Vegas June 2017 (WSOP)

Day 11 - Aria double-stack turbo

Last Updated: 2017-06-25 11:36:24

There are days at the poker table when you play great and the cards reward you for your excellent play.

There are days at the poker table when you do everything right and still get crushed by the cards.

And then there are days when you have absolutely, positively no business walking away with a single penny...and somehow, inexplicably, you do...

Only had time for a Starbucks breakfast before I ran over to Rio to pick up Patrick so that both of us could play in the Aria 11am $240 buyin "Double-Stack Turbo" event.

Normally for $240 at Aria you get 15,000 chips to start and half-hour levels. For this tournament you got 30,000 chips but only 20 minute levels. Quite a change from the hour-long levels I was getting used to at the Rio. I had no illusions that I was going to be able to be my usual patient self in this tournament. I was going to have to take some chances to keep from just getting blinded out.

Early on it didn't go great. In the first couple of orbits I had AK twice (once suited), A-J, A-10 and K-10 suited and somehow was down 2000 chips. But I got most of it back when I flopped a set of 5s.

I'm in a blind and someone who was playing a lot of hands raised out. I looked down at J-10 and was planning to call...but someone half way between us went over the top so I folded them.

Flop came 789. Damn. All the chips go in and it's 88 for original raiser and AA for the re-raiser. Either of them just call instead of raise preflop and I'm stacking both of them...ace on the river, BTW.

Chip stack barely changed at 29,400 two hours and 6 levels in. We've already gotten through the 300/600/75 blind level.

Halfway through the second level after the break (so 600/1200/100) another player who had been playing pretty loose raised out and I looked down at 10-10. I go over the top all in, he calls and rolls over AA. Dammit.

10 in the door. Double up. Up to 56K. 80% of the time I should have been going home...

Patrick busts out, unfortunately, about 9 levels in.

I give some chips back but then double up again with KK vs AK. KK holds up! 86K.

A little payback. Not long after that hand I get all in with a short stack with AA and run into 10-10. Guess what was the second card on the flop...I only lose 16K. No problem. I can lose as an 80% fave as easily as I can win as an 80% dog.

We very quickly got to the point where just about everyone was a short stack. There weren't a whole lot of raises that weren't "all in". Just four hours in we were down to 80 from a starting field of just under 200. 10 more gone in the next 15 minutes. I go into the next break around 58K. Blinds are about to go up to 3000/6000/500. I'm perpetually under 10 bigs...

After the break I think about shoving to steal blinds early to act with A-8 offsuit. I don't pull the trigger. Next two guys both go all in. Whew, I dodged a bullet. They both turn over A-K. 8 in the door...argh!

Folds around to me in the small blind, I see one king and shove hoping to steal the big blind. He turns over 5-3 as he folds. I check the other card and it's also a king. Argh! All the action at this table and it folds to me when I have KK????

But we're down to 50 players paying 21. Another 15 minutes, another 10 players gone. 19 from money. I get moved twice on table breaks in 10-15 minutes.

I get to my second new table and I immediately know who the table bully is. I had stolen some blinds along the way, but I'm still short stacked so I decide to go over the top all in with Q7 to try and steal his raise along with the blinds. As many hands as he's playing some of them have to be junk, right? But someone between us also goes all in, not good for me, and he immediately calls.

Bully has AA. Other all-in has JJ. I'm in a heap of trouble.

Flop comes J-10-X, turn is a King...9 on the river.

I crack aces and jacks with Q-7. Ooops! I wouldn't have thought it, but at that moment I was actually in the same position as the Jacks. Aces were 67% to win, Jacks 17%, Q7 suited 16%. 84% of the time I'm going home, instead I'm at 233K chips.

Not long after that hand there was a woman who had been taking chips from me at a previous table and had sat down again with me at this table. She raises out and I call with A-Q off plus there's one other caller.

Flop comes 10-3-6, two clubs. Checks around.

Turn is Ace of clubs. Gin!

But she immediately goes all in.

