Vegas June 2013 (WSOP)

Pete's good day at the WSOP

Last Updated: 2013-06-20 16:15:19

Here are almost all of the 255 hands I played on day one at the WSOP Event Number 8 on Sunday June 2nd. By my count there are 19 hands missing, but I'm 99.9% sure any hand missing is a hand I didn't play, and surely was a no-brainer fold or I would have been more likely to remember it.

I'm typing this up well after the trip was over, but I did take pretty good notes. I did not attempt to record suits unless it was relevant, there's only so much I could reasonably record and still pay attention to what was going on around me.

There is always room for discussion about how hands should have been played but I honestly feel like I only made one real mistake the entire day.

For stud games, the third card should be my up-card. For games with blinds, I should have been small blind first hand of the level, button and so-on until big blind for last hand because I was in the 1-seat for at least the first half. Eventually we did have bustouts that changed the button location and then our table was broken up.

When I missed hands, most likely I missed them somewhere in the middle, I'm sure I wrote down all of my blind and button hands unless explicitly stated that I missed one of them.

Starting stack was 7500 chips.

Razz (hands 1-8)

2-A-9
3-3-K
2-A-J
4-A-J
10-A-J
8-Q-J
(only wrote down 2 high card hand)
6-J-K

Might have played hand #1 if the 9 was a down card but that would have been stretching it. No playable hand in that bunch.

Pot Limit Omaha (hands 9-16, one missed)

3-7-2-10 3 clubs
10-7-7-4 1 suit - raise, re-raise, re-raise into me, obvious fold
8-6-6-3
9-2-K-K, 1 suit, clubs. I raise pre to ~2.5 BB (standard this table), 5 callers. 2 clubs on flop including Ac, someone bets 300, me and one caller. Turn hit flush, bet 750, no callers
5-6-A-Q 2 suits. Fold two hold'em hands.
A-3-4-6 single suit, not the ace, fold
3-6-8-A - In big w/ 3 limpers, checked option, missed flop, folded to flop bet

Clearly only one playable hand, which I won! If I was playing loose I probably would have played the A346 hand, but gap at the top and surely nut low flush possibility would be a dangerous hand to play IMHO. Chip stack around 8000

Limit Hold'Em (hands 17-24, two missed)

2-2 - 4 limpers, didn't flop set, went away
9-4 off
10-J off - I raised in the cutoff, got reraised, called. Flopped 7-8-X for gutshot and overs, called flop bet, missed turn, folded
Q-2 off
9-5 off
6-2 of hearts BB - Two limpers, flop 5-5-2 w/5h, check around. 3h on turn for straight-flush draw, I bet, get raised, I call. River Qh, I bet, get called. Reraiser had slow-played trip 5s and I caught runner-runner flush

Broke even in this round, started and ended around 8k

Stud 8/b (hands 25-32, one missed)

A-5-10
7-A-5 2 spades - I called the bring-in, a little loose probably playing just for low. David Levi in 4-seat raised, I call. Paired the 5 w/5s on 4th, check/call, then caught 3s for flush draw and low draw on 5th, bet, get called. 2, not 2s, on 6th gave me guaranteed low w/ straight and flush draws against an all-high hand. Levi stared at me for a bit and gave up. Levi had to fold with my board, he would have to call two more bets just get his chips back with no low possible for him
8-8-A 2 clubs - Thought about representing but clubs were dead and didn't want to be drawing to an 8 low. 7s might have gotten me in
4-J-5
10-9-4
K-J-10 rainbow
3-K-4

First hand got me up to about 8500

2-7 Triple Draw (hands 33-38, UTG and UTG+1 sit out since 8 handed table)

9-10-10-Q-Q
3-4-7-A-Q (stole blinds, almost identical hand and same result as the only pot I won on day 2)
3-3-7-K-Q
3-4-8-9-9
2-2-2-2-9 - I didn't have the guts, but this is the ultimate snow hand with no 2s left for anyone to catch! At a tight table I take a shot...
8-7-3-4-K - Raise into me, I make loose call against a very loose raiser. I draw one, him 3. After that he bets and PATS every street, I assume he's good but not great, I catch a 2 on river to make 8-7 perfect, he had drawn three and caught a wheel! Sick. Down to 7700

Talk about wrong place wrong time. Anyone else raises I chuck the 8-7 draw, which is usually asking for trouble, but I wanted to see how many he drew and was going to try and snow him. When he patted I had to assume he had a 9 or 10 and I was drawing very live. Oh well.

