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August 1, 2006

Main Event, Day 1

When I last left Las Vegas I was a little down on poker, due to the very long bad streak I've been on. Because of that I didn't know what I was going to do about the main event. I wasn't sure I wanted to invest $10k and potentially lose it in a few hours like I did last year. I could afford it but I felt that, given my already poor mindset, that loss might too tough to deal with emotionally and could prevent me from playing poker for months.

Still I had a number of options. I had friends willing to buy big chunks of my action, and of course readers who would purchase some as well. So I could have sold off half of myself and played for only $5k, but that wasn't very appealing. I don't mind selling off a little bit here and there, but I don't ever want to become one of those people always looking for a stake. I don't play a lot of big tournaments, but when I do I like to have the vast majority of my own action. When I do bag one of these things I won't have to give all of the money to someone else.

I couldn't see myself not playing this event. It's just too profitable to pass up. I'd guess I have a profit expectation of somewhere between $20k-30k from the prize pool alone, and another $20k or more from endorsements, though that's very volatile as it's mainly tied up in getting first place. That's just too high of a rate of return on $10k to pass up, even though it's extremely high variance. So I decided to try to win my way in.

I spent all week playing cash games (and did fairly well at them) and satellites, mostly double shootouts. At first I was doing poorly in the shootouts. I kept getting towards the end of round one with a big stack and then getting extremely unlucky, losing a few coin flips or losing with hands that were tremendous favorites. I'll spare you the bad beat stories, but suffice it to say I fell briefly into my “there is a God and the sole purpose for his existence is to ensure that I lose at poker” mindset. And then, for one tournament, I outplayed everyone and didn't get unlucky and won my seat.

Ever since then I've been in the perfect frame of mind. As I told my friends at the Winking Lizard before I caught my flight on Wednesday night, I have “the feeling”. I've gotten “the feeling” twice before in tournaments, and both times I won. I honestly feel like I'm going to win the World Series, and have for over a week now, and whether that's just a silly superstition or not it's a very large advantage when at the table.

So I came to Vegas feeling better than I've ever felt about a tournament before. Normally when I play in these things I get a little nervous and jittery. Not this time. I'm looking at it as one very long cash game, which, unless I get low on chips, is really all it is anyway. I've never been so calm in my life, and I think it's helping my play tremendously.

I also spent my two weeks at home engaging in more physical activity than normal, mainly badminton, which turned out to be a lot more strenuous activity than I would have thought, especially when its 90 degrees and humid outside. I also tried to eat well, sticking to mostly lighter stuff, which I also do during the tournament. I remember reading something Howard Lederer wrote once about not eating heavy stuff or too much during a tournament to help you stay alert and I think, when playing 15 hour days, that's very important.

I also borrowed some Shure e4c headphones from my friend Chad. Wow are they great. They are basically ear buds but the end of them is a small tube on which you put foam ear plugs. They do a tremendous job of blocking out the background noise, much better than my Bose headphones did, and have amazing sound. My only complaint with them is that the bass is somewhat anemic, but they have a new model coming out soon that is supposed to rectify that. It will cost $500 but be well worth it for anyone who plays these tournaments with any regularity. The noise pollution is overwhelming in these poker rooms and I think is a major source of fatigue for a lot of people. I do agree with those who say that headphones might cause one to miss a few auditory clues (though I have no problem pausing my player whenever I'm involved in a hand, I'm sure I still miss some) but when playing very long days I think the extra stamina is well worth it.

So now for the part you really care about: my day 1 story. (Please forgive any innacuracies, it was a very, very long day of poker.) I got to the Rio a little late, stopped at Starbucks for a Pomegranite Frappucino (I like to take caffeine in small doses all day long during these things) and ended up getting to the room at 12:15. As I walked in the crowd was cheering from an announcement that the first player had already gone broke which, if the tournament started on time, means he had managed to lose 200 big blinds in under 15 minutes. I thought to myself “I'm sure glad I won my way into this thing.”

I got to my table and only recognized one player, who turned out to be Young Phan. I started off playing ABC poker for a bit so I could get a feel for the players. I quickly realized that everyone at the table was playing very tight, even Phan, and went into aggressive mode. I lost a few little pots early and got down to about 8k by the end of round 1. I then got involved in a hand with 22, and made a great river bluff on the board of Jd 5h 3h 5c Jh that forced an opponent to fold aces face up. The river put a flush on the board and paired the top card, and when my opponent had called my turn raise I was pretty sure that he had an overpair. On the river I bet all but 2k of my chips, which was about half the pot (it was a biggun) and the guy assumed that I must have gotten there on him if I wasn't there already, which wasn't an unreasonable assumption. If he had called I would have been screwed, but I was fairly sure he wouldn't and turned out to be correct, so I was up to about 13k.

A little later I picked up AdJd in late position and opened 300, which was triple the big blind. The blinds both called and the flop came something like 5d 5c 2d and it checked to me. I bet 600 or so and the small blind, who had about 4k before the hand began, raised it to 1500, leaving himself a little over 2k left. I reraised for more than he had and he called instantly. I flipped my hand over and said to the dealer “I think I need a little help,” figuring I was probably about 50/50 to win the pot, but my opponent suddenly looked ill and I knew right away that I was actually a huge favorite. He rolled over 7d 8d, the turn was a diamond, and he went home. I had KO'ed the first player at our table.

