Tag Archives: WSOP

Run Silent, Run Deep

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Big tournaments in Portland poker over the next couple of weeks, with both Aces Players Club and The Final Table celebrating anniversaries, and a general gearing-up of the community for the upcoming summer series.

Portland Players Club WSOP Seat $5,000 Guarantee (8,000 chips)

I got off to a very hot start Friday night, sitting down a couple of hands in, picking up [ax ax] on my second hand, then going up against a player who sat at seat 2 a couple minutes after me. I’d picked up a premium [qx qx] and raised with nothing higher than a nine on the flop and we both put more money in. Another queen hit on the turn and he shoved, getting a call from me. A seven on the river made a set for his [7x 7x] but my set of queens held—with a river queen putting me on the high hand board—and he re-bought after his first hand. Funny story about that.

Fifty minutes into the game, and I was up to 22,400, more than three times the starting stack. Then I lost 1,900 in a couple calls with [9h th] and [kx qx]. I knocked out one of the PPC regulars with a [3x 7x] in SB when I caught a little of the [3x 2x 6x] flop. G thought he was safe with his [4x 4x], and he was through the [2x] on the turn, but the river [7x] sealed his fate and he re-bought. Ninety minutes in and I was at 25,750.

I made it as high as 29,400 before the first break, but I called an all-in on a flop of [ad 4d] with [2d 5d] against [4x 4x] and failed to catch another diamond, so I only had 21,900 before the T8,000 add-on.

I kept up my occasional calls with low suited gaps but lost 1,500 calling pre-flop as BB with [3s 6s] and another 600 as SB with [2h 6h].

About three hours in, I doubled up with a set of sixes against one of the larger stacks, putting me at 52,935, with the chip average at about 22,000.

[8x 8x] held up against an all-in from a very short stack holding [ax 9x], making up for losses to blinds and antes; I was at 52,000 even after the chip-up on the next break. There were 93 of 132 entries remaining after three-and-a-half hours, with 50 re-buys and 104 add-ons.

Half-an-hour later, with blinds up at 400/800/100, the number of players had dropped to 78. The average stack was 29,333: 36BB or (since we were 10-handed) an M-ratio of just 13, already in Dan Harrington’s “yellow zone” where small suited connectors and pairs lose value. I was sitting on 63,900 ten minutes after the top of the hour, when the average was 30,506.

I raised with the heart version of the Mutant Jack and took down the blinds and antes without a fight, then finally knocked out G with [qx jx] when I made two pair.

At the next break, four-and-a-half hours in, I had 86,600 (34,149 average) with 67 players left. Just 49 to go before the money.

I lost a big chunk of ground calling an all-in with [jh qh] against [kx jx]. The board nearly gave me both a flush and a straight, but the better hand held out. Five-and-a-quarter hours in to the game, I was at 66,500, with the average creeping up under me to 40,140.

Then I hit the high hand board again when [kx kx] made quads (with an ace kicker), knocking out another player and putting me up to 97,000.

[7d 9d] took in a lot of chips , hitting two pair on the flop and a full house on the turn. When the clock struck midnight after six hours of play, I had 142,300, not quite three times the 52,000 average, with 40 players left.

The spade Mutant Jack ([As Js]) failed me against [9x 9x], and I lost 30,000 chips about twenty minutes later, then I shoved over two raises with [tx tx] to take the pot and managed to pull myself back up to 124,500 (average 65,700) just before the middle of the seventh hour. Blinds were 2,000/4,000/500; there were 35 players left.

Just after the half-hour, I lost calling an all-in with [qx qx] against [9x 9x] when the nine showed on the flop, taking me down 26,600.

Just ten minutes later, nines almost did me in again when I had [ax qx]. She made a set on the turn but a [tx] on the river made me Broadway and I knocked out another player.

Playing [kd td] from SB, I lost 8,500 to see the flop. Everyone checked the turn but I couldn’t pay the 8,000 to see if there was a jack on the river and the board was too clubby for me.

The next break was at the end of seven hours of play, and I had 139,000. We were down to three tables (exactly 27 players), with the average stack at 84,740 and blinds going up to 3,000/6,000/500 (14BB, M-ratio of 6; mine was a paltry ten). With those kinds of numbers, the winnowing was taking place pretty fast. The money bubble was burst in just twenty minutes.

The Poker Mutant deep in thought, wondering how he can get back on an even keel.

I hadn’t found any opportunities to build up, however, and my stack had slipped to 110,500, with the chip average finally overtaking me to 127,111.

I blew 31,000 with [qd 8d] going up against [ax 8x] and ten minutes after making the money I was down to just 75,500. I shoved with [kx jx] and won the blinds and a call, then went all-in again with [ks qs] half-an-hour later, just before the blinds went up to 8,000/16,000/2.000.

There were 13 players left. My table had six players—so the blinds were coming around rather quickly—and there were a couple of very big stacks, including the guy I’d knocked out with quad queens back on his first hand. I had 87,500.

Half-an hour later, I was still alive as the final table was made. Three of the players were original players at my starting table. I was the second-shortest stack at the table. I shoved with roughly a quarter of my stack in the pot as BB on the first hand—I didn’t record what with—and was beat.

The first-place winner was the guy I took out with quad queens on his first hand.

Eight hours and forty-five minutes. +193% ROI. 9th of 132 entries.

Aces Players Club 2nd Anniversary $20,000 Guarantee Freezeout (20,000 chips)

This was the big-money game of the weekend. Running at full capacity and with people buying in after bustouts, there was no way the prize pool for this event wasn’t going to swell far beyond the guarantee (the PPC event prize pool was twice the guarantee itself). I bought the 8,000 chip preliminary add-on, so like most players, I was starting with 28,000 chips.

I laid low for the first fifteen minutes, picking up [7x 7x] as UTG1. I lost about 1,000 when a player with an ace made a pair on the turn and I bowed out.