No-Limit Hold'Em (hands 39-46, one missed)

K-Q suited - raise, reraise into me. One raise and some callers I would have played
K-4 off
Q-J off
9-7 suited
9-8 off
10-5 off
6-4 off

I didn't write it down, but I'm fairly sure there was a raise into me as I was probably on the cutoff and folded Q-J off. Suited I probably would have played for a raise, certainly an argument could be made I could have played for one raise anyway and tried to hit the flop or stole the pot w/ position, but then again it was a loose table with a few still to act so I don't think this was overly tight to dump it.

Stud High (hands 47-54)

6-Q-4
9-9-8 - High cards everywhere and raises ahead of me, fold
2s-Ks-Qs - Completed, no action
6-7-Q
2-A-K
4-J-J - Completed, I think 1 caller, 4th another face card, I bet and win
8-A-A - Went same as previous hand tho I did get a call on 4th, won on 5th. Cards were all blanks for me and opponent
Didn't write down

Pretty ABC round, stack back up to 8500

Omaha 8/b (hands 55-62)

2-4-6-9 - Bunch of limpers, called in SB with this junk, lots of checking, by river had pr 2s and a bad low so folded to a bet
10-J-J-5
9-K-J-2
3-4-Q-J
2-6-7-9
5-6-J-K
4-6-7-Q
A-K-Q-9 3 diamonds including Ad - Would have flopped 2 pr and actually would have scooped, but would have had to call a lot of bets w/ a borderline hand that never improved

I shouldn't have even wasted the small blind call, a "nothing" round. Note that at this point we have finally gotten through all games for the first time.

Razz (hands 63-70)

2-J-J
Two face cards
A-A-Q
4-10-A - Might have tried to represent here, but early to act and lots of small cards behind. Someone was going to raise
3-4-9 - Same here, not going to play a 9 up anyway esp early to act.
2-4-K
9-9-6
4-7-9

So two rounds in a row with really nothing I can play.

Pot Limit Omaha (hands 71-78, missed one)

2-3-6-J
5-7-9-J - Even on button, "all gap" hands hard to hit well
2-4-6-8 - Ditto. I believe they were also both rainbow
2-3-4-J
2-3-A-A single suited - I raise pre, one caller, no help at all on rainbow flop. Tried a C-bet, got called, gave up and folded to a bet on river as hand never improved
6-Q-J-10 - UTG, not going to play a 3-card rundown UTG
5-6-6-10 - Folded BB to a raise

Ended round back down to 7400, a rare time below starting stack.

Limit Hold'Em (hands 79-86, missed 2 but had a lot going on)

10-J suited, UTG raised, probably should have called but folded and would have missed.
Q-7 suited
J-J - Raised pre, flop all unders, bet every street, called every street by Levi, won pot, he didn't show
A-J off - I think Levi raised pre and I called. Flop A-5-X, I check-raised Levi, turn and river both brought straight cards. I still bet every street, Levi folded on river and asked what I have. I just smiled, he said must have been a set of 5s, I said nah, A-J with a big smile, he didn't believe me, then got a little annoyed when I told him I knew it was good
4-4 - Limped pre, folded after I missed
5-4 off

After this round I was up over 10K, Levi was becoming my best friend at this point.

Stud 8/b (hands 87-94)

10-A-A - I complete, bet 4th-6th streets, one caller clearly going low, check river, end up with A-A-5-5 and win high
4-J-8
8-8-10
J-J-10 - I will play a hand like this, but I had Q, A, A behind me
A-4-10
5-J-K
7-Q-6
2-7-8

Nothing I could really play here.

