I will probably only play the very high rake cash games while enjoying the rake free food. Although I will likely drive and have some free nights from hotels.com, so otherwise the trip is pretty well free.
I would like to go but I'm afraid I have a few jobs that are going to be in the way. I have booked an AirBnB room in Montreal for $40/night including parking. Has a separate kitchen and washroom and private entrance. So far I'm planning on 12th-16th and possibly longer.
Is anybody else besides PocketTwos going to take a shot at WPT Montreal with over $2,000,000 prize pool? I'll be driving on Wednesday morning to start with Event #8.
My previous roommate made it to the final six of $220 Event #2 and as is typical and unique at Playground, nobody had the balls to battle it out for first-place money and there was a six-way non-ICM :rolleyes2: deal, with the minimum 2% being played out for. :biggrin: The third chipleader at the time of the deal settled for less than third-place money at $3,600 but had he played it out, he would have won more than twice as much at almost $8,000! :eek: The chipleader ended up in only 3rd place, but because the other players were so scared, his deal locked up $7,000 for the most money won.
irunit4times & PocketTwos are the two members who I have seen. I won the 4 pm $155 satellite with 168 entries for a $3,850 seat. They both played the 7:30 pm 40+ seat satellite, and they were still in when my roommate and I left.
Good luck to everyone playing, I hope all of u cash
I've never been to an event like this before but I came stupid close to winning an ME seat in one of Party Poker's satellites only to bust just before reaching the FT. Next year I guess lol
I won my WPT main event seat playing in OPT satellite series. I have wanted to to play with this group of great poker guys and gals for awhile now and this was my first time. Steve K does a great job of running these satellites to bigger events including WPT, WSOP, PCA, WSOP and others. I met other forum members Steve, Wetts, Greg, and blondefish...not sure if there with others. I also brought along my friend Dave from Mohawk. As it turns out he finished 2nd in the series and also won his seat.
I drove down solo last Thursday. My plan was to play in the mega satellite that day to see if I could win another seat, take Friday off to do some other things in Montreal and play the main on Day 1b Saturday. I checked into my Airbnb accommodations which was off of Rue Sherbrooke in Hampstead area of Montreal. I had my own bedroom with private bath, a kitchen, free parking and many amenities close by. I also had a separate entrance which came in handy considering the vampire hours we poker players tend to roam. One way drive to the Playground Poker Club in Kahnawake which is across a bridge over the St. Lawrence was about a 15 minute drive. Fortunately, with the time of day I was travelling back and forth I was not going with the rush hour traffic, except for the day of my arrival. The other thing was they do construction work/repairs work on the bridge late at night, and I was caught several times in a serpentine route of detours to get back to my Airbnb.
If you are not familiar with Montreal a GPS is essential...the motorways seemingly go all over the place.
One of the things I did before leaving for Montreal was apply for a players card on the Playground website. I also pre-registered for the satellite I was to play on Thursday night. It cost a bit more but I had the peace of mind that it wouldn't be sold out and I'd be stuck as an alternate when I got there.
I stopped in to Playground as soon as I arrived in Montreal to get my players card and pick up my satellite seat assignment. My first impression of the club was that it was a hyper modern poker venue with lots of screens everywhere, plenty of staff, and lots of room. At first I thought the lighting was dark since the walls are painted black and grey, but when I did eventually sit down at a poker table there was ample lighting at the table. All of the staff there are friendly and really player oriented. From the player registration desk, the brush, the cage, the dealers, security and the waitresses. Did I mention the waitresses? These ladies are some of the healthiest specimens on the planet, very attentive and always willing to grab you a free drink or food while at the tables. They always smiled back too when I was caught gazing a little too long. I also befriended the friendly giant security guy named Ryan. He is a wall of a man - looks like he'd dwarf most of the offensive lineman on the New York Giants. I jokingly asked him he would escort my bags of money I was planning on winning to my truck. He replied "No problem". I said hi to him every day that I saw him and chatted while he was on a short break. The security staff at Playground have a very large presence in the rooms. One feels very safe there. They politely keep people moving away from some of the high traffic areas and check every bag that comes through the front door. Taking pictures of players is a no no, and you will be asked to delete the picture if you are caught doing so. Not so much during WPT....but I was asked to delete a pic I took of blondefish when he was seated at his final table WPT satellite.
....but I was asked to delete a pic I took of blondefish when he was seated at his final table WPT satellite.
I tried to tell the floor supervisors that it was OK, but I was surprised how adamant they were in making sure that you deleted your photos in case somebody was in the background. When I'm not busy playing poker, I've taken lots of photos there, including tournament screens, chip p0rn (such as the one below), and of friends with Miss Universe Guam and the new Royal Flush Girl, but I've never had any problems. There is even an employee who does Periscope live streams showing a lot of faces, and my friend was mad that he was being shown live online.
The mega satellite event I played the first night I was in Montreal had 434 entries and 43 seats to the main. I managed to maintain an average stack for the better part of the tournament until I called off my 15bb stack with AK into a open shove and a caller behind, I had both players covered by a bit. The guy in early position turned over 66, and the guy behind rolled over 78 suited. There was a A in the window, brick on the turn and a 6 on the river to give buddy a set. I said " at least the best hand won". I went out on the very next hand to a rivered straight aft I was dealt the pocket 6's. I finished around 120th. At least I had a seat already....I don't know if buddy went on to claim a seat with his good fortune.
I played some $1/2 cash afterwards until 4:30am and finished $300 to the good and went off into the dawn to find some sleep.
