Vegas June 2017 (WSOP)

Day 10 - WSOP PLO 8/b

Last Updated: 2017-06-24 12:02:58

Joann and I walked up the strip to the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesar's Palace for brunch to get our day going. I would now agree with Joann that this is probably the best buffet on the strip, but it's really pricey. We both agreed we're done with buffets now. Tho we didn't clarify if that means "on this trip" or "from this day forward" so I'll have to ask her about that later...

Joann dropped me off at Rio so she could go do a little more shopping, I got in line and while I was there Patrick showed up. Hung with him for 10-15, then took my seat in the Amazon Room for Pot-Limit Omaha 8/b.

It was a very ho-hum event for me. I had one stretch of a level or two that was just wild and crazy, but before and after that it was a whole lot of nothing...

I had gotten down to 5500 or so chips when I "sixthed" two people. I don't know if that's really a word, but it's what I did. It works like this...

Remember it's a split pot game. The best hand can win the pot outright if there is no low hand. Low hand can also win half the pot if they can make a 5 card hand that contains all unpaired cards 8 or lower with ace being low for the low hand. A2345 is the "nut low".

As such, having an ace and a two in your 4-card hand is a powerful thing because you have a better chance of making the best low hand.

I start out with A23T with the ace and another card being spades. Someone at the other end of the table raises out, I call, someone else also calls.

The flop came 5-K-6 with two spades. I have a draw to the "nut low" and a draw to the nut flush. Original raiser bets again, we both call.

Turn is the 7 of spades. Gin! I have the "nut-nut" hand, best possible high and best possible low. I lead out, they both call, river doesn't pair the board (my only worry now is a full house killing my flush), I value bet and they both call again.

They both show A-2-X-X hands. I win half the pot outright for the high hand. We then take the other half of the pot and split it 3 ways. So they each get 1/6 of the original pot and I end up with 2/3 (1/2+1/6) of it. Sweet!

8550 at the break.

This is where things got real interesting...and fun, but of course it's always fun when it goes well...

Not long after the break I blow half my stack on a bluff. I can only assume he had the flush I was representing...I'm down to about 3K. Oops.

But I win some smaller pots, or at least half of them and work my way back up to 5K. Then two really big pots for me.

First I suck out on a 2-outer. I've got A-J-J-2 with at least one suit. All the chips go in for the three of us on a board of 855. At that point 3 handed I was willing to draw to half since I had put a big percentage of my chips in preflop. That and 8's and 5's are cards you shouldn't play so who knows, maybe my Jacks are good. Uh...no.

One guy has a full house with 88XX, but no chance at a low (awful hand to play in this game...) and the other guy also has nothing but the nut low draw. Turn gave us our low, Jack on the river. I get 3/4. 10,600.

Very next hand I catch another nut flush on the turn and take out a short stack. There was no low on that hand and I don't remember what my cards were to start but I'm sure they were monsters :-) 16550.

I give a few back, but then get all of those right back when I take out a very short stack with AA75 with one suit vs his A239. He gets nothing from the board and I'm at 16,700.

At that point I'm sitting in the 2-seat, the guy in the 5-seat was a fairly aggressive player and he and I started to go at it. I gave him about 2000 chips on two strong starting hands that didn't work out. But then I got about 4k back from him with A588 when I caught a straight and a flush draw on the turn and bet him out of the pot. Oh, wait, didn't I just say 8s and 5s are cards you shouldn't play? I did say that, didn't I. Honestly I think I was in the big blind and probably would have folded preflop if there had been a raise.

That said, I knew this guy was playing a very wide range that included some not great hands. He would raise out with a hand that started with A-5 for low, which is lets say optimistic at best. As a result, tho, it meant I could loosen up to play back at him with similar hands. But most of the time, almost all of the time, I'm folding A-5-X-X preflop.

Next time we go at it he raises out and I look down at AA6T. This probably isn't the best starting hand, but against him it's a good enough so I call his preflop raise.

Flop came K-J-5 with two spades. I have A-T of spades. So I have the nut flush draw and a gutshot straight draw, an overpair and a pair of 6s (so either an ace or a 6 gives me three of a kind). This is actually a monster flop for me. I bet pot with all my draws and he calls.

