WSOP - Day 1B

The big day arrived - Day 1B. After getting past the scrum to get in I found my seat. Good news - I didn't recognise any of my opponents. After we got going I settled in nicely. I wasn't getting any cards but every now and then I'd raise and grab some blinds. The first half of the day (six hours) passed by mostly uneventfully. I was able to slightly increase my stack but, more importantly, avoid any big drops. Also, I'd not seen anything to worry me from the other players at the table - only one of them was in any way tricky (raising with crap and bluffing), the others were all classic weak-tight apart from a couple of looser calling stations.

After the dinner break (and a hearty curry) things picked up for me. I called a raise from the guy immediately on my right with J9. The flop came JJ2 and he check-called my bet. The blank turn went check check and another rag on the river saw him check-call my bet, even saying 'there's no way you have the best hand' before calling.

Before I describe my big hand of the day, let me set the context. Earlier I'd seen a hand which went like this. Some guy raised. Rocky McGranite called. Then an old guy raised from the button. Original raiser called. Now the rock raises! Both opponents called the raise. Flop is king-four-rag. It's checked to the old guy on the button who bets. The original raiser folds and the rock goes all-in. He must have a massive hand. The old guy calls with his pair of tens! The rock, far from having the AA or KK I thought he would have, had 44 for a set. Turn was a blank and the river was a ten, making the old guy his bigger set.

OK, my big hand. I raise with JJ and it's folded to the old guy on the button, who re-raises. Not only had I seen him do this with TT before, but I'd also seen him limp with AA from the button. I therefore thought there was a fair chance he had a good, but not great hand. There was enough in the pot for me to want it now so, after quite a long think, I went all-in. He immediately called and I prayed for AK, as I thought it was the only possible hand I could be ahead of. 'I think your pair is bigger than mine', he said. 'No it's not' I replied as I tabled my hand. He flipped over 88 and I was ecstatic. The board brought four clubs which actually made my flush and I'd doubled up. Finally, my WSOP had got going.

My second big hand was against a woman who had got moved to our table. Twice she'd raised my blind from quite early position. Twice I'd reraised with AK and AJ and made her fold. The third time she made this raise I re-raised from the button with QQ and she called. The flop was three rags and she checked to me. I checked behind, feeling confident I was ahead (I'm sure she'd have re-popped me with KK or AA). I wanted her to think I had an AK or AQ-type hand. Turn was another rag and she bet. I flat called. Another rag came on the river and she bet once more. Again I called (no point raising - only a hand that beats me calls) and she showed TT. I think her river bet was pretty poor - what hand that she was beating would call? If she thinks I have AK then let me bluff at the pot.

The third major pot of the day was one in which I actually made an error. A fairly tight player raised from mid-position on my big blind. I find my second AA of the day (the first only won some blinds) so I re-raise. I didn't put too much thought into the size of the bet, I just made a standard re-raise amount. He called. We checked an all rag board to the river. Not betting on either the flop or turn was a mistake on my part. When it came to the river he had about 8,000 chips left. He called my bet of 4,000, which was the biggest callable amount I thought I could bet. A bigger re-raise pre-flop, or an intermediate bet on flop or turn, would have meant I could have got all his chips. This was 4,000 chips I missed out on.

I went into the last level of the day with about 37,000 chips and my plan was to protect that stack for Day 2. However, I managed to gently increase it to 53,425 by the close without taking any risks, simply through blind stealing and taking a couple of pots away. After bagging up at the end I moved to my table for Day 2 and found myself one of only three stacks above 24,000. Allen Cunningham is at the other end of the table with 77,000 and there's a 43,000 on the table as well. As long as I stay out of Allen's way I should be able to have a good day, provided my big hands hold up.

I'm actually feeling a bit nervous now for the first time. I had no nerves at all before or through Day 1 as it was all just a big adventure - I had nothing to lose. Now I do - I'm in a good position and have the chance to blow it. Obviously I hope I don't.

Vegas - Day One

So, I'm finally here in Las Vegas, typing in my suite at the Rio, which is only slightly smaller than my entire flat in London.

Tomorrow is my day in the WSOP main event, so today I'm just familiarising myself with the Rio. Unsurprisingly, it took me less than two minutes after I checked in for me to get lost in the place - it's just huge.

Went to the Crypto pre-WSOP party last night and met up with Cupcake, Yoyo and the other William Hill people. Luckily I'd managed to grab a couple of hours sleep beforehand so I was able to have a few drinks without dozing off.