As I mentioned earlier, my plan for Friday was to do some non-poker related stuff in Montreal while I was there. The idea was to relax, get lots of rest and prepare mentally for my Day 1 of the main event the next day. I am interested in WW 1 and WW 2 history and I knew that Sir Arthur Currie, considered to be Canada's greatest general, was buried up in Mont Royal Cemetery. I wanted to pay my respects. Currie was born in Strathroy, ON and when WW1 broke out he was a real estate developer in Victoria, BC. He was an officer in the local militia there when he answered his country's call to duty. He lead the Canadian corps in the Ypres salient during the first gas attacks of the war where the Canadians held the line at all costs, even when their right flank had been abandoned by the French. He helped plan and execute the valiant victory at Vimy where Canada's four divisions fought as a unified force for the first time ever in taking the ridge where the French and British had previously lost tens of thousands of men I a failed attempt. It was thought at the time that it was impossible to throw back the Germans off the ridge which they occupied for the first couple years of the war. He led Canadian troops in the battle for Passchendaele, where he had earlier predicted almost to the man the bloody cost in lives that it would eventually claim - 15,600 casualties. He had protested to his superior, the British commander of forces in Europe, Douglas Haig but, had little choice in the end. Those losses were among the 275,000 losses under British command and the 220,000 the Germans lost defending a muddied, crater filled landscape devoid of any vegetation that flowed with the blood of young men that laid down their lives before. Currie also led his battle hardened troops during the last 100 days of the Great War as the Germans retreated through France and Belgium, until the Armistice was signed Novemeber 11, 1918.
The cemetery at Mont Royal is the largest civilian cemetery I have been in. I've been to both Commonwealth war graves and German cemeteries in Europe, the scale of which boggles the mind if you have never been. I had to go the administration office to get a map to find Currie and pay my respects to Canada's great soldier.
The monment to Currie has the "sword of sacrifice" which is a common theme in Commonwealth War Grave Cemeteries. I was surprised to see that no one had placed a wreath or anything else at the great general's grave considering it was Rememberance Day two days prior. I had an extra poppy in my truck and laid it on the monument and thanked the boy from Strathroy for his service to Canada.
So later in the day I decided to head back to Playground to meet up with my friend Dave who was scheduled to arrive later that day. I congratulated blondefish on his winning a main event seat in the satellite the day before, and met some of the guys he was travelling with - a couple of whom I've seen and played with in Brantford. I also saw another player from Milton who plays at OLG Mohawk. I also found a good friend of Dave from New Brunswick, whom was in Montreal on business and decided to take a shot at the main after he heard Dave and I were playing. He did go on to win a seat in a single table satellite and played Day 1c. Of the several people I knew that were at Playground, four of them won a seat to the WPT main event during satellites there - I was impressed!
So while I was touring around the tournament area where Day 1a of the WPT Main event was being played, I spotted Mike McDonald. He had just busted, and was doing an interview for Pokernews. When he was finished, I went up,to him and introduced myself. I knew Mike from the days when I was involved with the Kitchener-Waterloo chess club where I was a director and eventual president of the club. I watched Mike grow-up playing chess over the years when I was active in the club. I also use to pick up Sir Watts and take him to the club for chess tournaments when he attended U of W. Mike and I chatted briefly, and I was glad he remembered me from our chess days together. I hadn't seen him for quite a few years. He told me he actually first got into poker through his chess coach because they were bored of chess. He asked me what I had been up to and if I was still playing chess. I told him that I had turned to poker as well, as so many chess players have, and that I was there for the main event. I congratulated him on is success and we agreed to talk the next day when he would be back to fire another bullet into the main.
Among some of the other pros I spotted that day were, Tony G, Freddie Deeb, Will ' the thrill', and 2010 WSOP champ Jonathan Duhamel.
I returned to the felt that night and played some more $1/2 at the cash tables working my stack up and graduating to the $2/5 tables. I relaxed, had some fun, and enjoyed a free glass of red wine with my free 6oz filet mignon dinner courtesy of the high rake games. The $2/5 menu differs from the $1/2 menu. The food at the Playground is excellent, and the service is great...did I mention the waitresses??
I stayed a little longer than I had planned that night but, eventually walked out up just under $400 and a full tummy and dreams of what might come....
The morning of the main I headed down the street from where I was staying and ate at the local patisserie. Breakfast of champions included a coffee, bottle of water, a croissant and some Genoa salami.
After some food I made my way to the club, met up with a few friends and wished them luck. I thought my table draw was good, as I didn't recognize anyone on my table....and a couple of guys were asking the dealer the chip demoninations, another good sign. My strategy going in was to play small ball poker, not to bloat pots and not to put myself in tough spots. The WPT main has 1 hour levels and a great structure. There is absolutely no hurry to get your chips in the middle. Starting stack was 30k. Through the first couple of levels I picked up some hands and was slowly building my starting stack. We started with a few empty seats, and as more late regstrations started arriving our table started to fill up with people I did recognize. The first pro to sit down was Dan "Miami Boss' Suied. I didn't recognize him but, as soon as the television crew descended down upon our table to beta shot of him I realized he was a pro. Prior the crew would breeze by our table seeking all the pros sitting on other table throughout the room. Not long after he arrived in comes Liv Boeree - team pokerstars pro. Who hasn't seen her? She seems to be everywhere these days...from PCA to Burning Man festival. Not long after her arrival, Sam Chartier sits down a couple doors to my right. At first I though he was Jeff Madsen as there is a little resemblance but, not really. I didn't know who he was until I asked his name. Anyway, throughout the day my stack was increasing at a nice steady rate. I was picking up hands, stealing blinds and trying to stay out of trouble. I got involved in quite a few hands with Liv...some of them while the tv crew was filming away. Of course the cameras weren't trained on my ugly mug, they were showing the shining star in all her British glory. The funny thing is, I went 5 for 5 when I was toe to toe with Ms Boeree. That probably won't make the cut....
Things were going great and I was feeling confident and enjoying the moment. My friend Sam on my right got very lucky when he called a shove on the flop by an amateur player on a board of 6 10 2. Sam had AA and is opponent had 6 6 for a flopped set. The turn was a Q. He binked an A on the river and the amateurs at the table let out a collective sigh. I guess you gotta be good to be lucky. I found young Mr Chartier to be quite the LAG, and his chip stack kinda roller coastered it's way up. I never really knew what he had and his post flop skill was extreme. I also saw him in the Highstakes Malibu room later on that night so you know he's got some game. After the last break of the day and part way into level 9 my stack had peaked to 69k. I was feeling great and i never put my stack to a true test. I was proud of my babies and I wanted to protect them. New faces started appearing at my table as the short stacks got waylaid and one of them was my nemesis, Mike Sexton (seated to my left). In the pic below he is on the right, I am in the dark blue hoodie under the tv.