2-7 Triple Draw (hands 95-100, managed to miss one with only 6 to remember, duh)

5-6-6-9-10
2-3-5-6-X - Obviously raised pre, caught a wonderful 7 on first draw, bet every street and called every street. Over 11K
2-6-7-8-9 - Made a very loose call pre, but knowing there were a few players willing to raise drawing 3 I played. Only drew one and caught the 4, bet and got called second draw, checked 3rd draw, 8-7-6 was good
5-7-8-A-10 - Enough drawing to 87s tho...
3-4-7-7-K - Folded to me in SB, I raised, BB folded

If nothing else this round justified what happened to me the first time we played 2-7. The guy from that earlier hand was my opponent again here on my 8-7 draw and I was right and he paid me. I think he drew two and then one and one.

No-Limit Hold'Em (hands 101-108)

9-K off
6-J off
9-2 off
A-J off - Raise and caller ahead of me, I folded
7-7 - Raised, no callers
4-Q suited
K-4 off
Q-4 off

Folding A-J off was a little tight pre, don't remember it at all tho so don't know what I was thinking there

Apparently at this point my note taking got crappy, missing a bunch for a little while.

7-Card Stud (hands 109-116 but missing 3)

8-J-10 - Early to act and cards dead
A-K-Q spades - Completed, spade, bet, spade, bet no callers
10-4-6
6-10-J
4-5-Q spades - If you read original blog, this is where I got dumb. I called a guy with a K showing who was fairly tight and raised, same guy I drew out a flush (8-seat) a few hands earlier. He bet and I called 4th and 5th, and he had paired his K on 5th. I caught my flush on 6th, he checked, I bet, he called. Then he checked dark and I bet without thinking on river. He raised, I had to call, and he flipped over the boat he rivered. Very stupid on my part.

In the end it really didn't hurt that much, but I will forever kick myself for wasting TWO bets on that hand. He basically called me an idiot and he was right. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Down to 11K after that hand.

Omaha 8/b (hands 117-124, 1 missing)

7-8-10-Q
4-8-10-Q
A-4-5-7 - This is the kind of hand I can't stop playing that I really need to stop playing in this game. Board ran out 9-8-3-5-3 no flush possible. So I flop a bad straight and second nut low draws, exactly the kind of bad position I put myself in by playing it. Have to call down every street now, check/check river thankfully. Luckily this game very often rewards stupidity and my PAIR OF 5s takes high against a no-pair-nut-low hand! Can't make it up.
7-9-K-Q
5-8-J-K
7-7-A-5
4-J-J-10

A nothing round other than a hand I played but shouldn't have.

Razz (hands 125-132)

4-J-9
5-K-8
2-K-8
2-J-Q
Q-J-Q
A-K-Q
2-Q-K
3-5-K

About a bad a round of Razz starting hands as I can imagine. I suppose bad up-cards with bad down cards is less frustrating than bad up cards with great down cards like first round.

Pot Limit Omaha (hands 133-140, 1 missed)

3-5-A-J suited A - I called preflop with a very borderline hand but I guess I had sat out so many that I got enamored with the suited ace. Missed the flop and quit. Down to 9825
3-8-9-10 1 suit - Again, 3 card rundowns early to act are a little thin for me
2-7-8-K
5-7-8-J double suited - Gaps in all the wrong places
4-8-Q-10
2-J-J-8 rainbow
A-10-5-5 double suited - Caught a 5, lost to a straight, down to 8500

So my track record here is going down hill. I blow chips I shouldn't have in stud, luck out in 8/b, can't play anything in Razz...in hindsight the two hands in this round smack of Pete losing patience, and I pride myself in not losing patience. Hopefully I'll reread this blog entry before I play next year!

Limit Hold'Em (hands 141-148 but missed two)

9-4 off
7-10 off
10-10 - Blinds must have shifted due to missing players by here b/c I was first to act. I raised, got reraised, I called. Board ran out 6-4-3-2-6, I check-called every street and won the pot, never saw his hand. Back up to 10K
Q-2 BB
A-9 suited SB - Raised pre and won blinds/antes
A-6 suited

Back up over 10K thanks to the 10s being good.