[6s ts] gave me the inclination to raise, and I sort of liked the [qx 9x 8x] flop, but [ax] and [2x] on the turn and river left me cold and [qx tx] won the hand.

Lost some more with King Salmon ([Ks 7s]) when I paired my seven on the flop but the turn brought in a flush possibility for my opponent and I folded.

Called 800 from SB with [kx jx] but folded to a raise to 5,000.

Forty minutes in and I hadn’t won anything and was down to 23,475.

On the last hand before the first break, I called a pre-flop raise to 1,200 with [qh 9h] and caught an open-ended straight flush on the flop of [th jh 5x]. I brazenly shoved after a [5x] on the turn and everyone folded.

With the 8,000 extra add-on, I started the next session with 42,200, up a little over 6,000 from what I’d bought in for.

With [ax kx] in the SB and a [kx tx tx] flop, I folded with 7,500 in the pot to a 40,000+ all-in bet. Another player called and the winner was [ax tx] over [7x tx].

I stayed pretty quiet through the next half-hour; at the ninety minute mark I hadn’t won any more but I was still holding at 40,300. The final stats were in for the game: 153 entries, 148 players still in, 253 add-ons (both pre-game and at break), and a total pot of $43,250.

I knocked out a player playing with [3s 6s]. I hit bottom pair and a flush draw on the flop and called his all-in of 9,000. He showed [kx qx] for a higher pair but my flush card came on the turn.

Ten minutes later, I had [8x 8x] on BTN and raised, getting re-raised by BB. I called and we saw a flop of [qx 7x 2x]. I put him on [ax kx], which was a big mistake, and I shoved to give the impression I’d hit a set, but he had [kx kx] and I was out 41,200 chips, leaving me with just 13,500. This was the mistake that probably kept me out of the money in this tournament.

Fifteen minutes later, that had dwindled to 6,900. I went into cornered wolverine mode (again), shoving with [jd td] from CO and winning the blinds. 8,100 chips.

Payouts went up on the board. 22 places were getting money, with the top five prizes initially set at $12,555, $8,330, $4,995, $3,330, and $2,080. Things were getting serious.

I was all-in on two consecutive hands. FIrst with [ks qs]. I was called by [qx jx] and doubled up. Then I shoved [ax jx] over two calls and won with no showdown. People started complaining, but I’d managed to build back up to the starting stack, at least. Average stack was nearly 39,000 chips, though.

On the first hand after the next break, I had [kx kx] in BB and shoved over several calls to take the pot. 21,300 chips with 130 players left.

I picked up a couple of hands with 9Ts and KJo, then the blinds went to 1,000/2,000/200. With only 27,800 (120 players left), I had a critical M-ratio of less than 6. That’s the “red zone.”

All-in again as UTG1 with [ax qx]. At least I was picking up some decent shoving hands. 28,400 chips after going through the blinds.

Three hours into the game, the blinds jumped to 1,200/2,400/300. Another round of blinds and antes and I was down to 22,600 (M-ratio: 3.5). Just 101 players left.

Shoved again with [ax 9x] and took the blinds. The next time they passed through I was down to 23,000.

I finally picked up a significant number of chips in an all-in battle against a shorter stack with [ks js] against his [qx jx]. Three-and-a-half hours in, I had 46,500 (average stack: 60,523).

83 players left ten minutes later.

[8x 8x] failed me again, this time from SB when I called a 15,000 chip all-in against [kx 9x]. The nine hit on the flop. I’d picked up some other chips along the way, though, so I was actually sitting on 26,500.

Just short of four hours in, half the field was gone. Only 72 players remained, with blinds going up to 2,000/4,000/500.

I rode out the blinds again and was down to 36,500 (average 72,628), still securely in the red zone. At the four hour mark, I shoved over a call as UTG2 with [jx tx] and took the pot again. The pot was enough to put me up to 50,000 (65 left, average 78,215).

I shoved as BB over the SB call as my last act at my starting table before I was moved. I got there with 57,500 chips, only 69% of the average stack, and with blinds at 3,000/6,000/500; an M-ratio of 4.2.

My first act at my new seat was on BTN and I shoved with [jd 9d]. The 13,500 chips in the pot from blinds and antes was substantial in comparison with my stack.

Just a couple minutes later, I made an actual bet of 17,000 with [ax qx] and induced folds. I’d worked my way up to 65,500 (50 players left, average stack: 101,680).

The next break began just after I’d gone through the blinds. I had 55,500—barely more than half the average stack—and blinds were going to be starting up at 4,000/8,000/1,000, leaving me with an M-ratio of just 2.6. Again. 49 players left.

The big stack at our table was dominating from the other end. I went all-in over a raise from him with [kx qx] and I still had enough chips to get him to fold. That popped me up to 87,000 (average 105,916) briefly.

I raised to 20K with [as 9s] UTG. BB called. The flop was king-high, there were no spades, and I folded to an all-in.

Another round of blinds took me down to 51,000.

The big stack wasn’t liking my shoves any more than the other table had. I was all-in again against his raise and he folded, saying he had [kx qx]. I (probably mistakenly) flipped over my [kx qx].

43 players left as we approached the five-hour mark. I had 68,000 chips left and needed a double-up badly.

I was playing so tight I folded [qs ts] UTG.

My final hand was against the big stack. He finally called my all-in (this time with [kx jx]) and he had [6x 6x], which held up. I think he probably would have called even if I hadn’t showed on the previous hand.

The call with the eights against the kings was significant. I never made it back up to the chip average after that point, although I managed to stay in play for another three hours plus.

Five hours and fifteen minutes. 38th of 153 players.

N Took My Chips

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No, the Poker Mutant hasn’t gone into hibernation, although with a trip to the doctor and the snow and the vagaries of the work schedule, I haven’t had as much time to devote to updating the blog as I’d promised myself I would. There’s a half-finished article in my bag on the mathematics behind teams of players entering tournaments that I need to get done.

