WSOPC Recap

Here is my final table recap... it will probably have some spoilers so if anyone wants to see the TV show and be surprised, best not read on!

The beginning of the day was really frustrating. We were supposed to start around 2 and that meant 3 with all of the TV delays. I was second in chips but knew that was a precarious spot because some of the other stacks were right near mine and they would double up or bust shorter stacks and I could easily be passed.

A few hands in it seemed like the short stacks would hang around as both of them doubled quickly. Gavin was raising a lot but he also was getting re-raised by the shorties and he couldn't seem to bust anyone. I raised with ATo and AQo and won two small pots to get around 250k. One thing I want to mention is how uncomfortable it was at the final table when we had 10 people. We had been playing 9 handed the whole tournament and now we were 10 handed at the TV table (which has a high rail to it) and only so many cameras. I'm used to looking at my cards in front of my chips and I had to do it off to the side - its a small thing but it was annoying at first. One important thing that happened is Ben Gordon who was in second place at the time went to war with 77 vs Gavin's AK and lost. He re-raised preflop and then called Gavin's push and I didn't think that was a very good situation. Gavin wasn't going to bully with a bad hand in that spot and I think he would have been better served calling with the 7's and trying to flop a set.

This was a key - Gordon was to my left and I didn't like him being there. he was unpredictable and aggressive and I figured I would have like AQ or something and he would re-raise me and I would have a very difficult decision. That happened at a break and when we got back there were 7 people left and I believe I was in third.

Right after the break a key hand came up. Allie Prescott moved in for 72k or so with the blinds 3-6k and I looked down at AJs. I had about 200k and after a bit of a think I decided to move in behind. I was fortunate Allie had A9o and I busted him and got up to second in chips I believe.

From there we lost Dana in 6th place and Gavin really started to bully the short stacks... one time he opened and I actually mucked AJ from the BB. A hand or two later I had QQ and re-raised Gavin and he folded. I think I won a pot against George also in the blinds and had over 300k. A few hands later I found KK under the gun and made my standard raise to 18k. Gavin moved in behind me with Ajs, which is a huge overbet, but its an ok play since there were a couple of very short stacks still. I have to muck quite a few hands there. I instantly called with my KK and doubled through to now a close second with Gavin. Here's the thing about that hand. If Gavin flat calls (with AJ, 56, or two random cards), I'm still so deep that he can pressure me more after the flop - if the flop comes 865 for instance and he pushes all in overtop of my flop bet I have a very difficult decision. Preflop, the decision is way easier for me (I think I call there with QQ-AA, AK). This was obviously a huge hand for me and I really felt confident I would get heads up with Gavin now.

A few hands later came one of my best hands of the tournament. Matt Russell raised to 30k leaving himself about 80k. And Kenny Brown was in the BB with only about 20k or so. This means that I can pressure Matt because someone is about to go broke, and I feel like he will fold all but really good hands. I look down at KJs and decide to re-raise to 100k. George to my left folds, Gavin folds and Kenny goes all in with 77. Matt instantly folds and I flop a jack to bust Kenny. Incidently Matt folded KQ and Gavin folded AJ. As Gavin said I walked on water that hand but it was perfect timing and I had setup that play vs Matt in my mind for three days (having played with him every day).

Now we were down to 4 and I was pretty much even with Gavin and George and Matt were both under or around 100k I believe. I knew Gavin and I would chip away at them and it would only be a matter of time. First, George busted with A2 vs AQ for Gavin in the blinds... this left us three handed but it was a bit of a pain for me now because Gavin had position on my 2 of 3 hands. I decided I was going to pretty much raise every button to exploit the fact that Matt would give me respect and Gavin would not want to play out of position and he would not re-raise me very often. In the SB I would open limp a lot and try to keep the pots small. I won a few pots and Gavin won a few (in fact I think he won more than his share when he was in the BB). He is a pain in that spot because he gives up his hand on the flop very rarely. So you have to figure out when to bet your missed hands, when to follow through on the turn, when to let him take the lead, etc. One thing I will say is that Gavin calls a lot, rather than raising and that helped keeping the pots small. I also felt like he didn't think he needed to be making a lot of plays. So in reality, even if he was chipping away at me, I wasn't being put in a lot of tough spots, which was certainly ok with me.

