•
It’s arrived.
It’s here.
Five weeks of WSOP deliriousness has rewarded us with the best poker tournament in the world. I’m glad I ventured down to the Rio yesterday; the level of excitement in the air was a much needed booster-shoot in the arm. Similar to last year, I am ambivalent about the outcome of the event for me. I simply want to play the best that I can.
This is my third main event, and my exit has been particularly rough in each event (99 vs 88 on 984 flop 8 on river then KK vs AQ last year). I have a few two goals for the day: 1) Stay in the moment and 2) let the game come to me.
That’s pretty much it. I don’t think having some kind of elaborate strategy really works. You have to take things on a table-by-table basis. The first point I picked up in a lecture by Howard Lederer and the second came in a conversation with Joe Hachem.
You can follow my updates at www.twitter.com/miahsmith55
Go to: Jeremiah Smith
•
For anything other than No-limit, Vegas is a hit-or-miss town for cash games most of the year. Even then, the games can be slim pickings in some months as regulars beat up on each other.
For limit holdem, you can play 2-4 and 4-8 just about anywhere there’s a casino, but anything above that and you’ll have to head to the Bellagio or the Wynn. Both always have several 15-30 games running, while the former has several 30-60s. Interestingly enough, I’ve noticed a lot of the people I used to see sitting in the 50-100 and 100-200 games are now frequenting the 30-60.
I’m a bit out of touch with the lowest stakes around town, but the only regular stud game that I know running is the 20-40 at the Bellagio. This is a game frequented by a handful of cranky people who bitch at you no matter what the result is on 7th street. If they bet and you fold they’ll bitch at you for not calling against their two pair or if they bet and you raise you’ll hear bitching for the next three hours about how you outdrew their rolled up tens. A sick part of me enjoys doing a hit-and-run in this game while I’m waiting for no-limit. At least it gives them something to bitch about when you’re gone.
Vegas can be death for an O8 player. It’s either 4-8 at a locals casino or the 30-60 at the Bellagio. From what I understand even that game is not running as frequently. A 4-8 player can occasionally get a mixed game going at Caesar’s Palace, if you’re willing to drum up the business. The smallest mix otherwise will be the 40-80 or 50-100 at the Bellagio, and a few of the games can be tough on newcomers. It’s not a standard HORSE rotation, and even the familiar games will have a twist on them like 2-7 Razz where the A is a high card. The mix has changed over the years; when I first played, it was O8, 2-7 Triple Draw, and High-Low regular. Now it seems to have gravitated to 2-7 Razz, Badugi, 08, and 2-7 Triple Draw. I won’t even bother with the nosebleed report, because they mix it up all the time.
Other than summertime, PLO is rarely spread unless you’re in Bobby’s Room. For a while last fall a 25-50 half/half game was going but that’s hit or miss. If you like PLO, don’t even bother going anywhere except the RIO. Although I did see a 2-5 at the Venetian, the Rio is home to the crazy action at all limits. There’s even a 2-5 and 5-10 PLO8 that’s been running.
There’s no question that the WSOP is the time to play cash games in Vegas. Every night the Rio spreads every game you could ask for (although you have to deal with an annoying environment and inexperienced personnel at times). You’ll find five 5-10NL and 10-20NL games running at the Bellagio as well as a handful of 25-50NLs. The Venetian has regularly been getting five 5-10NL games going as well; the benefit to playing there is the games are in the back section and the buyin isn’t capped.
Personally, if I’m going to play a cash game, it’s going to be at the Bellagio. It’s the only place where I know a game is always going and if you play 10-20NL or higher you can be relatively comfortable (the 2-5 and 5-10 are much too crowded, however).
Go to: Jeremiah Smith
•
During the 57 minutes I was able to play the 1k, a somewhat humorous series of events went down:
-
As the dealer was sending the second card to Seat 8, it bounces off seat 9’s hand.
-
The player in Seat 5, Dickson Ruecker, tells the dealer that the card had flashed.
-
The dealer apologizes and turns over the Ts, giving a new card to Seat 8.
-
Seat 8 opens under the gun to 10x the big blind.
-
Seat 9 declares, “If you win this one, you owe me a tip!”
-
The player to my left flashes me pocket Tens as he tosses them into the muck.
-
Ruecker is the lone caller on the button.
