What the WSOP means to me

I just finished a 4 day junket of Vegas and all things WSOP.
Here now is what the WSOP means to me:

It means sitting for 2 hours at a time, interrupted only by waiting in line to pee and eating a protein bar.

It means passing various TV pros in the hallway all utilizing the "I'm on a cell call" ply to avoid you bothering them. (Most don't even talk into the phone to drive the illusion home.)

It means being constantly reminded that we don't have online poker and thus could not practice a 2700 person field in any way, shape or form.

It means watching tweets of all your poker associates, secretly hoping you got deeper than them in a given event.

It means watching a guy play badly, then tilt while lamenting his bad luck after amassing chips all day on coin flips.

It means shivering at the table, while outside its a balmy 105.

It means purchasing WSOP swag, only to have to answer questions about how you did for years down the road.

It means walking by countless people on cell phones loudly telling their buddy their bad beat story.

It means getting it in good, but not good enough. And getting it in often, but not often enough.

It means taking the walk of shame away from the table despite getting through 80% of the field.

It means winning the blinds with KK, then the next hand a player across the table with TT breaks 2 players. It's a game of epic clashes. If you avoid thme, you dwindle away. If you find them, you had better get it in.

It means promises of LOW-stakes Omaha cash games that will never see the light of day.

It means lots of Deep Stacks tournaments that are deep stacked for 4 hours... then all hell breaks loose.

It means spotting the pros at the table, and memorizing their ranges and facial expressions... followed quickly by a table break.

It means $1 for a tiny cup of water.

It means politely correcting the dealers.

It means that 90% of the us could use more practice.

It means $15 cab rides to anything just to get away from poker for an hour.

Until next year...

Playing with FIRE

I went to the local card room with a few hundred and a goal. Play like a maniac. I went up $100, then quickly down $200. But in the end, it was an old-fashioned simple hand that FELTED me.

8 handed and distracted table, I raise to $10 from MP with AT. 2 Callers, the cutoff and button.

Flop is AcKd7c. I check. He bets $30. I figure he actually has either a King or a flush draw. I call and intend to act on a non-club.

The Turn is another 7 and I figure I am good now. I want him to pay to draw and bet pot (about $100). He goes all-in and I am stuck since I only have $40 behind at this point and he could simple have a club draw.

Turns out he had 7c4c and made a LP call hoping to get a good flop. And he did.

I could have gotten away in different situations, but wanting to maximize action prior to my trip cost me a buy-in.

It's not so hard to put him on EITHER a K or a 7 here, but with the preflop raise, I convinced myself he had a KcXc. I was so sure that I went broke.

Practice where you can practice

With two weeks until Event 43, I actually fired up a SHOOTOUT on Live Poker (not for $). Play varies WILDLY, but tables are 6 max for many decisions. I got rivered 5 times in a row then actually made a mistake on a river call. After that, went on a tear winning three straight SnGs.

I'll have to twitter something to activate the account again, and sit at the local game playing uber aggro to stimulate some brain cells.