When I played my first WSOP event a couple of years ago, I ran good throughout the day, got moved from table to table encountering ever more clusters of pros. At the last table I got moved to Mike had arrived with a shorter stack. He hung in for awhile and eventually he was into shove mode. I had been doing well up until dinner break that day and then I proceeded to go card dead for a couple of levels. Anyway, Mike decides to get his stack in, the young pro on my right obliges and gets is stack in, and I look down at pocket Queens. So we are all in and I have them both covered, and Mike opens up with A 7 spades, Young gun has J J, and I have a smile inside my head. Needless to say, a A comes on the flop and Mike triples up and crushes my dreams, crippling my stack. Again, you got to be good to be lucky.
Well that was all behind me, and I had a couple more years since that time to improve my game right? Besides Mike was short stacked when he sat down beside me (to my left this time) and he was certainly in no shape to threaten my beautiful late day stack. I was wrong....
Before I get to the hand with WPT commentator and poker hall of famer, Mike Sexton, let me go back to the dinner break. After I found my friend Dave, we did our usual routine of going outside for some fresh air and doing the obligatory visit to the can to relieve our bladders. I made a point of drinking copious amounts of water while at the poker felt to stay hydrated and fend off any hunger. After that we headed for the free buffet that was provided to the players for dinner break. We made sure not to eat too much and go into a food coma. I found the food to be delicious and it was sure to carry me to the end of Day 1 should I be fortunate enough to play the final and 10th level. After we ate we milled about the area between the front part of the building where many of the cash games are played and the back portion of the club where the tournament tables were spread out. While there I spotted Mike "Timex" McDonald again. For those of you who don't know where he got his online handle from - the story goes that when he registered online for the first time to play poker, he couldn't think of a name. Apparently he looked around his room and eventually looked down at the watch he was wearing that day. I was inspired when I registered at OLG Mohawk when I first registered there for my electronic poker table handle. I am known as Rolex around those parts....if it is good enough for Mike, it is good enough for me. Plus we all know that a Rolex is a better watch than a Timex. As Timex approached, we spotted each other and he stopped once again. We shook hands and I introduced him to my buddy Dave. We asked him about his upcoming schedule, how things on the road have been like and life back in Waterloo, where he still makes home. Mike is still as friendly and nice as I remembered him back when he was a kid back at the chess club. His success at the top of the poker world hasn't gone to his head. I jokingly asked him if we was staying at the Ritz Carleton for the tournament - he said, "no way, I'm a cheap motherf*!&**#. I am staying at an Airbnb." 'Cool, so am I' I thought to myself. We talked a little while longer and he enquired as to how I was doing in the tournament. I also hinted that I might want to hire him as a poker coach when we are back in Waterloo ( I joked about not being able to afford his hourly rate). And you know what? He didn't entirely dismiss the idea - which made me smile inside my head again. Now im not saying that he would do it for sure but, it could certainly be plausible...maybe...perhaps...wantingly...ahhhh, I digress. We wished each other some good fortune and parted ways. It was time to get back to the felt...
So let's move forward to level 9 in the tournament again where I have been steadily increasing my stack and basically staying out of trouble....I'm feeling good. Dan "Miami Boss" Suied has disappeared. Ms. Boeree has come and gone, never really getting any momentum to highlight her skills, and Caitlin Hall made an appearance at our table, albeit brief. The amateur that took the badbeat so well from Sam the man earlier in the day, and who hung on so well has also left the building. A couple of the other amateurs that started this poker journey on table 58 with me are hanging in there too. Poker pro Darren Elias sits down in Liv's old seat directly across from me. I glance over, give him a welcoming nod and he returns the gesture. I believe he is in the final group of 16 left today in Montreal battling for the cash and WPT title belt.
Before I get to the meat and potatoes of 'the hand', I just want to say that I am open to all discussion and criticism. I don't profess to be a better poker player than anyone else. I have enjoyed playing the game and meeting new friends. In the last couple of years I have taken the game more seriously, and I am trying to learn more and improve my skills at this game that we all love. So let the eggs, rotten vegetables and knives fly through the air as you see fit.
As I stated earlier we are at level 9 in the tournament, blinds are 400/800 and there is 100 ante. My stack is around 56k, I had taken a hit a little earlier by Sam when he had rivered a baby flush to my nut straight. Sexton's stack has climbed to approximately 42,000 or so in chips. We are nine handed. (Some of the math below has been approximated).
He is on the button, and it is folded around to me in the cutoff. The pot is $1200 + $675 antes for a total of $1875. The table has settled into opening bets of 2-2.5x. I look down and find Ac Jc and open for 2.5k. Mr. Sexton thinks for a moment and fires in a min raise to 5k. Small and big blinds get out of the way and I complete. AJ suited is too strong to fold to a min raise and if I'm folding to 3bets with my hands too often I would become highly exploitable.
The pots sits at $11,875
Now let's pause here and think about this for a moment. What did he 3bet with? My limited experience playing with Mike tells me he is on the tighter side of the spectrum, and doesn't play overly aggressive. That being said, he does enter a lot of WPT events and I assume he is free-rolling on WPT's tab, so he really doesn't have anything to lose. (This is purley speculation on my part).
His 3 betting hand range in the spot will for sure include AA, KK, QQ and AK. Can we also include pairs down to JJ, 10 10, 9 9 and 8 8? And what about A Q? I think we can if we think that he thinks we are trying to steal in the cut-off position. Or does he just flat with this later group of hands? Thoughts? I also have an A blocker, so AA is a little less likely.
