WSOP Georgia TR: Shuffle up & deal, then multi-tabling to WSOP championship
As soon as I found out about WSOP Georgia on November 25, I alerted DirtArse. He played at the first-ever WPT Georgia last summer, which he thought had the worst players in the world and he wanted to come back.
I knew the gaming consultant for WSOP Georgia back from his bwin.party employment so I found out all the info I needed from him. With buy-ins as low as U$110, it was the most affordable way ever to take six or more shots at a WSOP ring. When there was an unexpected ruling that there would be a 20% tax on foreigners' winnings so it would be almost as bad as buying into a US tournament, the Russians and other foreigners started demanding a refund. Fortunately, the sponsor Adjarabet decided to eat any taxes, so they would lose whenever a Canadian or other foreigner cashed.
By the time of the Forum Road Trip to Rama, DirtArse already booked discounted flights and hotel to Istanbul, Turkey. The third person that DirtArse chose to take (I'll call him "3rd" for short) referred me to Airbnb.ca so we can both get cash credits, then I booked the three-bedroom apartment in downtown Tbilisi. I offered them US dollars at mid-rate, which we exchanged during WPT Fallsview.
DirtArse picked me up and parked at my old family home near the airport. My beloved sister and brother-in-law were "unavailable" as usual to drive us a few minutes to the airport,
so I called Uber as usual and an Audi luxury car picked us up. DirtArse didn't want to create an Uber account for the first ride free, so I paid for the Uber.
After we found our Airbnb host at the Tbilisi airport holding a "Bingo Buddy" sign, he drove us to our two-storey three-bedroom apartment and I paid him U$25. DirtArse selected the most quiet bedroom while I got the bedroom which had power plugs near the bed for my CPAP machine, which turned out to be the master bedroom, with a balcony.
The host volunteered to drive us to the Tbilisi Sports Palace, where I gave an employee the tournament director's name. I was given the structure sheets for all the tournaments (not available online), and met the Head of Poker of Adjarabet and WSOP Georgia. We expressed concern that registration was not available until 12 pm the next day, and the Head of Poker asked me to email him our three names to ensure that we didn't travel over 9,000 km to have the event sold out, which is what happened to me several times at WPT Valkenburg.
The three of us could tell right away that the WSOP Warm-up ring event #1 had too good of a structure for one-day tournament. This $110 20,000-chip 40-minute level tournament with 400 starting BB had a better structure than the $1,100 WPT Fallsview with only 100 starting BB!
I looked at the structure sheet and calculated that it would take over 15 hours, but it starts at 2 pm.
We figured out how to use the subway, and ate at the same restaurant that DirtArse liked last year. Just like I asked "3rd" if he wanted to swap during the WPT FPC 1A that we were both playing at the same time, I asked them if they wanted to swap 10% net of buy-ins for tournaments that all three of us were playing at the same time. We all agreed. For the WSOP High Roller, the only person who would play it would be if one of us was in contention for the Casino Points Champion for a freeroll entry to the WSOP Global Championship, so there would obviously be no swap.
It was chaotic on the first day of March 3, with a line-up for registration for the whole day. The three of us thought that most of the tournaments were freezeouts, but it was announced that they were now unlimited re-entries up to Level 9.
I recognized some of the dealers from WPT Dusk Till Dawn. There were pretty massage girls like Playground. The tournament area has the most security men I've ever seen; it's like one ex-KGB agent every row on both sides. There were a several servers standing around, waiting to give you free bottled water, milk, coffee; or sell other drinks. I also noticed the cool "ALL-IN" triangle button. :cool:
While playing, a CardPlayer interviewer asked if I'm the player from Canada and wanted to interview me on video! As I started answering, she told me to look at her and not the camera. I later told her about my other two friends from Canada, and she also interviewed DirtArse on video. We haven't seen the videos yet at cardplayer.ge.
There were 44 tables available and all of them had become full! The starting times for events #2 and 3 kept getting delayed.