-
The two players get it all in on a 387Q board.
-
Instead of KT, Seat 8 ended up with pocket Kings.
-
Ruecker flopped a set of 8s, busting Seat 8.
-
The table was nice enough to hold off the laughter until Seat 8 exited the Miranda room, then we start razzing Ruecker for the obvious setup.
With a staggering 4.9 eliminations per minute, I figured the over/under on my busto would be about a level. If I could make it out of level 1, I knew I’d likely have half the table’s chips. Well…I had my chance. With a few minutes remaining in level one, I got it in with TT on a Q83T board. Whoops. At least I was busted by a fan of my “Cash Plays” podcast on Pokerroad who was holding J9.
Despite the crazy bustout rate, there are quite a few pros remaining in the final fifty. I’ll be rooting for Steve Sung who has made it to day 3 with a good stack. I would be pulling for Danny Fuhs, currently in 2nd place, but he’s the only person I know who consistently refers to me as “bullfrog.” Also, it looks like MandyB made a sick comeback to 700k, after being down to 10k last night.
In other news, Justin Young’s prediction about the 40k event proved true as 6 of the final 9 players were well-known online pros (see previous blog). I predicted a 1-2-3 finish for ZeeJustin, Greg Raymer, and Isaac Haxton, but ultimately Vitaly Lunkin came out on top. It looks like Lunkin might be able to move up to short-buying in the $2-$4 NL games on Full Tilt now (he’s usually sitting at 10 plus $1-$2 tables with 50 big blinds).
Next up for me is the $1500 6max on Wednesday. I hope to play all of the 6max events…
Go to: Jeremiah Smith
•
I finished 43rd out of 1459 in the $1500 6max. Had a bad beat followed a questionable play to go busto. Keep getting close, going to final table one of these sometime.
I’ll post a recap blog or two this weekend.
Go to: Jeremiah Smith
•
Day 1 of the 6max event was one of the most rewarding—and educational—days I’ve had playing tournament poker. Last week I wrote the first part of a couple (few?) articles on gathering information and trusting your reads, so I figured there’s nothing like putting it to the test in the second level.
I called a raise in the big blind in a 3 way pot with Ah8h, and ended up check-calling three streets on an Ad6d6xTx3x board. My opponent had a pretty significant physical tell when he was bluffing, but he put me to the test on the river with a big bet. However, I had made up my mind on the turn based on the physical read and his bet sizing pattern (overbet with air, bet smallish with decent hands). I would’ve been under 1k if I was wrong, but I went with it and had over 8k.
Then nothing interesting happened for 5 levels. We lost 3 players in 6 levels. The field shrunk from 1459 to 302 at dinner break, and we lost 3 people. 3 people in a 6 handed event! It was sooooo frustrating. I would climb up to 20k, then lose a race versus shortstack. Climb back up, drop back down. However, I stayed patient and didn’t do anything too silly…which is a bit of a challenge for me at times.
On the previous night, just after he made the final table of the 1k, I went to dinner with Steve Sung at a fantastic Vietnamese restaurant just around the corner from the Rio (he made me pay for dinner based on some superstition he has…then went on to win $771,000 and the bracelet so I might try picking up some superstitions). It was sooooo good I had to go back for some more.
With about 30 minutes left on our break, I headed over to the final table to sweat Steve for a bit where he was putting on a clinic. It was ridiculous how he destroyed that table. I headed back to the table with blinds at 200-400. Action picked up a little bit with one of the shortstacks jamming a few hands in a row. I was tempted to call his 4k button shove in the big blind with QJ in attempt to gamble a bit for some chips, then remembered that I’m a terrible gambler and wisely folded. He busted on the next hand, and they broke our table which was the best news I had heard all day.
I quickly headed to my new table where there was no shortage of chips:
Seat 1 – 25k
Seat 2 – 15k
Seat 3 – me w 15k
Seat 4 – 60k
Seat 5 – 55k
Seat 6 – 10k
By the end of the next level, I had busted seat 4 & 5 with seat 1 shortly after that. In the first orbit I doubled with KK vs A8 on an 8 high flop versus seat 5, then chipped up a bit more in a couple small pots. I was sitting around 35k when I called Seat 5’s 3.5x raise in the big blind with 67 and flopped the joint on a 985 flop. I checked, he said “you don’t have kings over there again, do you?” and shoved all in for 26k into a 6k pot. He turned over a set of 8s before making his way out of the Amazon Room.
