Bond18 – Around the World in 90 Days: Day 86

Posted by Bond18 | Filed under Bond18

I wake up a little before 11am, not bad given how late I got to bed and the fact that I knew I’d be jet lagged to the point that sleeping in would be difficult. I get dressed and eat one of the breakfast bars Kyle gave me in a gift basket. There’s a deep stacked tournament in the poker room at 12:30 that I have assurances will end before the 7pm start of the Red Dragon Macau Cup main event.

I go down to the poker room and play the event but wind up busting out early after being mostly card dead and cramming an open-ended straight flush draw on the turn which gets called by a made straight and misses.

For the afternoon I naturally hit the spa and find the Internet inside almost unworkably slow. I kill some time watching TV and taking foot and head massages. The later is heavily underrated.

In the evening I show up back to the poker room for the Red Dragon event. The event starts us with 5,000 chips at 25/50 blinds and 40 minute levels. It winds up being a pretty small field of 31, though that seems to be roughly what Jeffrey Haas was expecting.

The first level passes uneventfully as I drain slightly in chips. The Macau and Chinese players are not quite like anything you get in the United States or Australia. In the US poker has advanced to the point of a skill game that most people play very poorly, but they have a concept of strategy and are for the most part very risk averse. Meanwhile, many of the new players in Macau seem to treat the game as a more traditional form of gambling, with little fear of going broke and sudden massive spews of chips based on whether they “feel it.” Nobody even seems particularly upset when they bust out, though they do get excited when a lot of chips are in the middle. Perhaps I’m just running into a small sample size, but from everything I’ve heard from people who have been around the room a bit more my observations are more or less accurate.

My first interesting hand of the night comes up at the 50/100 level. The button is a guy named JP who I played last night during the charity event. At one point he spoke up and said “Hey, I know you don’t I? You’re Tony right?”

“Huh, uh yea I am. Do you read 2+2 or something?”

“No man, we used to play at Park Street Poker way back in Madison when we were teenagers.”

Suddenly I remembered. When I was 18 I was closer to the movie ‘Rounders’ type of a poker player, going around to various home games and trying to grind a living when not in school. JP and I used to play all the time. JP was a regular in a lot of the games and I hadn’t seen him in five or six years until last night.

My stack: ~4,100, JP ~9,000, blinds 50/100, I hold 93o in the BB.

Pre-flop: Folds to JP on the button, JP limps, SB completes, I check.

Flop: A A K rainbow

SB checks, I check, JP bets 150, SB folds. The way JP is playing I highly doubt he’s limping anything with an A or even a K on the button so I check-raise to 400. JP quickly calls. Shows what I know.

Turn: A

Well, that’s just about the worst bluff card ever. I check intending to give up, he checks back.

River: 4

I check and he checks back.

“Yea you got it, I’ve got 9 high.”

He tables 45o for a boat and we both start laughing.

I fold out the rest of the level as my stack dwindles and the play around me remains surprisingly aggressive. I don’t get involved again until 100/200:

My stack: ~3,000, SB: ~6,000, blinds 100/200. I hold AsAd UTG+1.

Pre-flop: UTG limps, I raise to 600, it folds to the SB, SB calls, BB folds, UTG folds.

Flop: 6h 6s Th

SB checks, I bet 700, UTG shoves, I call. SB tables 2h2d and I’m way out in front.

Turn: 3h

River: Ks

Yea, these guys aren’t afraid to gamble a little. The very next hand I get involved again:

My stack: ~6,500, both other players: ~2,000, blinds 100/200. I hold AhKd UTG.

Pre-flop: I raise to 600, three folds, MP2 shoves, HJ shoves, folds back to me, I call. MP2 shows AcQc and the HJ AsJc.

Flop: Kh 8c 4s

Turn: 6h

River: 9d

“Wow, what a skillful nit I am.” Man, I can’t imagine a live player in the US or Australia ever showing up with AJ on the HJ. Just an orbit later I’m involved again:

My stack: ~10,000, HJ: ~12,000, blinds 100/200. I hold KsQh UTG at a 7-handed table.

Pre-flop: I raise to 600, MP2 folds, JP on the HJ calls, everyone else folds.

Flop: Kc 2d 4d

I bet 800, JP calls.

Turn: 5s

I check, figuring JP likely won’t call down two barrels and might bluff a bit after our 45o hand.

River: Ad

Wow does that card suck. I check, JP checks back and tables Ac8c. I muck my hand in disgust of myself.

