summerofsumner
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "summerofsumner" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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08:20 am
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lots to update
Since my last post a lot has happened. But I'm just too lazy to go over everything in detail, so I'm gonna do a cliff's notes version.
Monday after I busted out of the 1500 shootout, I goofed around all afternoon and then played online. I made 3 FTs, finished 1st, 2nd, and 5th. so i guess i still liked poker even though a bubbled a wsop event.
Tuesday i played the venetian 540, nothing really interesting happened and i busted after 3 hours of play.
Wednesday i played online with no luck.
Thursday i played the 2k wsop, i sucked. busted just before the first break.
Friday i played the venetian 2500. i sucked early but made a ridic comeback. i lost most of my stack with KK on a 8443Q board, leaving me with 5.5k at 200-400. By the end of the day i had 240k and was top 5 in chips with 38 remaining.
Saturday was day 2 of the 2500. I lost a huge pot with KJ on a KJ542 board, the guy had a gross A3. I was actually in danger of bubbling at one point. But again I made a nice comeback. I went from 60k to 260k without a showdown from 31 players all the way down to the final 9. Once at the final table i went on a mini-heater and actually had over 1M for a while. When it got to 5 handed i just kept running into it. I got my last 22bbs in with AQ vs AK for a 5th place finish. This was an overall pretty tough field, so i'm happy i got this deep. There were a ton of very good onlie players in this, including a very well known player...who isn't 21 yet. He used a fake id to sign up and then got caught on day 2. It was hilarious when they pulled him away from the table to question him and then yanked his chips out of play. i just wish they had let him get more chips before they DQ'd him.
Sunday i played online. there were a lot of promising tournys, especially the big wsop satellites. obv i bricked everything.
Yesterday i didn't feel like grinding in a big NL tourny. So i just played a 225 plo at Caesars. i finished like 30 spots off the money, but the tourny was still pretty fun. i think i might play the venetian 540 plo next week also.
Today I'm playing the venetian 540. i think the field will be pretty good size since there are not any NL tournys at the wsop today.
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07:02 pm
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Venetian $340 final table and WSOP Event #17-$1500nl shootout
I came into the final table in 4th chip position with 236k at blinds of 6/12k with 2k ante. The chip leader had 550k. Another guy who seemed like a competent player had 385k. The guy who made the raise with KQ high vs me the day before had over 300k. No one else was above 200k, so there was gonna be lots of shoving preflop. 3 people busted pretty fast in fairly standard fashion, nothing exciting. So then it was 6 handed. The KQ guy (i will call him Shades from now on) raises 35k in the 2 hole. I had blinded down to about 180k and found 77 from the CO. Shades was the type of guy who never wanted action with anything but AA. On the bubble he made a huge raise with KK and was visibly upset when someone shoved on him. He let out a huge sigh and still called but obv he was afraid of bubbling. So I think that if i shove Shades will throw away a huge portion of his raising range simply because he is scared of the payscale jumps. I move all in, the sb who has roughly 100k shoves very quickly. Action is now back on Shades and i know i'm dominated by one or both of them. Shades tanks and finally folds JJ face up (which is plain retarded given how many chips were in the pot). I'm up against TT from the sb guy. I went over to talk to Justin to discuss how many chips I would have left after I lost the hand and Justin says 'oops you have triple sevens' when the flop came 7xx. no miracle 2 outer resuck for TT and i eliminate him in 6th place.
So then there were 5 remaining and I finally had some breathing room for the first time since early in day 1. The short stack was the guy who entered the FT as chip leader. he played several hands very poorly and spewed off most of his stack with just top pair and a shitty flush draw. he lost a coin flip and busted in 5th. So with 4 ppl remaining the chip counts were: 700k for this old dude who played tight and bad. 510k for the younger guy. 450k for Shades. 380k for me. they wanted to discuss a deal, but i knew that these guys were terrible and weren't comfortable playing for this much money. so despite being the short stack and only having 23bbs, i declined to chop. I pretty much decided that as long as Shades was at the table, I couldn't chop. Anybody who folds JJ 6 handed in that spot is def terrible/playing scared.