I continued to chip up with small pots, showing some big hands along the way. I had whittled Seat 4 down to 25-30k when he and seat 6 limped into my big blind. I checked my option with KhJh, then put in a hefty check raise on the Th9s4h flop which would commit Seat 4 to the pot if he called. He did call, Seat 6 folded and I bet enough to put Seat 4 all in on the 8x turn. He called with T9o and when the 7h fell on the river I had won my first big race (had a few less outs than I thought, figured he had JT, QT, KT etc).
That pot put me around 115k halfway through level 8—from 15k to 115k in 90 minutes! That’s a sick heater, and I’ve had some sick ones. We were approaching the money bubble when I busted Seat 1 when I flat-called in the SB with TT, then check-raised enough to put him allin on an 8xx flop and he snapcalled with A8.
Interestingly enough, I’m not much of a check-raiser but it really paid off in each of these spots (twice with the best hand, once with the monster draw). I played fairly tight for the remaining two levels, until I decided to run a bluff against a player in Seat 2 who had shown me a lot of respect. I raised UTG, got three callers including Seat 2 in the big blind, then c-bet the AJ7 flop for 6k. He was the lone caller, then checked the 8 turn to me (no flush draws). I thought for a moment, then decided to fire a second barrel in an attempt to move him off a bad Ace. After I bet the 13k, he tanked forever then moved in for another 25-30k. Whoops 
That was pretty much the end of the night, and I was somewhere around the top 10 with 103k going into Day 2.
Go to: Jeremiah Smith
•
My plan on Day 2 was to come out playing tight, since we would likely lose half of the remaining 100 players by the first break. Players tend to do silly things at the beginning of Day 2s, as they’ve had all night to think about what to do when they come in the next day.
Well, after the first two hands saw the big blind get a walk, I realized my table was playing rather snug. There were no flops and no three-bets for the first few orbits, so I decided to open up a bit.
Second to act, I raised 2.5x with Ks7s and an older gentleman named Rick called on the button (older is a relative term; it’s not uncommon for me to be the oldest player at the table). I c-bet the 998 rainbow flop, and Rick called behind. However, he gave away some valuable information as he put his chips in the pot. It was more of a classic/generic tell than a player-specific tell, but it was there nonetheless. His range at this point was Ax hands (including A9 & A
, straight draw hands (67/JT), and baby pairs. If he were younger, I would include air for a float, but that just didn’t seem likely. The amount of time he took to call on the flop led me to believe he didn’t have a drawing hand
The offsuit 6 on the turn gave me an open-ended straight draw, and my opponent gave me an opportunity to win a decent sized pot. After I bet 6k into the 12k pot, he tanked for a while and then declared a raise. He made it another 20k on top, leaving himself just about 45k behind. His stack size aided in my decision to move allin, and it didn’t hurt that I had outs if he decided to get stubborn. This was my first big move of the tournament, but I felt confident after he gave away the same tell as he was putting chips in on the flop. I was especially encouraged when he didn’t snap call, he tanked for a bit before saying, “I wonder which one of has the bigger pocket pair…” then tossed his hand into the muck.
Everything was smooth sailing from there for me, as I had position on the most experienced short-handed player at the table, Carman Cavella. I could tell Carman was comfortable with the six-handed format as he was showing the right amount of aggression in the right spots. After he busted Rick, a younger red-haired player with a large stack filled the 2 seat.
I had cruised up to 175k with the blinds at 600-1200 when this critical hand went down. We were five-handed and I opened UTG with Ad5d, our red-haired friend flatted on the button, and Carman called in the big blind. I flopped gin when the board came down Td6d4d. Carman checked, I bet 7k, and Seat 2 made it 30k to go. I considered my options and decided my best line against the range of hands he’s raising with would be an all-in. If he had a real hand, I didn’t want another diamond to roll off scaring him away. Also, if he had something like JT with the Jd, he might put me on AK/AQ with the Ad and make a big call. When he snap-called I figured to see a lower flush, instead he turned over a set of 6s, and he started yelling at the dealer to pair the board. The dealer obliged with a T on the river.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t really get my feet back underneath me after that. Instead of having around 300k and the chip lead with 50 players left, I went totally card dead. I spewed some more chips as every time I opened was getting three-bet or shoved on by a medium stack. I ended up making a number of mistakes down the stretch, including a critical one that opened myself up to being blown out of a pot by Carman, in much the same way I had blown Rick out with the K7 earlier.
