Vegas June 2012 (WSOP)

Day 10 - Aria, Aria and done

Last Updated: 2012-06-25 13:59:19

Started at the 1:00 at Aria, and for the second tournament in a row (and for the second time all trip) I actually built up a chip stack, I was catching some good cards although I don't remember too many specifics. The big hand for me was pocket Ks I think (or was it Qs...) with two all-ins, one had 10s and the other had A-6 off and was a little short stacked. Between blinds and antes I tripled up when my hand held up.

So feeling good, thinking "OK, got screwed last night, this is finally the one..."

Not so much.

Few hands later, the one really bad decision I made the entire trip. I have K-J off, guy with a short stack raises out, I call and the guy behind me calls.

Flop comes A-K-J rainbow. Checks to me, I put out a bet, guy behind me who was also short but not as short calls, short stack shoves.

Unfortunately the short stack's shove and the fact that the guy behind me just called and had enough to get away from his hand put me in a position where I pretty much had to call the short stack shove and hope I was good. So I did. But then the other guy went back over the top and now again pot odds I have to make the call.

Things were fine for me when the short stack turned over A-Q, unfortunately the other stack turned over a made straight so I was dead to four outs. None of them came. I should NOT have bet the flop even with all the checking into me, I think every decision after that was correct but the argument could me made I could have gotten away from the first shove with someone to act behind me.

Ultimately my hand had some showdown value plus a chance at a free card to hit a boat, and with that board I wasn't likely to steal the pot unless I already had the best hand.

So that cost me half my stack. I then got some back and got back up over 20k a hand or two later when I got pocket Kings and flopped a King. I checked the flop, bet the turn, got called, but couldn't get any more out of him on the river.

Few hands later I pick up pocket 10s, I raise big and the guy who paid off my kings calls. Flop comes 6-8-9, a very good flop for my hand. I've got an overpair, a gutshot and a backdoor flush draw. All the chips go in and he has pocket 6's. They hold up, I'm crippled, and with what little I have left I run into aces...ugh.

Nice big stack and I'm gone in less than one lap around the table.

I don't think I've mentioned yet that Nick had shown up the day before and he and I were both playing in these Aria tournaments. Well Nick hit a royal flush in this one at another table and got paid! Unfortunately for him it wasn't enough to get him into the money...

So at this point, as you can imagine, I'm a little cranky about poker. Entire week card dead, happy about making it to day two in the WSOP (thought I played great poker that entire day and did the most with what I had...not a lot...) but really not happy about lasting all of 15 minutes on day two, and now finally two tournaments in a row I build up a 3.5 times original stack of chips and get crushed like a grape quickly in both of them.

I was pretty much done and ready to go home at that point. I'm sitting up in the room playing Angry Birds Space and around 7:20 Joann asks me why I'm still in the room. "I'm done". "Its the last time you're going to get to play." "OK (heavy sigh)".

Back down to the Aria tournament area one more time, I buy in and here's how it started out...

First hand limp in with J-10 off, 6 players. Flop J-rag-rag. Regular player (played with her in April and this trip a few times) bets about 1/2 the pot, I call. Turn an 8, another smallish bet, I call, river a Q, check, check and she turns over J-8.

Second hand, 2-3 people limp in ahead of me, trying to mix up my game some I just call w/ A-Q suited. Flop Q-rag-rag. First to act bets out, folds to me, I go over the top for 1200 (10K starting stacks, blinds either still 25-50 or just turned over to 50-100), folds to other guy who goes back over the top for 3000.

I'm still surprised, the way my week had gone, that I laid down the hand. This was a moment to tilt shove if ever there was one. But...I laid it down. He had to have either two pair or a set. Had to.

So two hands and 20% of my stack is gone. Unreal. I texted Joann that I should have stayed upstairs.

But then something happened that completely got me back into a good mindset.

A few hands later I have A-K. I raise out, button or cutoff calls. I completely miss the flop, I check immediately and look at the caller...and he's looking at me. Everyone is looking at me. "I checked" I said. Turn a blank, check, check. River a blank, check, check. I turn over my A-K, cutoff mucks. I'm waiting for my chips, and another guy I recognized who was in the big blind is talking to the dealer.

The dude had called preflop and had his hands over his cards, nobody knew he was in the hand except the dealer. He had not acted (THAT was why the dealer didn't see me check the flop) and wanted to know what was going to happen now. He could see my A-K face up, he knew I had nothing.

