Bond18 – Around the World in 90 Days: Day 48

Posted by Bond18 | Filed under Bond18

2PM restarts are heaven. My best guess for an average night’s sleep over the course of the WSOP is about seven hours, and being given an extra two the day before you try to make a deep run in a tournament is crucial. SuperflousMan, Gobboboy and Jcarver have also made day two, and they swing by a little before the event to give me a ride. I get to my seat 45 seconds before restart and scan the table; not many familiar faces.

On one of the first hands, it folds to a player in MP1 with 8 BBs. With the BB out of his chair, MP1 shoves and it folds to me in the SB. I call with As-9s and win a flip over his 4-4, moving my stack up to around 80,000.

The bubble breaks quickly as we go from eight off the money to in the money in just 30 minutes. The bubble itself only lasted for a few hands of hand-for-hand play and after it busts, I’m moved to a new table, also lacking in familiar players.

A couple orbits into the table my first interesting hand comes up, against a young villain who I had seen open limp a couple times before, but didn’t know much about:

My stack: ~84,000, HJ: ~75,000, blinds 800/1,600 with 200 ante. I hold Qh-Qc in the BB.

Pre-flop: Folds to the HJ, HJ calls 1,600, folds to me in the BB, I raise to 6,600, HJ calls.

Flop: 9d-8h-Ts

I check, hijack checks.

Turn: 4c

I bet 8,500, HJ thinks it over and raises to 20,900. What the hell? When I think about his range, very little makes sense here. A set or two pair would never check this flop. A-A/K-K don’t play like this on this board. Q-J could play like this, but I’ve got two of the Queens. He could have 7-6, but even that bets the flop the majority of the time. I decide he’s either got Q-J or a bluff and call.

River: 6

I check, HJ goes all in for about 50,000. I lean back in my seat and think it over. Not even Q-J normally plays like this, shoving the river full pot. So many people would value bet something like 30,000. I hesitantly announce call and the HJ flashes As-2s and mucks. I table my Q-Q and the table is quite surprised.

“I’m a nit with no fold button” I tell them.

Not long after the hand, Amir Vahedi is moved to the table. He begins playing very aggressively and opening quite a few pots, but the increasingly drunk lady on his left seems to have his number. I chat to him about his cigar and he offers to hook me up with a guy who has Cubans. Not too long after his arrival we get involved in a hand:

My stack: ~160K, Amir: ~60,000, blinds 1,000/2,000 with 200 ante. I hold Qc-Ts on the HJ.

Pre-flop: Folds to me on the HJ, I raise to 5,500, folds to Amir in the BB, Amir calls.

Flop: J-2-K rainbow

Amir leads out 6,000. Had he led a little larger I might shove right here, but his bet makes that awkward. I decide to call and cram over a turn bet, since Amir is known for his aggressive and bluffy play.

Turn: 7

Amir bets 16,000, I quickly and confidently announce all-in. Amir goes into the tank for quite a while and wonders about what I can have. After a few minutes thought he says “Must be K-Q” and folds. He asks me what I have and I tell him when we’re done for the day I’ll let him know.

With that pot, my stack reaches nearly 190,000 and I’m first or second in chips in the tournament. Unfortunately, my stay at the top is short lived. When the blinds go up to 1,500/3,000 it folds to a fairly tight player in MP2 with 41,000 who raises it to 12,000. I wake up with Q-Q behind and re-raise nearly enough to put him all in. When it folds back he shoves and I say call and begin putting the chips in. He waits for me to finish putting out all the chips, then pauses, so I turn over my hand first because I don’t believe in this bullshit waiting game people do when they get all in. He waits to see my cards, looks down at my Q-Q then leaps up and tomahawk smashes his K-K onto the felt. I roll my eyes and resist the sarcastic remark.

Flop:3-6-9

Turn:4

River: K

After that pot my stack stays stagnant for awhile. It hovers around the 150,000 mark for quite some time as the levels go up. Online player and poster schwah is moved to my table (I didn’t know who he was at the time) and immediately starts running over the table. I notice he’s raising UTG with enormous regularity and after his fifth UTG raise, I try to three bet him in the CO with A-8o. It folds back to him, he briefly considers, then announces all-in. I feel like a moron and fold my hand.