A few VIPs were invited to freeroll, such as #1 GPI ranked Steve O'Dwyer, #8-ranked Dzmitry Urbanovich, jungleman, Peter Eastgate, Dominik Panka (won PCA 2014 vs. timex) and other Polish pros. I was shocked when Steve arrived so early & played the $110 buy-in.
To be continued...
I knew the gaming consultant for WSOP Georgia back from his bwin.party employment so I found out all the info I needed from him. With buy-ins as low as U$110, it was the most affordable way ever to take six or more shots at a WSOP ring. When there was an unexpected ruling that there would be a 20% tax on foreigners' winnings so it would be almost as bad as buying into a US tournament, the Russians and other foreigners started demanding a refund. Fortunately, the sponsor Adjarabet decided to eat any taxes, so they would lose whenever a Canadian or other foreigner cashed.
By the time of the Forum Road Trip to Rama, DirtArse already booked discounted flights and hotel to Istanbul, Turkey. The third person that DirtArse chose to take (I'll call him "3rd" for short) referred me to Airbnb.ca so we can both get cash credits, then I booked the three-bedroom apartment in downtown Tbilisi. I offered them US dollars at mid-rate, which we exchanged during WPT Fallsview.
DirtArse picked me up and parked at my old family home near the airport. My beloved sister and brother-in-law were "unavailable" as usual to drive us a few minutes to the airport,
so I called Uber as usual and an Audi luxury car picked us up. DirtArse didn't want to create an Uber account for the first ride free, so I paid for the Uber.After we found our Airbnb host at the Tbilisi airport holding a "Bingo Buddy" sign, he drove us to our two-storey three-bedroom apartment and I paid him U$25. DirtArse selected the most quiet bedroom while I got the bedroom which had power plugs near the bed for my CPAP machine, which turned out to be the master bedroom, with a balcony.
The host volunteered to drive us to the Tbilisi Sports Palace, where I gave an employee the tournament director's name. I was given the structure sheets for all the tournaments (not available online), and met the Head of Poker of Adjarabet and WSOP Georgia. We expressed concern that registration was not available until 12 pm the next day, and the Head of Poker asked me to email him our three names to ensure that we didn't travel over 9,000 km to have the event sold out, which is what happened to me several times at WPT Valkenburg.
The three of us could tell right away that the WSOP Warm-up ring event #1 had too good of a structure for one-day tournament. This $110 20,000-chip 40-minute level tournament with 400 starting BB had a better structure than the $1,100 WPT Fallsview with only 100 starting BB!
I looked at the structure sheet and calculated that it would take over 15 hours, but it starts at 2 pm.We figured out how to use the subway, and ate at the same restaurant that DirtArse liked last year. Just like I asked "3rd" if he wanted to swap during the WPT FPC 1A that we were both playing at the same time, I asked them if they wanted to swap 10% net of buy-ins for tournaments that all three of us were playing at the same time. We all agreed. For the WSOP High Roller, the only person who would play it would be if one of us was in contention for the Casino Points Champion for a freeroll entry to the WSOP Global Championship, so there would obviously be no swap.
It was chaotic on the first day of March 3, with a line-up for registration for the whole day. The three of us thought that most of the tournaments were freezeouts, but it was announced that they were now unlimited re-entries up to Level 9.
I recognized some of the dealers from WPT Dusk Till Dawn. There were pretty massage girls like Playground. The tournament area has the most security men I've ever seen; it's like one ex-KGB agent every row on both sides. There were a several servers standing around, waiting to give you free bottled water, milk, coffee; or sell other drinks. I also noticed the cool "ALL-IN" triangle button. :cool:
While playing, a CardPlayer interviewer asked if I'm the player from Canada and wanted to interview me on video! As I started answering, she told me to look at her and not the camera. I later told her about my other two friends from Canada, and she also interviewed DirtArse on video. We haven't seen the videos yet at cardplayer.ge.
There were 44 tables available and all of them had become full! The starting times for events #2 and 3 kept getting delayed.
