$2500 NLHE WSOP and The Palms

Well Guys,

Now that all can see that my June really was running well, and help me recover a very large portion of the amount I had been down for 2005 (about 80% recovered at this point), I decide that I should head back out to the WSOP for the $2500 NLHE Event.

I land at 10:50 and get into the taxi line. Once in the cab, the cabbie starts jaberring about poker and how his buddy is the best poker player in the world. Etc, etc.... He wishes me well, I check in and then head to the poker room.

I sit down in a $330 single table. It gets down three handed when this hand comes up. The short stack (was a big stack but just played too many hands - I think he is a novice by his discussion choices) is on the Button, I am in the SB with a decent stack, the chip leader is in the BB has maybe 15% more than me. The BB is the classic aggressive young pro. He and I had tangled twice until now:

Blinds 200-400. Button folds (1,500 in chips), I have AA in the SB (6000 in chips) and call. I knew he would raise with any sign of weakness from me, and he does not disappoint and raises 500 more (7,500). I smooth call. Flop A95. I check, he bets 1,500, I call and say "you don't have any of that!" He says "you don't either." And I say "well I have a nine, but you don't have an Ace." Oops, my foot enters my mouth as another 9 comes on the turn.

Damn it. We are laugh and I check and say, "well maybe I don't have a nine." He chuckles and checks behind me.

The river is a deuce, for a board A9952. I bet out 2,500 of my remaining 4,000. He goes into the tank. After about 45 seconds, he says "all your talking is making me make this call." He tosses in the 2,500 and I announce "aces full." He says "YOU HAVE WHAT?!? Well that explains the coffeehousing." He goes out the next hand with A5 v. My AK. It was fun, and after the short stack doubles up to 2800 or so, I offer him a $500 chip to end it and he accepts. I have my $2500 entry for $330. Woohoo.

Friday, June 23, 2005.

$2500 NLHE Event Day 1.

I attempt to recreate the pre-tournament structure that I had for the $1500 event. I stay at the Rio, eat room service and do not head to the tournament area until 11:40. I chat with Robyn, a dealer at the WSOP from Nashville. I sit down and I am very happy that I do not recognize any famous faces. There was one player at my table that I played with in the $1500 event, but I felt like I had a good read on him, so I was still happy with the line up. To keep this one short, I did not build a stack at all. In fact, it was relatively boring as it was your standard NL table. Boring, boring, boring, exciting, scary, boring, boring, boring.

We (1,056 players) started with 2500 in chips, with one hour rounds and 25-25 blinds. My chip count at the end of the first three levels confirms my description:

Level I 25-25. 2,600 chips
Level II 25-50. 2,200 chips
Level III 50-100. 2,600 chips

Level IV. 100-200 End is Near.

I had not played many hand at all. The occasional steal and pp raises. David Singer gets moved to our table three to my right. He has around 8,500 in chips. He raises for the third time in ten hands in EP to 600. Folded to me in MP. I have QQ. I push for 2,400 total. Folded to him, he thinks for about five seconds and calls with AJs. Flop comes AJ4 and I am out. I finished around 750. No biggie. He made the mistake, but got the cards. Nothing I can do there. I really do not think smooth calling with QQ preflop is best for anyone, especially against an aggressive pro like David was acting like that day. I go grab a beer at the bar, play $40 worth of video poker, go to the room, take a nap and then decide to head over to the Palm to play in the $200 w/one rebuy NL event.

Palms $200 NL Event.

I get to the Palms early and sit in the 5-10 NL game. I buy in for a $1000 and cash out with $840. Nothing big, get really no cards and thus end the session down. BTW, drinking a couple of beers along the way.

Go to the tournament. There are 175 players and I decide to play aggressive with the first stack and if I go broke rebuy and play normal. Note to readers - I am still enjoying barley and hops during this event. I am treating this tournament as stress relief, nothing more. I am in my seat when we start, but the blinds are not there yet.

First hand (blinds are 10-20): UTG limps, and I decide to steal the blinds with 68s in the co with a raise to 80. UTG comes over the top to 250 total. I call thinking he is just restealing. Flop comes 457 rainbow. He bets 300, I go all in, he calls with KK. Oops. Double up. He does not rebuy and storms away from the table. I continue to dominate the table doubling up again against a player that rebought early during the first orbit with a set of 555. I build my stack up to 8,000 by the first break. I am the chip leader and still drinking. I build my stack up to 20,000 when that table breaks and I get moved. I make it to the final table, but I am short stacked when we get there and I go out 10th for a big $510 (18 got paid). I am happy to make it that deep given my stress relief was free and I enjoyed myself greatly.

I get back to the Rio, go down to the poker room and play a single table PLHE event sitting right next to Marcel Luske. He is singing, I am drinking, the table was in for a hell of a show. I knock out Marcel and another player with my powerful KQs v. JJ and 33. Make it down to the three handed, I have the chip lead. The Button is severely short stacked, the SB has about 80% of my stack and is playing very aggressively. This hand comes up: I am in the BB, Button folds the SB pots it for the uptenth time in a row and I call with 22. Flop comes K82 all spades. He bets a little less than the pot, I reraise all in he calls ands shows the A3 of spades. The board bricks off and he has a large chip lead. I get extremely lucky two hands later when my 77 makes a set against the short stack's AA. Nothing changes the hand, but I did river the 7 to bust him. I work back to even in chips and offer an even chop, but he declines, but we agree on a $300 save. I go out about 20 minutes later when my flopped second pair runs into his top pair on the flop.

