WSOP 2013 event #40 recap

Ok, I am going to copy and paste my twitters in here also, so I have a roadmap to follow. Its was quite a roller-coaster ride and I will try to be brutally honest as always.

5 at table, no regs yet?
I was there prior to the start. I like to get rid of the nerves by just being there. Only 5 of the 10 seats were filled when cards went into the air. I dont recognize anyone, and there are no "patches" at the table. It doesnt take but 3 hands to know that the other 4 are amateurs.

Picked up a reg, but also have an 8x opener.
Hoodie guy sits down and I recognize him from last year. I decide to tag him as a "reg" for now in seat 9.

Make that 2 regs, seat 2 and 9
The guy in the 2 seat will be possible trouble. TAG and competent, I make a note that I may need to "level" vs. him

Big dog calls it. Reg donk leads, re-raise takes it down
The "reg" in the 9 seat takes a flop with me. I raised 3x (pre antes) and he flats from the SB. Flop is 88x and he donk-leads. 90%+ of the time (99% online), this is a weak pair or draw. I raise (with air) and he folds.

Played trips like a draw, paid 1 street. Now at $5500
So in this hand, I held a small card like a 4 on a board like 844 with two spades. I play it like a spade draw as best I can vs. Reg in seat 2. So, I check behind on the flop, and check on the turn and when he best, I check raise. Online, this always looks like a semi-bluff. But this guy had check raised me on a prior hand and I think he either saw it as strength or he had nada. I did at least get a decent bet out of him on the turn.

Guy on left breathing like a horse... Big hand coming... Limped pre flop Utg, so I bet it's AA.
Here is where I find out the "reg" in seat 9 actually sux. MP limps, reg in 9 3 bets, MP now 4 bets (after LIMPING). He is breathing so hard he might pass out. Seat 9 FLATS. When the MP shoves the flop, he CALLS with a pair. It looks SO obvious to me, yet everyone seemed mesmerized by the AA. NEVER let anyone tell you these $1500 events are not soft.

Lost a reg! he played nut so good

Not reraising on all diamond board cost me a pot to the Kd. He calls anyways?
So I raise with some PP and the flop is ddd. Its the REG in seat 2 again. We both check the flop. Turn is a blank (cant recall board dammit) and he bets the turn. I CALL. River is a diamond and I make two pair and he checks?! I put in a small value bluff here and he CALLS with second nuts (Kd). How does he check-call that river? He bet the turn with air only to check-call with second nuts? WTF? I was sure he was folding to a bet there.

I am wrong and I am now at 4k (4.5k starting), but its early...

So card dead #83o
But then, I long parade of unplayable hands..

Break 1, 3700 but table not bad
I am at the first break with just $3700, but confident that I am the best player at the table. I am not going to get stupid.

After the break, I am in the BB with 99. MP makes it 3x, HJ and BTN flat. I spend a couple of seconds contemplating a 3 bet. But because we are still deep (even at 3700), I decide to call (and thus resigned to set mining). This debatable play turns into ACTION as it turns out the MP had AA, got three callers (1 of which is me) and he shoves the flop. Too bad (for him) I did flop that set.

Now I have chips! About $8k-ish

QQ utg+1, no action.
I get QQ UtG+1 and I make it 2.5x. Perhaps no one had a hand, perhaps I am perceived as dangerous, but other way I get no action.

A few rotations later, I am in the BB and its folded past the button! SM just calls and I have AA blind vs blind. I make a raise and he (reg in seat 2 again) calls, but its OBVIOUS he hates the flop. There are two spades on the flop, not that it should matter. Instead of checking, I bet, hoping he might out think himself. nope, just folds. I dont think I get a bet called on any street with the Ace out there.

OBV not called on turn, but won $2k pot
We get a player in seat 3 now. He talks about poker and the main event and how he cashed and how great the structure is. (Turns out he is a doctor, but I KNOW he is not more than a good recreational player). I flat one of his raises and make a strong hand. He bets out $1225 on the flop and I have like $6k behind. I consider raising the $3k, but with $3k behind it looks so strong if he isnt oblivious. So I shove, trying to look like a flush draw. He tanks, makes comments about how bluffy it looks, hems and haws and then folds. I tag him as possibly a bet-fold guy (and he is).

I have TT in EP, raise, and get 2 callers (1 blind). The flop is 773 and after a check, I make a 1/2 pot bet. ACTION follows and I know I stepped on a mine. I make an easy fold. Players get it in Trips vs. Aces.
down to 8700 and its break time.

Ok, so in the 777 vs. Aces hand, the guy in the 10 seat has made a ton of chips. He has like $12k. I raise from EP with QQ and he flats. He is talkative and jovial and has chips, which means he is going to spew. Its just a matter of time.

QQQQ ding ding ding #wsop #quads not a huge pot though, had to squeeze out value
Flop is QQx where x is who the hell cares. I flop QUADS in a WSOP event. I check, he checks. Turn is something and there is still no other paint or Ace on the board. I check again and he makes a smallish bet, which I call. Then river is a King and I bet $2000 into $4k just hoping he hit that King. He did and paid it off. I say "it was worth a call to see this" and show the quads.

