I picked up K♦ 10♥ UTG and raised to 4,000. The table was six handed so my raise wasn't too loose. The BB called and shoved all-in on a flop of A♥ Q♠ Q♣, which was a pretty easy fold for me. I limped two hands later with 6♣ 5♣ from the SB after a late position player had already limped. The flop came J♦ 8♥ 3♥, which gave me an easy check-fold. The next hand I raised K♠ J♣ from the button and the blinds folded. After we played one more hand 11th place was eliminated and we combined the ten remaining players onto the final table.
On the final table, the maniac from Paul's table earlier was the overwhelming chip leader while I was in about sixth chip position. I had to fold 6♣ 6♦ to an early position 9,000 chip all-in because calling and losing would be much more detrimental than calling and winning would be beneficial. Later I was on the button, holding J♥ J♦. I had to raise the chip leader's big blind and I would have moved in for my tournament life, but it was pretty scary. He folded and we went to break with nine players remaining. I had 36,500 chips, still good for around sixth place.
Upon returning from break the blinds were 1000/2000/500. The table was playing squeaky tight because nobody wanted to miss the money. We were discussing possible deals, but the chip leader wanted to eliminate a few more people first. Ninth place went out when he ran A-K into A-A. Unfortunately the winner was the other short stack, which left no painfully short stacks left. Lucky for me, I was walked on both of my big blinds so my stack wasn't dropping as I folded. The other shortish stacks were dropping and finally another one bit the dust to leave us with seven. I asked the chip leader if he would consider a deal now and he said that he was down for his trip and needed $700 to break even. I asked if he would chop if we got him $700 and he said sure. I asked the tournament director to run the numbers and he said that if one player got $700 and the other six split, we would each get $405. Everyone was quick to agree and we had a deal! Finally a meaningful cash on this trip!
Looking back on it, I can't believe the chip leader chopped. Second place would have paid $780 and first $1,220. I think I would have asked for at least $800, if not $900. I think we wore him down. It was an easy decision for me since I was still in sixth chip position and only five players were slated to get paid. $405 was pretty close to third place money so everyone left happy. Not to mention playing for six hours with nothing to show for it would have sucked.
Afterwards I left with Paul and Amy and we went to dinner at Wolfgang Puck's in Crystals, next to the Aria Casino. The food was excellent, the company was better, and overall we had an awesome time. Later Paul and I dropped Amy off at their hotel and we went to Bill's Gamblin' Hall to play in the $0.50/$1 cash game. Yeah, we're high rollers. We played until around midnight and called it a night.
Speaking of calling it a night, I think I will do the same. I will try to catch up tomorrow on my last couple of days dealing tournaments. If you actually made it this far, thanks for reading!
After hanging out with Art for a bit, I drove to the Orleans to meet up with Paul and Amy. Amy went to the spa while Paul and I played the $75 Hold 'em tournament at noon. The tournament drew 48 players and five would make the money. The Orleans allows re-entries for the first two levels and one guy at my table re-entered after the first hand. Seeing as everyone starts with 7,500 chips, I don't know how anyone goes bust on the first hand, but this guy got all his chips in on the river with 7♦ 5♦ against A♦ 9♦ on a K♣ 10♦ 8♠ 3♦ 2♦ board.
My tournament started well. At the 50/100 level I had A♥ 10♠ in the SB and it folded to me. I raised to 250 and the BB called. The flop came Q♠ 4♥ 2♣; I bet 300 and the BB folded. The next revolution, I had A♦ 5♣ on the button and raised to 250 again. The SB called and we saw a flop of 4♣ 4♦ 2♥. He checked and I checked behind. He checked again when the 9♠ hit the turn, I bet 350, and he folded.
On the last hand of the 50/100 level I had K♥ K♣ UTG+1 and the UTG player raised to 350. I raised to 1,200 and only the UTG player called. The flop came 10♠ 8♦ 4♣, and my opponent checked. I bet 2,100 and he folded. I showed him the kings and he told me he had folded A-K.
With the blinds at 75/150 later I had 3♠ 3♣ in middle position facing a raise to 350. I called to try to flop a set and two more players called as well. The flop came Q♥ 7♥ 4♦ and two players went to war over the pot. They had A-Q and K-Q which eliminated the second player. This was the only hand that I played for quite a while.
