The WSOP Experience: Chapter 1

Well I have to get this "on paper" before I forget the whole thing. I've already regrettably forgotten some crucial hands, chip counts, etc. But I've been reluctant to blog because my results have been so positive.

When all was said and done, even though I'd depleted the height of my bankroll by about 66% and was down to $500, I managed to score a co-worker's hide-a-bed to sleep on for zero cost, so I went out to Council Bluffs and gave the WSOP Circuit Event a run.

It was a decision I didn't make until probably about 2 days before I planned to be out there, but I went on the website and reviewed the satellite structure and decided I could spend up to $150 and call it a valiant effort.

I left town Sunday at about 1:30, which put me in Council Bluffs at about 3. First thing I wanted to do was get to the hotel room and get settled and change into some comfy poker clothes. Well, I couldn't get a hold of or find my roommate, so I figured I'd better not waste time. I was extremely nervous and in a strange place, and I decided I'd better hit the cash table to work out some nerves and maybe even pad the bankroll a little. Well I eventually got a call from Tim who had been in a super satellite to the main event, and he came to the poker room and brought me a key. I hadn't been sitting for long and was down about $25 or so (mostly blinds), so decided to stick it out at the table for a little longer. I was about to cut bait down about $50, but managed to have my QQ hold up against JJ on a board with a couple overs, and cashed out up $2 after 2 1/2 hours or so.

At this point I called Tim and we met at the room, I changed, then we went to snag some dinner. The buffet was amazing. They have Italian, Chinese, Barbecue, Home Cooking, a Salad Bar, and Mexican all around the outside of the room, with a dessert island in the middle. Mine was on the house as you got a freebie for signing up for the player's club and playing for 1/2 hour. I even made $5 at the 3 Card Poker table! But I paid for Tim's for letting me shack up. But no matter what, it was f'n tasty. I paced myself and took small portions, and I think I got the most bang for my buck.

At this point it was 9:30 or so, and I figured I'd better get to work. The plan was to play the $35+10 single table satellites to try to get into Monday's $300 event. These sats paid $350 to just the winner, but most of you probably already know that.

Things were looking up as I made it to 2nd with very little effort in my first try. I won a pretty big pot w/KK about 1/3 of the way in, but despite the fact that the blinds did work me back to the short stack, I hit a run of cards late and found myself with about a 3 to 2 chip lead going into heads up. And I loved my opponent. This guy was hitting mad cards early and took out about 3 people. With 4 of us left he was on the shortie looking for the door, but then managed to find some more cards and made it to heads up. He immediately wanted to talk chop, but I liked my chances. I politely told him "I really need to play my way into tomorrow's tourney", and off we went. First hand of heads up found me in the big blind, and he completed the small and I checked my 97o in the big. The flop comes down x 7 10, where x is smaller than a 7. I think it was a 5. I can't remember if I checked or bet here, but when it got to his action, he declared all-in. I can't remember the blinds at this point either, but we had skipped a level, so they were high. With my big blind in the pot and 2nd pair against this guy who could really be holding any two, I decided a call was the way to go, and he showed me pocket K and doubled up easy. I was destroyed. I was embarassed. And I sure as hell wasn't gonna talk about chopping now after I had this mud all over my face and a 4 to 1 chip disadvantage. But the dealer bailed me out. "You guys wanna chop?" he says. And surprisingly my opponent goes "What's your offer now?". "I'll take $100 if you'll give it to me" I say, and he agrees with very little thought. So I lucked out BIG TIME here and came away up $45 after a much earned $10 dealer tip.

I got into the next available $45 sat and abided by much the same strategy. I basically sat there and limped and folded while action junkies took themselves out. The interesting thing was that the structure for these $45 actually wasn't bad. Blinds were 15 mins, a 300 chip starting stack, and went 5/15, 10/25, 25/50, 50/100, 75/150, 100/200, 150/300, 200/400, etc. Most people didn't understand that you really could fold for at least 2 1/2 levels and be in pretty good shape. So while everyone else was getting in with any ace or pocket pair they could find, I was biding my time, and by the time it was time to double up, I usually would because I'd have a damn decent hand and people were calling with a WIDE range. In this case I had no business being in the top 3, but I got there. I was the shortie, with a stack a little bigger than mine on my right, and the big stack on my left. For a while we just dicked around stealing each other's blinds. I was pushing with as little as Q-high, and don't really even remember picking up a great hand. But I never had to show. Of course I never doubled up, but I was hanging in there and waiting. Anyway, at a point I find K6o in the small blind and push with it. After some hemming and hawing, the chip lead/big blind decided to look me up. I figured the jig was up, and as I said "am I even live?" he rolled Q7o! My previous constant pushing had paid off, which was nice, but after some positive luck thus far, I didn't really like it. And I was right, as a 7 came off on the turn and I was done. But hey...I can say I was sucked out on, right? I would've been in great shape to get to heads up if I double up there, as the big stack had nabbed a few chips from the 2nd place stack, who was not an impressive player at all.