I was extremely happy when Doug Lee sat down at the table, as I knew he would gladly distribute his chips around the table. After he lost a big race, I doubled him up when he shoved for about 8bbs and I called in the big blind with Q7 (it was borderline, but the tilt factor combined with antes led to the call). While a Q beats a random hand, it trailed his AK and couldn’t catch up. However, a few hands later I opened with KT and he shoved I was getting the correct odds to call. He again had me in a 60/40 with AJ, but I was able to outrun him this time when I turned a straight on the Q9xJ board.
I was able to be a little more active and won a pot against Seat 2 with AQ on a Q high flop. Two hands later, I opened UTG with 66 to 6k (1200-2400-300). Since I had opened a few hands in the last couple of orbits, I was expecting a 3bet sooner or later. Seat 2 made it just under 30k to go on the button, and I was forced with a critical decision. I had another 80k on top of his 30k for 110k total. But, instead of taking my time and thinking everything through, all I thought about was the surface of the situation. I was sitting on the fence with a 50/50 decision on shoving or folding. Unfortunately I never weighed the fact that I would still have 40bbs if I folded, and could wait for a better spot.
Then, all of a sudden, my stupid mouth betrayed me and said, “I’m allin.” This was dumb on a number of levels. In case you can’t tell by now, I’m not big on preflop moves (except for a certain TV hand), preferring to make decisions in position after the flop. My opponent beat me into the pot with KK and I was busto in 43rd place.
All in all, I am very happy with my play. I was definitely not in the right frame of mind after the bad beat, spewing valuable chips. But, up to that point, there’s very little I would change. I love these short-handed events because play is deeper for longer, and I’m at my best after the flop thanks to my live cash game experience. I’m now 2/3 in six-handed with a 19th and 43rd place finish. I was busted by a 6%er in the first one, but I could’ve recovered from this bad beat and finished higher had I got my head screwed on straight a little sooner.
Today, I’ll get another shot as the $2500 six-handed event kicks off at noon.
Go to: Jeremiah Smith
•
I’m not sure how they do it. Professional poker players endure six straight weeks of losing with the occasional "win" that’s not really a win. Only fifty-some people will go home a "winner" in the true sense of the word (two less thanks to Phil Ivey and Brock Parker pulling down two bracelets each). A few will end up in black on the summer, thanks to one or two significant scores. But most will go home losers.
It might be one or two buyins, but the total can eclipse six-figures rather easily. Some of the best players in the world can go O-fer during the series. Whether it’s playing bad, running bad, or some combination thereof, it happens. That’s without mentioning the large sums of cash thrown around in ring games…
My initial plan was to play in six or seven events by now, but instead I’m headed home to get some a much needed break from the WSOP. About half-way through my time in the $5,000 event I came to the realization that I just didn’t want to play as many events as I thought I did. It’s just too damn depressing losing over and over again. I sat for hours and hours trying to get something going. My starting table was pretty tough; I was surrounded by players with both online and live success. There was only one loose cannon at the table, who managed to run the 15k starting stack up to 40k before redistributing it pretty evenly to the table. I did everything I could to get chips, but ended up paying off two sets when I couldn’t find a fold button. Even with those mistakes I hung around the starting stack until just before dinner when I made my unceremonious exit.
There’s a reason players refer to the several minute journey from the Amazon Room to the parking lot "the walk of shame." During the trek it’s inevietable to be asked, "How many chips do you have?" or "Any luck today?" Bad beat stories are inevitable, but with a little experience you quickly figure out which players to avoid. Sometimes they can’t help themselves and tell you anyway.
I really don’t know how they deal with the constant "losing." I don’t play enough at this level to not be emotionally invested in each event–sheesh, I even care a ton about every pot I’m in much less the entire event.
Go to: Jeremiah Smith
•
I have a lot of "acquaintances" in the poker community, but there are only a few people outside of the media that I would consider "friends." Two of these friends have won their first bracelet during this WSOP–Steve Sung and Greg "Full Blown Tilt" Mueller.