The flop: 9c 9h 5c
Okay we flop the second nut flush draw....(straight flush potential but, highly unlikely). My initial thinking was that this flop did not improve Mike's hand considering he 3bet PF. He coulda just flopped quads but...again highly unlikely. I have the flush draw and two overs to the board. I decide to donk bet and take the betting lead.
I bet around 7k. (Mistake?)
Am I starting to bloat the pot here? I was thinking that I wanted to show some strength here, and maybe scare away hands like AK. Again I know I don't play perfect poker... He still is not folding his 3 bet hand range pairs in this spot. What hand range is he putting me on?
He calls the 7k.
Pot is now almost 26k. (Okay, I know, I know...it's looking bloated already)
Turn is A spade
This looks like it has improved my hand...it doesn't complete my flush but, now I have A's up with a Jack kicker. If he did have one of those paired hands in his range, I just caught up. With my A blocker in my hand, and one on the board now, I am almost assured he doesn't have AA in his holdings. I also still have four to a nutty flush with one card to come.
I checked
The reason I checked here was for pot control, and I didn't want to get blown off my hand if he decided to re-raise. I think it's too strong to let go at this point.
He bet 13k or around half the pot.
I called. The pot has grown to around 52k
The dealer mucks the 3rd and final burn card and rolls over a non-club K.
Hmmmmm...okay. This is starting to look like a potential chop. And although I didn't catch my flush draw, my hand looks like it has improved again....or has it?
At this point I think that I was starting to feel that this hand had gotten way out of control. I was half expecting ( or maybe was I hoping) for a chop, so that we could divide those babies evenly and put them safely into my stack in front of me where I wanted them to be so I could protect them once again. I asked Mike what he had left behind...it was around 27k.
I lead out and bet 10k
What you say? Awkward....yeah that's kinda how I felt. A blocker bet? I don't really know. Maybe it looks like value? Was I scared to check and have him shove and put be in a tough spot? All this shit went through my head at that moment. I was confused... Did I make one mistake after the other this entire hand? Was I thinking back to two years ago when Mike crushed my dreams in my first WSOP event....sure I was. I'd be lying to you if I said otherwise.
Mike tanked here for some time.
Then the words I didn't want to hear..."All-in"
At this point, I thought 'What have I done?'. I was sitting here just a moment ago feeling good and looking forward to Day 2! My dream was starting to fade away once more... But wait, there's hope! Or not!!!! I know it's a crying call givin I just have to call 17k more for a 80k+ pot....maybe we are still chopping??
I reluctantly called...and Mike rolled over his A K for all to see and crush my dreams again.
I looked down at my measly 16 bb little stack and thought of better days....
Okay, so let the knives fly and have at it. No one can hurt my feelings. Please give any input, ideas, thoughts or whatever comes to mind. Just remember that I may be getting to know Mike "Timex" McDonald a little better in the not too distant future and you won't seem him at my next birthday party cause you were mean and didn't get invited!
Okay, so that didn't go so well. I blew up right towards the end Day 1 at my first main event WPT. I didn't get any hands that I could really play with the remainder of Day 1, so I limped into Day 2 with 10k....it was going to be tough with just over 9bbs to do battle with.
I found my friend Dave and he just finished up on a table that Timex was playing at. Dave wasn't too happy either because he suffered a late hit to his stack and was down to around 24k that he bagged up for Day 2.
We discussed a few hands and shared some stories about our poker encounters and then got right back to business on the cash tables. We decided to hit the $1/2 table and have some fun to close the day. I ran my $200 stack up fairly quickly and before I knew it I had around $700 in front of me. That's when I ordered my first Heineken. Yep...by the end of the night I had given it all back plus my initial buy-in. I had lots of fun and was feeling no pain. Dave took my keys and insisted on driving me back to my bnb when we finally got out of Playground that night. Thanks buddy!! After all , we had Day 2 to look forward to!
A chip and a chair....
The next morning I was feeling a little fuzzy from all the Heinekens the night before but, I was feeling the excitement - Day 2 of the WPT main event! Got cleaned up, popped a few Advil and went down the corner from my place to grab breakfast. The owner of the cafe was nice enough to call me a cab which I took back to the Playground poker club.
I met Dave at the Rail, the restaurant that is part of the club. He was just sitting down to breakfast. We looked over our table draws...blondefish had sent me some info the night prior. And we talked a little strategy and I looked over some Nash Equilbrium ( push/fold) charts to prepare for my eventual dual with my small stack.
My Day 2 table draw included Caitlin Hall again - she fired another bullet on Day 1c, poker pro Marc Etienne McLaughlin, a friend from OLG Mohawk named Steve (wow what a coincidence) and Robert "Dr. No" Nortkin. This chap from Toronto had won the Canada Cup the previous year at Playground for a sweet six-figure payday. Robert happened to have an even shorter stack than I did at the table, which he explained away why he found himself in such a predicament. I kept my mouth shut.
Dr. No was the first to go. Then came my turn. I survived an orbit, and then looked down at Q J x and it was time to release them back into the chip pool and cross my fingers. I had around 6bb's behind at that point and my shove is unexploitabke based on the tables I studied earlier that day. It folded around to the small blind who was my friend from OLG Mohawk. He almost looked sad when he shoved and reluctantly turned over to show me A A. As the table looked on the flop ran out J A 10. My friend with the Aces was calling for. K ball for me, but it wasn't to be. I wished my table luck, shook Steve's hand I was out in 275th.
I went to sit down and text my friend Dave the news and I looked up and saw him walking towards me. Sadly he had just busted too with a pair of 4's on the button. In his case, the SB woke up to pocket queens. He was full of hope when the flop came K K 4 but alas, the poker gods were cruel when a Q hit the turn followed by a K on the river. At least he won the last longer....
Dave decided to head out right away and make the 6 hour drive home. I came to the same conclusion and decided to head for home as well. I tracked down blondefish as he had asked me the day before if he could catch a ride back to Oakville.
