By SirWatts on October 27th, 2007

Not much really happened in the first few levels. At one point I restole preflop with 6[d]7[d] and the flop came 9[d]5[d]3[d] and he folded to my bet. Another time a fairly active guy opened in MP to 600 at 100/200, very loose guy called next to act, the button called, and I decided to reraise in the SB with anything reasonable. Found QJo and made it 2600, original raiser instacalls, others fold. Flop K9x I just check, and he checks. Turn J chk/chk. River pairs the bottom card and chk/chk I win. He looks disgusted and says "Nice raise" to which I politely say "Thank you". So I have around 28K at my peak just winning a few small pots and eventually get moved tables. My original table was pretty soft in the everyone is super nitty way except they then randomly decide to not fold. My new table is just crazy. Several players limp a huge % of hands and there are huge pots being played all over the place. I lose some small pots at this table and drop back to 20K when my I play my first big pot of the day.

Hand 1: 150/300 a50, I have just under 20K last hand before break. UTG limps, he's bad, UTG+1 limps, he's bad, and two other guys limp who are also not likely very skilled I can't remember who. I find A[c]Q[c] in the BB and raise 1500 more. UTG instacalls as does UTG+1. Flop T8[c]2[c], I bet 5500, UTG folds, UTG+1 instashoves, I instacall. He has J[c]7[c], the turn is an offsuit 9 :-(. River [c], though, and I double to 40.5K.

Hand 2: Early in 200/400 a75 level, folds to me in the CO with 22 I make it 1200. Button calls, he's bad (obv) and we see a 933 flop. I decide to check even though I probably have the best hand to stop him from doing anything something goofy that I can't really call and hopefully induce a bluff at some point. He bets 2K and I call. Turn is a 2! I check and he bets 5K. I think for a bit and decide if he has a big hand he'll probably just bet the river anyways and there's a good chance he's bluffing and will fire again so I can't raise and push him out now so I call and river is a Q. I check and he bets 20K, I shove and he instamucks. I think I have around 75K after this hand.

I don't think I play anymore really big pots. I win a few small pots punishing the weak limpers with raises in position and usually just winning with a flop bet whether I hit or not. So I have today and tomorrow off and Day 2 is on Monday. Average stack is around 45K so I'm in excellent shape with 76.1K.

Mike

By SirWatts on October 27th, 2007

Not much really happened in the first few levels. At one point I restole preflop with 6[d]7[d] and the flop came 9[d]5[d]3[d] and he folded to my bet. Another time a fairly active guy opened in MP to 600 at 100/200, very loose guy called next to act, the button called, and I decided to reraise in th...

By A_Junglen on November 5th, 2007

Not exactly in the blogging mood, but feel obligated to let everyone know how I’m doing here in Niagara.

I made my 3rd straight Day 2, ending up with 33,100 at the end of the day. The starting stacks were 20,000 and blinds started at 25/50 with 90min levels. We played from noon - 12:30am or so, it was a very long day. Day 1C was today, so I had the day off. Tomorrow is Day 2 and blinds will start at 300/600/100, so I still have a playable stack.

The rest of the tournament runs on 9 hour days (including breaks) 12pm - 9pm. As I said during WSOPE, I really love shorter days. I end up getting a bit tired near the end of a 12 hour day. It’s extremely difficult to play great and stay focused for 12 hours, but 9 hours isn’t so bad.

One gripe I do have about this venue is that they don’t allow the use of mp3 players during play. Although I don’t always listen to music while I play, I still use an iPod around half the time. They can definitely be useful. Listening to music helps cure inevitable boredom while playing, helps to maintain focus, and they’re very useful when you run into annoying players that don’t know when to shut up.

That’s basically it for now, here’s to hoping Day 2 goes better than Day 1.

By A_Junglen on November 5th, 2007

Not exactly in the blogging mood, but feel obligated to let everyone know how I’m doing here in Niagara. I made my 3rd straight Day 2, ending up with 33,100 at the end of the day. The starting stacks were 20,000 and blinds started at 25/50 with 90min levels. We played from noon - 12:30am or so,...

By A_Junglen on November 5th, 2007

Well, my WPT Niagara run just ended.

I started the day with 33,100 with 30min left in the 300/600/100 level, so I had plenty of room to play. My table draw was pretty great, I didn't have any notable players at my table, and the 2 people that had me covered were either to my right, or across the table.

I believe it was the 400/800/100 level when I was bluffed out of a decent sized pot. I opened to 2,200 with about 30k from MP, got 2 callers behind me, and then the BB called, so I was out of position vs 2 of the 3 opponents. Flop came KK5 with 2 diamonds, I had 7[c] 7[s]. BB checked, I checked, player behind me checked to the button who bet out 4,500. The button was a decent aggressive player and also the big stack at the table. The BB folded, I called, and the player behind me folded. The turn was a black 3. I checked, button bet 16k of my 24k stack. I folded and he showed like 6 high or something. I really considered just sticking it in, but I hadn't played with him long enough to commit that much of my stack. I think calling the flop was marginal and possibly a mistake. I did end up getting a wealth of information when he showed the bluff though.