After that I played moderately aggressively, winning my way up to about 20k when our table broke in the third round. I went to the new table and didn't recognize anyone. I had a bigger stack than anybody there though and picked up AK my first two hands, so I guess I established an aggressive image right off the bat. The players were even tighter than the ones at my previous table, but I was doing my usual table captain routine and had everyone joking around and having a good time. It wasn't hard to do, they were a very nice bunch of people and had been having a good time already. I like to come in and start talking to people and just being friendly in general, as it helps when I'm playing aggressively, especially when I'm at a table full of middle-aged white guys. They see a young guy come in and start raising a lot but not talking and they think “here's another internet donkey who thinks he is the next Phil Ivey, I'm gonna show him that he isn't”. If they see a young guy come in and start talking to everyone and being friendly then they are much happier to let him steal their blinds. And that's just what they did.

At that table I raised a little more junk than I had at the previous one. That was because there was a stack with no player behind it. Apparently over 120 people had either not come to Vegas or came but didn't realize they were supposed to play that way and blinded off. I had been having a discussion with a friend the day before about whether or not you would make it to day two if you never played a hand. It turns out you would last almost until the beginning of round 6.

I was two seats from the button when the empty stack was on the big blind and I would guess that 75% of the time it was folded to me there. I raised them all, and won the vast majority uncontested. And when someone finally did play with me they often called and then folded to my continuation bet.

So I got to that table and ground up another 3k or so in chips in the last hour. Right before dinner a strange hand happened. A tightish player raised it to 600 from under the gun and I called with TT. Then the small blind, a friendly guy from Texas, reraised it to 7,000. The under the gun player threw his hand in and as it went into the muck I caught a glimpse of it, it was the other two tens. That made my decision pretty easy, as I'm pretty sure those two tens being removed even makes me an underdog to AK, and I'm virtually dead against a bigger pair. I would have most likely folded anyway, but seeing those two tens made it a non-decision.

So I went on dinner break with 23k in my stack. I met up with Matros and Terrance Chan, who were both still in with (if I remember correctly) 17k and 15k respectively. We tried to get a table at the All American Grille but it was a zoo. Some players had apparently had the foresight to make reservations. Terrance had a diamond card, which would normally get you to the front of the line, but they give the people with star cards top priority and there were just too many of them. So we went over to the coffee shop, where the diamond card was much more effective at getting us in quickly (otherwise we would never have had time) and I had soup and a BLT. At the end we did credit card roulette for the check, which I lost but I wasn't too upset as it cost me only $20 and a couple meal tickets and was my first real bad beat of the day. Much better to take bad beats at cheap dinners than in the WSOP.

After dinner I went back to the table and discovered that the guy to my right was Brad Daugherty, who had won the main event long ago when there were only about 200 or so entrants. Brad is a very outspoken player advocate and, like everyone, was pretty upset at the way Harrah's had managed the WSOP. At one point we were talking about the chimpanzee that was supposed to play in the event and someone mentioned that Harrah's decided not to let it enter. Brad said “I can't believe Harrah's passed up $600 in rake.” I can't really think of any better way to sum up the 2006 World Series of Poker than that quote.

When I first got back from dinner I got involved in a good sized pot. I had raised late with Q9s and got called by the button. The flop came Qxx and I bet and got raised. The button, who we'll call “British Guy”, tripled my bet. He had been trying to bully me back the entire time and was obviously frustrated with me. I called the bet and the turn was a 9. I checked, he made a slight overbet, and I stuffed at him. He folded instantly, confirming my suspicion that he was empty.

Over the next two rounds I steadily ground up my chips. I only got involved in two showdowns. Both times I had put the money in as a favorite, and both times I lost. One time I ran my pocket tens into Brad Daugherty's pocket tens but made him fold, stealing half the pot. I kept on stealing and my stack kept steadily increasing until I had about 35k late in round 5. And then came what may have been the key hand of the day.

The blinds would have been 150/300 with a 25 ante. It folded to me on the cutoff and I raised it to 1k with pocket kings. The small blind, Texas from the earlier hand, reraised it to 2500. He had about 25k in his stack at the time and I decided to just call. He was a tight enough player that I thought he would fold anything but aces to a reraise there, so my options were to reraise to 7k or so and then fold if he comes back over, or to just call and look at the flop, hoping to trap him then if he has something like QQ.

The flop came Td 9d 2c and he bet 5k, leaving 18k behind. I quickly pushed. He thought for a very long time, long enough that I would have called time on him if I weren't in the hand (I have always felt that calling for time should be left to the players who aren't involved). He asked me if I could beat aces and I smiled and shrugged, not believing that he actually had them as I thought that even he would have called with them right away. I guess I was wrong though, as he mucked them face up, saying “this isn't a ten million dollar hand”. He still had some chips left so I showed him the kings.