Now this guy...he's another guy I had played with a few times before. And a definite pro-wannabe. Had to sit there like a statue for 5 seconds before doing anything, every move was slow and deliberate, wore the sunglasses, and wasn't a very good poker player...but hey, nobody could get any tells off him I guess...

Well he looks at me and casually tosses out a nice big pot-sized bet. I called him immediately and he turned over K-J, no pair, nothing. I won the pot.

He wasn't happy I called...well, but he was so good I'm not sure how I could tell...hehe

Around that time Nick sat down and he blew through a little over 1/3 of his stack fairly quickly. But he held on and I started picking up cards and before I knew it I had a decent sized stack.

I really don't remember much from the next several rounds, basically I spent a lot of time playing good hands and stack building. Went through a couple of table breaks, eventually Nick and I got back together and Nick and I both had decent stacks at that time.

He and I did go at it a little, I got a nice chunk of chips off him on a preflop raise w/A-K or A-Q and c-bet when I missed the flop, but then he got probably the same amount back on a hand where I knew I shoulda gone over the top of him. He min-raised, I decided to just call with A-Q (again!) and there was one other person in the pot. The 3rd player was a bigger stack and unfortunately for me he wasn't playing a lot of hands and throughout the hand HE was really my concern. I was worried he was slow playing something.

Well we checked (or did Nick min-bet?) the flop of J-x-x, turn was another blank, Nick made his standard min-bet of 1200 and me, worried about the other guy, just called convinced my A-Q was good vs Nick. River a 9, Nick bet again (3K I think), I called, other guy folded and Nick tabled A-9. Sigh.

But that was the last time Nick got me. I did some more stack building, then got moved on a table balance. Built up a little more and lo-and-behold from our starting count of 123 players we were down to two tables all of a sudden.

18 left, paying 12. Could I actually get into the money?

Sitting on a pretty good sized stack I then had three monstrous hands.

I had built up to about 110k at the redraw (out of 1.2 million in play), but lost almost half of it on some good hands that didn't pan out. Then I looked at A-Q suited for the third time and I wasn't messing around with this one. I raise out UTG or UTG+1, a guy two seats to my left went over the top. Folded around to me and I moved all in.

He thought for a very long time and made the call, having me covered and tabled 9-9. I flopped a Q and doubled up.

Then in the small blind I had one limp into me and I called with Q-2. BB checked. Flop 2-2-Q.

Check around. Turn a K. I check, BB checks, other guy bets 15K. I mull it over and call. Don't remember the river, I check, he bets 30k. I seriously thought about min-raising but decided he wouldn't get away from whatever he had and shoved. Don't know if he would have called the min raise but he folded and afterwards indicated he probably would have called for less.

But, still, I'm over 200k at that point and probably the chip leader.

Meanwhile at the other table, Nick triples up and then doubles up, might have had a takeout or two along the way and both of us have big stacks.

I think it was while we were on the final table bubble when the next big hand for me came up. I look down at QQ early to act and raise out. Folds around to button I think who reraises and 5 or 6 handed and already in the money and big stacked there's no chance I'm folding Qs. All the chips go in and he rolls over Kings. Ouch!

Queen on the river. Double-Ouch!

So I'm up around 300k and if we didn't go down to one table then, we did soon after. And it didn't take long for Nick to score a double takeout!!! Two all-ins ahead of him and Nick makes the call with Q-J of diamonds. Up against A-6 and a middle pair (8s?) I think he flopped a flush draw, I know he caught a straight draw on the turn because he caught the straight on the river. Just like that down to 7 player.

So we played a few hands, and the very short stack next to Nick started chirping about how we could all walk away with $1100 right now if we chopped. I told him there's no chance. I have 1/4 of the chips in play and Nick has another 1/4 or so.

But after another hand or two my better judgement comes into play and I ask if anyone wants to see the numbers on a "chip chop". Enough people agree so I call the floor over and ask them to run the numbers.

Turns out I had 316k, 25.6% of the chips in play. Nick was at 260k. The numbers come back and just about everyone was happy. As always there was one holdout for a few seconds but he caved and everyone went home happy. I got to call myself the winner!

This one cash was enough to profit if you don't count the WSOP, and combining April and this trip with the WSOP I'm still ahead!

Joann and I had a final 3am dinner at the 24 hr place at Aria, went to bed around 4am, got up at 9-ish and headed home.

Hopefully we will continue the November tradition, thanks as always for reading!