I got to know him a little better on the long drive, we talked about our families a little and a lot about poker. I really enjoyed it...and I am looking forward to seeing him again.
I want to congratulate Steve K on his deep run on Day 2. He overcame some big hits on his Day 1c stack by taking some badbeats, but grinded his stack back up. Also, congrats to all of the guys that I saw at Playground that won their seat to the main, well done!
Comments
Im looking at going Nov 12th....
I wish they would bring back the shuttle buses from the hotels!
https://www.playgroundpoker.ca/tournaments#E2015-10-21
I would like to go but I'm afraid I have a few jobs that are going to be in the way. I have booked an AirBnB room in Montreal for $40/night including parking. Has a separate kitchen and washroom and private entrance. So far I'm planning on 12th-16th and possibly longer.
My previous roommate made it to the final six of $220 Event #2 and as is typical and unique at Playground, nobody had the balls to battle it out for first-place money and there was a six-way non-ICM :rolleyes2: deal, with the minimum 2% being played out for. :biggrin: The third chipleader at the time of the deal settled for less than third-place money at $3,600 but had he played it out, he would have won more than twice as much at almost $8,000! :eek: The chipleader ended up in only 3rd place, but because the other players were so scared, his deal locked up $7,000 for the most money won.
What happened, trip report?
sending some run good to john krpan and sebastian sambor.
go guys go
I've never been to an event like this before but I came stupid close to winning an ME seat in one of Party Poker's satellites only to bust just before reaching the FT. Next year I guess lol
I won my WPT main event seat playing in OPT satellite series. I have wanted to to play with this group of great poker guys and gals for awhile now and this was my first time. Steve K does a great job of running these satellites to bigger events including WPT, WSOP, PCA, WSOP and others. I met other forum members Steve, Wetts, Greg, and blondefish...not sure if there with others. I also brought along my friend Dave from Mohawk. As it turns out he finished 2nd in the series and also won his seat.
I drove down solo last Thursday. My plan was to play in the mega satellite that day to see if I could win another seat, take Friday off to do some other things in Montreal and play the main on Day 1b Saturday. I checked into my Airbnb accommodations which was off of Rue Sherbrooke in Hampstead area of Montreal. I had my own bedroom with private bath, a kitchen, free parking and many amenities close by. I also had a separate entrance which came in handy considering the vampire hours we poker players tend to roam. One way drive to the Playground Poker Club in Kahnawake which is across a bridge over the St. Lawrence was about a 15 minute drive. Fortunately, with the time of day I was travelling back and forth I was not going with the rush hour traffic, except for the day of my arrival. The other thing was they do construction work/repairs work on the bridge late at night, and I was caught several times in a serpentine route of detours to get back to my Airbnb.
to be cont.....
If you are not familiar with Montreal a GPS is essential...the motorways seemingly go all over the place.
One of the things I did before leaving for Montreal was apply for a players card on the Playground website. I also pre-registered for the satellite I was to play on Thursday night. It cost a bit more but I had the peace of mind that it wouldn't be sold out and I'd be stuck as an alternate when I got there.
I stopped in to Playground as soon as I arrived in Montreal to get my players card and pick up my satellite seat assignment. My first impression of the club was that it was a hyper modern poker venue with lots of screens everywhere, plenty of staff, and lots of room. At first I thought the lighting was dark since the walls are painted black and grey, but when I did eventually sit down at a poker table there was ample lighting at the table. All of the staff there are friendly and really player oriented. From the player registration desk, the brush, the cage, the dealers, security and the waitresses. Did I mention the waitresses? These ladies are some of the healthiest specimens on the planet, very attentive and always willing to grab you a free drink or food while at the tables. They always smiled back too when I was caught gazing a little too long. I also befriended the friendly giant security guy named Ryan. He is a wall of a man - looks like he'd dwarf most of the offensive lineman on the New York Giants. I jokingly asked him he would escort my bags of money I was planning on winning to my truck. He replied "No problem". I said hi to him every day that I saw him and chatted while he was on a short break. The security staff at Playground have a very large presence in the rooms. One feels very safe there. They politely keep people moving away from some of the high traffic areas and check every bag that comes through the front door. Taking pictures of players is a no no, and you will be asked to delete the picture if you are caught doing so. Not so much during WPT....but I was asked to delete a pic I took of blondefish when he was seated at his final table WPT satellite.
To be con't....
The mega satellite event I played the first night I was in Montreal had 434 entries and 43 seats to the main. I managed to maintain an average stack for the better part of the tournament until I called off my 15bb stack with AK into a open shove and a caller behind, I had both players covered by a bit. The guy in early position turned over 66, and the guy behind rolled over 78 suited. There was a A in the window, brick on the turn and a 6 on the river to give buddy a set. I said " at least the best hand won". I went out on the very next hand to a rivered straight aft I was dealt the pocket 6's. I finished around 120th. At least I had a seat already....I don't know if buddy went on to claim a seat with his good fortune.
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I played some $1/2 cash afterwards until 4:30am and finished $300 to the good and went off into the dawn to find some sleep.
As I mentioned earlier, my plan for Friday was to do some non-poker related stuff in Montreal while I was there. The idea was to relax, get lots of rest and prepare mentally for my Day 1 of the main event the next day. I am interested in WW 1 and WW 2 history and I knew that Sir Arthur Currie, considered to be Canada's greatest general, was buried up in Mont Royal Cemetery. I wanted to pay my respects. Currie was born in Strathroy, ON and when WW1 broke out he was a real estate developer in Victoria, BC. He was an officer in the local militia there when he answered his country's call to duty. He lead the Canadian corps in the Ypres salient during the first gas attacks of the war where the Canadians held the line at all costs, even when their right flank had been abandoned by the French. He helped plan and execute the valiant victory at Vimy where Canada's four divisions fought as a unified force for the first time ever in taking the ridge where the French and British had previously lost tens of thousands of men I a failed attempt. It was thought at the time that it was impossible to throw back the Germans off the ridge which they occupied for the first couple years of the war. He led Canadian troops in the battle for Passchendaele, where he had earlier predicted almost to the man the bloody cost in lives that it would eventually claim - 15,600 casualties. He had protested to his superior, the British commander of forces in Europe, Douglas Haig but, had little choice in the end. Those losses were among the 275,000 losses under British command and the 220,000 the Germans lost defending a muddied, crater filled landscape devoid of any vegetation that flowed with the blood of young men that laid down their lives before. Currie also led his battle hardened troops during the last 100 days of the Great War as the Germans retreated through France and Belgium, until the Armistice was signed Novemeber 11, 1918.