Finally, Matt busted when he pushed with AT from the button, I folded A7 from the SB and Gavin called with AK. We were now heads up and I was behind, maybe 1mil to 700k.

I really thought Gavin and I would get heads up. I figured if I could get to even 400k I would have a shot at him with the structure so good as it was. He made it clear before the day started that he does not make deals so a deal was never discussed.

Thanks to the very good WSOPC structure, we played a few hands at 4k-8k before moving to 5k-10k. Very early on I raised a pot and then bet the flop and got called and folded on either the turn or the river to give Gavin a head start. Then I found KK and re-raised when Gavin opened and he thought for a minute before re-raising again. I thought for a minute before going all in and Gavin finally called with 44. I'm not sure what he was doing with this re-raise. Maybe he thought he good bully me around or picked up weakness, or maybe a pair is just big heads up (I certainly thought so a little later, lol). Anyway, I was fortunate and dodged a 4 to win a huge pot and get ahead.

I really felt confident now. He started folding a lot more when he was short, taking a lot less flyers on speculative hands. I also was very aggressive raising in position almost every time (and I think that surprised him and it took him a minute or two to adjust). I also tried to mix up my play when he open limped on the button , leading into him with good and bad hands equally. The next big hand I remember was when he completed on the button and I checked with 92 in the bb. The flop came Q95 and I check called. The turn was a 2 and I check raised his 60k bet to 200k, he went all in and I called right away. He had 95 and doubled through me.

I honestly don't remember how, but from what I remember, I chipped him way down again, to where he had only 300k or so. One hand I remember was when I had 92s. The flop came 853 two spades and I check raised and Gavin called. The turn was a 4c and Gavin lead into me and I called with the flush draw/wheel draw. The river was a spade that paired the board and Gavin check folded to my large bet on the river.

Finally, we got it all in preflop when Gavin limp re-raised all in with A4 and i had AQ. He apologized in advance for the bad beat and he indeed flopped a 4 to double through. One thing that immediately came to mind is the beat did not phase me a bit. I didn't get up and curse, and Gavin didn't hoot and holler and celebrate. This is always how I hoped I would act in that situation and exactly how I hoped my opponent would act. Maybe ESPN doesn't like this but I sure did.

Anyway, I still had a bit of a lead but it was back to work. Gavin really started rolling though. On my button I raised with 43o and he called. The flop came AJ8 and I bet 40k and he called. The turn was an A and I bet 60k and he called. I knew Gavin didn't have an ace and thought he might lay down an 8 or a J so I planned to bet the river also. The river was a 5 and I bet 140 or 150k. Gavin probably had it in his mind that I had never really value bet a hand this way, and I knew that also, but I still thought he would be put to a tough decision if I bet big on the river. I just tried to remain as still as possible while he thought it out... he said he couldn't beat anything but he finally called and won a huge pot.

This was a really tough time for me. I felt like it was slipping away and I remember that horrible feeling I had at the Borgata when Edog looked me up in a similar spot. You just want to run and hide when someone owns you like that but I knew I had to regroup.

A few hands later I really screwed up again when Gavin re-raised my button opener, I had 66 and I pushed all in and he had KK. I really deserved to lose at this point but I sucked out with quads to have another big chip lead. It was then when i finally had a beer with Gavin (who had had a few drinks at that point!).

Gavin went into his shell of small ball again and I chipped away with aggressive play. He did however raise or re-raise all in a few times and I had to fold. One time I had 9T and the flop came KJ7 giving me a pretty good, well disguised draw. I bet the flop and Gavin called, and I thought about checking behind on the turn when I missed but I bet again and he c/r all in and I had to fold. I finally c/r all in on the turn on a X655 board with 47 but Gavin called me with J5 and doubled through again. Again though, I chipped away and he had about 400k when he limp re-raised me all in with KQ and I called with AJ and finally won the title!

The feeling was pretty odd. It was a relief and it was great to shake hands with Gavin and I really believed that I had earned it. But also I didn't know how to act. I was nervous for the post game interview and photo opps and really was exhausted - all I wanted to do was get my money and get away from that casino honestly.