Steve and I became friends about a year ago because we share a common faith. Steve is one of the best all-around tournament players in the game; I think he has WSOP final tables and only one of them is in no-limit. It was a fairly impressive feat to win the 6,000 player "stimulus special"; there are sooooo many bullets you have to dodge in that kind of tournament. After losing his first couple pots at the final table, he put on an absolute clinic as he made all the right moves and all the right bets and virtually ran over his competition. He then went on to finish in 3rd place in the 10k 2-7 no-limit singledraw, and just missed another final table in the 2.5k PLO.
I met FBT in a 10-20NL game at the Bellagio during the 2006 WSOP; he’s been buying pieces of me in events ever since. In ‘06, he finished in 2nd place to MrSmokey1 in the mixed holdem event, and after another runner-up finish in ‘07 his BC buddies started all kinds of needling about not being able to take one down. He plays in the biggest mixed games you’ll find outside of Bobby’s Room, so it’s no surprise that he final-tabled a stud event and just won the 10k LHE event.
Anyway, congratulations to both Steve and FBT for bringing home some man-jewelry.
Go to: Jeremiah Smith
•
For the previous three WSOPs, I have called Las Vegas home. About a month before the 2009 series, the family and I loaded up a Penske truck and moved out (the family consists of myself, my wife, and our english bulldog). I was especially excited about returning to Vegas for the WSOP this summer; for the first time I would be in charge of my own schedule as I worked on various projects for various companies in the industry.
Despite missing my wife and dog, I did enjoy my first two weeks in town. I had a deep run in an event, was blogging, podcasting, and writing…everything was going well. However, that last week in town was pretty rough. I simply didn’t want to be in Vegas. I had not travelled for work in over a year, and this was the longest stretch I had ever been away from home. There’s no question my work and play were both affected. If it wasn’t for the fact I had some family and friends coming to town that weekend I would’ve made my exit several days sooner.
I’ve been at home for the last week, enjoying the muggy midwestern days and–especially compared to Vegas–near silent nights. Seriously, it’s soooo quiet here. I tend to be a bit of a loner, so I don’t mind living a few miles out in the "country." We have a nice little house and a big yard that our dog enjoys…
I am definitely refreshed after the week at home…while I’m looking forward to playing and working this week I’m not really looking forward to Vegas…
More on that soon, time to board…
Go to: Jeremiah Smith
•
The reasons why Vegas appeals to people are the same reason it repulses them. “It’s a fun place to visit…” It’s a town built around tourists coming in and plunking down a wad of cash for a weekend of excess. When you are stranded here for a few weeks…well, it can get a bit ugly.
What’s funny about me is that I don’t even partake in these excesses. I’m a simple kind of guy who would rather spend a night at home with his wife than out on the town at a club. In fact, I’ve been to a total of 1 club in all the time I’ve been in Vegas (2005)…and even that was for the NBC Heads-Up draw party at Pure. It’s not like I’m against clubs or anything, I just don’t enjoy crowds.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m an OK poker player and a terrible gambler; I’ve played blackjack or roulette a couple of times while living in Vegas. I just don’t enjoy gambling either. I rarely ventured to the strip unless it was poker-related. While they haven’t left their mark on me directly these many distractions have messed up enough of my friends’ lives to leave a foul taste in my mouth.
When our time was up in Sin City, I was ready to go. It’s strange because I’ve never enjoyed most of the things that make this place such a popular weekend getaway.
Except poker.
After playing the game somewhat seriously for about five years now, I both love and hate it. I’m very extreme in those emotions/feelings. It’s either one or the other; since going broke in early 2006 I’ve never played the game on a regular enough basis to be indifferent about it. Sometimes I wonder if I played a full gamut of tournaments if I would’ve “broken through” or not; the few times I’ve been deep in these WSOP events I’ve taken some tough beats that sent me packing. I think the very best players, while caring deeply about how they play, have little concern over the short-term success of any specific tournament. When I’m playing/running good I’m head over heels for poker. When I’m playing/running bad I leave town and head home. I don’t believe I have the right makeup to be a full-time player, although I know I can have a lot of success at it if I take it in spurts.
Go to: Jeremiah Smith