The day before my last post, I beat the rest of the field in my home league game, picking up some valuable points toward the Player of the Year prize of a WSOP buy-in. More importantly, since I’m still in second place and the season is drawing to an end, I knocked out KB—the current POY leader—before any of the other players, maximizing the value of the points I earned.

Ten dry days went by before I made another hit, this time in the morning free roll at Portland Players Club. There were six of us at the final table, and one player had about a third of the chips in play when a deal was made to give her a big chunk of the prize pool and split the rest. Not a lot of money but some profit.

I hadn’t played the Aces Players Club $5,000 guarantees on Fridays or Saturdays at noon before, but the results-oriented opinion is that I like them a lot. I was doing reasonably well by break two. The structure allows two re-buys, which can be purchased at any time in the first levels and stacked on top of each other, so it’s possible to enter the game with 30,000 in chips, akin to a Triple Barrel PLO game but where you have to pay for extra stacks. I just bought in once, but I was up to 38,100 at the second break, with the chip average several thousand lower than that.

I caught an incredible break about 45 minutes into the fourth hour after raising with [ks qs] from middle position when a player in BB pushed all-in. I called and was heads-up  against [ax ax] and practical elimination, but another ace on the turn made Broadway for me and I don’t think I’ve ever seen as disgusted a look on a player’s face. It pushed my up to 89,500 chips (total chips in play after the add-on was 1.78 million).

I started knocking out players with things like [as 8s] pairing the eight as the high card on an all-diamond flop. At the end of four hours there were only 30 of the original 70 or so entries and I was over 100,000 chips. Twelve places we’re scheduled to be paid.

A huge knockout half an hour in pushed me over 200,000 chips, and another at the five-hour mark meant 260,000. By break three we were only four from the money (two, once a decision to pay two bubbles was agreed on).

I lost a 60k chunk calling an all-in with [as ts] on a [6x 8x 4x] flop when [ax 8x] made it, but then knocked out two players at once with [tx tx] (which had been working well for me all game). I called two all-ins, they had [kx qx] and [kx jx] and none of the cards on the board were above a jack. I was sitting on a stack of 430,000 chips, about 23% of the chips in the game with 10 players left.

The final table bubble took a while to play out. After we consolidated, I lost a couple of calls for all-ins but made my way back both times until we were down to five players. After doubling another player up for over 100,000, I still had the chip lead, but agreed to an even chop so I could get to the $10K at Encore. I think the stack below is about 600,000 chips. The full stacks are ten-high, the yellow are 25,000, the gray are 10,000, the red are 5,000 and the pink are 1,000.

Over at Encore, I got into the game shortly before the end of the second level (I hate coming in late). I’d forgotten that the levels are longer and that I could have bought in for another hour, or I might have played out the Aces game to the end. Something to consider but I still hate coming in late.

I got off to a good start right off the bat, pushing up over 16,000 in short order, then got cut down by N (who told me the other day he thought he played like a pro—although I thought at first he said “fool”—then again he spent part of another game one day trying to convince people I was Howard Lederer’s cousin) who rivered a flush against my paired [ax kx]. With  4,900 left, I managed to chip up a little bit until I hit two pair playing [8c 6c] and N hit a straight with [7d 9d] on the river. No re-buys!

Pulling the Trigger

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A Saturday chop at Encore sent me into a scramble to catch the tail end of the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza I, in the hopes of chipping up my couple of thousand to something bigger. Obligations at home kept me from taking off until Wednesday night, so I missed the a couple of games I would have liked to play—like the $460 Big Bounty and $350 PLO/PLO8 game on Tuesday—but I caught an afternoon flight and made it down to Las Vegas, finally getting into the hotel about 9pm, then having to wait in line for half an hour to check in.

I was far too late for the last entry stage of the 7pm $175 daily tournament by the time I dumped my stuff off in my room at the Imperial Palace, but I figured I’d wander up to see where the tournament area had been moved, in The Palazzo, then figure out what to do. It was about a fifteen or twenty-minute walk from the IP, depending on how fast you were going and how many people were on the street. I briefly considered playing the 10pm, but figured I’d rather be rested for the noon $350, so I just bought my ticket and wandered back to The Venetian to see what I could find in the way of a cash game. Nothing open but Hold’em; I put my name on the board for the 1-2 PLO (I figured it would be practice for the Triple Barrel tournament) and 1-2 Big ‘O’, since the waits for Omaha8 were exceedingly long. Then I sat. And sat. Finally, just before midnight, I was called for Big ‘O’, which I’d played in tournaments but never for more than a single hand in a dealer’s choice cash game. Just after I sat down, my name came up for PLO and I stupidly gave it up, then proceeded to bust out of the Big ‘O’ game in about ten minutes. At least I got a few hands of poker in for the day. Went back to the IP and got a few hours of sleep after that.

Venetian 2012 Deep Stack Extravaganza I Event 27 $350 No Limit Hold’em

No surprise, but all of the DSE merchandise was gone by the middle of the last week. I got my food voucher and headed early to me seat.

We started off with 12,000 chips in this tournament. The players were pretty sparse in the first minutes, and most of the early birds looked like they were older than me. The “Internet kids” weren’t there yet. Are there still Internet kids in the post-Black Friday American poker scene?

Played [qh 4h] on my second hand and made Broadway on the turn to take in a pot of nearly 5,000 chips, then lost ground on a flush draw that knocked me below 13,000.

[ax qx]. Play it or not? According to PokerListings, Daniel Negreanu’s nickname for the hand was “1.4”, based on how many millions of dollars he’d lost on it. It didn’t cost me that much but it took pre-flop raises by [ax kx] and [kx kx] in close succession to get me bak as high as 10,000 chips. Just to show I hadn’t learned my lesson, I made top pair with [ax qx] shortly after that, but my top pair didn’t look good in the face of four to a straight on the board.

