Glenn's Poker Journal

Husband to FeliciaLee.. here are some of my poker adventures in 'bilking the internet poker machine, six dollars at a time' (--quoted from Sean, Anisotropy).

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Location: United States

NOT a poker blogger!

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Card Dead at WSOP

Well, I made it for 13.5 hours, but that still wasn't good enough to survive day 1. I got knocked out when I shoved vs what I figured was a steal attempt of my blind. Dude's 66's held vs my AJo and I was out at 1:30am. I'm glad I got to play, but just wish I had more to work with.

Felicia asked me the day before how I was feeling. It was really weird. I was more excited when I initially won the seat. I think all that we went through trying to get the seat transferred, then to get actual confirmation, was such an emotional roller coaster that once I got there it was kind of like just another tournament.

It was a little surreal to be there at WSOP, having 10K in tournament chips, but still condensed into one stack. Seemed so anticlimatic. I wanted a pyramid of chips! If I remember correctly, we got 7 1K chips, 4 500's, 8 100's, and 8 25's. So almost a stack and a half. Hummf. (-grin-)

Anyway, during the first few rounds people were being tight. I was hoping to catch some hands, maybe sneak in with a suited connector, catch good and make some chips. I think the only suited connector that I limped with was 54s in late position and didn't get anything. I did get a draw and was priced on the flop, but didn't get there. Turn, guy bet the pot, the guy in between dropped, and I didn't think that the implied odds were there, so I just folded.

Few rounds later I'm in the BB with 97o and I got a free flop. This one Hungarian guy two to my left had limped in UTG+1. I think he'd only come into a pot 2 other times. So I kind of got a tightish impression of him, but it was still within the first hour, therefore, I didn't have a hard cast read of him. He could have just been card dead for all I know.

Flop comes Q99 with two hearts. I flopped trips. With two draws on the board, I lead out. This also disguises my hand to many, who would think that if the blind flopped trips that he'd naturally check in the hopes someone else would bet. The Hungarian guy [HG] called, one person folded, and a late position guy [LP] called. I figured that they were on a draw (possible hearts, possible JT); so when the turn brought an 8 that would complete the straight, I checked. HG checked, LP checked. Both heart draws? River is another offsuit (no flush), but a 7! I filled.

I think I bet 200 (half the pot) on the flop, so getting two calls, there was about 1000 in the pot. I did a weak-lead 200 bet again, hoping to be raised by a straight. HG raised to 500 and LP cold-called. Great, I thought, just what I wanted. I added 2 yellow 1k chips to the two black I had out there to make it 2200 to go. The HG dude looks at me for a little, then makes it 5000. Excuse me?

Meanwhile, the LP guy, who had called the bet and raise to 500, cold-called the 5000. Wow! I immediately started thinking that the HG must have limped with QQ and slow played his top full house to the river. Trying to put the LP on a hand, I was wondering if he had the straight or the case 9, but wasn't full. Can't raise because he can't beat a straight, or he slow played the straight on the turn, but with the raising thought a full house was possible, but won't lay it down.
So I figured I had at least had LP beat. What about HG? The alarm bells were blaring and he seemed confident. I tried talking to him: "Did you really just limp with QQ?." No response. "You have Queens full, don't you?" He says, "Excuse me?" in such broken english that I'm finally understanding that I'm not going to get any reads on him because he doesn't understand what I'm asking! Aiyaa. I looked at the pot that has over 12k chip in it and that I have to call 2800 more to make sure he didn't just raise with a turned 88's full or straight since the turn was check-check-check.

I really didn't want to be under 5k within the first round, but I didn't want to fold and find out that HG had a straight and LP had the case nine and my hand was good. Getting better than 4-1, I called and got shown what I feared: QQ for Q's-full on the flop. Back to the drawing board.

I kept folding hand after hand waiting for cards. I called a small raise once with 88 since there was another caller in between. No set and too many overs and I folded.

As time went on, I got shorter and shorter. I stole when I could. A couple times I got nothing and my flop bet was called. I wasn't able to defend a river bet, so had to give it up. (Once the pot was 3 handed so I couldn't call the bet when he was betting into 2 people; the other the flop was KKx. Since the player I was against was there during the Q's full hand, he knows that I'll bet trips. So when he called, I didn't think he was just trying to take it away, I think he really had it and was trapping.)

My best hand of the night was when I was in the blind and there was an UTG raise from a new guy at our table. I found AKs in the BB and shoved; he called with ATo. That really surprised me that he called, but it was good for me. There was a moment I thought I was out when the flop came ATx, but the river was a King and I had doubled up. I was almost back to the original 10k with about 9800.