The cemetery at Mont Royal is the largest civilian cemetery I have been in. I've been to both Commonwealth war graves and German cemeteries in Europe, the scale of which boggles the mind if you have never been. I had to go the administration office to get a map to find Currie and pay my respects to Canada's great soldier.
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The monment to Currie has the "sword of sacrifice" which is a common theme in Commonwealth War Grave Cemeteries. I was surprised to see that no one had placed a wreath or anything else at the great general's grave considering it was Rememberance Day two days prior. I had an extra poppy in my truck and laid it on the monument and thanked the boy from Strathroy for his service to Canada.
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To be con't
So later in the day I decided to head back to Playground to meet up with my friend Dave who was scheduled to arrive later that day. I congratulated blondefish on his winning a main event seat in the satellite the day before, and met some of the guys he was travelling with - a couple of whom I've seen and played with in Brantford. I also saw another player from Milton who plays at OLG Mohawk. I also found a good friend of Dave from New Brunswick, whom was in Montreal on business and decided to take a shot at the main after he heard Dave and I were playing. He did go on to win a seat in a single table satellite and played Day 1c. Of the several people I knew that were at Playground, four of them won a seat to the WPT main event during satellites there - I was impressed!
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So while I was touring around the tournament area where Day 1a of the WPT Main event was being played, I spotted Mike McDonald. He had just busted, and was doing an interview for Pokernews. When he was finished, I went up,to him and introduced myself. I knew Mike from the days when I was involved with the Kitchener-Waterloo chess club where I was a director and eventual president of the club. I watched Mike grow-up playing chess over the years when I was active in the club. I also use to pick up Sir Watts and take him to the club for chess tournaments when he attended U of W. Mike and I chatted briefly, and I was glad he remembered me from our chess days together. I hadn't seen him for quite a few years. He told me he actually first got into poker through his chess coach because they were bored of chess. He asked me what I had been up to and if I was still playing chess. I told him that I had turned to poker as well, as so many chess players have, and that I was there for the main event. I congratulated him on is success and we agreed to talk the next day when he would be back to fire another bullet into the main.
Among some of the other pros I spotted that day were, Tony G, Freddie Deeb, Will ' the thrill', and 2010 WSOP champ Jonathan Duhamel.
I returned to the felt that night and played some more $1/2 at the cash tables working my stack up and graduating to the $2/5 tables. I relaxed, had some fun, and enjoyed a free glass of red wine with my free 6oz filet mignon dinner courtesy of the high rake games. The $2/5 menu differs from the $1/2 menu. The food at the Playground is excellent, and the service is great...did I mention the waitresses??
I stayed a little longer than I had planned that night but, eventually walked out up just under $400 and a full tummy and dreams of what might come....
to be con't ....
The morning of the main I headed down the street from where I was staying and ate at the local patisserie. Breakfast of champions included a coffee, bottle of water, a croissant and some Genoa salami.
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After some food I made my way to the club, met up with a few friends and wished them luck. I thought my table draw was good, as I didn't recognize anyone on my table....and a couple of guys were asking the dealer the chip demoninations, another good sign. My strategy going in was to play small ball poker, not to bloat pots and not to put myself in tough spots. The WPT main has 1 hour levels and a great structure. There is absolutely no hurry to get your chips in the middle. Starting stack was 30k. Through the first couple of levels I picked up some hands and was slowly building my starting stack. We started with a few empty seats, and as more late regstrations started arriving our table started to fill up with people I did recognize. The first pro to sit down was Dan "Miami Boss' Suied. I didn't recognize him but, as soon as the television crew descended down upon our table to beta shot of him I realized he was a pro. Prior the crew would breeze by our table seeking all the pros sitting on other table throughout the room. Not long after he arrived in comes Liv Boeree - team pokerstars pro. Who hasn't seen her? She seems to be everywhere these days...from PCA to Burning Man festival. Not long after her arrival, Sam Chartier sits down a couple doors to my right. At first I though he was Jeff Madsen as there is a little resemblance but, not really. I didn't know who he was until I asked his name. Anyway, throughout the day my stack was increasing at a nice steady rate. I was picking up hands, stealing blinds and trying to stay out of trouble. I got involved in quite a few hands with Liv...some of them while the tv crew was filming away. Of course the cameras weren't trained on my ugly mug, they were showing the shining star in all her British glory. The funny thing is, I went 5 for 5 when I was toe to toe with Ms Boeree. That probably won't make the cut....
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Things were going great and I was feeling confident and enjoying the moment. My friend Sam on my right got very lucky when he called a shove on the flop by an amateur player on a board of 6 10 2. Sam had AA and is opponent had 6 6 for a flopped set. The turn was a Q. He binked an A on the river and the amateurs at the table let out a collective sigh. I guess you gotta be good to be lucky. I found young Mr Chartier to be quite the LAG, and his chip stack kinda roller coastered it's way up. I never really knew what he had and his post flop skill was extreme. I also saw him in the Highstakes Malibu room later on that night so you know he's got some game. After the last break of the day and part way into level 9 my stack had peaked to 69k. I was feeling great and i never put my stack to a true test. I was proud of my babies and I wanted to protect them. New faces started appearing at my table as the short stacks got waylaid and one of them was my nemesis, Mike Sexton (seated to my left). In the pic below he is on the right, I am in the dark blue hoodie under the tv.