So we resumed play 4 handed. The young guy opened on the button for a standard raise and Shades made a huge reraise shove all in. The young guy quickly called with 33 which is just awful. Shades had KK (which is also an awful play). I can't believe he got action playing KK so poorly. So then it was 3 handed and they wanted to discuss a chop again. They both had roughly 700k and i had 400k, i still declined. I knew I could get away with raising a ton since neither of them wanted to risk their stacks vs me. I had been raising my button a ton and decided to keep doing it until one of them played back at me. I made a standard raise with J2cc and the old man called from the sb. Flop came A67r. He checked and I bet 50k into an 80k pot. He called quickly. The turn was a 3 and he bet out 50k into me. I was pretty confident he never has a huge hand in this spot when he leads into me on the turn. It felt like a blocker bet to prevent me from betting big and moving him off the hand. So I decided that he can't call all in bet very often and shoved my chips in. If he calls, I'm probably drawing dead, but I just didn't think he would have the balls to call with a weak Ace. He mumbled something and mucked pretty fast. It was clear he was getting pissed at my raises. A few hands later I raised AQ from the sb, and the old man shoved in. I called and won the race vs his 44 for about a 700k pot. So now it was me and Shades heads up. The blinds had just gone to 10-20k. I had about 800k to his 1.1M. Justin said to just raise small preflop and bet every flop in position. Shades was playing so passively that I could just whittle him down. I used this strategy for the first 10 hands or so and managed to take a slight chip lead. I decided to call a raise from the bb with 9To. The flop came 9T3 with 2 hearts. Shades bet 80k and I made it 200k, he called. The turn was a black 8. I asked for a chip count and he said he had about 700k.. I lead out for 300k and he shoved for 400k more. I called very quickly and knew I was way ahead when he wouldn't turn over his hand right away. He tabled the KJo for just an open-ender. The riv was a 4. they did a final count down to make sure i had him covered. It was a pretty cool feeling to finally win all the chips without making a deal. It was especially satisfying to know that I battled back from the short stack rather than just take a deal.
While we were waiting for the payouts Shades started being a huge douchebag trying to incite something from me. He said 'you must think pretty highly of yourself for not chopping'. I was like yeah thanks. another minute passed and he saw my ID and said 'oh you're from KS huh, that explains it.' nice insult, it doesn't even make any sense. As I was getting my payout he came back over and wanted to know what I was tipping. My total prize was for $29, 346, so i tipped $346. Shades loudly announced he was tipping $500. Awesome dude, you might not have outplayed me, but you sure outtipped me!
Today i played the 1500 shootout. it filled at 1,000 players. 100 table of 10 players, 1 winner from each table advances to the final 10 tables. one winner from the 10 tables makes it to the final table tomorrow. I managed to get to heads up on the first table despite not having any chips the whole time. I had 10k to his 20k at blinds of 150/300. we battle for over an hour. i took the chip lead at one point but just kept running into dominated hands. he limp in and then shoved all in when i raised from the bb with A8. I hadn't been raising a ton out of position, so i couldn't see this being a trap very often. i made a call for his last 7.5k and his AJ held up even though i flopped a flush draw along with any of the three 8s in the deck. So then he was back in the lead. I got it in with KQ for my last 8k at 200-400 and he held AQ. even though it sucks to bubble a WSOP cash, i'm happy overall with my play.
I went over to the Venetian to sign up for tomorrow's $540nl. The guy at the desk said registration starts at 9pm. i told him that i'd appreciate it if i could sign up early since i was already there and would hate to stand in line in the morning. So even though they have not sold out a single tournament this summer (they have room for 740 players) and they had a customer ready to pay for an event, he said i couldn't sign up. Seems like pretty bad business to me. i really don't want to get up early to avoid the massive line for this tourny. i'm kinda pissed about the whole thing so i don't know if i will play it tomorrow or not. it's such good value though, hard to pass it up. i'll just have to see what time i get to sleep. the rest of the week i'm not sure what i'll be doing. i might play the 2k wsop on thurs.
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02:11 pm
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this time = one time
I finally got a win in a live tourny, no chop. I will go over some hands from the first day and then the final table recap is kinda funny.