I really wanted to thank my parents who came in for the event. They always said they would come and even though my Dad had just returned from Europe they made the trip on almost no notice. I also wanted to thank online players SamENole and PartyPSucks from sweating me the last two days. Just to run over to them during the breaks and get encouragement was really helpful. And it must have been sooooo boring for most of it.

To wrap up this already too long entry - this victory earned me a berth in the Tournament of Champions at the Rio before the World Series and I am really pumped for that. The field will be ridiculously hard (27 players total, top 9 get paid) but the stakes are huge and its a freeroll! I'm excited and also excited for the World Series.

I returned home to Detroit on Monday morning - and by Monday evening I was back playing poker online! I managed to win my third WSOP seat (this time on Full Tilt) and finished 4th in the Party $150 for over $9k. All told I won $20k! I guess I'm still running good. Thanks for reading...

New Orleans Final Table

Well, I made my first TV final table today. I got into the final 10 2nd in chips to Gavin Smith (who has more than double my stack). It was a really interesting day, I chipped up nicely and had a great table with 19 players left but I got moved to balance the tables - my new table had all of the stacks that were over 200k at that time. They were also all to my left - and that made it challenging.

When we re-drew at 18 players I was sure I would have a better draw but it was worse. The same three players to my left with only one short stack in between. After Gavin Smith busted Phil Ivey Gavin became an even bigger problem to play against. I'm glad the bubble burst when it did, and even though I still have Gavin to my left tomorrow, he's a few more spots to the left than he was today.

I've been running really well the whole tourney... i don't think anyone has doubled through me and I've busted a few people with the worst hand. That really helps, hopefully I can keep that going tomorrow.

WSOPC New Orleans - Day 1

I won my seat into the $10k New Orleans Circuit event in a $1k mega satellite yesterday. It was a long trek, running about 10 hours. I was pretty short at the 100-200 level but beat KK with A3 and then I was off and running. I actually did get short one other time but then kept jamming or re-raising and then finally hit two really big hands to get some chips. With about 3 tables left (there were 17 $10k seats given away) my seat was pretty well locked up. I got aggressive near the bubble and tried to bust people and ended up busting the guy on the bubble with A8 vs AA.

I got to my seat for the $10k and didn't recognize anyone. Soon enough I found out I had one lady that was crazy at my table. She liked to min re-raise preflop, or sometimes she would make a 6xbb raise. Totally random, she didn't know what she was doing. On one hand, the board read (on the river) AQJT7 three clubs, and she bet into a guy for 600, he made it 1600, she made it like 3600, and he went all in for about 5000 more, he flips up 8c9c and someone asked to see her hand and it was Q9o. But it was impossible to put her on a hand, so I just decided that I would try to make a hand vs her and play it fast and hope she calls me.

After the first level I had 8k after raising with QQ and folding the turn on a scary board. A few minutes in I found AA in the cutoff and made it 300. The SB and BB called. The flop was Q64 two clubs and the SB lead out for 1000. I really thought he had a hand like KQ here, so I thought I would call and help disguise my hand a bit. The turn was a 2 and he bet 2000. I had about 6800 left and pushed in and he called (amazingly enough) with Q7 and my hand held up.

I treaded water for quite a while until the 100-200 level when I opened in Mp with Kh2h. The crazy lady from the BB called and the flop came 3h4h5h. She lead out for 1000, and I had no idea what she had but figured she would call a raise so I made it 3000 and she called. The turn was a 6c and she lead out again, for 4000. She had about 6000 behind and I really thought she was coming with me so I jammed - but she folded. Getting to 23k without a showdown was nice enough though.

From there I busted a short stack with 66 vs KJ to get to 27k or so... then in the last two levels I just chipped up slowly, winning more than my share of blinds and antes while almost never getting played back at. I ended the day with 37775 chips which is above average going into tomorrow.

We are playing down to 27 tomorrow (57 left for now) and then 10 on Saturday for the ESPN TV table. They are only paying 18 spots so we won't be down to the money tomorrow.

No News is Bad News

The Heartland Poker tour event came and went quite quickly for me. In the fourth level I had about 16k chips and got it all in after the flop with KhKd vs KsQc on a Js9s4s board and lost (I was only 53% to win).