Just a few hands after I was bluffed out I opened the pot from MP+2 with TT to my standard raise of 2,200. It's safe to assume my opponents will think I'm opening wider here, so I was willing to 4-bet AIPF if someone 3-bet me. I was called in 2 spots, then an older man in the small blind shoves for about 20k total. Online this is a much easier re-shove, but there are a lot of things to think about. My table image was loose and my opponents probably thought I was steaming, but the SB hadn't played too many pots. If you know anything about poker stereotypes, then you know that people over 55 or so "always have it." This was also basically for all of my chips, so I took 2-3 minutes to make my decision. After thinking it through I decided that my opponent was aware of the table dynamic and was squeezing with a wide range. Not to mention there was around 30k in the middle and I had to call another 20k, so I was getting a nice overlay if he had AK.

Well, he had 53o and I doubled up to about 50k. There was a lot to think about with my table image (which always ends up being a puzzle of multiple level thinking for me), the money in the pot, my opponents image/range, etc.

Anyways I was floating around 45k when the next notable hand came up. Blinds were 500/1,000 with a 200 ante. With 3,300 in the pot preflop, and a fairly solid table image (I had folded for awhile after the TT hand), I opened the pot UTG with Q[c] 9[c] to 2,700. It folded to the button, who was the player who bluffed me earlier. He called, the blinds folded and we went to the flop heads up.

It came down T86 with 2 diamonds, giving me a double gutshot straight draw. I bet out 4,500 into the pot of 12,000. Button minraises me to 9,000, I call. Turn came the Ah. I checked and the button bet 15,000. I decided he was bluffing again, making a bet that made it look like he was committed to the hand. I basically check-minraised allin, shoving for 35k total, 20k more. He folded. Definitely one of the sickest hands I've ever played, but I was very confident he was bluffing again. I mucked and that pot increased my stack to around 80k.

Then, I proceeded to run horrible and never won another pot. I opened a few times, was 3-bet and folded, and with the blinds and ante's costing 3,300 a round it was easy to fold down to around 65-70k.

The next hand I played was when LP opened for 3,300 at 500/1000/200 and I called from the SB with K[s] T[s] and the BB (who had around 40k) called as well. The flop was 7[s] 6[s] 3[c], giving me 2 overcards and the 2nd nut flush draw. I checked, the BB lead for 6,500 and the CO called. I made my first check-raise of the [i]entire day[/i] to 22,000 - effectively committing my opponents. SB called (with 18k behind lol), CO folded. Turn came a red 6. I was obviously putting the rest of my opponents stack in (18k into the pot of 50k+) and he called. I showed my overcards and flush draw....he showed Q6o.....wtf. River blanked, and I lose a near 6 figure pot.

Then, out of nowhere a player who was new to the table started berating my play. He was at least twice my age. I just kind of ignored him, but it did bother me a little bit. If you can't tell by now, poor poker etiquette really pisses me off. I had just lost the biggest pot I'd played in the tournament, in an absolutely ridiculous fashion nonetheless, and I gotta hear some clown tell me I played my hand poorly. I just let him talk, because it's apparent he doesn't know math. Most people that read this will know, but for those that don't know, 2 overcards and flush draw are a favorite over his pair on the flop (when most of the money went in).

I was was left 20k and knocked out shortly after. I opened 2 hands later with KK to 2,700 and the button called. Flop came 763 with 2 diamonds. Ended up getting it in vs. 98, 5 on the turn, and I'm busto.

After the hand, the man who berated me earlier says something to the effect of "that's what you get." Without raising my voice I just looked at him and said "What's your problem." He just looked down at the felt and shut his mouth. I'm sure many others would've gone further and maybe gotten into a bigger argument or something, but I learned a long time ago that dealing with people like that just isn't worth it. I shook everyone else's hand with a smile and wished them good luck. As I was leaving the tournament room I could overhear people saying how I was half his age and had twice as much class as he'll ever have.

Poor poker etiquette really gets under my skin. This man was like 40 years old and acted like a 14 year old. Just sitting there with like 10bbs's and had nothing better to do but give me a hard time. Grow up dude. Seriously.


At any rate, I'm very satisfied with how I played. This was my 3rd consecutive Day 2, and I've (at least) 4x'd my starting stack in every single major event I've played. This one was extremely frustrating to lose because of how it went down. Building a big stack then losing two huge pots where I was the favorite on the flop is really annoying. This one stung a bit more because I was feeling really great and was having fun playing. Guess it just wasn't my tournament, w/e.

Well I better stop now before my rant gets too long.

Sigh

By A_Junglen on November 5th, 2007

Well, my WPT Niagara run just ended. I started the day with 33,100 with 30min left in the 300/600/100 level, so I had plenty of room to play. My table draw was pretty great, I didn't have any notable players at my table, and the 2 people that had me covered were either to my right, or across the...