Saturday June 25th.

Bellagio.

I get up early enough to get in two $220 single table satellites for the Bellagio $1000 event. I am barely alive late in the second one. Two seats awarded, three of us left and I begin to bully the other players because I really at that point did not care if I played in the main event or not. I really became tired and could not think straight and should not have played in the second single table, but did anyway. Anyway, I get it all in against the other short stack with K9 v. K10 (he called my raise). I am out and head to the room for a much-needed nap.

Palms $200 NL Event

After the fun and crazy event the night before, I get up from my nap and head over SOBER for the Palms $200 event. It starts out weirdly as I never got comfortable during the first 30 minutes. I feel myself playing passively and it really pisses me off. This is not the correctly way to play this stupid game. I stand up, rebuy when I am at 800 (start with 1000) and announce that the tenor of the table is just about to change. I win a nice pot to get to 3,000 and then get it up to 7000 with back to back big hands. I lose 60% of it when a kid that I knew was on a draw got there and I still paid him off with the second nut straight. I tighten down to survival mode, probably a little too tight as people are stealing right and left. We are down 10 4 tables and I am dead last in chips. I double up with A5 in the SB vs. a steal from the CO. I then get lucky with A10 v. AK the next hand on the button vs. the CO's raise pre flop. When our table breaks at 18, I am now second in chips and really playing well. The winner gets $15,000, so I am really gunning for a deep finish.

When we get to the final table, I have about 35% of the chips in play and they are already talking deal. Before I even speak up, a drunk from California says he does not make deals. It makes it easy for me because I am in no mood to deal before we get to at least three handed. That changes. The micro stack goes out and we are at nine when this hand comes up.

I am on the button with AKs. The CO is an average stack and just limps. I raise, the blinds fold and the CO calls. The flop comes AJ9. He checks I bet enough to put him in and he calls. He has 99 and I double him up and now I am average. Next hand I have A10 and have to muck my raise to a reraise and call from the Button and SB. The SB (drunk no deal guy) is eliminated on that hand making ups 8 handed. I am now 7th in chips and the new chip leader says he will make a chip count deal. The Tournament Director does the math (BTW - the tournament staff at the Palms did an excellent job), and I would have to finish third to beat the deal on the table at $3,100. I take the deal along with everyone else and we call it a night.

I head back over to the Rio and play in one last $330 single table. I go out eighth. I sit next to Jennifer Tilley, but I am not too impressed with her play. I guess I need to work on that judgment as she just destroyed the ladies event the very next day.

Sunday, June 26th.

I am heading home at 5:00 PM Vegas time and do not want to deal with selling the entry chips won at the single tables so I sit down at 12:00 pm for a little 2-5 NL fun. Interesting table I work my initial $500 up to $1000 and back down to $550 before the end of the session. Two interesting hands:

Second hand of the day, $495 in chips in the BB. I fold to a late raiser and SB call. Husband and wife both call as well, four to the flop. Husband and wife each have $200 in front of them, with $100 being cash. After the flop of J94, the SB bet, the husband folds, wife calls, other guy folds. Turn comes a K. Check, check. River is a 4. SB checks, the wife asks what can I bet? The dealer says anything from $5 to all in. She sits up proud and says all in and shoves in her chips (about $60) but not the c-note. I speak up (I know shocking isn't it) and say "Madam, all in includes the cash." She clutches the $100 bill and says "Oh no, I am not betting this!" The dealer says, yes madam you did." Anyway the SB was cool about it and folded. The wife starts yelling at the husband: "I didn't know we were playing all-in poker." She yelled it two or three times to him while the dealer dealt the next hand.

Now I know some of you will find this unfair of me, but I did take advantage of this situation. I am on the button two hands later and raise with something with an A after the wife limps. She calls the raise and we are heads up. I miss the flop of 458, she checks and I bet $80. She calls. The turn is another 5. She checks and I do what I have to do.... I go all in. The dealer saw it coming and was already turning to tell her that to call she would have to put it all in to call, including the $100 bill. She starts squirming and very nervously says she can't call and mucks QQ face up. I quietly muck my hand and drag the pot. Pretty unfair of me eh? Fool/money/split issue. She leaves the table.

Hand 2: Last hand of the trip. I am UTG and getting ready to go to the airport. I have $550 and there is a sneaky 65-year old man three to my right. He and I have skirmished, but no major battles. I decide to straddle for $30 for my first and only time of the trip and the summer come to think about it. It is called in two spots and when it gets to the old man he glances at his cards for a nanosecond and starts stacking off. I have to ask him if he is going all in. He says yes. I tell him that this is not my first rodeo and if I have any pair or ace-face I am coming with him. I look down at 1010. I shove behind him and both the previous callers fold. He turns over Q10o. Woohoo! I am a huge favorite to win his $371 bet. I know it is $371 because he spiked a Q on the turn to take it down. Sigh. Bummer ending to an otherwise solid trip.

So that should be a lesson to all of you out in Poker Land. Never straddle an old man in the SB. He may just come up to bite you in the arse. Until the next time.....

Good Luck and See You at the Felt