Day 1- We started with 6k in chips. I didn't set an alarm and showed up 30mins late for a noon tourny, wp me. I sit down and immediately lose 3 pots, down to 5k. I hung around and didn't play many hands after that. Skip to the 100-200 level. I have roughly a 5k stack still. A middle aged guy I've played with before makes a raise from the hijack to 600. I call from the sb with 88. Flop T95 with 2 diamonds. I check and he checks back. Turn is a 9. I bet 1100 and he quickly calls. On the flop I put him on AK/AQ type hands. If he had an overpair or some big draw, he's betting 100% of the time. He can also easily have a set or some middle pair hand like mine. When he calls the turn I'm kinda confused. I remembered from last year that this guy thinks he's really tricky/sneaky and will try to outplay people, so i can definitely give him credit for air here if he thinks he can take the pot away on the riv. An offsuit K falls on the riv and I check, he quickly and overly confidently bets 2200. I thought if he had QJ he would have to bet the flop, so i don't think a straight is likely. Pretty much I have to fade sets and some weirdly played AK/KQ hands. I really thought he was weak given how he put the chips in the pot and decided to make a hero call. He flips over the AJo, nh sir. At the 200-400 level a short stack moves in for 2500, the hijack flats, the button flats and i look down at JJ. I re-ship and both the flat callers fold, so now i'm heads up for a 10k pot vs the shover. He flips over QTo and obv makes a full house. So now i'm back down to around 6k. At the 300-600 level i move in for 5700 from middle position with K9o. The same guy from the AJ hand tanks and asks for a count. He then moves all in over the top to isolate me. I say 'i just have K high' and he slams the table with his AT. "I knew you didn't have it!!!" and is so proud of himself. I flop a 9 and he goes nuts. He starts berating me and saying how bad I play, etc. He even has the audacity to claim that if he wins that pot he will make the final table. sure thing buddy, 30bbs with 150 players left is def good for a final table cash. So now i have breathing room a for a level or 2.
Obv I never accumulated any chips though and was in shove mode again after the next break. I don't remember the exact order of these events, but i know i won the exact same flip with KQ vs 99 no less than 3 times to stay alive. i lost some pots on the bubble, 27 paid. with about 36 players left, i raised AQ from the CO, the button flats and the bb moves in for less than my raise. Flop T32, i cbet and the button mini raised me. I had to release my hand but at least i got to see what he had since there was a player all in. Button rolled over the KQo, nice play sir. So then i was in shove mode. EP girl raised and i shipped it in with AQ. The same short stack guy moved in for less than my shove. The original raiser tanked and folded AK which is a huge break for me since she had me covered. The short stack guy also had AK and i was left super short. I won the blinds a few times with shoves then doubled with one of the KQ vs 99 races. People were terrified of the bubble so i was able to win a lot of pots uncontested. i finally slipped into the money but still had no chips. I just hung around for a long time until we condense down to the final 2 tables. we were playing shorthanded with 12 ppl left, so i was able to move in a lot and get folds. At 3-6k i had only like 55k. The CO raised to 15k and i sadly had to move in with my 55. i know i'm getting called almost every time, but i can't fold a pair in this spot. He had QQ, flop and turn were no help. The riv hit and I couldn't see the card because the dealer's hand was in the way, bu the table exploded. I thought it was gonna be a 4 or something stupid and they were just being dramatic. Nope, 5 of hearts, nice miracle. so then i had like 120k. literally 2 hand later it folds to me on the button. i have 88 and look at the blinds' stacks. they both had like 60-80k so i decided just to ship it in and not let them come over the top with something stupid. The lady in the bb called so fast i was sure i was beat. Nope, AJ, flop Q98. Turn Q and she was drawing dead. i had about 220k at this point. we got to the final 10 shortly after that. someone busted a few hands in and then we had to stop for the night because the old men wanted to sleep. sigh. it's in the rules, so they have the right to object to keep playing. so we paused for the night and returned at 4pm.
i had the whole final table written out and my browser crashed. will re-type it later
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10:47 am
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nice face
here is a pic of me from saturday's wsop event. this is how i look when i'm pretty sure i'm about to lose $1500. the wsop planners are geniuses. they send out photographers to every table and snap a few shots of each player. they have a website set up where you can purchase these pics at a ludicrous cost. brilliant!
EDIT: i didn't pay for this pic, i just stole it off the website.
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01:23 am
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delayed sweat
I played the $340 venetian tourny today. in the rules it says the tourny will run until 2 am or until the final 9 players remain, whichever comes first. we got to the final 9 at about midnight and pretty much everyone except the 2 old men wanted to keep playing. goddamn old people. we probably could have finished the tourny in less than 2 hours, but if anyone objects they have to stop for the night. so they paused the tournament and are making us come back tomorrow at 4pm.