With one exception (see later) my back always seems to be toward tournament clocks, no matter where I’m playing, and this time was no exception. Time wasn’t going to be on my side either way, with me going too far out on a limb with [9x 9x] and a board with two overs. I was right in figuring my opponent hadn’t hit the board with two over cards to my pair, but I was wrong about his hand strength: [kx kx]. THat took me down to 7,000 chips.

Another misstep with [as 2s] dropped me down to 5,000 when [ax ax] came calling. Lost some more with what I’m calling the “mini-Butcher” ([qx 9x]) against [8x 8x], then called a re-raise with [qx jx] and found myself with just 2,650 about an hour and forty minutes in.

I raised with [kx jx] and found myself with a gutshot straight on the flop, hitting the queen I needed on the turn and going all-in to win a pot of 2,000 chips. That pushed me up to 3,600. Another [kx jx] cost me when I had to lay down or go all in after the turn with an up-and-down straight draw. Shortly before the break, I shoved with [ah 6h] and got a call from [ax kx] but pulled out a flush and doubled to 4,825.

After the break,the first hand I folded [tx 7x] on BTN—usually something I’d play from that position as long as the cost of entry wasn’t too big—then I watched my [9x 6x 8x] roll out on the flop. Fifteen minutes after the end of break, I was all-in with [ah th] after a [9x ax 9x ] flop and got one call, but it only made up ground I’d been losing, putting me just under 5,000 chips.

UTG with [4x 4x], I called a raise to 800 and got a flop with all diamonds. I didn’t have one and folded to a post-flop bet. My last hand was against [4x 4x]. My [ax jx] went nowhere and I was out.

Two hours and forty-five minutes. -100% ROI. 220th of 278 players. $80,481 prize pool.

Venetian 2012 Deep Stack Extravaganza I Event 28 $350 Triple Barrel Pot Limit Omaha

The Triple Barrel format gives you 4,000 in chips and two lammers worth 4,000 chips each that can be put into play at any time prior to the end of the first break. I’d first seen the Triple Barrel format on television during the 2011 WSOP Heads-Up Championship match between Jake Cody and Yevgeniy Timoshenko. Between that and the fact that I only have limited experience in PLO, I was chalking this one up to a learning experience.

My neighbor to my right took the big stack strategy, electing to start off with 12,000 chips. I stuck with my small stack, although I think he may have had a better idea of what he was doing than me. Regardless of my inexperience, I was the first person at the table to win a pot after four straight take-downs by the woman in seat nine. On her first pot, the older guy on my left says something about her scooping the pot. I think he’s making a joke, but an hour into the game several of us are talking and he says it took a while for him to realize that we weren’t playing Hi-Lo, because there weren’t any qualifying lows on the board.

I lost my first stack about forty-five minutes in, with two pair and a straight draw against a lower straight draw who called my repot raise and caught his card on the river.

Fifteen minutes into the second barrel and it was down to 2,575 as well. Then I had nut flush and open-ended straight draws on the flop and three of us went all in. I tripled up to 8,150 chips, which combined with my remaining lammer put me ahead of the starting stack, slightly.

I folded out post-flop with an up-and-down draw with lots of action developing. The [3x] on the river would have made my straight and won the pot for me. I was down a bit, but hit a set of sixes and bet the pot to win a hand. I still had 7,500 and a lammer. Once again, the tournament clock was behind me.

Just about two hours in and I had two pair on the flop, but running kings on the turn and river don’t make them look so good and I have to lay my chips down, which drops me to 2,400 and a bullet. I cash in my lammer at the break and have just 8,950 chips left.

During the break, one of the guys at my table mentions that a player at the other end is WSOP bracelet-winner Eric Baldwin. And Eli Elezra‘s at the next table over.

I’m starting to run on fumes, though. I have two pair and am good to the turn, but I can’t shake the big stack next to me and he sticks through to the river to catch a better two pair, leaving me with just 4,125.

Half-an-hour after the break, my doom awaits. I try to lay a trap holding the king-high flush on the flop and check, then call a raise from the big stack on my right that put me all-in against a full house. Before I left, I got confirmation from the big stack that his ideal strategy for Triple Barrel is to cash out at the beginning. And get great cards.

Three hours and thirty-five minutes. -100% ROI. 42nd of 66 players. $19,107 prize pool.

Venetian 2012 Deep Stack Extravaganza I Event 28 $120 Nightly No Limit Hold’em

I went and had dinner, then wandered back to the IP to lick my wounds and call Ms. Poker Mutant. I avoided the Venetian cash room after my Big ‘O’ drubbing of the night before, and made it back to The Palazzo in time for the 10pm $120 tournament. Half the field of 106 was gone already in the 7pm $175 tournament after just three hours.

The vibe at the night table was very different from the afternoon games. There’d been plenty of talking and jokes at both the earlier tournaments—everyone had a pretty good laugh with the guy who told everyone he’d started the PLO game thinking it was PLO8—but the woman who sat in seat 1 at my table called over to a friend at the next table that they were playing for “Strip club money, baby!” And that pretty much set the tone for the rest of the game. She was gone in relatively short order, but a friend of hers who I shall refer to as The Ape, got sat a spot from my left, then proceeded to shove all-in with [kx 2x] over a couple of raises, only to bust out, buy back in, and sit down at the other table.

Meanwhile, I’d played [8c 5c] and made top pair on the flop but let a guy get to the river who was trying to bet me off. He caught his ace on the river and thirty-five minutes in I was down to 4,600 from the starting stack of 8,000.

Fifteen minutes later, I picked up [qx qx] on BTN and am hoping for some major action. Instead, everyone folds to me, I raise and one of the blinds comes along. Another queen shows on the flop and I make a small raise and the blind folds, gaining me only 500 chips.