A few VIPs were invited to freeroll, such as #1 GPI ranked Steve O'Dwyer, #8-ranked Dzmitry Urbanovich, jungleman, Peter Eastgate, Dominik Panka (won PCA 2014 vs. timex) and other Polish pros. I was shocked when Steve arrived so early & played the $110 buy-in.
To be continued...
Comments
The first day on March 3 was as chaotic as I had feared. At first, we hated that WSOP Georgia was changed from freezeouts to unlimited re-entries. Then I remembered the old re-entries at the Brantford events, where as long as I was better than the most of the field and I had the money to re-enter, then it was +EV for me, so I personally didn't mind. With only 440 seats, there were a total of 732 entries in Event #1 - WSOP Warm-Up ring event. The guarantee of U$30K was blown away to $73,197.
After I busted out, I bought in for the next available Event #3 - Adjarabet Championship Super Satellite. It had been delayed from 18:00 to 21:00. When I tried to take my seat at 21:00, they were disorganized and we asked the TD what was going on. The event finally started at 21:35, with 20 seats guaranteed. It became clear that many of the players did not know how to play a R/A with 2K unlimited rebuys & 5K add-on.
Whenever I play in a new poker room, the more I appreciate Playground Poker Club's best practices. While Playground keeps better track of total number of entries, chips, average, player seat #, etc., WPT 500, Fallsview and this WSOP Georgia does not update the information on its tournament screens. After the add-on period, we still had no idea about the number of total rebuys, add-ons, total chips or average. 330 entries were needed to meet the guarantee, so with ~40 starting players, there was a huge overlay. There were 31 players left, so I had to outlast 11 players to win a seat. My key hand was my 3-bet all-in, and the raiser tanked then folded QQ.
As the players left neared 20, the tournament screen continued to be out-of-date. I did win a seat to the Adjarabet Championship ring event at a total cost of only $45!
On March 5, the Adjarabet Championship started at 14:00, which DirtArse and I played. 3rd bought into the WSOP PLO (#9) ring event at 16:00. 3rd thought that there was no way that it would meet the guarantee; I had to disagree with him again and explained that with unlimited re-entries up to the end of level 9, it would easily hit the 75 entires required. I told both of them that if I didn't have an above average stack by the dinner break, I would buy-in to the PLO to multi-table for only U$220 for a ring! Except for the 3 Royal Cups I played, I have never played a live PLO tournament, but I actually have a higher ROI in PLO than Hold'em online.
Since I didn't want to be disqualified for multi-tabling like the silly US player at the WPT FPC $550 event who was already playing in PocketsTwos' $2,500 event, I asked the female TD. She said that it's allowed, but she thinks you have to stay a minimum of 15 minutes at each table. I asked the main TD and he said that there were no restrictions, and he liked watching crazy guys run back and forth multi-tabling. It's ON like Donkey Kong! :biggrin2:
With the one-hour dinner break in the NLHE tournament, I registered for the PLO. Unlike most other tables during the week where Russians and Georgians kept violating the English-only rule in the middle of a hand, :mad: several of the players were chatting in English in my PLO table. When the dinner break for NLHE ended and I played the puck in PLO, I multi-tabled back to NLHE to try to double up. After my TP was busted, I hurried back to PLO.
My seat had now been moved to the same table as #1-ranked Steve O'Dwyer. :eek2: When the BB got to me, Steve raised in MP & CO flatted. I looked at my cards, saw AAxx & 3-bet pot all-in. Steve 4-bet pot with KKxx, and CO called with 7-high cards. Steve went all-in on the flop & CO called & was eliminated. With only ~20 players left, if my AA holds up and triples, I could make my first-ever PLO cash. But Steve hit a third King and I was out; he ended up cashing in sixth place. I congratulated Steve and asked him if he had brought any of his sister's clay sculptures of pros such as him, but he said that the one figurine he brought is not for sale.
DirtArse did not play the PLO, so he would not have gotten any % had 3rd or I cashed, which was obvious to both DirtArse and me. I think 3rd bought into a non-ring event on his own, so DirtArse & I would never have claimed any % had he cashed since there was no swap.
