Fallsview WPT - Step B
Hey All
Has anyone on the board played the $1200 Step B WPT satellite at Fallsview?
I won a Step A and I am going to play the Step B this Saturday, and I am just looking for some info. I know that starting stacks are 2500 and the blinds are 30 minutes, but how much play did you get? The levels jump up pretty severely, but I am thinking that should be compensated with the 30-minute duration. What were the typical raises in the first few levels like? Were a lot of guys pushing all in like mad, or were the players generally tight?
I am hoping to play Saturday night - as late as possible - because I find the later the evening gets, the looser the players get, especially at Fallsview. But at the same time, I don't want to show up late, and find out that they don't get the 10 guys to play, and I have to come back the next weekend.
Anyone know how many Step B's are played on a given Saturday? Should I come in the afternoon, just in case, or would I be okay if I showed up at around 11ish?
Any info is much appreciated.
AK
Has anyone on the board played the $1200 Step B WPT satellite at Fallsview?
I won a Step A and I am going to play the Step B this Saturday, and I am just looking for some info. I know that starting stacks are 2500 and the blinds are 30 minutes, but how much play did you get? The levels jump up pretty severely, but I am thinking that should be compensated with the 30-minute duration. What were the typical raises in the first few levels like? Were a lot of guys pushing all in like mad, or were the players generally tight?
I am hoping to play Saturday night - as late as possible - because I find the later the evening gets, the looser the players get, especially at Fallsview. But at the same time, I don't want to show up late, and find out that they don't get the 10 guys to play, and I have to come back the next weekend.
Anyone know how many Step B's are played on a given Saturday? Should I come in the afternoon, just in case, or would I be okay if I showed up at around 11ish?
Any info is much appreciated.
AK
Comments
I would reccomend you go early. I got there around 10 am. The registration starts around noon for the satellite, but get in line at about 11:40. The reason I say go early is that it took me almost 3 1/2 hours to win. If you play and finish second, you will probably want to try your replay again that day. The later you wait, the less likely you will be able to play a second time.
They were running two satellites at a time last weekend. If I had finished second, it would have been 7 or 8 before I got to play again.
Good luck.
So are you going to give us the juice details on how you won the $160 level or what?
I figured it would be much tighter than the Step As, which are all-in fests of the first degree. Actually, I don't think I have ever played a single table with 30 minute blinds... so I guess I can take it easy for the first 3 levels and really pick my spots.
And I didn't even think about maybe wanting to play twice (since I am focusing on the win) but it makes sense to go early in case I finish second. I'll probably try to get there for close to noon.
Thanks again
Chris -
I wish I had some great insights of my poker brilliance regarding the Step A win, but it was pretty sad actually. I played late (near last call) and the level of poker was brutal, although the way the sat is structured, I don't know how you can truly gauge it? Are decent players maniacs under this set-up, etc?
I hit some flops hard, but never got paid for them, the poker players lament I guess. Everyone seemed to fold to my raises. As we got to be 5 handed, I lost a race and then I took a really bad beat (AK hit top pair, went all in, and lost to A 8 on a runner runner flush). So I went from chip leader, to on life-support, but then I won a nice hand when I hit quad 9s. Had two pair on the flop 99JJ, called an all-in, filled up on the turn, and made the quads on the river. Yes guy.
A while later (still four-handed) after seeing my stack dwindle to less than average, I hit top pair Q, and raised all in. TSN turning point. I figured I could be outkicked but at this point, the all-in fest was in full swing so I took at stab at it. As luck would have it, he had QJ. Doh! But I hit my 5 on the turn after calling for the suckout (hey, it was after 2:30 am) and was chip leader again.
Then I played three handed for a while against two very bad players, but I just couldn't finish them off because they kept outdrawing me. I was actually short-stacked 2 or 3 times, but with the antes and blinds so high, a couple of steals/re-steals and you are right back in it (there is only 10k on the table, and the blinds are now $300-$600 $100A). I finally knocked the one guy out, after I called him with a K-high flush draw with over cards, and he was dominated with his J-high draw, and no-one improved.
Then the most bizarre thing happened, the head's up guy I played totally dumped his chips to me. I had a 2 to 1 lead and his friend on the rail was badgering him to finish so he just pushed in every single hand heads up. Seriously, like 7 in a row. I lost two all-ins to him with AJ vs. 46 and KQ vs. J6, after folding a few times, and I was losing my shit. He was a little in front now, but the poker gods let me win the next two all-ins, where I had was ahead each time, and that was that.
And even more bizarre, I had to wait for my voucher to process, and i bumped into the dumper at the roulette table 45 mins later. He looks at me and says, "You know I gave that to you right?" And I am thinking this guy is going to ask me for my number... I still have no idea why he would do that, especially if he wasn't leaving the casino? Then he lost 500 bucks on red and went running to the bathroom. Gotta love Fallsview on a loooong weekend.
In any case Chris, this was my 4th try at the Step A, and I suffered ridiculous beats in each one. I was even the first guy eliminated twice when my huge hands got rivered. The way these Step A's are structured, a ton of luck is involved. But what can you do? That is the way these sats are set up, and everyone knows it, so you just have to take a stab at it I guess.
Here's hoping I avoid the bad beats on Saturday. Whatever the outcome, I am stoked to play some real poker for a shot at the WPT. Hey, I got a 1 in 10 chance, and that's pretty dope for me.
After 4.5 hours and a gruelling 1.5 hours of heads-up play, I qualified for the main event. I am too wiped to get into a full recap right now, but let me say that heads-up, I had my opponent all-in 4 times, and he won every one. One of the all-in hands in particular I had an open-ended royal flush draw (Js to a board of 10QKs), hit the 4 of spades on the river, and he had the Ace of spades. Then in a hand where I was all-in and covered just barely, he had 1010, I had A10, and I hit my ace on the flop. Yes! So he was crippled. But then he won 2 more all-ins where I was ahead, at which point I was smashing things and ready to nuke the entire casino from orbit. Mercifully, my A2 held up against his 10Q, when I made trip-dueces, and that was that.
Yes!
P.S. It was nice to see Chris and El there, but you guys missed all the fireworks.
Yeah...we headed out a little earlier than expected. Chris did well, but he felt guilty that I busted out in just over an hour and was nursing $20 in a slot machine.
Way to go Al,
The final guy heads up was it the guy that you pointed out to me with all the chips at the end when I was leaving or was it one of the other guys?
Chris, yeah when you came by we were five-handed and I remember telling you I really liked my chances, even though I had a less-than average stack. The guy I pointed out was indeed the heads-up opponent, and he was a very tough player. He's already qualified for the CPO event, and he even offered me 5k to dump to him, when I had the chip lead. Actually, there were about 15 different deals proposed during the last 1.5 hours, but we could never agree on anything. I had a 4 to 1 chip lead and offered him $600...he wanted $1,200, but I knew I could beat him so that wasn't an option.
If any of you thick bankroll types are thinking about plunking down the $1,200
I would say don't hesitate. There were some atrocious players at my table. And the 30 minute blinds make a huge difference. I have never played with blinds this long and it was amazing. I literally played 2 hands in the first hour, and everything was cool. I crafted a great table image as a rock, and was able to come over the top uncontested a bunch of times. And when I hit a set and doubled through, I was able to run the table.
I am so stoked - can't wait to play against the big field with a 20k starting stack and 90 minute blinds. Whatever the outcome, I am very excited.