I go deep into the tank. I must have said three times "I don't think I can lay this down". But every fiber of my being at that moment felt like something bad was going to happen. And...if I call and lose I'm back to being a short stack. I can take losing what I've already put in (I think her original raise was 35K) but calling and losing is really going to hurt.

I think anyone who plays with me regularly will tell you that I rarely go in the tank for any length of time. Frankly I'm incredibly confident in my ability to know what's going on around me so I rarely feel like I have difficult decisions to make. Here I called the preflop raise planning to stack this woman if I caught an ace. And I caught an ace...

I fold A-Q. It was painful, but I had to lay it down. I think someone called clock on me moments before I folded. I would have called clock on me, I was taking a long time and blinds were going up fast. Don't blame them at all.

Other guy folds too. She shows us her pocket 10s.

Whew. I still have 180K chips, about an average stack.

So around 4:45 PM we are about 15 levels in. Blinds are already 5000/10000/1500. And we're 12 from the money.

15 minutes later we're 7 from the money. I raised out with 55, but that woman went over the top of me again. I fold, she shows off her AK. I didn't need to flip in that spot, good laydown. When we were together at the first table I had tried with 22 and she shoved and showed AK then as well. She had my number.

I start to get down under 150K. Blinds go up to 8000/16000 so I'm under 10 big blinds again. Folds around to me on the button, I look down at KK, I get no action again as both blinds fold.

Takes less than 15 minutes to go from 7 from the money to bubble time because we bust someone out at our table to get us one from the money. We are told to hold action to allow a hand to complete at the other table before we go hand for hand.

No need. Bustout over there also. We are in the money.

So now that we're in the money it's time to really take some chances and try and chip up. I get all in with J-10, one micro stack decides to get all his chips in and the big blind, who was the guy whose aces I cracked, also calls.

K-9 for micro stack, K-Q for "cracked aces" guy.

Cracked aces guy is proud of himself. "I knew you were shoving light!" "I KNEW you were weak!!!"

Jack on the flop, I take out micro stack and cripple cracked aces guy. He's not in a good mood at this point. He busted out next hand shoving with junk hoping to double up. He was all proud of himself, but he wasn't even a favorite to win the pot. He was around 47%, I was around 34%, K9 hurting at 15% to win. I wouldn't have been that excited if I'm going to lose a little more than half the time...

Still, 66% of the time I'm going home and I'm still alive!

I get blinded down for a bit, but then essentially double-up just by making some well-timed all ins and stealing blinds. They go up to 10,000/20,000 and then 15,000/30,000.

I double up a short stack going all-in with A-10, run into A-K. A hand or two later a loose player raises out and I go over the top with Q-7 hoping to steal. No this is not a repeat...

He counts up his chips a few times. It's going to be half or more of his stack if he calls and loses. Eventually he makes the call with 77. Queen on the flop. I cripple someone with Q-7 again. 70% of the time I'm supposed to be leaving the tournament area...

428K at that point. Then I take out a pretty good sized stack with AA vs 88. I work my way up to 835K.

Meanwhile bustouts are happening. We get down to 10 players and all get together at the same table. Didn't take long to get down to 9.

I'm down to just over 600K when someone suggests we do the numbers on a chip chop. Big stack has 1.6 million of about 6 million in play, or a little over 1/4 of the chips. He's going to get $7200, more than 2nd place but less than first (which was $10,500 or so). Still, at 9 handed that's pretty sweet.

Even the shortest stack is getting a little more than 6th place money at 9 handed, which is also a really fair deal.

We vote, deal accepted. I get better than what would have been 4th place money but not quite 3rd place money.

I believe I've played 6 tournaments at Aria and cashed in four, two for significant sums of money relative to the $240 buyin.

Sometimes you just run good. I ran good on this Saturday.

Dinner at Toms Urban for myself, Joann, Patrick, Dyan and Patrick's friend Dave followed by gelato for dessert.

Took Patrick and Dyan back to Rio, went in to buy in to Sunday's Monster stack and headed back to our hotel to type this up and get a good night's sleep.

Sunday at 10AM I'll be at table Yellow 368 in the Pavilion Room. Didn't get a location on Patrick.

Wish us both luck!