Turn is a 7, no help for me, I check, he bets and I call. River is a 3. We check it down.

He had 2-4-6-8, no spades. So he called my flop bet with literally nothing but caught two perfect cards to make both a straight and a low to scoop the pot. For me that was a pretty rough beat. Of course I did hit a two outer earlier so who am I to complain?

15,975 at the next break.

Not long after the cards are back in the air same guy raises out and I look down at AAQ3 with one ace suited in the big blind. "Monster" is probably not the word I would normally use for this starting hand, but it's really, really good and before the flop against a loose aggressive player it's a monster for sure. I pot it, and he calls.

Position is important in all forms of poker. It's critically important in Omaha and Omaha 8/b. This hand is my one regret of this tournament not because it didn't work out, but because I was out of position against an excellent player in a big pot and I might have just as well hung a sign over my head that said "I HAVE ACES!!!". I'm pretty sure he was calling any cards at that point. I really should have just called even tho it was a huge starting hand.

Flop comes K-2-Q with two spades. My cards are all red, not good. He bets, I call just to see where things are going. Turn is a 6 of spades to put a flush out there but at least give me a low draw. We both check, to my surprise. River doesn't give me a low, he bets out, I can't beat anything and fold. Lost about 1/3 of my stack.

That was in level 5. A 12-13K stack was plenty of chips at that point, but unfortunately there isn't a whole lot more to tell.

Not long after that hand they're breaking tables pretty regularly and our turn comes up. I move to my new table, and as I'm sitting my butt down who comes over but Daniel Negraneau who had just registered.

Wow does he talk. Non stop. Before he sat down he took a short video of everyone at the table and asked who had a job because he prefers to play poker against people who have jobs. If you're wondering why think about it for a few seconds, answer will be below :-)

Right now today there is no bigger star in poker. Ironically Joann had just asked me if I ever get star-struck when people like him sit at a table with me. The answer is no.

I'm not naive enough to think that my level of poker skill is on par with these guys. This is what they do for a living. They are better than I am at finding opportunities to take down pots that I'm going to miss from time to time. I realize this. But I do like to think that the skill gap isn't enormous. As I sit and play with these guys my observation is that very few of them are the hyper-aggressive types. They play solid starting hands, they stay out of trouble, they find opportunities to steal pots, they usually have the best hand when all the chips go in. I can do that. Sometimes they will also reraise in Omaha 8/b out of position with an AAQ3 hand against a hyper aggressive player who's going to steal the pot from them when they miss because sometimes they can't help themselves either :-)

So star struck? No. But I do take some pride in feeling like I can sit at a table with these guys and hold my own. I'm not one of these people who wants to be able to say I played with Daniel and he kicked my ass, worth every penny of the $1500 I blew in a tournament. I was much more interested in taking the chips he was throwing around trying to quickly double or go home than just being happy to be there...

I play with him for about 30 minutes before we get broken up. I move to another table that's only 4-5 from being broken up. And he never stopped talking. But incredibly nice guy, exactly the guy you see on TV.

I'm at 13525 at end of level 5. My new table contains another big time pro but his name escapes me right now.

From that point on I barely played another hand in the two hours I lasted. That table broke, I actually went to the wrong table but only sat in for 4 hands before a break and didn't pay any blinds. I realized it when I got back to the table and moved to the correct table.

Eventually I got crippled with a King high flush vs an Ace high flush (down to 500 chips) and busted out the very next hand.

Oh well. It was a fun ride for a little while. Not long after we sat down for a late dinner Patrick texted me that he busted just short of the money in the 5pm tournament he played in. Bummer!

Saturday I'm finally taking a break from the WSOP. Patrick and I are playing in a $240 "double stack turbo" at Aria. 20 minute rounds instead of the usual 30, so not hyper fast, and 30,000 chips with thier standard blind structure. Should be interesting.

Sunday we're playing Day 1B of the Monster Stack and we'll see after that...

Almost forgot. If you have a job it means you don't play poker for a living. Daniel prefers to play against players who don't play poker for a living. If I was him, I would too.