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When I played my first WSOP event a couple of years ago, I ran good throughout the day, got moved from table to table encountering ever more clusters of pros. At the last table I got moved to Mike had arrived with a shorter stack. He hung in for awhile and eventually he was into shove mode. I had been doing well up until dinner break that day and then I proceeded to go card dead for a couple of levels. Anyway, Mike decides to get his stack in, the young pro on my right obliges and gets is stack in, and I look down at pocket Queens. So we are all in and I have them both covered, and Mike opens up with A 7 spades, Young gun has J J, and I have a smile inside my head. Needless to say, a A comes on the flop and Mike triples up and crushes my dreams, crippling my stack. Again, you got to be good to be lucky.
Well that was all behind me, and I had a couple more years since that time to improve my game right? Besides Mike was short stacked when he sat down beside me (to my left this time) and he was certainly in no shape to threaten my beautiful late day stack. I was wrong....
TR con't tomorrow...
Before I get to the hand with WPT commentator and poker hall of famer, Mike Sexton, let me go back to the dinner break. After I found my friend Dave, we did our usual routine of going outside for some fresh air and doing the obligatory visit to the can to relieve our bladders. I made a point of drinking copious amounts of water while at the poker felt to stay hydrated and fend off any hunger. After that we headed for the free buffet that was provided to the players for dinner break. We made sure not to eat too much and go into a food coma. I found the food to be delicious and it was sure to carry me to the end of Day 1 should I be fortunate enough to play the final and 10th level. After we ate we milled about the area between the front part of the building where many of the cash games are played and the back portion of the club where the tournament tables were spread out. While there I spotted Mike "Timex" McDonald again. For those of you who don't know where he got his online handle from - the story goes that when he registered online for the first time to play poker, he couldn't think of a name. Apparently he looked around his room and eventually looked down at the watch he was wearing that day. I was inspired when I registered at OLG Mohawk when I first registered there for my electronic poker table handle. I am known as Rolex around those parts....if it is good enough for Mike, it is good enough for me. Plus we all know that a Rolex is a better watch than a Timex. As Timex approached, we spotted each other and he stopped once again. We shook hands and I introduced him to my buddy Dave. We asked him about his upcoming schedule, how things on the road have been like and life back in Waterloo, where he still makes home. Mike is still as friendly and nice as I remembered him back when he was a kid back at the chess club. His success at the top of the poker world hasn't gone to his head. I jokingly asked him if we was staying at the Ritz Carleton for the tournament - he said, "no way, I'm a cheap motherf*!&**#. I am staying at an Airbnb." 'Cool, so am I' I thought to myself. We talked a little while longer and he enquired as to how I was doing in the tournament. I also hinted that I might want to hire him as a poker coach when we are back in Waterloo ( I joked about not being able to afford his hourly rate). And you know what? He didn't entirely dismiss the idea - which made me smile inside my head again. Now im not saying that he would do it for sure but, it could certainly be plausible...maybe...perhaps...wantingly...ahhhh, I digress. We wished each other some good fortune and parted ways. It was time to get back to the felt...
TR will con't
So let's move forward to level 9 in the tournament again where I have been steadily increasing my stack and basically staying out of trouble....I'm feeling good. Dan "Miami Boss" Suied has disappeared. Ms. Boeree has come and gone, never really getting any momentum to highlight her skills, and Caitlin Hall made an appearance at our table, albeit brief. The amateur that took the badbeat so well from Sam the man earlier in the day, and who hung on so well has also left the building. A couple of the other amateurs that started this poker journey on table 58 with me are hanging in there too. Poker pro Darren Elias sits down in Liv's old seat directly across from me. I glance over, give him a welcoming nod and he returns the gesture. I believe he is in the final group of 16 left today in Montreal battling for the cash and WPT title belt.
Before I get to the meat and potatoes of 'the hand', I just want to say that I am open to all discussion and criticism. I don't profess to be a better poker player than anyone else. I have enjoyed playing the game and meeting new friends. In the last couple of years I have taken the game more seriously, and I am trying to learn more and improve my skills at this game that we all love. So let the eggs, rotten vegetables and knives fly through the air as you see fit.
As I stated earlier we are at level 9 in the tournament, blinds are 400/800 and there is 100 ante. My stack is around 56k, I had taken a hit a little earlier by Sam when he had rivered a baby flush to my nut straight. Sexton's stack has climbed to approximately 42,000 or so in chips. We are nine handed. (Some of the math below has been approximated).
He is on the button, and it is folded around to me in the cutoff. The pot is $1200 + $675 antes for a total of $1875. The table has settled into opening bets of 2-2.5x. I look down and find Ac Jc and open for 2.5k. Mr. Sexton thinks for a moment and fires in a min raise to 5k. Small and big blinds get out of the way and I complete. AJ suited is too strong to fold to a min raise and if I'm folding to 3bets with my hands too often I would become highly exploitable.
The pots sits at $11,875
Now let's pause here and think about this for a moment. What did he 3bet with? My limited experience playing with Mike tells me he is on the tighter side of the spectrum, and doesn't play overly aggressive. That being said, he does enter a lot of WPT events and I assume he is free-rolling on WPT's tab, so he really doesn't have anything to lose. (This is purley speculation on my part).
His 3 betting hand range in the spot will for sure include AA, KK, QQ and AK. Can we also include pairs down to JJ, 10 10, 9 9 and 8 8? And what about A Q? I think we can if we think that he thinks we are trying to steal in the cut-off position. Or does he just flat with this later group of hands? Thoughts? I also have an A blocker, so AA is a little less likely.
The flop: 9c 9h 5c
Okay we flop the second nut flush draw....(straight flush potential but, highly unlikely). My initial thinking was that this flop did not improve Mike's hand considering he 3bet PF. He coulda just flopped quads but...again highly unlikely. I have the flush draw and two overs to the board. I decide to donk bet and take the betting lead.
I bet around 7k. (Mistake?)