It was getting a little late and the players were dwindling, but there was a few guys hanging around that wanted to play a $65. I didn't really want to play that high, but that was the action to be had, and since I was basically even and this would probably be my last shot of the night, I took a seat. Again in this one I just hung around while others just couldn't help but play, got callers when I decided to play my good hands, and I found myself in a pretty positive 3-handed situation. I had managed my way into 2nd out of 4 for a while, but the blinds had managed to nip that situation with a couple of revolutions. When it culminated, I was in the big blind with $500, UTG had $575, and the SB held the other $3925. This kid couldn't miss. But I was OK with it, cuz that means if I can just get to heads up with him, first of all I've got a shot at chopping a $550 prize pool instead of $350, and other than that, what's the worst that can happen? I go into heads up with 5x BB and a 4 to 1 disadvantage and lose. At any rate, it wasn't meant to be. I had $200 of my $500 on the line in the big blind. UTG pushes his last $575, the SB forfeits his $100, and I look down and am *thrilled* to see A6d. I honestly thought I would be a dominate position here, but UTG rolled A9o, and I didn't improve. Real bummer. The interesting thing about these $65 satellites was that the structure was actually worse, and I feel like I barely played. With a 500 chip starting stack, blinds started at 25/50, and we skipped the 75/150 level. It was insane. In the blink of an eye I had $300 and was looking to double up. Of course, 6 other players were already out so I was really in decent shape. But its ironic how you pay more and get less play.

Anyway, at this point I called it a night down $65, and with satellites starting at 9 in the morning. I was willing to play in at least 2 more to try and get into the tourney that started at noon. I was on top of the world and felt like not only was I playing extremely well, but I had a better insight than most other players on the strategies you need to employ to win one of these. Now I just needed things to go my way a little and I was there.

I rolled in about 9:20, and they were seating a $45 table. Perfect. This tourney turned out to really exemplify all of them. After finally trying and missing on a few hands I found myself on a short stack with 6 left. I look down and find A10 in early position. UTG raises, and I push what I've got left, which isn't a whole lot more than his raise. I get a caller either on the button or in the SB, and the original raiser also calls. When the flop comes down x 10 A, I'm pretty exstatic, but of course a Q comes on the turn to make it interesting. It felt like someone was gonna show me KJ and I'd be the victim of a 4-outer. Turns out I had been called by two different pocket pairs that didn't improve, and I had more than tripled up. This was way more than I could've hoped for, and plenty to sit on until I could think about the money. Sit on it I did, and before long I found myself in 3rd out of 3, with about 500 chips to their combined 2500. Blinds are at 25/50 I believe, at least for a short while. Here again, ideal strategy for the structure comes into play, and instead of coming after me, these two numb nuts are playing with each other. I manage to double up off one of them w/KQ vs JQ, and a few hands after that he gets taken out. When we ventured into heads up territory it was about 700 to 2300 and I had some work to do. This guy was even worse than the other guy I got heads up with, so I knew if I was just patient I could do this. As an added bonus, the dealer forgot to make us raise the blinds when the timer went off at one point, so we got a half hour at 50/100. This gave me some extra 50/100 and 75/150 to try and small ball this guy's chips away without him really realizing. I got lucky a couple times when my pocket pairs held up to his overs, and combining that with chipping away and stealing, and taking every little chip I could, I finally pulled to about 1300 to 1700. I know it doesn't seem like that big of a swing, especially with two double-ups, but I'd have to risk 30/40% of my stack a lot of the time to try and take down the blinds, and in the few cases that I missed, it just meant that much more work to get it back. At any rate, I was executing my plan perfectly and I had him right where I wanted him and had a stack that could finally do some damage...then I screwed up. In the big blind I find 78o. He calls the blind, and I check my option. The flop comes 5 7 9 rainbow. There's no reason to believe my 7 isn't good here and I've got a few redraws, so I push all-in. He calls quickly and shows the K9o. I don't improve and that's that. I know I had 2nd pair plus the redraws, but I really didn't want a call there at all. I didn't even fathom that he could possibly have a 9. I was pretty devistated, but the way I was playing, the guy was bound to catch me one of these times. I just hoped it wasn't until I had weasled away the chip lead. You may be asking why I wasn't thinking chop in this tourney, well by the time my stack was worth anything, it was about 10:40, and registration for the tournament closed at 11:30, so I couldn't be thinking "just make money" anymore, I had to win.