Late in the 100/200 blind level I was dealt A♥ A♣ UTG. I raised to 600 and was called by an older man in the cutoff seat. The flop came 10♦ 7♣ 7♦ and I bet 1,100. I was willing to go broke with my hand I think, but my opponent folded. This brought my chip stack to 9,125 at the first break. Paul was down a bit at the break, at 5,500 or so, but he felt good about the way he was playing, so we were both pretty upbeat.
Soon after the break I was dealt A♠ K♦ in middle position. The blinds were 150/300 with a 25 ante and an early position player raised to 800. I decided to 3-bet to 2,200. He seemed close to folding, but ended up calling my raise. The flop came 9♥ 5♥ 4♣ and he checked. It scared the hell out of me, but I decided to bet 3,000. Not betting here is like waving a white flag, letting my opponent take the pot away from me. I was worried that he had a small to medium pocket pair and would move all-in, hoping that I have A-K or a similar hand. Much to my relief, my opponent folded. I was moved to another table right afterwards and I didn't see Paul or his chips at his table when I got up. Turns out he got in a battle of the blinds with the maniac from the first hand that re-entered the tournament and was now at Paul's table. Paul had A-J on a flop of J-8-x and the maniac raised him all-in. Paul thought he was on a draw and called. He was right; the maniac flipped over 10-9, meaning that Paul was around 67% to win and double-up. Unfortunately, a 7 hit the turn and Paul lost to the maniac's straight and was eliminated.
I was extremely card dead at my new table. I did raise UTG holding 6♥ 6♣ to steal the blinds, but I did nothing but fold other than that for over an hour. There was a middle aged man at the table that did not like seeing flops and just pushed all-in any time that he liked his hand (or thought he found a good spot). I will push all-in liberally when I get short stacked, but this guy was shoving 7,000 chips into the pot when the BB was only 300 chips!
At the 200/400/50 level I had 9♥ 9♦, and the bozo shoved all-in for 8,500 chips. I had about 10,000 and I thought about it for quite a while. The thought occurred to me that if I called and lost I could hang out with Paul and Amy, but then I thought "Screw that! This is a poker decision and I shouldn't let any outside parameters influence my decision." I finally decided that I was in a decent position in the tournament and that I did not need to gamble in this spot, so I grudgingly folded.
At the 300/600/75 level I was dealt 10♦ 9♥ in the BB. A player limped from early position and the SB completed. I happily checked to see a free flop with my dangerous hand. The flop came A♠ J♣ 9♠ and we all checked. The turn was the 7♣ and the SB checked again. I thought there was a very good chance that I was best, so I bet 1,100. The limper folded, but to my surprise the SB called. The river was the K♠ and the SB checked again. Betting would be pretty pointless since I'm not making a better hand fold and a worse hand would almost never call, so I checked as well. The SB showed A♣ 8♦ to win the pot.
A few hands later I had J♠ J♦ in middle position and an early position player moved all-in for 4,900. With roughly 7,500 chips, my decision was easy. I raised all-in. Nobody called and the all-in player showed K♣ 10♥. The board came A♥ 9♠ 4♣ 6♣ Q♥ and I knocked a player out of the tournament and raised my stack to 13,200 at the break in the process!
At the 400/800/100 level I had 5♦ 5♣ in the SB. The player UTG min-raised to 1,600 and UTG+1 called. I decided to call, hoping to flop a 5 and win a big pot. The flop came Q♣ 4♣ 2♦ and I checked. UTG bet 2,100, UTG+1 raised all-in and UTG folded. A few hands later I was dealt K♥ Q♠ on the button and the UTG player raised to 2,500. I seriously considered raising all-in, but I decided to fold and he showed the table A♠ K♦. Glad I folded!
Finally our table broke as the tournament moved to the final two tables. I stole the blinds w/ Q-9 once and shoved my remaining 8,500 with 8-8 after a player limped in to steal his limp. After the blinds went up to 600/1200/200 I looked down at Q♥ Q♦ UTG and I raised to 2,500. The player to my left, who was on my first table as well, 3-bet to 6,000. I moved all-in for 10,800 total and he called with A♣ J♠. The board came 6♥ 5♥ 4♠ 2♥ 7♥ and I more than doubled my stack to 24,600! My opponent was left with only about 4,000 and went out on the next hand.