Am I starting to bloat the pot here? I was thinking that I wanted to show some strength here, and maybe scare away hands like AK. Again I know I don't play perfect poker... He still is not folding his 3 bet hand range pairs in this spot. What hand range is he putting me on?
He calls the 7k.
Pot is now almost 26k. (Okay, I know, I know...it's looking bloated already)
Turn is A spade
This looks like it has improved my hand...it doesn't complete my flush but, now I have A's up with a Jack kicker. If he did have one of those paired hands in his range, I just caught up. With my A blocker in my hand, and one on the board now, I am almost assured he doesn't have AA in his holdings. I also still have four to a nutty flush with one card to come.
I checked
The reason I checked here was for pot control, and I didn't want to get blown off my hand if he decided to re-raise. I think it's too strong to let go at this point.
He bet 13k or around half the pot.
I called. The pot has grown to around 52k
The dealer mucks the 3rd and final burn card and rolls over a non-club K.
Hmmmmm...okay. This is starting to look like a potential chop. And although I didn't catch my flush draw, my hand looks like it has improved again....or has it?
At this point I think that I was starting to feel that this hand had gotten way out of control. I was half expecting ( or maybe was I hoping) for a chop, so that we could divide those babies evenly and put them safely into my stack in front of me where I wanted them to be so I could protect them once again. I asked Mike what he had left behind...it was around 27k.
I lead out and bet 10k
What you say? Awkward....yeah that's kinda how I felt. A blocker bet? I don't really know. Maybe it looks like value? Was I scared to check and have him shove and put be in a tough spot? All this shit went through my head at that moment. I was confused... Did I make one mistake after the other this entire hand? Was I thinking back to two years ago when Mike crushed my dreams in my first WSOP event....sure I was. I'd be lying to you if I said otherwise.
Mike tanked here for some time.
Then the words I didn't want to hear..."All-in"
At this point, I thought 'What have I done?'. I was sitting here just a moment ago feeling good and looking forward to Day 2! My dream was starting to fade away once more... But wait, there's hope! Or not!!!! I know it's a crying call givin I just have to call 17k more for a 80k+ pot....maybe we are still chopping??
I reluctantly called...and Mike rolled over his A K for all to see and crush my dreams again.
I looked down at my measly 16 bb little stack and thought of better days....
Okay, so let the knives fly and have at it. No one can hurt my feelings. Please give any input, ideas, thoughts or whatever comes to mind. Just remember that I may be getting to know Mike "Timex" McDonald a little better in the not too distant future and you won't seem him at my next birthday party cause you were mean and didn't get invited!
Final chapter later...
Okay, so that didn't go so well. I blew up right towards the end Day 1 at my first main event WPT. I didn't get any hands that I could really play with the remainder of Day 1, so I limped into Day 2 with 10k....it was going to be tough with just over 9bbs to do battle with.
I found my friend Dave and he just finished up on a table that Timex was playing at. Dave wasn't too happy either because he suffered a late hit to his stack and was down to around 24k that he bagged up for Day 2.
We discussed a few hands and shared some stories about our poker encounters and then got right back to business on the cash tables. We decided to hit the $1/2 table and have some fun to close the day. I ran my $200 stack up fairly quickly and before I knew it I had around $700 in front of me. That's when I ordered my first Heineken. Yep...by the end of the night I had given it all back plus my initial buy-in. I had lots of fun and was feeling no pain. Dave took my keys and insisted on driving me back to my bnb when we finally got out of Playground that night. Thanks buddy!! After all , we had Day 2 to look forward to!
A chip and a chair....
The next morning I was feeling a little fuzzy from all the Heinekens the night before but, I was feeling the excitement - Day 2 of the WPT main event! Got cleaned up, popped a few Advil and went down the corner from my place to grab breakfast. The owner of the cafe was nice enough to call me a cab which I took back to the Playground poker club.
I met Dave at the Rail, the restaurant that is part of the club. He was just sitting down to breakfast. We looked over our table draws...blondefish had sent me some info the night prior. And we talked a little strategy and I looked over some Nash Equilbrium ( push/fold) charts to prepare for my eventual dual with my small stack.
My Day 2 table draw included Caitlin Hall again - she fired another bullet on Day 1c, poker pro Marc Etienne McLaughlin, a friend from OLG Mohawk named Steve (wow what a coincidence) and Robert "Dr. No" Nortkin. This chap from Toronto had won the Canada Cup the previous year at Playground for a sweet six-figure payday. Robert happened to have an even shorter stack than I did at the table, which he explained away why he found himself in such a predicament. I kept my mouth shut.
Short-stacked but happy!
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Dr. No was the first to go. Then came my turn. I survived an orbit, and then looked down at Q J x and it was time to release them back into the chip pool and cross my fingers. I had around 6bb's behind at that point and my shove is unexploitabke based on the tables I studied earlier that day. It folded around to the small blind who was my friend from OLG Mohawk. He almost looked sad when he shoved and reluctantly turned over to show me A A. As the table looked on the flop ran out J A 10. My friend with the Aces was calling for. K ball for me, but it wasn't to be. I wished my table luck, shook Steve's hand I was out in 275th.
I went to sit down and text my friend Dave the news and I looked up and saw him walking towards me. Sadly he had just busted too with a pair of 4's on the button. In his case, the SB woke up to pocket queens. He was full of hope when the flop came K K 4 but alas, the poker gods were cruel when a Q hit the turn followed by a K on the river. At least he won the last longer....
Dave decided to head out right away and make the 6 hour drive home. I came to the same conclusion and decided to head for home as well. I tracked down blondefish as he had asked me the day before if he could catch a ride back to Oakville.
I got to know him a little better on the long drive, we talked about our families a little and a lot about poker. I really enjoyed it...and I am looking forward to seeing him again.
I want to congratulate Steve K on his deep run on Day 2. He overcame some big hits on his Day 1c stack by taking some badbeats, but grinded his stack back up. Also, congrats to all of the guys that I saw at Playground that won their seat to the main, well done!
Thanks for reading the TR...hope you enjoyed it.
very entertaining TR!