So at that point I was up to about 43k. I had gotten bad beat a couple times, had taken the worst cold deck in the game (KK v AA) and still had managed to grind up my stack to over 4 times what I began with without ever winning one big showdown. If I weren't so exhausted I probably would have felt on top of the world.

I was too tired to do much raising during the last part of round 5, which was OK since everyone else was too. When the final break of the evening came I went to the gift store, bought as many stimulants as I could find (most importantly Excederin, which I had, for the first time in my many years of poker, neglected to bring with me) and went outside for some fresh air. I walked briskly around the area to get the blood flowing to my brain again. Everyone was too tired to even look at me funny.

When the last round began I was pretty wide awake from all of the caffeine. I put some Rage Against the Machine on the mp3 player (I'd been listening to mellow stuff like Radiohead up until then) and decided to increase my stack a little more before the day was over. I ground up to about 55k quickly. Then I raised a hand in mid position to 1200 with 55 and a guy reraised way too big (think it was about 5k) at me out of the SB. I was pretty sure he was just agitated about me pushing him around all day, as was everyone at the table, and he had about 10k behind, enough that I thought I had some (but not a lot of) fold equity so I put him in. He called and rolled over A7 off suit, and the turn and river both hit him so I was back down to about 40k. I said “apparently I can only win the hands where I don't get called,” which was funny because it was true.

I got a little down after that, thinking about how many chips I would have had if I had won. But I realized quickly that that isn't a useful way of looking at things, and that if I am going to win a 9 day tournament I'm going to lose a lot of hands. So I instantly sucked it up and went back to game mode.

I quickly ground up a few more chips and then got involved in another big pot. I had trailed in from late position with 56 off behind a really tight player who had limped under the gun. I was suspiscous of his play and figured it likely that he had a big pair. My plan was to flop a monster or fold. The small blind (British Guy from the Q9 hand) called, the big blind checked, and we saw a flop of As 6d 6s. It checked to me and I bet about 1800. The small blind raised to 8k and the other two players folded. I knew right away that I had the guy beat. He had about 25k more behind, which was enough to possibly make him fold a flush draw, so I pretended to think for a little bit (even though I knew the play the minute he raised) and then shoved. The frustration was evident on his face as he thought for a short period and said “I call”. He rolled over AQ, missed his 2 outer, and went home.

I was up to over 75k with about 15 minutes to go. I kept counting my chips unable to believe it. Knowing the end of the night was rapidly approaching and seeing the fatigue and desire to make day 2 in everyone's face only made me raise more hands preflop. I took down nearly every blind uncontested until the day was over and finished with a stack of 83,150.

After that Harrah's wasted about 45 minutes of our time on a chip counting and bagging process that could easily have been completed in under 15. The announcer called out simple instructions like “put your chips in the bag” slowly and repeated them over and over as if we were all retarded. I'm not one for assuming intelligence among crowds, but I wouldn't even have spoken to a group of third graders that way. I don't think they could have managed to annoy me more if they tried.

So looking back on the day I'm very pleased. I got the chip lead at my table early and held onto it the entire night. I won exactly one big showdown, and then I was a tremendous favorite, and only a couple small ones. I got bad beat and cold decked and still came through with a huge stack. I had made some great bluffs, great calls, and great folds, and had completely dominated my table all day long in the biggest tournament of the year.

Since then I've mostly occupied my time by relaxing with friends. I met up with multiple long time blog readers. I had a great dinner last night at Olives with Chris Fargis, Jodi Neufeld, Pat Poels, Terrance Chan, Roswell, and some new people I hadn't met previously. Terrance noted that almost everyone at the table plays good sized stakes, so I dubbed it Degenerate Dinner 2006. We even played credit card roulette at the end for the check.

I now have a room at the Rio so I can sleep in tomorrow. I'll get up, go grab a bite to eat in the diamond lounge, and then work on increasing the stack some more. My next table is pretty loaded with short stacks, so hopefully they'll be hanging on to dear life and let me do all the stealing. Wish me luck.

Posted by themaroon at August 1, 2006 12:57 AM

Comments

Posted by: cauwel3 at August 1, 2006 1:50 AM

Posted by: Jeff D at August 1, 2006 2:02 AM

Posted by: ljals;skdjff at August 1, 2006 3:47 AM

Posted by: PhilP at August 1, 2006 3:50 AM

Posted by: Mike at August 1, 2006 6:50 AM

Posted by: core at August 1, 2006 9:34 AM

Posted by: Grant at August 1, 2006 9:42 AM

Posted by: mewl at August 1, 2006 9:55 AM

Posted by: fun160 at August 1, 2006 11:01 AM

Posted by: Josh at August 1, 2006 11:02 AM

Posted by: fun160 at August 1, 2006 11:56 AM

Posted by: Joe at August 1, 2006 12:54 PM

Posted by: Arjen at August 1, 2006 1:33 PM

Posted by: Andrew at August 1, 2006 5:08 PM

Posted by: Jeff D at August 1, 2006 6:38 PM

Posted by: Howard Treesong at August 2, 2006 12:25 AM

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