[ad 8d] made middle pair and I kept betting, which eventually won me the hand and put my stack up to 6,450. A loss knocked me down to 5,125 by seventy-five minutes, then an attempt to protect my button but me down to 3,950.

At least I could see the tournament clock. The 10pm seems to be the bastard child of the Deep Stack Extravaganza, so we got a kitchen timer.

On the break, I checked around the other tournaments still running at 11:30pm. The Triple Barrel had 12 players left, there were only 29 of the 7pm players still in. And there were still 29 in from the noon $350 game.

The Ape had busted out of the game again and been moved back to the same seat he’d been in before. He actually accumulated some chips this time, but he seemed to have a beef with the guy on his left. He claimed to have a “last-longer” bet with one of his other friends in the tournament, the value of which started off at $2,000, then changed at some point to $1,000. Top prize was only about $950, and I was wishing that they’d take their strip club money and head out.

Once action was going again, middle pair and [4h 8h] worked for me, then I picked up a couple more hands, which put me in a position where I could fold a raise of 1,000 holding [ac qc] to an all-in and still have 12,225 chips left. Then [ah 7h] making a flush on the flop after I raised to 800 pre-flop and got two calls. A 1,500 bet post-flop scared them away.

I’ve never called a clock on anyone in my life before, but The Ape got into a Phil Hellmuth-like tirade with the guy on his left, going on about how he’d promised to tell him “a story.” It went on and on, with everyone at the table seeming to be wishing they (or he) were anywhere else. The floor seemed to be very reluctant to actually put the clock in play; apparently The Ape is a regular player. A little later, when he was busted out, he just sat there for a couple minutes and the table was completely silent.

Two and a quarter hours in, I lost some ground with a suited [jx tx] when I missed an up-and-down straight and flush draw. I still had over 10,000 chips, but the blinds were getting large. Half and hour later, they’d chopped me down to 7,200.

I’d just gone through the blinds on table 2 when the final table was made and I got stuck just ahead of the blinds again. I had nothing playable, and was down to 5,100 chips when I was on the button again.

I was UTG and about to hit the blinds again at 800/1,600/100 when I looked down at [qx qx]. Naturally, I was all in, and just as naturally, not too many people were concerned about calling my stack of about 4,500 chips. Two callers: one with [ax kx] and the other with [4x 4x]. The ace hit on the flop and I was done for the day.

Three hours. -100% ROI. 8th of 24 players.

Venetian 2012 Deep Stack Extravaganza I Event 27 $560 No Limit Hold’em

I headed over to The Palazzo for breakfast Friday morning in my suit and tie, then wandered over the bridge to The Wynn to look around. Nothing but expensive shops. I tried to find an alternative route back, but the valet would have none of it, steering me back to the bridge.

Feeling a little thirsty after my excursion, I stepped into the Grand Lux Cafe to have a Diet Coke that was indeed “lux” at $3.51 for a 20 oz. bottle. As I was on my way out, one of the guys at the counter asked me where I’d gotten my shoes. I told him Portland was crawling with Nike outlets and mentioned that I’d gotten them because 2 and 3 were my favorite pair of cards, a little joke I’d thought of earlier in the morning.

I got the security guard near the dragon in the Palazzo gallery to take my picture in full regalia for the day, and when I sat down early for the $560 got to chatting with the dealer and told her my joke about playing that day because I was suited. She laughed and said that was an original one to her, which made me happy. Also, 15,000 in chips.

My first hand in the match, I had [ad 2d] UTG and folded after three clubs came on the flop. Another suited ace just a couple minutes later ([as 5s]) on the BB made the middle pair and I won with 5s and 7s and the ace kicker. Up to 18,050 less than 10 minutes in.

I lost some ground fishing for a flush with [ad td, then played [ac 3c] because of the joke about the shoes and caught a pair of threes and a flush draw. I re-raised post-flop by 4,000 chips and ended up beating [kx jx] with the pair.

Twenty minutes in, and I was up by nearly 6,000 chips.

Just past the half-hour mark, I have [ax 7x] and see a [7x 7x 9x] flop. There are two raises ahead of me and I pop it to 4,000. Seat 1 goes all-in, the players between us get out, and I call. He has [6x 7x], I have him covered, and my kicker holds. He’s out.

Almost immediately, my [kx jx] makes a straight and I take another big pot. I’m up to 47,000 chips forty minutes into the match.

With [kx qx], I call a pre-flop three-bet of 2,400 and hit the up-and-down straight draw, then shove and take the pot. Then The Butcher ([qx tx]) hits a flush draw and I semi-bluff everyone off that pot. Eighty minutes in and I’m over 54,000 chips.

I lose several thousand trying for an inside straight draw with [8c 9c]. Down to 52,450 with the chip average at 17,250 at one hour and forty-five minutes.

I’d read a section in an article on the way down about amateur players who get big stacks in large tournaments having a tendency to rein in their play for fear of losing their chip advantage. And despite the fact that I’d read that just two days prior, it’s exactly what I did here and—more importantly—in another hand in this tournament. I’ve described what happened here to a couple of people who say that my actions don’t sound like me, and I don’t think I’m giving too much away by saying they’re not what I would normally do.

I was on BTN with [ah 5h] and called a raise to 450 just past the two hour mark. SB went all in for 6,500, getting two callers. None of them had much more than the starting stack, but I folded, only to watch a straight to the six roll out on the flop. A pair won the hand; I could have potentially knocked out three players.

At the break, I had 48,775 chips. A few late comers put the number of entries up to 222, with a prize pool of $107,115 and a top prize of $25,709 with 27 paid.

I took down to hands in a row with spade flush draws and raises post-flop and was back over 50,000 fifteen minutes after the break was over.