Not long after the antes come into play and I get involved yet again:

My stack: ~9,500, CO: ~2,100, blinds 100/200 with 25. I hold 7s7c in the SB.

Pre-flop: Folds to the CO, CO shoves for 2100, button folds, I reshove, BB folds. CO shows AKo.

Flop: 9 2 3 rainbow

Turn: A

River: K

I slide him over the 2100 and lose my ability to stack anyone on the table.

I spend the remainder of 100/200 25 mostly maintaining my stack without any significant change. It’s not until 150/300 25 I get involved again:

My stack: 7,400, HJ: ~9,000, blinds 150/300 with 25 ante. I hold 7s7d on the CO.

Pre-flop: Folds to the HJ, HJ raises to 800, I shove, folds back to HJ, HJ goes into the tank then calls with JJ.

Flop: A K 4 rainbow

Turn: 9

I start to stand up.

River: 7

The HJ reacts in much more disgust than I do in shock. I just kind of stare at the card and chuckle a little bit. Even though I’ve been running outstanding over the last couple of months I can’t remember the last time I two-outed someone on the river after getting it in so behind pre-flop.

The tournament begins losing quite a few players and the remaining tables are reduced to short handed play. Our table is five-handed and my large chip stack is allowing me to open raise a ton of hands. Most, but not all, of the others are quite weak and I have a highly aggressive image when the next hand comes up:

My stack: ~18,000, BB: ~8,300, blinds 200/400 with 50 ante. I hold AsJs on the CO.

Pre-flop: HJ limps (HJ always limps), I raise to 1,600, button folds, SB folds, BB shoves, HJ folds. BB is a guy named Ivan who got second in last years APPT Macau main event and I decide given my image he could certainly be re-stealing here and make the call. He tables QQ and it’s about then I start internally berating myself for calling a shove from a player as tight as Ivan.

Flop: Kh 7d 4d

Turn: 5c

River: 9d

I slide him over what ends up being 8,325 total and fall back into the middle of the pack. I grind my stack up a little then get involved in a hand against a player who seems a little crazy and played a previous hand where he tiny re-raised pre-flop, then bet the flop and shoved the turn and tables AQ high (though he picked up a flush draw on the turn.)

My stack: ~11,000, CO: ~8,000, blinds 200/400 with 50 ante. I hold A4o on the CO.

Pre-flop: HJ folds, I raise to 1025, button re-raises to 2,050 (he never does anything pre but min raise or re-raise), both blinds fold, I call (a pretty horrible call despite his craziness.)

Flop: K 4 2 rainbow

I check, button shoves. What in the hell? From the way he’s playing it seems like he’s only shoving when he’s bluffing so I call.

“You got it.” He says. I table my A4o and his eyes light up then he turns over his 55. Fuck, I just got value bluffed.

Turn: A

The button gasps at the card while I bury my head in my hands and repeat “Oh my God I’m the worst. I’m just the worst ever.”

River: 2

I shake the buttons hand and apologize for playing like a total donk.

With that we bring the two tables together for the final table of 10, with the top 5 paying. Celina has also made the final table, but she’s coming in a fair bit shorter than I am. It turns out I’ve gotten the absolute golden seat because the player on my right is somewhat aggressive and the one on his right is totally psycho aggressive and never stops open raising and rarely folds to re-raises.

For the first half hour or so of the final table I just watch the guy two on my right accumulate a massive stack playing nearly every pot and crushing people in just about every hand. Right when we come back from break I finally find a spot against him:

My stack: ~16,000, UTG: ~60,000, blinds 300/600 with 75 ante. I hold TsTc UTG+2 at an 8-handed table.

Pre-flop: UTG raises to 2,000, UTG+1 folds, I re-raise to 6,500, folds back to UTG, UTG thinks it over and shoves, I instantly call. UTG tables JhJd and I realize I have the most ridiculous % of getting it in behind rate for this tournament.

Flop: 4h 7h 5h

“Yea, so, I’ve got one out.”

Turn: 2h

River: 2h

I wish everyone good luck and stand up.

I spend most of the night hanging out with staff members Dom and Fred and watching Celina make a run at the final table. At one point she gets down to a single 1,000 chip and manages to come all the way back to go into heads up with about a 4 to 1 deficit. She gets in a pretty massive coin flip but unfortunately loses and finishes in second place, but still gets her first five figure cash of just over $10,000.

Why play good when your girlfriend can just do it for you?

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