i have 236k and the blinds will be 6/12k with a 2k ante. i'm 4th in chips. the big stack has 550k and seems to be a pretty good player. the next guy has 385k, but i don't know much about him since i only sat with him for about 10 hands. the 3rd place guy is a stone-cold idiot. he ran flat out ridic at the final 2 tables to get his stack. i will pretty much have to refuse a chop as long as he's still at the table. i don't think anyone else is above 200k, so there will be a lot of shoving preflop. i only have 20bbs, so i guess my decisions shouldn't be that tough to start out. not a whole lot of skill at this point sadly. i was patient all day. had JJ once and AK twice. that's been it for 10 hours of play. i will do a recap of the hands after tomorrow. first place is 29k, 2nd is 17k. i would probably only chop with the 2 younger guys who seem to know what they're doing. everyone else i'm pretty sure is either an idiot or scared of the payscale jumps (or both), so hopefully i can take advantage of that. i was considering playing the 2k wsop event tomorrow, but i guess i'll just have to settle for winning 29k :)
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01:25 pm
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Event #2-$1500nl
i got to my table with about 3 min to spare. they were going over the rules and i was happy to hear they will be enforcing an excessive celebration rule. if you run around and scream and throw chairs, you will be penalized and have to sit out for a while.
My table played pretty passive to start out. no one wants to bust fast in these things, they want to feel like they got their $1500 worth. except that the rio doesn't really give you that feeling since they start you with 3k in chips at 25-50. I got to see flops with small pairs and AK a bunch but I never connected. If you haven't doubled after 2 hours of play, you are fucked. At 100-200 blinds I was just looking for spots to ship it in. I moved with 88 and ran into JJ, effectively knocking me out of the event. The players were as bad as i expected but i'm not sure if the stack handicap is worth it. i will play more of these if i'm still doing well as the summer goes on.
yesterday i played a lot of the online majors. i got deep in the FTP 750k, but lost a key race that would have put me in the top 20 in chips with 80 players remaining. during that stage of the tourny you just flat out have to run good to accumulate chips. everyone is in re-ship mode, so the showdowns are inevitable. you gotta get big hands and win flips.
After we busted in our online mtts, Justin and I went over to the Rio. Justin was going to register for today's 5k mixed hold em event, and then we decided to play a few sngs. we both got in the first 525 together. i got some chips but then either got outplayed or just outflopped a ton (i'm guessing outplayed since the dude had position in pretty much every pot). luckily for me Justin chopped it and i got my buy in back. the next one i played i got some chips again but couldn't close it out. i made a mistake when i thought a guy had fewer chips than he actually did. i shoved with bottom pair and got snap called by middle pair. that crippled me and i was just ready to leave. I had planned on playing the venetian 540 today but when i woke up i just wasn't feeling it. so i decided to just grab lunch here and play online. i currently have a stack in the ftp 163, so maybe i'll be glad i stayed home.
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11:57 pm
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welcome to the world series of poker
Pretty much every dealer the last few days has said this when players sit down at the table. Thanks for not only making us feel welcome but also important. omg it's the world series of poker...and we're welcomed as we sit down!!!
I've been playing a fair amount of the sit n go satellites. the rio has a separate room just for them. i've run pretty ridic hot in them so far. the first day i came back from one $25 chip to chop the thing for like $740. the last 2 days have been crazy. i bricked like 6 in a row and then the first $525 i played i won outright. i was short the whole tourny. this old dude was limping a ton so i shipped 54o from the bb vs his button limp 3 handed. he wakes up with AA and i riv a straight to survive. i then got action and held with JJ and AQs and won the damn thing.
so today i went back with my buddy Justin to play some more of them. the lines were crazy today so we had no choice but to sign up for the same $525 since they weren't running many higher buy in ones. they were short on tables so they wanted to run the smaller ones they know will fill instantly. again i was card dead for the first 40min of the tourny. there was a guy with at Thomas the Tank Engine toy at the table. He was actually wheeling it around his chips in between hands, so you know he was fucking cool as shit. anyway the guy is playing like garbage. he had several times called with gutshots or flush draws, gotten there, and didn't get value out of them. he had built up a huge stack compared to the rest of the table and Justin said 'this dude's got no shot. it's like an empty seat' lol. so the train guy raises in 2nd position to 700, and i ship in my 2300 with KQs. He slowrolls me with AK and riv the Q ball of glory. so i have breathing room for the first time all tourny. at this point it was 4 handed and i was trying to play a lot of small pots in position. i open limped the button a few times with dumb hands and just min bet the flop knowing i'm gonna pick up the pot like almost every time. the shortie shoved utg and i snap called with ATo. he had A9 and the door card was a 9. so now i'm back down to a shoving stack. i moved in on some limps from the train guy a few times and ground my way up to a reasonable stack again.