My biggest mistake came at the three hour mark. The player who’d won the hand where I folded the straight was later pointed out to me as Randy Dorfman. I had [6x 6x] and got to the flop of [5x 6x 7x]. I was pleased, but we checked it around to the [ad] turn, which put two diamonds on the board. A player to my right raised, I re-raised to 7,000, then Dorfman shoved all-in for another 20,000 chips. The initial raiser went all-in for less, and in the face of a flush draw or a made straight, I folded, even though if I’d lost, I still would have had more than the average stack. Dorfman flipped over [5x 5x] for the lesser set and the other player shoed a couple of diamonds, but no diamond on the river meant Dorfman took the pot. It was a good bet, but the old Poker Mutant would never have folded that set.

I called a small all-in ten minutes later with [kd td], got two other callers, and hit trip kings by the river to make up some ground. 61,000 chips with the average at 21,000.

I stuck to another pair of sixes ([6c 6d]) that made a club flush on the turn. It wasn’t a great flush, but it was good enough to put me over 65,000.

Lost 5,000 with [6s ts] and middle pair on the flop, but still had nearly three times the average stack of 22,000.

About an hour after he picked off my winning sixes, Dorfman got chopped down trying to get fancy with the player on my left, who I believe was this guy, making someone other than me the table chip leader for the first time in a couple of hours. Dorfman busted out almost immediately to another player on my end of the table.

With two large rival chip stacks on left, I didn’t have quite the free reign I’d had before. I lost 14,000 on a flush draw that cut me down to 50,000 before the second break. We had 102 players to go before the money.

I got very lucky in SB with [jc 8c] about four hours and forty-five minutes in. The flop hits [8h 6h 8d]. I check, a guy after me bets 1,800, and I shove way over his stack. He thinks for a bit then calls with [6x 9x] and just a couple of outs. I win and have about 90,000 chips.

I called an all-in by the player who knocked out Dorfman with [qx 9x] and a gutshot straight to the king. The hole in the straight fills in on the river, but the [jh] also completes a flush for my opponent and he doubles.

My suited [ax 2x] loses in a flush draw next when [kx qx] makes a set. I’m down to 57,000.

The stack I doubled up is now larger than me. I have the bottom end of a four-card straight on the board and push, but he has the top end and knocks me out in 119th place.

Five hours and fifteen minutes. -100% ROI. 119th of 222 players.

I had another day before I was scheduled to return to Portland, but I decided to husband the last bit of my winnings from the Encore game and headed back to the IP, got my reservation bumped up a day, then hightailed it to the airport and home to start building up for the next attempt. If I can manage it, I want to hit The Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles for Winnin’ o’ the Green series mid-month, possibly with a trip to the WSOP Circuit at Harrah’s Rincon north of San Diego.

If I’m Going to Live Fast and Die Young I’d Better Get On With It

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Encore Club $5,000 Guarantee

My big game for the week was the Encore on Friday night rather than Saturday because I had plans for Saturday (more of that in a bit). This game got off to a great start for me and then went all to hell as it so often does.

Several players at the table had chipped up a bit from the 9,000 starting stack, although the table behind us was the one announcing re-buys every few minutes (they’d been a late-seated table and there was a re-buy on their first hand). I was in the SB at what I think was only 50/100 still, and looked down at [8x 8x]. There was some raising ahead of me, but I had to see the flop; there was a couple thousand in the pot pre-flop.

Then the flop showed [8x 7x 2x] in a rainbow of colors. If I remember the sequence correctly, I believe I checked it. BB bet out 2,000 chips. SH—a club regular seated in HJ position—called, followed by BTN. I raised to 5,000. SB pushed all-in for 13,000+, SH shoved over the top, and I was so twitchy to get my chips into the middle I set off alarms and BTN didn’t have to think about it and folded. SB had [2x 2x] and SH had the [7x 7x], so we were set over set over set. I couldn’t have been happier as my top set held through the river and I raked in a pot of about 40,000 chips.

That was the end of the good times, though. I held my fire through to the break, playing patiently. Nut the hands weren’t coming, not even suited gappers. The one time I picked up a [ks qs] in BTN position, I was ready to make a move when SH—who had re-bought and managed to build up a decent stack by that time—shoved it in. I pushed the cards away, thinking I’d find a better spot, but it just never came. When I did make a call of a raise with a speculative hand, it got picked off by stacks large enough I just couldn’t stick with it.

Eventually, I got to the point where I was getting cut down by better hands. By the end of my night, I was down to less than 10,000 chips, picked up [as qs], and shoved from late position, hoping just to take the blinds. The player in BB looked down at her hand, called, and flipped over [ax kx], hitting the king on the river.

Three hours and forty minutes. -100% ROI. 50th of 108 players.

Tomer Drops By

It was an honor to have Tomer Berda, WSOP $2,500 No Limit Hold’em bracelet winner and #12 on Bluff‘s 2010 Player of the Year list (#22 on CardPlayer‘s 2010 list) over at the house last Saturday, as he and his friend made a trip through the Northwest. He’s been a source of inspiration and useful data since we reconnected shortly before he won his bracelet. We had the usual fantastic dinner at Khun Pic’s Bahn Thai.

Poker Mutant 2011 In Review

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Since my concentration on live tournaments after missing out on my home league’s Player Of the Year WSOP buy-in pool and Black Friday’s crushing of the online poker action in the US, I’ve played 169 tournaments, mostly at Portland-area poker venues.

I had a couple of goals:

  1. Make it to the WSOP. I hoped to put together enough between 1 May and mid-June to make up for missing out on the POY pool, so I could play one of the low-end WSOP events and visit with Tomer. Two early wins at the PPC right off the bat gave me some hope, but times were tight, I had to dip into my poker bankroll for personal expenses, and June slipped away before I made it up.
  2. Make it to Prague. My next goal was to make it to the EPT event in the Czech Republic that started on my 50th birthday. Prague’s supposed to be a great place to be just before Christmas, I could take Ms. Poker Mutant with me for part of the trip, we’d make a little European vacation of it, and maybe I’d get lucky. Problem was, I figured I needed about $20,000 for travel expenses, the $7,500 EPT buy-in, and some money for side events that might make the trip worthwhile, poker-wise. Kept coming up waaaaay short until a win just a couple of weeks before I needed to be on my way made it possible—if unlikely—to build the roll up. No luck, but I tried.

