Bond18 – Around the World in 90 Days: Day 67

Posted by Bond18 | Filed under Bond18

Last year I was anything but excited for the Main Event. Having gotten slaughtered all summer and run almost as poorly as I played back then, I approached the Main with an impending sense of doom. This year, things are entirely different. I’m still playing bad now and then, but I’m running amazingly well. This summer in Vegas I’ve cashed six times, made three final tables, and actually won a live tournament. I’ve decided to play Day 1D, which falls on Sunday, figuring that many of the good online players will have played earlier days since they don’t want to skip the Sunday tournaments.

I find my seat in the Amazon room and take my seat at a table full of unfamiliar faces; looks like I’m running good already. There are a few young players at the table, but how capable they are has yet to be determined. The tournament starts us with 20,000 in chips at 50/100 blinds with two hour levels and every imaginable level increment.

The play on the table in the early rounds is pretty tight weak. There’s surprisingly not much limping going on, but there’s also not a ton of aggressive play post flop. Nobody on the table seems especially spewy or entirely novice, and I think with people normally having the option of keeping the $10,000 instead of playing in the WSOP, this year’s (and future years’) tournament will be a little tougher, though it should still be the softest $10,000 tournament in the world.

Surprisingly for the first several hours, I really don’t get involved. I make the normal efforts to flop a set or play suited connectors and gappers with deep stacks in order to hit a big hand, but I miss continually and either give up or just win a small pot nobody seems interested in post flop. The table is quite social and chatty, and I’m joking around with a young dude named Nate who’s sitting two seats on my right. During one of the breaks he comes up and tells me he’s actually a 2+2’er, then promptly starts smoking weed in a piece that’s designed to look like a cigarette. My roommate Nath comes over and joins us, though I decline the weed since I prefer playing with a clear head.

Coming back from the break I get involved in my first large hand:

My stack: ~20000, CO: ~30000, blinds 100/200 with 25 ante. I hold 6s-7s in the BB.

Pre-flop: Folds to the CO, CO raises to 600, folds to me in the BB, I call (I don’t call here online normally, but live I sometimes do.)

Flop: 2h-5c-8s

I check, CO checks.

Turn: 4s

I bet 900, CO calls.

River: 9d

I bet 2,300, the CO goes into the tank and calls. I table my hand and he mucks.

It’s not until the 150/300 level that I’m involved in another interesting hand. The MP1 player is a young South African guy who I hit the straight on in the previous hand:

My stack: ~23,500, MP1: ~28,000, blinds 150/300 with 25 ante. I hold Kc-Qc on the CO.

Pre-flop: Folds to MP1, MP1 raises to 800, folds to me on the CO, I call, button folds, both blinds fold.

Flop: A-J-5 rainbow

MP1 checks, I bet 1,200, MP1 calls.

Turn: 7

MP1 checks, I check.

River: T

MP1 checks, I think over my bet, then fire 2,700. MP1 thinks briefly, then check-raises to 8,700. I stall for a few seconds, then stack up my chips, announce all-in, and slide them into the middle.

“Aaaaaaaaagh” moans the MP1 as he puts his hands on his head. I put my hands over my mouth and do my best to become a statue while holding the nuts. MP1 goes into the tank for a very long time, then tries to start talking to me. He asks me a number of questions, but I sit staring straight ahead and not moving or saying a word. After about three or four minutes of though MP1 says “Alright, I’m gonna turn over my hand, but I’m not folding yet” and flips over his hand to reveal A-A. I do my best not to react in the slightest while he stares at me trying to get a read, though I am curious as to whether this is even legal and whether his hand should be declared dead or not (I’m pretty sure it should be.) He keeps thinking for another couple minutes then announces “Okay, this might be the worst fold ever” and turns his hand over and throws them into the muck. I slide my cards towards the muck quietly while he bombards me with questions trying to figure out whether his fold was correct.

Play continues at a steady pace and I slowly increase my stack without much conflict. There’s a young guy on my left who has three bet a number of times and each time I’ve folded. At 200/400 with a 50 ante I open K-K in early position and he three bets again. It folds back to me and I debate between four betting and calling, and with our history, I elect to make the four bet. He thinks it over for a while, then folds.

Yet again for several hours of play I end up staying out of major pots and chip up slowly with pre-flop raises and continuation bets. My continuation bet success rate today has to be well over 90%; whether I flop well or completely miss, people are just snap folding when I fire the bet.

It’s not until the last 15 minutes of the day that I’m involved in another large pot. The CO is the same aggressive South African who I expect to be continuation betting a huge percent of flops, and the SB is a straight forward older guy who I think will fold a huge range to avoid busting near the end of the day:

My stack: ~46,000, SB: ~20,000, CO: ~35,000, blinds 200/400 with a 50 ante. I hold Qs-Ts in the BB.

Pre-flop: Folds to the CO, CO raises to 1,100, folds to the SB, SB calls, I call.

Flop: 9c-9d-4c

SB checks, I check, CO bets 2,200, SB calls, I raise to 7,000. The CO looks at me suspiciously, then folds. When it’s up to him, the SB almost instantly crams and I make a small “I’m actually thinking about this” performance, then fold. The SB proudly tables J-J, but I’m fairly confident near the end of the day that check-raise bluff is profitable.

The very next hand, I’m involved again:

My stack: ~38,000, UTG+2: ~32,000, blinds 200/400 with 50 ante. I hold A-Ko in the SB.

Pre-flop: UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 calls, folds to the HJ, the HJ calls, folds to me in the SB, I raise to 2,000 (that should be bigger) the BB folds, UTG+2 calls, HJ folds.

Flop: 9-8-3 rainbow

I fire 3,000, UTG+1 calls.

Turn: 7

That’s about as bad a card in the deck as there is for me. I check, UTG+2 bets 6,000, I fold. UTG+2 tables T-8o and I politely tap the table while feeling annoyance toward his pre-flop call.

After that, things quiet down and I fold out most of the rest of the day, outside stealing a few small pots. For the most part, it was a very uneventful day with one big pot where the opponent made a pretty sick fold, making me suspicious about who told him I’m such a nit.

Overall, it was a pretty stress free day at the WSOP and I end things with 35,300 and a few days off to relax. No, that’s a total lie; I’m going to the Bellagio to play the $5,000. No way I’d just relax during my off days.

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