this next hand was just sooooo funny. at blinds of 150-300 the train guy min raised to 600 from the sb and i called with 56o (black). flop comes AQT all hearts. he checks and i check behind. turn is the 9d, and he quickly bets 700. i'm pretty sure he has air so i decide to flat call and make a play on the river. Riv brings the Kh, which is a scary card. he pretty much never has a big heart in his hand, so i felt like it was a good spot to make a play. he bet like 2400 and i turbo shipped for like 6k. he tapped the table and mucked. i showed the bluff just to make him hate life. not only did i crush his soul, but i also made his toy train explode (figuratively speaking). after that he played like a little bitch. the next shortie ships his button and i wake up with TT. he shows the 72s claiming that he gets lucky when it's sooted in diamonds. ok sir, gg.
so now i start HU vs the train guy who has like 8k at this point at blinds of 200-400. he offers a chop several times but there's like no chance i ever give this guy any equity given how he's played so far. i played a lot of small pots again just trying to whittle him down. i moved in on him a bunch of times with A or K high hands. finally he shoved for his last 4k and i called with 44. I got to crack AA again for the 2nd time in these things when i turned a set of 4s. gg sir. gg train. nice face. nice life. Justin and i agreed to save the buy in if either of us one it, so i had to give him $525 back. pretty incredible how lucky i've gotten in the crucial pots in both of the 525s i've played and was able to close both of them out with no chops.
ok time for bed, i'm playing the $1500nl tomorrow. luckily i've already registered for it, so i won't have to fight the ridic lines in the morning. i can just stroll in there at noon and be ready to play. ship the bracelet one time plz
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12:25 am
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arrival
Made it safely to Vegas. The drive wasn't as long as I remembered from last year. It helped to have 2 others splitting the drive time with me.
Nothing eventful so far. Played 1/2 of the sunday online mtts with limited success. Played a few short sessions of live 2/5nl and showed a small profit. Satellites start at the Rio on May 28, so I won't really put in a lot of volume until then.
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11:28 am
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on the road again
Tomorrow I'm leaving for Vegas. A friend from work (Casey) and her husband (David) will be riding out with me. We're just gonna alternate drivers and do the trip straight through. It should take about 22 hours. I'm not looking forward to this drive again, but it's so convenient to have a car since I'm living 20mins from the Vegas strip.
don't have a real plan for the first few days. Casey and David will be staying until Tues. A lot of the wsop stuff doesnt start until may 28 or so. I will be playing the $1500nl on may 31.
no luck in any FTOPS events, only 1 small cash. have not played any mtts this week since i've been busy getting stuff ready for the trip.
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12:17 pm
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summer 2008
ok so i guess i'll start back up now. i just booked the same condo in Henderson from last summer for this entire summer. i'm probably gonna leave late next week sometime.
i've played several FTOPS events this series, but no luck so far. tomorrow is the $535 main event which should be massive.
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05:10 pm
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Chicago trip and back to work
Despite being cold as hell, my Chicago trip was really fun. Got to see a new city, meet some new people, and had a ton of good food and drink. Also I was pretty much required to take a picture in front of the The Drake Hotel. I'm glad I had the opportunity to go and may take another trip when the weather is better.
I was back in KS for new year's eve. I went with some friends to McFadden's sports bar in KC. It was an ok bar, but by the end of the night it was shoulder to shoulder. I am fairly confident they were way over their max occupancy. Also the layout of the place was retarded. They had 3 separate bars, but only 1 bathroom with FIVE (5) stalls/urinals for the dudes. The line was unbearable after 11pm.
The only notable finish I've had recently is in a freeroll (how lame is that?). I got 12th in the massive monthly 100k for $480. I got a stack after the 2nd break and was in the top 20 in chips from 500 players down til I busted. I got it in preflop with Q7 vs A3 and lost despite flopping Q7x. I am happy with how I played nonetheless. I didn't spew off any chips despite being over 100bbs deep at one point. I'm stilling playing some cash games on the side, but not nearly the volume I had in early December. I will be playing more sngs/mtts in the coming months due to an arrangement I have with some friends. They will pay for me to enter into tournaments and we split the profits 50-50. I hope I can put up some results for them.
I'm back to work at the clinic. I have set my tentative last day for May 21. I will then have until mid August before starting dental school. I'm not sure how I will spend my time off but let's just say Vegas and Hawaii are tops on my list.
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01:24 pm
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Tis the season
I am in a good mood today because I'm done with work until Jan. 2. I haven't played a ton of mtts since the last update. I've recently made the switch over to mostly cash games. I got an account at CardRunners and it has been extremely helpful in improving my cash game play. So far I've played .5/1 with some 1/2 sessions as well. I'm glad to finally put in some hard work and see results. That being said, I still do enjoy the excitement mtts offer, so I will be playing them as time allows. I should be able to put in some decent volume during my vacation.