I’ve played an average of 21 tournaments each of the last eight months. Thirty-one of those have been games where the buy-in was $100, $120, or $150. I played three tournaments at Foxwoods. And—briefly—the $2,500 Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza IV at The Venetian. I’ve made the final table in two of the seven $10,000 guarantees I’ve played at the Encore Club, placing 8th in a field of 142 back when they were monthly, and taking first in a field of 75 since they’ve gone weekly. I also took second in their 138-player Tournament of Champions back in August. Got to play 2-7 Triple Draw the other day with a guy who was a hair’s-breadth from winning a WSOP bracelet. So even though my main goals were thwarted, not a bad year for the Poker Mutant.

Go, Bob! Go!

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Dedicating today’s post to Badih “Bob” Bounahra, my sentimental favorite for taking down the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event during next week’s November Nine Final Table.

Portland Players Club Noon $250 Guarantee (2,000 chips)

Got the 2,000 pre-add-on. Won the first hand with [5s 7s], hitting the straight on the flop and a straight flush draw on the turn. Pulled in over 1,500 chips from the pot and was still up over 5,000 chips after 15 minutes.

Went all-in with [kh jd] with top pair and three diamonds on the flop and got called by a hand holding the [ad]. Caught a third king on the turn and no more diamonds showed up. Then I won a couple smaller pots with just a pair of kings on one hand and sixes on the other. By forty-five minutes in I was up to 12,000 chips.

Got involved in a three-way all-in with just [7x 7x] against [tx tx] and [ax 9x]. The tens made a full house and I lost 2,400 chips. Lost some more drawing to a flush with just [4s 2s] and was down to 8,000 at fifty minutes.

Bet hard post-flop with [qx qx] from SB and again with [ax tx] that made a wheel on the river and took two pots down without showdown, which put me back up to 12,300 ten minutes later.

One of the players hit three full houses in the time I was at the table and I got caught by one of them, losing 1,600 on [tx 4x] with just top pair against his [3x 3x]. At break 1 I was down to 9,200 and added 4,000.

Slowly crept back up to 10,300 chips by the middle of the second hour, but got knocked out when I went all-in with [5d 6d] and middle pair when I was called by the big stack who had jacks for top pair. I think I almost managed to bluff him off, he would have taken a big hit if I’d managed to make a set or two pair, and he said he was expecting to see kings when he called me. But he did call me and he won.

115 minutes. -100% ROI. Finished 21st of 26 players. Pot was $615, including 16 re-buys, and over 50 addons (both pre- and post-).

Portland Players Club $200 Guarantee Freeroll (2,000 chips)

Got the 2,000 chip pre-add-on. Twenty minutes into the game I’d won a few and lost a few but I’d lost more quantity than I’d won, so I was down to 3,825. Then I picked up [jd 9d] and made two pair on the flop, with the third card being a diamond. My push got called and two more diamonds hit the turn and river, improving me to a flush and putting me up to 7,700 at the 45-minute mark.

Made a stupid mistake after calling 200 with [kx tx]. The ace-high flop didn’t have much on it for me, and I folded to a post-flop all-in bet of 500, but there were three callers and no more bets as a queen and jack ran out to make what could have been Broadway (and the nuts) for me.

Raised pre-flop at 100/200 to 500 with [ax 6x] and got two callers. Bet 2,000 on a flop of [ax kx jx] and took it down, then made a flush draw on the next flop with [jh 2h] and bet 600 for another win. At break 1 I had 9,100 before getting the 4,000 chip add-on.

I raised to 1,000 from 200/400 with [ax tx] and got a caller, hit the ace on the flop and bet 1,500 to take another pot, then things started to fall apart.

UTG with an up-and-down straight draw, I lost more than 3,000 with [kx qx] against [ax tx]. Dropped another 4,000 stupidly betting on [kx 5x] with a flop of [tx 5x 2x] against the big stack of one of the better players in the house. I had to fold after the turn when he bet enough to put me all-in. He said he had [ax tx] and I have no reason to disbelieve him; he knows my fondness for [jx tx].

[js td] cost me 1,200 after the flop whiffed past me. At 1:25 into the game, I was down to 4,400. Dropped another 1,200 on a weak ace.

Final hand was [9x 7x]. Blinds were 300/600, I was in BB and there were two all-ins ahead of me. If I was lucky, I could triple up to 8,000 or so. The big stack had [tx tx], the other all-in had [ax qx], and nothing came close to saving me.

Ninety minutes. -100% ROI. 12th of 21 players.

Only 32 winning days before EPT Prague.

Badih

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Although I haven’t been posting much the past couple of months, it hasn’t been because I’ve stopped playing; just that I’ve been testing whether my note-taking during live games affected my play (apparently not). But I just wanted to note that the motto of the Poker Mutant is that “49 is the new 50” for the reason that I’m seven years older than the World Series of Poker, as is Badih “Bob” Bounahra, who’s a member of this year’s November Nine, in sixth place with 19.7 million chips. There is still hope for some of us old guys.

 

Zero-Outer

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Puffmammy 2010/11 Main Event (6,000 chips, 1 Re-Buy, 1 Add-On)

There was only a faint chance that I could make up the 42-point deficit in the league standings to retake the Player of the Year lead with this final game of the series and three things had to happen:

  1. At least eighteen players needed to show up to create a point spread wide enough to make it possible for me to catch DV.
  2. DV needed to go out before anyone else (with eighteen players) or very early (with more).
  3. I needed to take first place to pick up the extra bonus points awarded.