Stud 8/b (hands 149-156 one missing)

6-J-4
9-J-2
7-9-7
5-J-8
8-9-K
4-9-3 - I was bring-in, just one limper. I paired the 4 but someone else paired the 8. I could have seen one more card, but I don't know what I could hit that would have looked scary low AND given me a better shot at high, plus the pot just wasn't big enough to be worth it. Unless I catch trips, I have to continue with a good looking card and I'm still at least two from a low AND a high or give up to a bad card.
6-2-A - Completed and won antes

Roughly broke even on the round.

2-7 Triple Draw (hands 157-162)

3-6-8-9-K
3-5-6-8-9 - I called pre with position, after other guy drew 2 or 3 decided to just pat/bet, pat/bet, pat/check as long as he was drawing. I did, he drew every street as hoped but caught on river.
3-5-7-9-K - Called initially but folded when BB raised. A little tight here but just got burned and too many "good" cards turn into straight draws, which are bad.
5-6-9-K-A
4-6-A-A-10
5-6-7-10-10

Down to 8500 after the first hand I played in this one.

No Limit Hold'Em (hands 163-170)

A-K off - Won blinds/antes
A-7 suited - Folded early to act
6-2 off
3-2 off
6-Q off
Forgot
K-4 suited
6-7 off

Break-even round

7-Card Stud (hands 171-178, one missing)

A-A-A - Um, this was an OK starting hand. Bet every street, called every street, even got in a raise along the way. AAA was enough to win, I did not improve. Up to 12,500
9-Q-J - I think I was able to limp in, caught a 9 on 4th and a straight draw on 5th, but 6th and 7th didn't help and I gave up on 7th. Back down to 10K
4-K-4 - Two kings and four on the board
4-Q-2
10-Q-Q - I raised, got reraised, never improved and eventually gave up. Down to 9K
3-8-9 suited - Raise/reraise into me. Too much action with nothing but a flush to try and hit
10-A-10 - I didn't write down why I didn't play this hand, probably a lot of overcards on board

Started out great, but downhill from there.

Omaha 8/b (hands 179-186)

A-2-K-Q - Obviously I played this one and this was a huge hand for me described in the original blog. Basically there was a lot of action, I caught the nut low on the turn and two pair on the river. But the river also brought a 3rd spade, I did not have two spades but with the As I made a dry-ace bluff and it worked, I got the real high hand out, won high and a 3-way chop of low.
A-5-8-K
A-5-7-9
6-9-Q-10
9-J-K-K one suit - Raise and reraise into me preflop, I really don't like to play high-only hands when I can't get in cheap. Unfortunately for me I would have flopped a nut straight with redraws and hit a flush on the river. Darn it!
A-3-8-Q all spades - Stole blinds w/ preflop raise
5-10-10-Q
Forgot by the time I got back to my notes

That first hand got me up to, at the time, my high point for the day at 14,000 chips. At that point I was pretty confident I was going to make it to day two, but definitely still a long way to go.

Razz (hands 187-194, one missing)

10-10-6
10-A-2
9-J-9
Q-J-10
9-4-5 - Completed and got called by guy w/a King up who drew out on me. I did not take notes on how the boards ran out but I was ahead every street until the river. Brutal.
9-9-9
10-Q-6

That was a crappy round of Razz, rolled up trips happen half as often as pocket aces in Hold'Em (one in over 400) so that's a real bad case of wrong-game-itis. But the worst was a guy even playing a hand w/ a King showing and winning the pot. I think I wrote about that one in the original BLOG

Pot Limit Omaha (hands 195-202)

A-2-8-Q
2-2-A-Q
A-Q-10-8 double suited - First to act, if I was late to act I might call a raise and certainly raise out with this hand if it folded to me and limp or raise if there were limps into me and I would have position. But with 7 more players behind me and out of position rest of hand I don't think this is a tight laydown
A-2-8-Q (yup, same as hand 195)
7-8-9-J double suited - once again a seemingly playable hand, but in the small blind, first to act subsequent rounds and gap at the top this is just a dangerous hand. Someone raised and i folded.
4-5-6-9 one suit
8-10-J-K one suit - Gap at top is usually OK when it involves a king and jack specifically, but I guess I was in a tight mood
7-8-10-Q single suited - Two one-gaps at the top again