Back door nuts worthier than quads! Chip up
But even better is a few hands later. I am deep enough to take a flop with a suited ace against him and flop a flush draw. Bet and I call. Turn is a blank and instead of betting, check checks. River makes the backdoor nut flush for me and he BETS! I make a significant raise to $4k and he just cant put me on the flush and calls. Won 3 times what I did with QUADS.

They announce field size: 2160 runners. (my Q>1)

Now that the deck hitting my face is over, I start to make some smaller mistakes. I 4 bets with AK and the German on my left min-raise 5 bets me. Now I am pretty sure he has QQ and we are very deep, so a AK shove is just not what I consider a great move. NOTE: Foley won a bracelet fining himself in this spot and shoving (twice and won both). Me? I just cant bring myself to take that volatility. I CALL, OOP to see flop, knowing I'll check fold a flop without Ace or King. THAT is an awful mistake for 1125 in additional damage. Not the lack of shove, I like that. But I should FOLD, not CALL if I am only going to see three cards because he must know by now I have AK and he is not going to pay off an A or K. At the TIME, I called expecting he would not get away from the QQ if a K flopped and I could win a huge pot.

Solidly ranged a reg and caught him firing second bullet with check raise all-in.
Again with the 2 seat I think. I called a raise pre-flop, check called his c-bet and was sure he had a made hand. But then when and over card that also completes a draw comes, he doesn't check behind. That struck me as funny. And he bet was too big to be for value. So, I come over the top and he quickly folds.

QQ in SB blind, no caller.

$17.5k at dinner. Starting next level at full chip utility (>50BB).

Damn table is tight, KK not paid off. I just made a 2.5x open.

Yet, I get to watch others clash willy-nilly: QQ vs AK continues to dominate the big hands.

History repeats itself and I bet TT from EP. 4 f'n callers. 883ss flop. I check and LP bets 2k. I tank. Why? Because what is he representing here? He cold called my open (he would be the first caller) with an 8 or a 3? MAYBE a set of threes. MAYBE. But that why bet when someone else will bet for him? I continue to tank and then CLOCK is called by a player not in the hand! I shove. Now he tanks. I had him on AK. We exchange chat. He says that he put me on 77 here. I say "that would be a good bet if I had 77. I'd have to fold." He folds 66. Had I suspected, I would have kept my mouth shut. But I wanted AK to fold here. Not sure why in retrospect. I should want the AK to call here.

KK again, but I 3bet the EP limper and no callers. Hands are getting scare, blinds are going up and I really needed this hand to win something. Too bad.

18k @break 200/400/50 level. Avg is 18.5k

I 3 bet BTN raise, I get 4 bet shove. I fold the only hand I played this entire level. Now I am getting short. That is the tough part in these events. You need to max value hands and I did neither in the last two.

11850 with 400/800 level coming. Need double now....

After Color-up, its going 400/800/100 I think. I have nearly 15 Bigs, but it plays closer to 12 with the 8:1 ante on this level. It's that thinking that is going to trick me into an awful spot.

UtG opens. Folds to me in the SB with AJs. Now it is VERY common, especially live, that a short stack will open UtG as a steal. Often with Ace rag of KQ or even a small pair. He has about the same stack size as me, but I have been folding so long that I let it all affect my judgement. I shove and he snap calls with AK. Out 324/2161. I think I had about 12 Bigs at the time and if I folded, I was down to 11 bigs, with the blinds now past me. There are SO MANY other spots that I robbed myself with here.

In all my previous WSOP events, I went out on a race. This time, I just faded away. I fell bad about that, but I learned my lesson (I hope). Other than the race I bowed out of with AK, I never had a flip the entire event.



Sunday I play the Caesar's $130 rebuy and rebuy once because the field was so soft. The funniest hand was when this guy on my right is playing but talking like he is some poker professor. Mumbling odds to himself, commenting on others play under his breathe. I am a big short and I open for a steal with Q8s, but get 2 callers. The flop is T98 and I check, but they do also. He checks the turn and I just shove. He not only tanks, but goes all "Beautiful Mind" on me. He talking about how I cant be good here and blah blah blah. I realize his hand is now face up (not literally) and he has AK. So obvious. He says that I must be bluffing and so I reply, "only 1 way to find out". This seems to escalate his instability and his desire to show everyone how smart he is with his hero call. It's quite a show and I actually enjoyed listening to it. The call was hilarious. He is SO SURE he is right, and I table bottom pair with a gutshot and he is basically 6% to win the hand. I said that was quite a play, required a lot of heart. But he continues to be un-humbled and states that I have never played against a player like him before. I have zero idea what that meant. He would continue to talk about it until he loses his last 2000 chips and leaves.

I would love to report a cash here, but with 50 players left, the avg. stack had 15 bigs and I had 11. I made a living for a while shoving on limpers, but eventually a guy with AK limps hoping to get shoved on and I oblige with 55. In my ONLY race of the entire Caesar's MTT, I lose. It was funny, because people would shove with AJ and get called by 77, then I would shove with AK or AA and get zero action. That's how it works sometimes.