A few other scenarios were possible but incredibly unlikely. If we’d had 20 players, either first or second would have put me back on top if DV busted first; we would have needed 24 for me to do it with a third-place win.

As it was, although it looked like there were going to be 18 players a few hours before the event, a last-minute cancellation meant that the POY pot was out of reach. The unlikeliest of the three was DV going out early, because he hadn’t gone out first in any event all year, and had only gone out in second or third positions about one out of seven games. Naturally, last night was the night he re-bought first and busted out first.

As to item three, I got an early chip lead at the table, but then called an all-in from WA and my [8x 8x] were no good against his [tx tx]. It only busted me down to a little above the starting stack, which was better than some, but it presaged a series of bad calls and cards that ended up with me calling an all-in from KN (with I can’t remember what), that left me with a single 25 chip.

I sadly re-bought up to 3K and ran into difficulty once again, with KB sitting on a big stack of chips directly to my left. I’d lost a 1K chip almost immediately playing a suited gap card against a raise from T, but KB snapped things off with an all-in that I had to fold to.

The end snuck up on me. I had [6d 7d] on BB and got a couple of diamonds on the flop, then went all-in. KB called me and I hit the ace-high flush on the turn and thought I’d won, but another [ax] made KB’s full house, which came crashing down around my ears and I was out for the night in eleventh place, even falling into third-place for the season behind KN, who took second in the Main Event behind KB who was moving up strongly as fourth.

End of An Era, Pt. 4

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Full Tilt Round 1 Freeroll (1,500 chips)

Another run at a freeroll. Doubled up on the second hand with [th ad] in SB. UTG2 was all-in for 1,605. I called with 1,470. He showed [qd kh], the flop had [ah] in the middle, and it was over by the river.

Fifth hand grabbed me even more chips. [qc 3c] in CO. Five of us limped in, [as 2c kc] gave me second nut flush draw, I called HJ’s bet of 30, the blinds folded, and UTG1 called. [8c] made my flush, UTG1 checked, HJ bet 30 again and I raised to 100. Both UTG1 and HJ came along. A scary [ks] hit the river, making several full house possibilities, but I didn’t think either of them had it. UTG1 checked, HJ was all-in for 1,325, I went all-in (UTG1 only had 15 more than HJ), UTG1 folded. HJ had a set of kings, but that didn’t touch my flush. That popped me over 4,700.

My [3s 3c] that made twos full of threes by the river was bested by [th tc] a few hands later, though, costing me 1,200, and on the very next hand an ill-advised all-in call with [ac js] burned me for nearly 3,000 chips when [kd kh] showed up for the showdown. I was down to 910 after that.

I managed to briefly recover two hands later with something similar to what had gotten me started: [ts ah]. I had 1,000 even on BTN, we were still at 15/30. HJ raised all-in to 935. I went all-in. BB—who’d taken me down with the kings a minute earlier, called. We flipped the cards over, BB had kings again: [kh ks]. HJ was in bad shape with [kd qh]. The flop showed some promise: [2d 3h 5h]. Any ace, any four, a couple more hearts…I could even still get a straight flush. The turn [7s] didn’t do me any good but I got my [ac] on the river (h/t Barry Greenstein). The pot netted me nearly 2,000 chips.

All of which I lost three hands later with [ac kc]. Blinds were 20/40. I raised to 100 from UTG1. The guy with kings was CO and re-raised to 360, getting a call from BTN. I re-raised to 1,020; CO and BTN were in. The flop looked good: [ah qc ad]. At least so long as he didn’t have a [qx]. I bet my last 1,900 and got a call. He had the Mutant Jack: [as js]. Nearly 7K in the pot, I was a 4:1 favorite to win. [8d] for the turn. [jd] for the river. Nobody named their book for that.

18 minutes, 14 hands. Placed 4,564 of 6,983 players.

Full Tilt $1 Main Event Satellite (1,500 chips)

BAM! Out of the gate, picked up steam with a win holding [kd 8d] on BTN. Four of us to the flop after a raise to 80 from UTG. [ks 6c ts] and everyone checked to me. I bet 180, getting a call from only BB. [9c] on turn and I bet another 700 (with only 540 behind), driving off BB and netting me 440.

[ks 8s] was mine again in CO, five hands later. Action folded to me, I raised to 100. BTN and SB called. I made top pair on the [6s 8d 2h] flop, SB bet 200, I called, BTN folded. An [8h] for the turn made a set but SB (who had me covered by thousands) bet 550. I raised all-in for 1,515 and he called, showing a weaker kicker: [8c 5c]. harmless [7s] on the river and I was up to 3,780.

That was my apex, though. I raised a limp by UTG1 to 200 as UTG2 at 40/80. 4 callers. Low cards on the flop: [9s 3c 6s]. UTG bet 700 and I raised to 1,500, putting him on a pair to the board, which I could beat. Three folds, then a call from UTG. [2c] for the turn and UTG checked. I bet 1,960 all-in. UTG called with just 130 behind, then dropped [9c 8s]. I was just about there, but then [8d] showed up, giving him two pair and knocking me out.

18 minutes, 21 hands. 85th of 201 players.

Twenty-Three

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Puffmammy Tournament 23 (1,700 chips)

Only one more regular game between last night’s game and the Main Event and I lost another point to D, putting me a nigh-insurmountable forty points behind on the leader board, so it looks like he’s a lock for the WSOP entry fee.

I was a little encouraged early on, when he had to rebuy in literally the first couple of hands after being busted out by K. There was an incredible amount of action early on compared to our usual game, it seemed.

I managed to build up a good stack of chips, twice with sets of fours—including chasing down to the river for my third to make a full house— but took a major hit when I pushed with [kx kx] and V on my right called with [ax ax]. Never recovered after that.

Two hours of play. Finished a meagre sixth out of seven.