After that, I was mostly card dead again. As my stack got below 10x the pot size, anytime I had a good Ace or a pair, I was AI. I did this once with AQs vs an early raiser. But I knew he didn't have to have a better hand then mine to raise. I was right when he folded. He saw how tight I was and said he had folded AJ. Once I tried to raise in late position with KJo. Same guy, who was the BB, remarked that the raise scared him more since I didn't just go AI. However when both HG and the BB called my raise, I figured I was dead. On a flop of AQx, HG bet and the BB raised, so I folded. I made a production of it though. I wanted them to think that I was still playing tight and that the raise was a huge hand. I sighed and said, "The one card I didn't want to see on the flop", referring to the Ace. I was hoping that they'd assume that I had raised with KK and that now I'm folding because of the bet and raise with the Ace on board.

This might have been able to allow me to steal a couple times that I did only raise and not go AI; once with J8o and once with K6o. The majority of the time, however, others were raising and I wasn't able to steal. And I never had a hand to come over the top.

My best hand, besides the AK where I doubled up, was 99. There was already an UTG raise and a cold-called by someone that I knew had to have AK or better (basically group one) to call, if not reraise. I figured with the implied odds, I'd call with my 99 and hope to flop. Flop was QJx. UTG bet 3/4's the pot and the other raised. I quickly folded, figuring the raiser for either QQ or JJ. He had JJ, the other KK. Just as I thought, if I had caught and they didn't, I could have doubled through. No set for me though, and I was back to the fight.

I kept getting blinded down, and no one would call my AI's. Once went AI 3 times in one round (AQ, AQs, AJ) and no one called me once! After that, it was the standard fare of 52o, etc. Once I stole UTG with 22. Again, no call. I thought about being maniacal, but at the same time, like I said, most of the time someone was raising ahead of me. That kept me from having the ol' "first in vigorish".

Finally, my last hand was that 66 vs AJ for me in the BB. It was 200/400 with a 50 ante. The guy who raised, I had seen raise with KTo, so he didn't have to have a hand. Plus, with my tight image, I know people attack my blind, and since I mostly didn't have much, I couldn't fight back. This time, the raiser was in late position and when I saw the AJ I figured 2 things: I could have the best hand; and/or with my image, he might fold. Either way, I had only about 7000 in chips when it costs 1100 to go around. If I didn't have the best hand, I hopefully had at least one over, if not two and it would be a coin flip. I was glad to see it was (my best chance to double), but no go.

Although I didn't make it past the first day, I outlasted over a thousand of the 2100 or 2200 that they had that day. I know I can do it, but some cards might have helped :p I never held a pair above 99 and that AKs was the best Ace that I held. Hopefully I can win a seat again next year and get another chance.

Until then, back to the grind!

Glenn

Posted by Glenn

10 Comments:

Blogger jremotigue said...

Tough hand up against the QQ. Nothing you could do there.

Limping with QQ - I'm never adding that to my repertoire...

Hopefully you get better cards next year!

11:43 AM  
Blogger Felicia :) said...

In a way I don't blame him, for two reasons (whether or not he actually thought about these things is something else...):

1) The table was playing tight early on. If he raised, he probably would only get the bring-ins.

2) If he was out flopped, he could muck and it would only cost him T50 of his T10,000 on the chance to trap for a larger pot.

Not sure if he was thinking along these lines, but in either case, it certainly worked out for him, unfortunately for me :P

12:19 PM  
Blogger Pokerwolf said...

Tough run, Glenn. Good job for staying in as long as you did!

It's hard to win a tournament when you have a tight table and don't catch any cards, eh?

Get 'em next year!

12:31 PM  
Blogger Iakaris aka I.A.K. said...

Nice work Glenn, sorry it didn't work out this year. That QQ guy must have been salivating with that flop, and I think your thoughts on why he would play it that way are interesting. No easy way to get away from the boat.

5:14 PM  
Blogger SirFWALGMan said...

Good job playing in the ME. Better luck next year!

11:11 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Excellent job sniffing out that QQ and not going broke (I assume you'd push if you put him on a straight?).

Well done Glenn, I have faith you'll be there next year!

7:06 AM  
Blogger imjusthere4thebeer said...

That was a tough loss, but a very human call, which took discipline to not reraise, I'd say --- excellent job not goin broke there.

Congrats on your main event showing.

Mike

8:10 AM  
Blogger Joaquin "The Rooster" Ochoa said...

I think you played well, Glenn. To be card dead and still make it 13.5 hours is a great accomplishement. It is never easy playing when you are card dead.

8:37 AM  
Blogger Felicia :) said...

Yeah, I'll try again next year (as long as internet poker is not banned :p )

Thanks for all the positive comments, everyone :)

~Glenn

9:36 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've always wanted to be a part of the WSOP. Guess I should schedule my next gambling trip to Vegas before the event.

9:46 AM  

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