 Vegas June 2010 (WSOP) |
| Day 9 - Last chance at the deep stacks |
| Last Updated: 2010-06-19 03:06:51 |
| Thought for a while this was finally going to be the one.
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| I was up and down early on, hovering in the 12k-15k range from the starting stack of 15k. I ended up taking a hit when I got slick twice in three hands and missed both times. Down at 9k I ended up taking a coin flip when a loose player raised out and I decided a pair of 5s was good enough for a reraise. He went back over the top with slick and my 5s held up (of course we flopped a pair of 6s and an over with another over on the turn to give him 12 outs on the river).
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| After that, things went well for a while and I worked my stack up to about 24k partly thanks to Kings holding up against A-J off.
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| I was proud of that one. The guy betting into me had gotten on tilt because a guy at the other end of the table accused him of slow-rolling (he was wrong!) and the "accused" didn't take to it. He had just shoved into a raise and clearly it was a tilt shove. Well a hand or two after that he raises into me and I look down at KK. I believe blinds were 200/400, he made it 1000. So I'm trying to figure how to get this guy on tilt to pay me off and I decide on effectively a min-raise to 2000. He instantly shoves and I obviously call!
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| Every now and then I'd give up a chunk but then get it back and I sat around 20-24k for a while while the blinds were still on the low side.
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| The real big hand came for me I think around 300/600 blinds with a 25 or 50 ante. Before my hand, the two big stacks at the table had a bit of a clash. Both players who were willing to call a lot or raises to see a flop, the bigger stack raised and the slightly smaller big stack called. The slightly smaller stack was the big-mouth from earlier. Flop 9-9-10 two diamonds. Big stack bets big, other guy shoves. Big stack goes in the tank and eventually calls and turns over A-Q of diamonds and the other guy turns over just J-9 off for trips. Diamond on the river, big stack is now massive stack.
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| A few hands later massive stack raises and I reraise with pocket kings. Massive stack calls. Flop 3-6-3. I check, he bets, I min-raise and he shoves. Wasn't he paying attention? He had pocket 10s and I double up to about 50k.
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| At that point, I'm thrilled. For the first time all trip I'm actually well above average stack (which was in the 30-33k range) and have a big stack for the blinds. I can actually play comfortable poker for a few hours instead of grinding, grinding, grinding.
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| Again, tho, I'm in neutral for a while. I give some up on a top-pair-not-so-great kicker hand that I eventually gave up. But I also collected a nice pot on a raise-reraise ahead of me by two loose players when I wake up with Qs and shove and get no takers (both claimed middle pairs) but collect a nice chunk of chips.
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| Unfortunately for me, that's where it ends.
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| I went into the dinner break feeling great. Right about average stack, feeling like I still have plenty of chips. But then reality sets in. When we get back to dinner break blinds and antes combine for about 5000 chips every time around the table.
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| In two orbits in that round, every pot is contested and I have no opportunity to even pick up blinds. I didn't count but I'd guess there were 11 hands that involved all-ins in a stretch of 20 hands and the best hand I had in that stretch was J-10 off (which I folded only to see a raise, reraise all in in which I would have been destroyed had I played).
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| So down to 40k I'm looking for an excuse and I look down at pocket 2s. I'm on the button and I'm already picking up my chips to shove when there's a raise and a reraise by two big stacks ahead of me. Dammit! They both go all in, Qs vs bullets and I would not have gotten my deuce.
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| Then the blinds go up again and I'm over 6000 chips per orbit and down to just 5 times around the table before I'm blinded out.
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| I pick up K-J and actually get to be first in the pot! I raise, get one caller, miss the flop, miss the turn, he bets and shows pocket 10s when I fold. I almost shoved...
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| But I may as well have.
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| What I haven't mentioned is that the person betting into me has raised literally every pot that hadn't been opened by the time action got to him except for my K-J hand. Which meant that in all this time since the dinner break I have never had an opportunity to play a pot without a raise into me.
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| And he's shown down hands as low as 10-9 suited w/ his raises.
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| So I finally pick up an A-5 in the small blind, it folds around to this guy who raises out and I decide it's time to take a stand with my last (at this point) 25,000 chips. Alas he actually has something this time, a crappy A-8 but he decides it's enough to call and I get no love on the board.
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| Argh!
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| So I play about 9.5 hours, bust out something like 145 out of 630 just 80 or so from the money.
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| But the bottom line is, as long as the structure is in this tournament we got to the point where even an average stack couldn't go more than a couple of orbits without taking stabs at the pot. And unfortunately for me, every hand someone had cards (with all the all-ins we got to see them almost every hand, but people were showing quite frequently when they didn't have to) and that someone was never me. All I really needed was one hand in all of that where I could have doubled up one more time and I would have been good.
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| Oh well. Hopefully we'll have better luck if there's a November trip.
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| So we're all packed and ready to go. Thanks for reading! |
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