I got in the car and drove home the nearly 5 hour drive just in time to start most of the Sunday tourneys. A really bad idea as it turned out. I should've taken a break or a nap and just played when I got up but instead entered a million tournaments like normal and ended up having a pretty brutal day.

Even with my extremely good weekend of three significant cashes my monthly MTT ROI (return on investment) is only 42% or so which is less than my year to date.

My first 120 sit and goes at the $200 turbo level have done pretty well with a ROI of 25%. (I think this is quite a bit above what I will expect over the long run but we'll see).

Tonight I played in two tournaments where I had very high hopes but fell short of anything worthwhile. In the $1000 WSOP satellite on Full Tilt (which I won a one table to gain entry to), I had a bunch of chips with 12 players left, in 2nd or 3rd place (with 6 12k seats given out), then I lose with AJ vs JJ (where I was getting 2:1 after raising in late position) and then I run into AA with AKs (table was 6 handed). Just a brutal sequence to finish 11th for no money.

On Stars in the $150, I misplayed a hand in the blinds to lose most of my stack at the 75/150 level, leaving myself with 505 chips. Somehow, when we got to the money I had it up to 44k when this hand came up :

A late position (big stack) open limps , I complete in the SB with T9 and the BB checks his option. The flop is J99 and I bet 2k into the 3600 pot, only the late positon limper calls. The turn is a 5, I bet 6k this time and the limper thinks for a bit and calls again. On the river a 6 came off putting a backdoor flush on the board and I bet 11k and my opponent went all in for 13 or 14k more. I was sick, I really didn't think I had the best hand anymore, and was really upset for betting the river. I was at least going to think things through before probably calling. Just when it came time for the timer to hit the screen, my hand went into the muck and my opponent got the pot! It turns out I had used my time bank earlier in the tournament without knowing it. At one point I thought Pokerstars was frozen (but I asked someone else if Stars worked for him and he said yes) so I shut stars down and re-opened it and everything was fine. Well, this episode got rid of my time bank and that really cost me.

My opponent said good fold that he had flopped 9's full, but you never know for sure. It either cost me a massive chip lead or saved me 13k. From there I lost AKs to QJ from a short stack then raised with ATo and had to call against JJ. From there I had only a couple of big blinds and busted in 28th a few hands later. Really frustrating finishes.

I'm off to New Orleans tomorrow for the WSOP Circuit event, I hope things come together down there.

Update

I apologize for taking so long to update.

I won another tournament this past Sunday, this time a $30 rebuy on Paradise for $13k. Its the third time I've won that specific tournament in 5 weeks.

This week nothing special has happened. I had two frustrating near misses today in the Party $30r and $100 40k guaranteed. I finished 11th in both of them! Nothing worse than getting close like that but not reaching the final table. In one of them I had 88 vs AQ and the other I lost with AJ vs T3.

I have started playing some turbo sit and goes this week. I've been playing mostly the $200+15's on Party and that has been going pretty well. Its a nice change because I was getting a little bored playing multi-tables all the time. Its nice to be able to play for an hour or two and then take a break and re-focus again.

Tomorrow I'm headed up north in Michigan to the Heartland Poker Tour event in Traverse City. Its a $1500+150 buy-in with the final 6 televised (its bascially public access TV here). Its an event in which I think there will be a lot of novice players so I made this last minute decision to go.

I will be back on Sunday and then home for a day before I head to New Orleans for the WSOP Circuit event.

Out of my slump

After getting back from the Bahamas nothing seemed to change. I was still running really badly and just couldn't put a whole tournament together.

I finally got on track yesterday. I got second in the Party $40k guaranteed ($109 buy in) for $8500. I also made it heads up on Bodog for one of the WSOP prelim events. I had my opponent all in with AK vs TT but he won the coinflip and then I busted later with flush under flush which is pretty rare headsup. So instead of a package worth $2500 in that one I ended up with $0.

Today has been an even better day so far. I just chopped the Party $300+20 for over $18,000 which puts at a high for the year for profits. Nice to be back in that spot (its been weeks).

Two Outed...

Here is my report from the Paradise $5k in the Bahamas.

Started with $10k in chips and the levels were 60 minutes, 25-50, 50-100, 100-200, 100-200/25.

