 Vegas June 2008 (WSOP) |
| Day Six |
| So as you might imagine if you read the last entry, when I wasn't playing poker today I was pretty much reliving HORSE over and over... |
| But I did play some poker. First took a shot at the Caesar's Mega-Stack hold'em tournament for the day. Like most of the tournaments I've played in this week I got off to a fast start and won some early pots but unfortunately they were mostly small pots. Then I had to give up pocket Queens after I raised out and got reraised and the flop came A-K-rag and that took away all of what I'd earned up to that point. I then was card dead for about an hour, went up and down for another hour and a half and finally busted out getting my chips in good. I get pocket 10s after moving to a new table, since I'm below 10X BB I figure this is the hand I'm going to go with. First a guy who had already made two bad calls saying the tournament is too long and he wants to leave and getting luck raises out under the gun. Then big stack next to him calls and I go over the top figuring to have the best hand. And I did, wants-to-go-home guy only has 77, he calls, big stack is sure he's beat but decides he can't turn down over 2-1 on his money and calls with A-J. Flop comes A-7-J, 7's sucks out, but river is another A so big stack re-sucks and takes us both out. |
| We decided to have our last real meal here at the Bellagio Buffet, and you should already know by now how we feel about that place. Little extra treat this time, they had the pretzel breadsticks in the bread section... |
| Then a little shopping for something for the kids and then my final poker tournament. I decided to take one more shot at the 7pm tournament I'd moneyed in two nights earlier. |
| I wish I could again regale you with stories of my poker brilliance, but in this tournament the cards pretty much played themselves for me. I was basically on auto-pilot the entire time. I had been card dead for a while, playing at a very loose table. One guy in particular was overbetting about 2/3 of the time people were limping into the pot. I intentionally limped a few times hoping that eventually I'd get a monster to limp with and could go back over the top on him..but unfortunately someone else got the pleasure. |
| I did make one great laydown not knowing how just great it was until afterwards. I have A-J (a hand I had about 20 times in this tournament, but never slick and A-Q only once) and I raise out. I get two callers, the second one a loose player. Flop comes A-4-5. I make a good size bet and loose guy comes over the top of me. For some reason I get the feeling that this time he has me beat, don't know why but I lay it down. He flips over 2-3, which he had called my originaly big raise with, and I'm seriously pissed that he bluffed me like that and then proudly showed me. Took about 15 seconds before the light came on...no bluff, he had a wheel and had me beyond crushed. |
| A little while later I was down to under 10X BB and waiting for an excuse to push. Hadn't had so much as a face card in a while and I look down at Q-9. For some reason I decide I can get everyone to fold with a push and that if I get called I'd certainly have two live cards so into the pot my chips go. I get one caller. Then an over-the-top all in. Then another caller who's all-in for a little more than my stack. And originally caller also throws in what he has left after just calling me. So a four-way pot, my Q-9 is up against A-10 (first caller), A-J (over the top loose player who had hit that wheel earlier) and new guy at the table flips over pocket jacks. Flop comes three blnks with two hearts. Great, turn is a 3rd heart so I go from three outs to two as the Qh now gives someone else a flush. River is a beautiful Q of spades. I quadruple up. Then about 20 minutes later, a guy who had just put two brutal beats on back-to-back hands on other people (wins with 33 vs AA and J-9 off vs QQ) raises out under the guy in my big blind. I look down at A-J (again!) and decide he's full of crap again and push. He's got A-Q. Flop comes 8-7-9 with two diamonds so I have a gutshot and a backdoor flush draw. Turn is 3rd diamond, river is a 10. I double up again. |
| Now I actually have a decent chips stack. And for about 2 hrs I am able to maintain that stack as people are busting out left and right. For a while I was averaging one raise per orbit and nobody calling me. |
| Unfortunately since I wasn't getting any action my stack wasn't getting bigger and eventually we got to that time in the tournament with about 30 people left and only nine paying (started with 132 I think) almost nobody left in the tournament actually had 10X BB so the only raise was all-in. For the longest time I never got called, but when we got down to 23 people finally I did. Raised out with A-J again, someone comes over the top all-in for less than a full raise and I have to call. Pocket 6s, they hold up. Now I'm short stack, next hand I get Q-10 suited and I'm under the gun and decide they're good enough. One caller, turns over pocket 6's of course. I get a 10 in the door but then the second flop card is a 3rd 6 and I'm done in 22nd or 23rd place. A good effort just short of the money. |
| And so the trip comes to a close. We're going to bed now and heading home tomorrow first thing (which means whenever we wake up). |
| Eventually HORSE will stop gnawing at me and I'll look back on this as a great trip. Had my biggest cash ever, played in the WSOP twice, got deep once and played with a much tougher group in HORSE and held my own for four hours before falling victim to some bad luck. |
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