I've been playing almost exclusively PLO online the last few months. I know I look very tight here, but top gap hands will win small pots and lose big pots at full tables because if you can get all the chips in with the nuts, the other person is almost certainly freerolling you. And this was a full, mostly loose table with the recent addition of a guy so loose he'll play a face-up king in Razz. I didn't write it down, but there was almost certainly at least one raise into me, which meant pots would be bloated if I did hit and have to defend my hand.

Limit Hold'Em (hands 203-210)

10-7 off
A-2 off
9-3 off
5-3 off - Got a walk!
10-7 off
A-5 off
3-3 - I think I limped and folded when I missed
10-2 suited

Really nothing playable.

7-Card Stud 8/b (hands 211-216, table broke)

8-J-A - Aces were dead, folded
A-K-Q - Don't like to play this as a rainbow in stud 8/b plus I again believe a lot of face cards out
4-Q-5
2-A-A - Obviously I'm raising here. I got one caller, unfortunately I caught a 10 on 4th street, ended up calling all the way down he drew out a set for high but I did catch a low to chop
K-J-6
3-4-9

So at this point the table broke up. I believe I was still somewhere around 12,000 chips having been stuck in neutral for a while.

2-7 Triple Draw (hands 217-222, start of new game so even got my "2-7 break")

6-5-Q-6-5
7-9-Q-A-A
2-4-J-Q-K
2-4-8-A-Q
3-7-8-A-K
6-5-K-K-K

I'm not going to draw to 8's at a new table with no reads on anyone.

No Limit Hold'Em (hands 223-230)

6-5 off
8-2 off
8-2 off (not a typo)
9-2 off (does that qualify as an improvement?)
4-4 BB - Raise into me, folded
A-4 suited - Ditto
J-9 off
10-A suited - Raised in cutoff, one caller, flopped an ace and took the pot

7-Card Stud (hands 231-238)

2-5-10
8-4-6
8-J-Q
A-10-3
10-J-7
5-8-10
3-6-4
7-8-J

Nothing really to play here.

Omaha 8/b (hands 239-246)

A-4-9-Q - I didn't play it so ace must not have been suited. See, I am capable of just getting rid of A-4 hands...
A-5-6-J double suited - Again dump a hand that tempts me to get in trouble. I'll mention the best Omaha advice I ever heard - Imagine the best possible flop for your hand. Now how much do you like your hand?
5-7-9-9 - All middle cards, dump
2-4-7-7 - Another trouble hand, only good flop would be A-3-7, nothing else can possibly be good
I just wrote down "junk"
A-3-5-K double suited - OK, now we're talking. Flopped 6-7-K, I call a bet. Turn a J, check, check, river another J. He bets, I decide kings up should be good enough and call and I was right. Up to about 13K
2-7-9-J
3-4-5-6 - Again, unless I flop an A and a 2 this can only get me in trouble.

I am quite happy I didn't play any of these trouble hands.

Razz (hands 247-254)

3-4-5 - Obvisouly I completed pre, caught an 8 then a J and had to go away when the other person's board was 7-4-2
5-J-6
7-J-10
3-10-5
4-J-6
3-10-7
7-10-A
A-Q-Q

Very frustrating day for me in the Razz department. Finally, finally get a great starting hand and it falls apart. That put me down around 11K.

Pot Limit Omaha, hand 255

A-A-J-9 one suit. Great finish to my day. I pot preflop, get one caller. Flop comes 8-A-8, check, check. Turn is a Queen, check, check again. River is a blank, opponent FINALLY bets over 1/3 of his small stack, I shove, he insta-folds.

I bag up my chips.

Well there you have it. 8 hours of poker hands, so it occurs to me that we spent roughly an hour on each game. Let me know if you actually read the whole thing, would love to hear from anyone who does.