To be continued: Going for the Ring!
As I got to know the TD and other staff when not playing, he mentioned that when he had to cancel one of the U$55 late night tournaments, players were crying as they had driven all the way to Tbilisi and it was the only tournament they could afford.
On March 7, the three of us played three different tournaments - Swiper, no swapping!
#17 WSOP Turbo Rebuy & Addon ring event, initial buy-in of only U$100 R&A + U$10 fee; 2K chips R + 5K A.
The guarantee was $25,000, which means 250 total players/rebuys/addons were needed. It was 30-minute levels for the first four levels. There were six tables at the start and the screen showed 40 players.
I did a U$100 rebuy even before the first hand started. Nobody else got the extra 2K chips until they busted. I made game notes on my iPad. All-ins included: Js7s < J8 on my flush draw flop; AK > 22; AJ < KQ; and AQ < T9.
I rebought.
In the next table, a Russian chatterbox kept violating the English-only rule during a hand. Despite repeated warnings, he keeps yapping and the patient TD finally gives him a one-round penalty. Security is called to escort the Russian away from the table. I thought I would finally get to see what these silent ex-KGB
After the R/A period, I had 8,700 chips in level 5. Blinds were 200/400 and the screen showed 91 players. There was no indication of rebuys, addons, total chips or average.
After the second 15-minute break, my notes show that I had 47,900 chips in level 11, M = 11, 20 players left. Bubble time is always exciting, and I think we went hand-for-hand with 14 players. The players were forbidden to cross to the other table.
I had the second biggest stack in my table and initially kept raising, but the biggest stack (from Lithuania) was directly to my left and was also aggressive. I remember him raising first-to-act vs. my BB with only J3 sooted, and he lost to a short stack's all-in.
When we got down to ten, we were moved to the feature table. We still didn't know the total number of chips or average, but I think I had the third biggest stack. The ten players were announced to the entire arena: three friends from Vilnius, Lithuania; at least two from Kazakhstan; and only player from outside Europe, "Bingo Buddy."
I proceeded to eliminate the first six or seven players. I had more than half of the ~690,000 chips when it was down to around 4 or 5 players. The head TD who knows me would announce, "Bingo Buddy has KQ, and wins"; "Bingo Buddy has AJ, and wins"; "Guess who called the all-in? It's Bingo Buddy with 77."
My nemesis from Lithuania eliminated the third player. The TD had told me that off-the-table deals were not forbidden. I asked Dominykas Mikula if he wanted to play it out, and we both did. I later found out on GPI that he had two cashes for $2,880.
Heads-up for a WSOP ring. This was the dream of the three "Crazy Canucks" who travelled over 9,000 km from Toronto to Tbilisi. Fortunately, I've had enough HU experiences both live and especially online, so I was not nervous, and focused on making $EV-maximizing decisions.
First flop HU: I raised ~3x on the puck with :ah :8d. He calls. Flop is
:as :8s ~:5s
He checks. What would you do?
I bet more than half the pot. I don't remember the exact turn, but I bet again and he check-calls again.
The river is a fourth spade. He checks. You don't have a spade. WWYD?
I check. He shows
:ks :ts
for the flopped nut flush!
Next hand: He flats in the SB. I have
:ah :kh
I raise ~3x and he calls. Flop is
:as :9s :5s
I lower my head so he can't see me, but I roll my eyes at the all-spade flop again. WWYD?
I bet, but he raises all-in. WWYD?
I have TPTK. I said something to him to get a read. I put his likely range to be a flush draw. His equity for a FD would be ~37%. I make the call. He turns over
:ks :10d
KT again! I have a 63% probability of winning, and having almost of the chips for the WSOP ring. I just have to avoid a spade. Turn is
:3s
GG
After the heartbreak of getting so close to the WSOP ring, I'm escorted by Anna "aka Kournikova" the prize lady from Russia to the Cashier. She is also one of the fast dealers and tells each winner about the tip container for dealers. Unlike WSOP tournaments in the US, there is no withholding tax, and also no 3% staff tips deducted. I promise Anna that I will give her a tip before I leave Georgia. WSOP dealers have complained before that European (and Australian) players are the worst in never giving any tip.