The very next hand I get involved again. It folds to me on the HJ with Ac-Qc and I raise the 2,000/4,000 blinds to 10,500. The CO shoves for 52,000 and when it folds back to me I call. He tables As-Js and the board runs out dry to give me all the chips I lost on the last hand back.

Just a few hands later I’m involved again:

My stack: ~150K, button: ~160K, blinds 2,000/4,000 with 500 ante. I hold Kc-4h in the BB. The button player has been open limping a ton and playing way too loose and spewy in general.

Pre-flop: Folds to the button, button calls 4,000, SB completes, I check.

Flop: 6h-3d-5h

SB checks, I bet 10,000, button calls, SB folds.

Turn: Kd

I bet 22,000, button calls.

River: 6c

Not a great card, but not an awful one, since I think he more likely has a missed draw. I check, button bets 20,000 and I announce call. The moment the words come out of my mouth he mucks his cards and I take down a considerable pot.

Online player and poster Carter CkingUSC King gets moved on my direct right as we break down to three tables. We’re both sitting pretty healthy and don’t seem to play much in the way of pots with each other. It’s not until the table comes six-handed and the blinds are up to 4,000/8,000 that we’re involved:

My stack: ~250K, Cking: ~140K, blinds 4,000/8,000 with 1,000 ante. I hold A-Qo UTG.

Pre-flop: I raise to 20,000, folds to Cking, Cking announces all-in. I tell him “I’m probably going to call, but I just want a rough count quick.”

“It’s about 140” he replies.

“Yea I call.”

Cking tables T-T and we’re off to the races.

Flop: K-Q-7

Turn: 8

River: 9

I shake hands with Cking and tell him sorry it had to be him, but on the plus side, I’m one of the chip leaders again and the field is getting very short.

Not long after Cking busts we combine down to two tables of the final 18 players, and I have drawn the anti-Christ seat. On my left, in order are: Schwah, John Phan, Allin@420, and Plattsburgh, and all of them have chips. That means every hand I open has a significant chance of getting three bet, and there will be basically zero chance to dominate anyone scared of not making the final table. Worst about that line up though, is that John Phan is the single greatest time waster in poker history. Every fucking decision with this guy apparently requires deep thought, even just pre-flop early position open folds. On the flop it’s unusual when he doesn’t sit there for 30-60 seconds before making any action, and God forbid he’s put to a big decision and you didn’t bring a pillow with you.

I lose about 50,000 of my 400K by raise-folding a couple times when I don’t have a huge hand and get three-bet. After that, I find A-J UTG six handed and raise it up. The SB calls, then check-raises me on a 7-2-4 flop, which I give up. The very next hand it folds to Phan UTG+1 who raises to 26,000 and I re-raise to 76,000 in the BB with Q-Q. He takes his usual several minutes then folds.

Then I decide it’d be a fun idea to play a hand awfully, and get involved again:

My stack: ~310K, HJ: ~400K, blinds 5,000/10,000 with 1,000 ante. I hold Kc-Jd on the CO.

Pre-flop: Folds to the HJ, HJ limps. The HJ is a good young player wearing a Wisconsin cap named Alex who has yet to open limp. Given the way the table is playing, I highly doubt he would open limp A-A here, but I’m suspicious enough not to raise. Instead, I opt to limp behind and the button folds. Phan completes in the SB and Plattsburgh checks the BB.

Flop: Kh-5h-6d

SB checks, BB checks, HJ bets 18,000, I call, both blinds fold.

Turn: 9s

SB thinks it over, then bets 50,000. I think the SB’s range is mostly sets and draws since he doesn’t ever limp A-K and it’s really unlikely he limped K-Q. I guess he could have 7-8s, but I’m not sure he’s really open limping that wide.

River: 2s

HJ bets 60,000 and I decide “Well all my other call downs where a person has a polarized range in the last few days have worked, why shouldn’t this one?” and throw in the chips. The HJ tables his set and I feel like a moron for having called the turn considering he took the classic big hand pattern of flop small bet followed by turn big bet followed by river too-sweet-to-pass-up value bet.

A round later it folds to the same player in the SB who raises to 20,000 and, with 160K left, I move all-in from the SB. He folds and I get back up to nearly 200K. There’s only 12 players left now and having gone from chip leader to bubble boy yet again would be flat out embarrassing.