Also over the break, I'm taking a short trip to visit Mike in Chicago. I found a cheap flight online, so I figured why not. I've never been to Chicago, so I'm really looking forward to checking out a new city. I will be back in KS for New Year's though.
Funny anecdote: Today was our Xmas party at the office, and a gift swap was part of the festivities. We picked gifts at random and I got a bag that included $20 worth of scratcher tickets. Thanks guys! I'll be sure to update you if I hit it big. "Put yourself in a winning state"-KS lottery
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05:23 pm
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FTOPS
So far I've played in the $216 nl 6max, $322 nl, and the $535 plo 6max. I finished well outside the money in all events. In the $535 I was unlucky enough to run the 2nd nuts into the nuts vs an aggressive player who had already shown the ability to try a big bluff. Luckily I won a seat to the Main Event ($535 nl) next Sunday so I'm excited for that event. I also played a $650 satellite to the PCA. I lost a tough hand where I had a guy drawing to 2 outs after the turn and he spiked on the end. I haven't had any overly exciting hands to share lately. It'd be nice to go on a run in something so I had more to talk about...
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09:55 am
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update
I haven't played a ton of poker lately. I've had only 1 cash worth mentioning since last time and that was 81st in a $535 for $1800ish. Other than that it's been mostly small cashes or none at all. I'm going to play as many of the FTOPS events as I can. Also tomorrow I plan on playing the $650 PCA qualifier. I've got the green light from my boss not only to go to PCA, but also to leave any time this spring. So another Vegas trip might be in order.
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09:51 pm
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My Sunday
Today I played a bunch of big stuff. I lasted the longest in the 1k WCOOP but ended up losing a 47k race at the 400-800 level with AKs vs JJ. I also played the $320 to next week's Main Event ($2600 buy in) and the $215nl. Not much exciting happened in either of those. I wasn't close to cashing in anything today.
So I was sitting around deciding what I was gonna do the rest of the night. I thought playing a $26 PLO on full tilt would be fun so I registered and went to the kitchen to get a snack. When I came back I was only getting 2 cards instead of 4. I had signed up for a satellite to a different tourny by accident. I ended up winning the seat, so now I have to stay up to play a tourny that I don't care about because full tilt won't allow you to unregister for tournys that you satellite in to.
To cap off my evening I had the following conversation with my good friend GrinderMJ:
(9:47:18 PM) Chris: tvguide says WSOP is on ESPN2 right now
(9:47:24 PM) Chris: it's white trash drag racing instead
(9:47:28 PM) Grinder: lol
(9:47:31 PM) Grinder: you are from kansas
(9:47:37 PM) Grinder: white trash= right up your alley
(9:47:41 PM) Chris: obv target region
(9:48:02 PM) Chris: there is a NASCAR track less than 20 miles from my house
(9:48:07 PM) Grinder: LOL
(9:48:09 PM) Grinder: nice!
(9:48:12 PM) Chris: i wish i was kidding
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09:22 pm
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1k bubble pain
Wish I was joking. I was yet again one coin flip away from victory. Regardless of how things go this week, I still plan on playing the WCOOP $1050 event on Sunday. I played the $530 last Sunday and finished in the top 500 for a cash of $1200. The structure was really solid so I'm looking forward to this Sunday's event since we start with 50% more chips.
Also congrats to GrinderMJ for his win in the $109 freezeout on Sunday. Let's see if that will provoke a comment from him on here....
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12:06 pm
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5k bubble pain
Last night I had to endure the second most painful bubble of my poker career. #1 was when I finished runner up to a 12k Bahamas package. Last night I played the $109 DS to the APPT Seoul tournament (5k package). I don't feel like going into a big discussion of how it went down. Basically I started HU with a slight CL, made a few good calls to get in a dominating position and couldn't close it out. I lost a flip with AJ vs 99 for the win. Then I made a call with KQ on a JT8 with 2 spade flop. My opponent was moving in frequently and I felt like I was ahead of his range so I called. Of course that was the time he AA and I was drawing to only 6 outs instead of 8-14. I was massively disappointed, but I'm keeping a positive outlook. It took me a long time to win my first major package, but I know if I put myself in position over and over again good things will happen.
