The Spectacle Is Upon Us

I feel like I have been asleep for a couple weeks and have woken to find it’s Christmas Eve.  The truth is, I haven’t slept much at all lately, but have been so consumed by events in my life that another event has snuck up on me.

The WSOP starts tomorrow.  I realized this yesterday.

Perhaps it is the world’s most prestigious poker tournament that has latently re-fueled my passion for playing. That and having a biggish score and some room to play more freely. Whatever it is, I’m fired up to play and positively envious of my fellow bloggers who get to spend the upcoming weeks in Vegas, as well as those who will be playing the odd event(s).

I thought my summer was going to be Vegas-free. I can’t make the WPBT due to AJ commitments. Then an opportunity came up where I thought I was going to get to spend the whole of the Main Event in the Sin City swelter. That didn’t happen, but I am going to get a few days in toward the end of June. Much of my time there will be related to the new opportunity, but I hope I can squeeze in some time with the visiting and local degenerates. If I have to be Pauly’s valet for a couple hours to do so, that’s what I’ll do. And there’s no doubt I’ll be sweating drizz in his PLO event, since I own a piece of him (right flank, just above the hip).

As for my recent play, I ran into some buzzsaws in the blogger events this week. I thought I was ready to embark on a heater after my 3rd place finish last week and a solid cash in the $26K Guarantee on Sunday night. Alas, Memorial Day provided plenty of memories of beats past. In the Math, my KK was out-flopped by 66, which turned into quads. I missed the points and the first break thanks to that. I was simultaneously playing in the Memorial Day $50K Guarantee on Full Tilt, which attracted more than two-thousand players and a prize pool over $100K. You’d think with that many participants, I’d not get seated with two bloggers at my starting table. But that’s exactly what happened. When the table popped up and I saw Astin and lightning36, I thought for a moment the MATH had started early. Naturally, Astin was at my starting table in the MATH, too. Pretty long odds.

Anyway, in the $50K, I laid down a huge hand early (we were double stacked). Check out this action: I raise the (20/40) blinds to 120 with TT. The button, a new player at the table with 5K in chips, and the BB, short-stacked at 1100, call. The flop is T63 with two diamonds. I lead for 300 into the 380 pot. Both call. My instant read is the short stack is weak and desperate, but the big stack is on the diamond draw. When the queen of diamonds comes on the turn, the short stack is all in for his last 605. I take my full time back, deciding whether to call or push. The big stack behind me scares the bejessus out of me and I eventually opt for the former. Bad move. He pushes behind and I deliberate again for my entire time before mucking, leaving me 2200 behind. Before the river even hits, I go on tilt.

QxJd for the short stack. AxQx for the big stack, who was drawing dead. Of course you know a 3 hit the river, which would have filled me up, twisting the knife even further.

Honestly, I could have put those two on other hands that I had beat on the turn, but no way I forsee what they actually had when they called my flop bet. This IS a $50 buy-in tourney, after all. I gave those fuckers way too much credit.

I did, however, know that the big stack would never let go of a pair and a couple orbits later, when I flopped a set of 8s against his AJ (ace on the flop), I doubled up. That got me respectable again and I continued to chip up in the second hour before I ran into bad luck. A short-stack pushed into me when I held KK, but his K8s made a runner-runner flush. The very next hand, I raised with JJ and saw two pushes behind me, one from a very tight player. I laid that one down, too (correctly this time) to AK and AA. Naturally, I now had a push or fold stack and went to the mat with A7. Folds to the BB (K8s from earlier) who calls off 2/3rds of his stack with KQ and turns a Q to oust me.

Sick.

Ah well. Luck plays a part. And it was with gidddiness I entered The Mookie last night and was out third after I cleverly slow-played my flopped set of tens into a flopped set of queens. I play poker g00t.

Things were going better in the $26K, though I had to muster all my skills to get chips. I had one pocket pair in two hours and that one never saw a flop. At Level 1, I raised 3x to 60 with JJ. Folds to the SB who pushes in his entire stack of 1500. Um…what?

This is like the 5th hand, so I don’t know what the hell that is. I fold though, without much problem, because I’ve come to the realization that most of the time I bust out of tourneys it’s when my stack is in pre-flop. Having only put 60 in, and still with plenty of time to play, I saw no need to risk it there. I did type in ‘nb’ before I folded so maybe he’d do it again when I had AA.

I chipped up with a huge semi-bluff on a turn card with flush and gutshot draws and then flopped top pair in the BB in another curious hand. I had T4 and the flop came T53. I led out and got called by the lone limper. The 4 on the turn gave me two pair and I check-raised, still getting a call. The 7 river gave me slight pause, but I made a value bet nonetheless, also called by QT. Man, I’m not sure how these people can breathe on their own. You just CALL the BB on that flop?

Alas, my cards and table situation conspired against me the rest of the tourney. I had nothing to play and ended up with three big stacks lined up on my right, all of whom liked to limp. When I could get in first late in the second hour, it was push or nothing. I got the blinds and antes every time but the last when, from the CO, my Q8o ran into the button’s bullets.

Still, I was pleased with the run (only missed the money by 50 or so) considering I had to shuck and jive to live that long.  

I really, really, really wish I could ply some of those skills in the WSOP this summer. I suppose there’s still time, but my schedule precludes all events but the Big Daddy. Hmmm, what time are those satellites again?