So that was my WSOP experience. So far, overwhelmingly positive. I was playing on point, I felt like I had a significant advantage over almost everyone at my tables, and I just needed a couple cards to fall differently. I felt like I was cashing for sure if I make it into the tournament, because my tournament game was on point.

Aside from that, almost everyone I played with was extremely pleasant. I met a guy named Jimmy who traveled the Circuit, and at first I was wary that he was talking to me to get information and was an angle shooter, but as time went on, we really bonded and I knew he wasn't just being friendly to get my chips. Incidentally, I outlasted him, and he kept looking over from his next SNG to see how I was doing, and also kept checking in on me in the last one I played Monday morning. We shared a few conversations away from the tables, too. Great guy. And I had conversations with the other guys that I played with 3-handed and less, and everyone was just playing friendly, being friendly, pulling for each other, and enjoying themselves. It really added to the experience.

The rest of the day is a different story, as I hit the cash games expecting to play shark, and was the fish. Most of the people at the cash game tables seemed to be locals, and were much better than the locals in DM. It was probably the most humbling experience I've had thus far. It didn't help that I couldn't make a hand, but aside from that I was playing like a wet noodle and had a bullseye right on my forehead. People were shooting for my blinds and betting me out of any pot where I got a piece of a flop. It wasn't pretty.

From the "hindsight is 20/20" department, I realize now what I should've been doing is just playing more SNGs and trying to get to 2nd or 1st and chopping and/or selling any chips I won. I had a much more significant advantage in the SNG arena, but just didn't wanna put $45 on the line at a time. When I end up losing $300 on the cash game tables, though, in hindsight, I like my chances at positive outcome with my money invested in 6 SNGs.

Anyway, the WSOP part was exciting and I really could've only expected slightly better (obviously actually MAKING the tournament). I've never had that consistent of SNG results. In a regular SNG, I'm making about 4x my money with finishes like that. It just so happens I was in a situation where I had to get to 1st. I'm still thrilled about the positivity and consistency of my results.

And now I've got a year to build a real bankroll to try it again. I'm basically back to zero, but I'm not worried. There's no pressure now. I was pushing myself so hard to scrape together money to get out there that the best of me wasn't shining through. I had a ton of fun putting in real hours and I had some success, but inevitably I didn't reach my full potential because I was pushing myself too hard and taking -EV risks. Do I understand that? Yes. Did I at the time? Not really, but I wasn't thinking about it. Do I regret it? No. Everything in poker is a learning experience, and in the end I *did* get to go and had a positive outcome, so the whole thing ends on a positive note. And to top it all off, now I can just play at a steady pace and give my best every single hand with no pressure and no deadlines.

And you know what that's produced?

3rd, 1st, 1st, 3rd, 3rd in the 5 SNGs I've played since I got back from Council Bluffs. Add those to the results from CB and do the math.

That's all I'm gonna say, because inevitably whenever I report good results on this blog, I am sent reeling into a pit of variance. I'm very superstitious, and I believe this fact wholeheartedly. And it is EXTREMELY annoying. Hence why I've been reluctant to post.

My one regret is that I only left myself $100 behind in cash for live play, but I'm hoping I can grind it out at 3/6 limit and get that to a playable NL bankroll. I'm actually really looking forward to playing limit, because I think my advantage at a limit table is greater than NL, but I felt like I *had* to be playing NL to maximize my win possibilities. Hell, right now I have no plans to even go to a casino anytime soon, so maybe I can pad the cash roll with a couple months worth of homegame winnings and have a little to fall back on. But that all depends on how easy the beer is going down and to what extent that affects my play.

But I'm gonna need some cash eventually because I hope to put in some real hours in Vegas when we go out to visit Jorgen and his lovely lady.

Otherwise, I'll just be playing at my pace online hoping to work my roll in a positive direction for either an eventual cashout or maybe someday free and legal right to play.

Geez, I'm just rambling now.

I'm gonna end by saying I drove out with my brother-in-law back to Council Bluffs on Monday for the beginning of the main event, and it was pretty cool to see Cloutier, Gordon, and Ferguson. Cloutier actually busted out in the first level and was gone by the time we had left and come back for lunch (I got a couple pictures of him in action before we went to lunch), but I got a great picture taken with Gordon and Ferguson that will be displayed prominetly in the basement at the ol' homestead. We were on the rail for about 4 hours watching Gordon but mostly saw him fold. It seems like every time we left and came back he had more chips, but when we were there he was just folding. So no great expertise was acquired, but I got a great picture and had a great time.

The plan is to be sitting to Gordon's right next year, stealing his blinds.

If you made it through this post, you're a champ.

Until next time...