I've done well in smaller satellites in the past few weeks, so I plan on playing many of the NLHE and PLO WCOOP events. This weekend: 215 nlhe 6max, 215 plo 6 max, and 530 nlhe. Wish me luck.
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01:19 am
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Venetian write up and looking ahead
Venetian $540 buy in, July 21:
This was going to be my last live tourny of the summer. It got about 230 entrants, top 18 paid, first was 34k. It was the same structure as their other tournys (10k starting, 25-50, 40min levels). By the 1 hour mark I already had 30k. I was in the bb with 67 and it limped to me. Flop 345 with 2 spades. I check into a field of 5 or 6 players. The CO bets, button raises and I decide to just call and then lead any non spade or paired turn. Turn was a red T, I lead 2500, CO folds, and the button shoves for 5k more. I call, he has A2 of spades. I dodge the spade draw and have almost 19k. Pretty sick hand for that guy. A few orbits later I'm seeing that this table is very impy and plays very bad on the flop, so I decide to start seeing a ton of flops. There were 3 limpers to me on the button and I again have 67. I limp for 100 and the sb makes it 350. Obv everyone calls so we take a flop 5 ways. Comes down 763 with 2 clubs, sb turbo shoves, and a shorter stack shoves also. I knew I had the sb crushed, but wasnt sure about the other all in player. I called anyway and saw the sb turn over AA and the other guy had 92cc. I turned a 7 and only had to dodge the A. The AA guy was sooooooooo pissed. I heart 67o. I was up around 30k chips.
I didn't play any significant pots again until the 1-2k level much later in the day. There was an EP limper and I found KK in the sb. I made it 7k to go and the bb flat called. The limper then moved in. I moved in for 25k and the bb folded. The limper had AJo and I dodged both his A, straight, and flush draws after the turn brought another heart. Finally I had some chips to play with again. There was a woman in her 40s that got moved to the table. She was relatively short and understood the concept of when to move all in from what I observed. She shoved 34k utg at blinds of 1500-3k. A shorter stack on the button calls for his last 18k. I decided to call with my 99 from the bb. They both had KQ and my set of 9s had them near dead on the flop. This got me up to around 180k and we went on dinner break shortly afterward. This was the only time all summer where I had a decent stack going into the dinner break.
There was this German guy to my right who had about 100k and was playing hands very aggressively when he entered the pot. Literally the second hand after dinner, he raised from the sb to 9k into my bb. I found 78 of spades and decided to take a flop in position. The flop came a beautiful 962 of spades. This flop is incredibly good for my hand because if he has the naked A or K of spades he's drawing very thin since the 5s or Ts would give me a straight flush. He lead out for 20k and I made it 55k. He turbo shoved and I of course called. He flipped over...K9 with no spade. A blank on the turn gave me a huge pot. I now had close to 300k with low blinds. I proceeded to steal blinds and basically run over my table. By bubble time I had nearly 400k.
I got moved to a new table with 16 left. I don't remember the exact stack sizes, but I made a pretty big mistake with 16 players left. I decided to call a raise with QJs vs a relatively tight player from what I could tell. Flop came Qxx and I lost vs his AA. This put me back down to about average in chips which is just dumb considering I could have sat back and started the final table with a top 5 stack for sure. I got some of it back with AK a few hands later. There was a smallish raise in front of me and I reraised to 70k. A guy behind me moved in for 50k more and the original raiser folded. The all in player had AQ and my hand held up. I eliminated the 10th place player with 9T vs A4 when I rivered a straight. He was pretty short, so I gambled from the bb.
With 9 players remaining I was probably in 5th or 6th position, but all stacks were very close. Twice the all in player survived which was pretty unlucky for me. The blinds were now a healthy 10-20k. A woman moved all in for like 300k and I called with QQ. She had AK and the flop was QJT. I didn't improve and lost the most crucial coin flip ever. If I won that I woulda had almost 800k, which was about 1/3 of the chips in play. The very next hand I moved in with QQ again and doubled up to almost 400k vs A9. After about 30mins we finally got an elimination, although I don't remember the hand. So with 8 players left, everyone is pretty close in chips and no one is deep stacked. There was about 90k remaining in the prize pool at this point, so one of the guys suggested we each take 10k and play for the remaining 10k. I of course agreed to this, but one guy who had slightly more chips declined so we played on. I went really card dead and couldn't find any good spots to move in. I finally took a stand against a shorter stack than me. I had only like 220k with blinds now at 15k-30k. He moved in and I called with 66. He had A2o and flopped an A. Not only would this have given me a decent stack again, but it also would have meant another elimination and a jump in the pay scale. Sadly I was left with only a little more than the ante and had to move in the next hand. I had Q7 vs A5 and finished in 8th place for 3300. I know I would have been able to do some real damage if the QQ wins the race vs AK. Also I think I get at least 6k if 66 holds vs A2. In hindsight I'm happy with the result. It was the first and only FT of the summer, so it wasn't a bad way to leave Vegas. I also proved to myself that I can compete at that level and have way more endgame experience than most people.