I find 9-9 on the CO with 210K at the 6,000/12,000 level and tell myself there’s no way I fold this hand. It folds to me and I open to 32,000. It folds to Phan in the SB who asks how much I have behind, tanks for awhile, then makes it 87,000. Behind him, Plattsburgh close to instantly says “100,000 more” and slides out a big stack, making it 187,000. I swear out loud for quite some time, tell the table “I hate you all” and fold.

Not long afterwards, the 12^th and 11^th players bust, and we combine into one table of 10 where we’ll play until we make the formal final table. I’m coming into the table as one of the short stacks. The guys who do the interviews and publicity come over and hand out their final table info sheets.

“I’m not filling this out.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not wasting my time or your time. Don’t you know how this ends man!? Just play it out, you can give everyone else the form and I can go home without having wasted your paper.”

“Uh well, we would prefer you guys filled it out, but if you want to just keep playing that’s fine.”

The guy seems a little perplexed by my behavior, but the table is mostly laughing at my fatalism. I start joking around a lot and telling everyone on the rail whose come to watch if they’re “Ready to console me when I go mega busto?!”

A few hands into the table I put out my BB of 12,000. I announce to Alex, who is sitting two on my right, that if he dares to raise my BB again I’m going to spite shove on him no look.

“Yea? Well then I’ll raise/call you no look.”

“Yea you do that, send me home man, send me the fuck home.”

As the cards are dealt out I peek down at K-K and quickly cap my cards. This is going to be too sweet:

My stack: ~142K, Alex: ~500K, blinds 6,000/12,000 with 1,000 ante. I hold Ks-Kd in the BB.

Pre-flop: Folds to Alex on the button, Alex raises to 38,000, SB folds. I announce all-in and the table bursts out with laughter.

“Does anyone know if he looked at his cards?”

“I think so” replies one player.

“How much is it?”

The dealer counts out the stack and tells him.

“Guess I’m priced in here, I call.”

“Kings” I reply. Alex turns over As-6s and I get out of my chair and adjust my jacket.

“It’s allllllllll over people. I’m beyond gone here. You have no idea how good you got it in here man. You’re fucking golden.”

Flop: Qc-7s-5c

Turn: 8c

“Massively over here.”

River: 8s

Simultaneously Alex and Bondgirl on the rail yell “YES!!” I do a double take at the board.

“No wait dude, I win.”

“Oh shit, your right. I thought I hit the straight.”

“This is bullshit! I won the hand and I still got sucked out!” I yell and sit back in my chair.

“Okay then, this is sweet. Look at all these chips, I’m just gonna nit it up now. Hey bring me that fucking form guys, I’m not playing anymore, I’m done for the night.”

I fold my hand in the SB, but on the button I’m involved in a hand with David Singer. David has been open limping quite a bit at the final table despite it being a pretty aggressive table and his stack not being that deep. I’m not quite sure what to make of his style, but so far it’s costing him chips:

My stack: ~270K, Singer: ~330K, blinds 6,000/12,000 with 1,000 ante. I hold Ts-Td on the button.

Pre-flop: Singer limps UTG, folds to me on the button, I raise to 46,000, folds back to Singer, Singer thinks it over and calls.

Turn: Ah-9s-6s

David checks. This is kind of awkward since he might have a good enough draw to check shove. Still, I don’t think he’s limp/calling a lot of decent Aces at this point, and I think checking back can lead to some very awkward turn and river decisions against a good player who may apply large pressure in the bubble. I fire out 60,000 as a bluff despite having decent showdown equity, and after several moments of thought, David folds.

We go on break after the hand and I hang around messing with my friends about bubbling despite having so many more chips now. When we get back, Alex and Plattsburgh play a huge hand pre-flop where they get it in for about 380K each with Alex’s A-K vs. Plattsburgh’s T-T. The board comes out dry and Alex is eliminated in 10^th place, meaning I’ve made my first WSOP final table. Holy shit, I thought I might run bad forever. I’m pretty relieved.

They give us the forms to fill out and I fill mine out as ridiculously and goofily as possible. When the question “What will you do if you win the bracelet?” comes up, I answer with “Never wear it. Gold jewelry is for pimps.”

My 333,000 leaves me in sort of the middle of the pack going into the final table, something like 6^th or 7^th place, though the difference between the person in 8^th and the person in 3^rd is pretty marginal. Most importantly though, I just might get out of make up and see some money of my own from playing live poker.

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