A few hands after that I had 7♦ 6♦ in middle position and decided to try and steal the blinds. I raised to 3,000, but the SB moved all-in for 9,200 total. There was 12,000 in the pot and I had to call 6,200 which is pretty close to 2-to-1 pot odds. I only need to win 33% of the time to make calling correct so I called, hoping he would show A-K or 4-4, both of which I would be only a slight underdog against. He actually had 8♥ 8♦ which had me in big trouble. But the dealer rolled out Q♣ 5♥ 4♣ 3♠ A♣ and I sucked out with a straight to knock him out of the tournament and increase my stack to 38,000! There were a couple of guys shaking their heads so when I stole the blinds a few hands later I showed my A♥ Q♣ and said, "Figured I'd show you guys a legitimate hand this time." We got a decent laugh out of it.
I picked up J♥ 10♥ on the button a couple revolutions later and raised to 3,000. The BB called and pushed all-in on a flop of A♠ J♠ 2♦ for 5,200 more. We had played together for quite a while and he was even tighter than me. He had to have an ace. I folded my middle pair and he showed the ace. I told him that I'd folded a jack, which I'm sure surprised everyone that saw my call with 7-6 earlier.
At the 800/1600/300 level I picked up K♦ 10♥ UTG and raised to 4,000. The table was six handed so my raise wasn't too loose. The BB called and shoved all-in on a flop of A♥ Q♠ Q♣, which was a pretty easy fold for me. I limped two hands later with 6♣ 5♣ from the SB after a late position player had already limped. The flop came J♦ 8♥ 3♥, which gave me an easy check-fold. The next hand I raised K♠ J♣ from the button and the blinds folded. After we played one more hand 11th place was eliminated and we combined the ten remaining players onto the final table.
On the final table, the maniac from Paul's table earlier was the overwhelming chip leader while I was in about sixth chip position. I had to fold 6♣ 6♦ to an early position 9,000 chip all-in because calling and losing would be much more detrimental than calling and winning would be beneficial. Later I was on the button, holding J♥ J♦. I had to raise the chip leader's big blind and I would have moved in for my tournament life, but it was pretty scary. He folded and we went to break with nine players remaining. I had 36,500 chips, still good for around sixth place.
Upon returning from break the blinds were 1000/2000/500. The table was playing squeaky tight because nobody wanted to miss the money. We were discussing possible deals, but the chip leader wanted to eliminate a few more people first. Ninth place went out when he ran A-K into A-A. Unfortunately the winner was the other short stack, which left no painfully short stacks left. Lucky for me, I was walked on both of my big blinds so my stack wasn't dropping as I folded. The other shortish stacks were dropping and finally another one bit the dust to leave us with seven. I asked the chip leader if he would consider a deal now and he said that he was down for his trip and needed $700 to break even. I asked if he would chop if we got him $700 and he said sure. I asked the tournament director to run the numbers and he said that if one player got $700 and the other six split, we would each get $405. Everyone was quick to agree and we had a deal! Finally a meaningful cash on this trip!
Looking back on it, I can't believe the chip leader chopped. Second place would have paid $780 and first $1,220. I think I would have asked for at least $800, if not $900. I think we wore him down. It was an easy decision for me since I was still in sixth chip position and only five players were slated to get paid. $405 was pretty close to third place money so everyone left happy. Not to mention playing for six hours with nothing to show for it would have sucked.
Afterwards I left with Paul and Amy and we went to dinner at Wolfgang Puck's in Crystals, next to the Aria Casino. The food was excellent, the company was better, and overall we had an awesome time. Later Paul and I dropped Amy off at their hotel and we went to Bill's Gamblin' Hall to play in the $0.50/$1 cash game. Yeah, we're high rollers. We played until around midnight and called it a night.
Speaking of calling it a night, I think I will do the same. I will try to catch up tomorrow on my last couple of days dealing tournaments. If you actually made it this far, thanks for reading!
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