Since then I've had tons of deep finishes. It's getting a little annoying to be in contention for 25k+ scores and come up short. Tonight I cashed in 3 tournys with my best finish being 27th in the Stars $162. There will be plenty of opportunities soon. I predict a ridic September to come....
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06:42 pm
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Quick update
Thank you to everyone who chimed in to let me know that you are still reading. I will probably do a write-up of my 8th place finish in the $540 Venetian tourny in the near future.
As for now, I've been trying to mix in more cash games instead of just playing tournys. Cash games are nice because of the flexibility they allow, but tournys are just way more fun for me. Plus I need to stay sharp for the WCOOP.
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10:37 am
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Roll Call and WSOP write up
Just curious who (if anyone) still checks this blog. Please leave a comment so I'll know whether or not to continue posting here.
I wanted to write up my WSOP experience before I forgot all of it. I think I was the most nervous about the whole thing as I exited on to Flamingo Blvd to head to the Rio. Once I got seated at my table and didn't recognize any of the players I felt a lot more relaxed. One guy in his mid 50s was wearing a t-shirt from a previous tournament in the Bahamas so I thought to myself "watch out for this guy." I was way off. He played every hand early on and went broke in about 25 minutes. After seeing that, I was happy with my decision to play the event, regardless of the outcome.
I folded for the first orbit and a half. Everyone except the aforementioned 50s guy was playing tight, so I thought I had a pretty good table draw. I started raising a lot when it was folded to me. There were 3 guys in a row who clearly were not going to defend their blinds or play back at me without a hand so they were easy targets to raise in to. I also took a lot of flops in multiway pots simply because we were so deepstacked. We started with 20k and the blinds were 50-100. The first significant pot I played was from the sb vs a button raise. I flat called with 33 and the flop came J73 with 2 diamonds. I checked, the button bet 600 and i raised to 2k. He called and the turn brought an offsuit T. I think I bet 3k or 3500 and he called. The river was a blank, like a 5 or 2. On the turn he paused like he was thinking about raising, so I put him on AQdd or AKdd since the T would have also given him a straight draw. I decided the best way to play this was to check to him on the river and let him bluff at it. He bet 5k very confidently and I called quickly with my set of 3s. He flashed QQ and mucked. I was feeling pretty good about getting up to 27k early. However this was my highest chip count for the tourny.
For the next few hours I didn't really play any big pots. It was a combination of blind steals and continuation bets gone wrong. At the 200-400 level I still had about 20k. The QQ guy had since lost a series of hands and was down to about 5k. He shoved from the CO and I looked at AQo on the button. I knew he might be moving pretty light so I think AQ is a call there. I flat called in case one of the blinds moved over the top. Everyone else folded and he showed 33. The flop came JJT but I didn't improve. That was pretty disappointing since an extra 11k in my stack would have made a huge difference.
After that I had the coldest streak of cards ever. I folded for almost 4 hours. It was painful. I went from 15k to 5k without playing a hand outside of the blinds. I literally couldn't find a spot to get my chips in. Now that the blinds and antes were significant (300-600/75) people were opening more pots. I hate blinding down to less than 10bbs but in this case I had no choice. I picked up AA with 1 limper in front of me. I made a smallish raise knowing that I HAD to get all my chips in somehow. Luckily the guy behind me made a big reraise and I knew I was going to get a shot at a double up. Everyone else folded and he showed QQ. That put me back up to about 11k. Literally 2 hands later I was out of the event. I raised QQ to 1800 and this idiot old man in the bb reraise to 3600. I acted like I didn't know what to do and then shoved in for 7k more. He called and flipped over AJo. Nice play sir. Flop came Axx and I was pretty much dead. It sucked but I'm glad I got it in as a favorite at least. It would hurt much more if I made some awful play and got my money in near-dead. Some of the plays I saw in this event were hilariously bad. I would definitely like to make it out there again next year. I'll be sure to request off from work far enough in advance just in case I win another seat.
Since the WSOP I've had 2 shots at big scores and came up short. I may or may not do write ups on those depending on how many readers I still have :)
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