The only player I recognized at the table was Aaron Kanter who made the final table of the WSOP Main Event last year. It was clear early on that there were some inexperienced live players at the table and I planned to take them on as often as possible.

I struggled through the first level, not hitting any flops and not having any big starting hands, I think I was down to about 8300. Finally a hand came up in the second level. Kanter limped utg, I limped behind another limper on the button with 77 and the blinds came along. The flop was 733 two spades and Aaron bet 200, the second limper made it 500, I called, Aaron then made it 1300, the second limper who had made it 500 folded and I called. The turn was a red 5 and Aaron bet 2000, I called again. It was pretty clear that he had either AA or A3 and I made a mistake by not raising the turn. The river came another 5 and he check called 2000 and I scooped my first significant pot of the tournament.

I won a few small pots right in a row - picking on the weaker players at the table. I had that rare feeling (for me anyway) of being in pretty good control of my opponents. I did make one pretty big blunder where I sensed weakness from a player on a 98J flop and check raised with nothing. He called, then the Q came on the turn and he called my bet again (he checked down the river with a straight, AT). We went to break and at the beginning of level 3 I chipped up again to about 16k.

It was then when this hand came up. A bad player made it 400 utg (blinds were 100/200) and I called in position with 77. The small blind called and Kanter called in the BB. The flop was J73 two diamonds and the SB bet out 500. I thought the SB was a pretty bad player really. He had shown a pattern of min betting and/or min raising and I was pretty sure that he was never bluffing. He bet out 500, utg (who raised preflop) called, and I made it 2000 with my set of 7's. The SB then min re-raised to 3500. Normally I would just call here, but I felt he really liked his hand. I honestly couldn't put him on an overpair because he had just called preflop but a set of 3's seemed possible. I didn't want a diamond to hurt our action on the turn, so I just pushed all in. To my surprise, he called instantly with KK. After he put in the 3000, he called all in for 8600 more (I had him covered). All told it was about a 26k chip pot. I had a very nervous feeling about sweating the last two cards for some reason, and there it was, right on the turn, a king for him and I missed the one outer on the river. Instead of having 30k, I had 3500.

It was one of the most disgusting feelings I've had at the table. The same thing happened to me at the Borgata (where I had a set and someone called all in with one pair then hit an overset) but the pot was much smaller and I had a bunch of chips left when I lost. This one stung bad - you just don't get many opportunities to get chips in these tournaments and rarely do you have someone drawing so thin. But I knew I had to regroup, and I was still at a pretty easy table.

I won the next two pots, then blinded down for awhile. Then the player to my right made it 700 in the cutoff seat and I looked down at TT. I actually had him covered at the time and I had a pretty easy push and he folded. I raised a hand or two later with KQ and got re-raised and folded and was shown AK. Then I won a few small pots to get back up to 6k without showing down a hand.

Soon afterwards I spewed some chips. A tight player min raised utg and I had AQ in the SB. Against the right person I would be all in preflop but I figured he was huge so I called (mucking might have been better). I missed the flop and he showed AK. Then I called a raise with 7s8s in a multiway pot and missed completely. Finally it was folded to me in MP and I decided to raise with K5o. The players to my left were all pretty tight and I figured I had a good chance to win the pot preflop. The player to my left in Seat 1 called the raise and we saw a flop of K86 heads up. I really didn't know what to do now, there was 1900 or so in the pot and I had about 4200 left. My opponent had bet often when checked to so I checked and decided to probably check raise all in hoping he might fold a hand like even KQ. I was a bit surprised when he checked behind. The turn brought a 7 so now I'm open ended. I decided to bet 800 and he quickly made it 2000. I really didn't know what he had but I thought hands like 78 or even a bluff (or semibluff) were possible so I decided to jam. He had a set of 8's and I missed my 8 outer on the river.

I met up with some Internet players later and we played some of the evening tournaments in the lobby at the Atlantis resort. I made the money in the dise $100r before losing a coinflip, then final tabled the Stars $150 for probably the first time ever and finished 8th for $2k.

I'm at the airport now waiting for my flight back to the States and then back home. I hope to get rolling a bit on the Internet in the next few weeks before I head down to New Orleans for the WSOP Circuit event.