 Vegas June 2024 (WSOP) |
| Days 15-16 off day/penultimate poker day |
| Last Updated: 2024-06-21 12:04:31 |
| Took Wednesday off to spend it with Joann, Peter and Grace. Early lunch at Chick-Fil-A, some time at the south outlets, my one and only stop at Lee's (came away empty handed!), dinner at Julian Serrano's Lago and an early night back up to the room.
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| Sounds like we're done with going to the pool for this trip so Thursday it was Starbucks for breakfast and on to MGM Grand for some poker.
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| Actually started out well!
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| First time I'm in the big blind I call a raise with 5-6 offsuit and see I believe a 5-handed flop 5-A-6. Sweet! Check to the original raiser, he makes it 800 to go, everyone folds to me and I make it 2100 to go. He calls.
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| 7 on the turn and he calls my 3500 bet.
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| 6 on the river to fill me up and he calls my 5100 bet.
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| With original callers just like that I add 11k or so to my 30k starting stack.
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| We actually saw 5-6 turn into sixes full of fives two more times at that table while I was there!
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| River two pair a few hands later to add another chunk to my stack and I'm off to a good start!
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| Once again, tho, I get the absolute minimum with aces. This has been an ongoing theme on this trip, when I start out with huge pairs nobody has anything or if they call preflop they whiff the flop pretty much every time.
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| Pick up pocket queens, raise pre, two callers, flop king-small-small with two spades. I lead out, one guy makes a big raise over the top and the other calls. I have to go away. As it turned out one had flopped a pair of 8s and a flush draw, the other had flopped a naked flush draw, neither had a king and the flush never came in.
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| Things go downhill from there. I lose a full house vs full house hand when I raise with A-8, someone re-raises me and I call. The flop comes 3-8-3, check/bet/call, turn a 4, check/bet/call, river another three. Turns out he had JJ.
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| 32,800 at the first break, just a little over starting stack.
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| Double up a short stack when I raise out with A-K, he called from the big blind, flop comes A-7-7 and of course he has 8-7 offsuit when all the chips go in after the flop.
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| Had also lost some chips in blinds, down to 12,600, went all in on the button with a couple connectors and ran into a face card overpair (I think 8-7 vs JJ?). Only needed two people behind me to not have a hand, oh well.
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| On to the 4pm daily deepstack again and I have to say now that I made a fairly deep run in it for a change I would never play in it again. If I'm out early at MGM on Friday I will not buy into this, I will call it a day.
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| But ... I'll get to that ...
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| Guy who had no interest in playing poker and just wanted to throw chips around sat two seats to my right. This is good and bad. It was immediately clear this guy was going to play 95% of hands for raises and was going to bet 100% of the time after flops, turns and rivers any time it was checked to him.
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| He paid off the smart people, but he sucked out now and then and just hammered the people who didn't know how to play against him. Built up a massive stack ... and then gave it all away.
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| First time he was going to be first to act he min-raised while the dealer had only dealt him his first card.
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| Tone set...
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| I got mine! I raised out with jacks with him in the blind, he just called. Flop Q-K-X, he checked, I checked behind. Jack on the turn(!!!) and he paid me off sizeable turn and river bets.
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| But that was the only hand I played against him before he busted out.
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| After catching my set tho, nothing went well for me. Any time I had cards I could raise out with I'd miss the flop and get action on my continuation bets and have to give up the hands. At the first break I was sitting on just over a starting stack.
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| And this was a very fast structure. 2.5 hours in the starting stack I was sitting on went from 30 big blinds to 20 big blinds.
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| For once I actually get lucky! Go over top of a loose guy who made it 4000 to go at 1000/1500/1500 blinds with Q-T suited, he calls with A-K suited.
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| 10 in the window! But a king right underneath it...
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| 10 on the turn and I double up!
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| Finally!
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| I'm up over 50k but blinds go up again and I'm back around 20BB. Take out a short stack when A-Q holds up against A-J and I'm up around 75k.
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| Take out an even shorter stack with 66 vs AK when the board runs out 3-4-5-2-8 and I'm up around 85k!
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| Go into the next break at 83k.
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| Looking around the table there are four stacks smaller than mine. That's a nice feeling for a change when half the table has less chips than you do! But ... blinds are huge! 2000/4000/4000 so 10k out of your stack if you go an orbit without winning anything, and just like that I'm under 20 bigs again.
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| And ... I'm an above average stack at this moment!
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| Which is why I'd never buy into this again. Still a ways from the money and an above average stack around 25BB? May as well sit at a craps table. I'm really just unhappy I played in it this many times before I got deep enough to have this realization.
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| So anyway, more than half the people remaining in the tournament are in all-in or fold mode and we're a long way from money yet.
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| My table breaks to consolidate and the numbers are finally in. 266 entries paying 40 places, there are 90 players left and average stack now is 80k. I'm down around 70, but we had over 100 left when I was over 80k so again at that time above average...
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| I steal blinds, but then they go up again to 3000/6000/6000. My two hands before I'm in the big blind are 8-2 and 8-3. J-2 in the big blind, 5-3 in the small blind and I'm down to 56k, less than 10BB. 72 left, still 32 from money.
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| Finally see two face cards, J-10 suited, I get all in, run into A-K.
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| Jack on the flop!
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| King on the river. Done. Again.
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| Posh burger for a late dinner, streaming and bed.
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| I plan to play at 11am at MGM for what I expect would be my final tournament of the trip. As I said, I now see that 4pm as a crapshoot and if I could go back in time and save my money I would. Not because of how it went for me, just because the structure is so fast it's just an all-in fest well before you're close to cashing. |
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