This is my first time in the US and I have been struck by just how crappy the US TV channels are. For some reason, every advert break contains one about prostrate problems. Also, the news channels have an overwhelming pro-Israeli bias in their reporting of the Middle East - they keep taking the same angle that their dimwit President does, namely that Hezbollah is the cause of the trouble, rather than the symptom that it is (with the Palestinian problem being the actual cause).

I've discovered that, sadly, the Starbucks here do not have the sausage and egg panini that I so enjoy. Also, for some reason the charger for my phone doesn't work, even though the one for my laptop does. And I've also learnt that if I want a whisky, I'd better not ask for a whisky, because I'll get crappy bourbon. I must remember to ask for scotch instead.

I'm off to dip my toe in some actual poker somewhere - staying away from the WSOP today as it's bedlam down there at the moment.

Twas the week before Vegas...

My quest to get in live practice before Vegas has cost me over £450 and not really a sniff of a draw. I came 8th in the Sportsman's £40 freezeout yesterday - started well but the tourney got crapshooty quite quickly (1500 chips and a 20 minute clock starting at 25/50) and I found no hands once it became a blind stealing comp (so I never had enough chips to make a raiser pass).

I did venture down for the £100 rebuy a couple of Fridays ago - here's the report I wrote for Blondepoker.

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Vegas is not long away, so live practice is required. To this end I made my way down to the Sportsman Casino in Marble Arch for the Friday £100 Rebuy. Strictly speaking, this would be outside my bankroll if it turned into a 'Billy Deep Pockets' contest, so I wanted a nice passive table which would play 'proper' poker during the rebuy period. Oh look, there's multi-millionaire Sir Clive Sinclair at the end of my table. And who is this sitting in the seat directly to my right? Why, it's a WSOP bracelet holder. D'oh.

So, the 90 minutes of the rebuy period passed by with the Mini-Bike Knight and the Bracelet Holder seemingly take turns to go all-in with any old crap, which didn't leave much chance for me to pick a spot with the cavalcade of rubbish I was being dealt. I took a chance with a hand where I got dealt QQ. I thought that, having sat there and folded everything for an hour, a raise from me would ring too many alarm bells, so I limped behind a couple of others, waiting for Sir Clive to push all his chips in the middle (as had become the custom). Sadly, he did not oblige and about 20 of us saw an 833 flop. Of course, I'd let the big blind see a free flop with 63 so I had to blow the cobwebs off my wallet.

Time passed by. I made more folds than an origami champion. No playable hands or playable positions presented themselves. I vowed never to play rebuys again. On the final hand of the rebuy period I found myself UTG. I had 1200 chips and after the break blinds would be 200/400. I'd decided I was going all-in no matter what I was dealt as I wasn't paying another £100 for 3BB. A5 was good enough. Sir Clive duly looked me up with 65. What a result - a handy double up is coming my way. That'll give me a chance after the bre...what's that? A six on the river? That's be the end of my night then.

Highlight of the evening occured earlier, though, at 50/100. The Bracelet Holder had raised pre-flop. He threw three chips out - two 100 (yellow) and one 500 (white). "No, no, no - I only wanted to raise to 300", he says. The bet of 700 stood. It's folded round to a guy who goes all-in with pocket nines. The Bracelet Holder immediately calls with pocket aces. Genuine mistake, or brilliant moody? Mr Pocket Nines was not happy. The Bracelet Holder was all innocence - 'why would I raise 7BB - I wanted a call?'. The rest of us chuckled to ourselves, marvelling at the mastery of the game we'd just witnessed.

Unethical? Unfair? Maybe, maybe not. It was great to watch though, as it was done with such charm. I wonder if I could get away with such a stroke in the WSOP later in the week...
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I didn't post the name of the bracelet holder on Blonde, but I suppose seeing as no one really reads this blog I can tell you it was Willie Tann.

My final proper practice for Vegas was in last night's £50K Guaranteed on Crypto, but I only lasted about 25 minutes. I raised pre-flop with AQ and got a caller behind me. I bet out on the AT2 flop, and called the reraise. A turn of 8 went check-check, and we managed to get it all-in on another offsuit rag on the river. He had A8, so made a horrible reraise on the flop, got lucky on the turn, then profited from my bad play on the river. He was a luckbox, but I didn't half help him out.

I will have my laptop in Vegas and will be doing updates for Blondepoker, as well as sticking stuff in here.