CardPlayer asks me for my second video interview. DirtArse & 3rd tell me that they would be so depressed if it had happened to them. I would never be depressed about having another profitable poker trip, as I'm used to both the thrill and agony of many heads-up matches online; the worst one was a U$18,000 winner-take-all MTT prize where I had the chip lead against a US pro but he ended up winning U$18K while I got a big fat zero.
Earlier in the week, when Steve O'Dwyer was waiting to do the opening ceremony of "Shuffle up and deal," I had a photo taken with him. The next day, 2008 WSOP ME champion Peter Eastgate had the honour. When I saw DirtArse, I headed to him, then the exec in charge of WSOP Georgia said, "Speak of the devil, there he is." I replied, "Oh-oh, what did I do now?" He said, "Would you like to do the opening ceremony?" My first reaction was shock, then scared, then I said "No", then I thought of running away like a little girl.
After I calmed down and realized that it is another fortunate once-in-a-lifetime experience, I started asking questions. Just like when I thought of my two friends when the Cardplayer hostess first started interviewing me, I asked, "Can my two travel buddies from Canada join me in the honour?" "May I wear my Canada hockey jersey?" The answer to both was yes.
The WSOP consultant later texted me, "You get message about shuffle up and deal?" so they had both agreed to choose me. jungleman was scheduled to arrive the next day from Istanbul, so we agreed that I would get to do it the following day.
On March 7, when jungleman was given the mike by the TD, he asked "Do I say 'shuffle up & deal'?" The TD answered yes. The socially awkward jungleman quietly says "Shuffle up and deal" and quickly walks away. :biggrin:
I planned our opening ceremony to say more than the four words of jungleman but not long. First I thought of us three doing it Bruce Buffer style - “IT'S TIME!” or us three shouting "Shuffle up and deal" synchronized. DirtArse wanted to mention how much he enjoyed Georgia before. Here was my plan: I would start if off with a welcome, thank the hard-working tournament staff and mention my promise to give a tip; DirtArse would say nice things about Georgia & about travelling over 9,000 km; then we gave the honour to 3rd to say the final four words. On the WSOP Main Event Day 2, the day of ITM and High Roller Event, the bucket list experience was captured on video, and we even got applause.
All three "Crazy Canucks" cashed in three different WSOP ring events, with me winning the most. I also won at the cash game. The rake was 5%, but max is $10. I have the $5 and $1 chips for those who requested them.
We did more than play poker on our Istanbul-Georgia trip, so there are over 200 photos and videos on my Facebook. I've had the fortune of travelling with DirtArse to WPT Philippines, CPT Dominican Republic, WPT UK, and WSOP Vegas, but this may be the most enjoyable one yet.
How much does he owe you? I want to know how much he's ruining his reputation for.
I say out him and I'll bet Den will split his share with you. That's about the fairest thing you can expect to happen in my view.
You made a big deal in the other thread about outing scammers. I think it would be hypocrisy to not do that now.
Nice TR. Sounds like a nice trip. Congrats on the great results.
When players were filmed at the Canadian Poker Tour Championships if they prefer the CPT ring or the money, everybody chose the ring and I was the only one who chose money. On this trip, one mate's #1 goal was to win a WSOP ring, and the other one's #1 goal was to qualify for the WSOP Global Casino Championship. I told them my #1 poker goal on this trip is to make a profit. Aside from making money, I almost did get a WSOP ring and with my 37.5 points, I was also in contention for the Casino Points Championship.
Of course he'll be furious. Wouldn't you be if you were absolutely certain you were correct and someone said you cheated him? Oh wait, isn't he saying you cheated him? Are you furious?
This is not much different than trying to get Bill to give Mathers the fucking ticket. He will never be convinced he is wrong. Just trim this guy from your friends list and move on. If you are serious about protecting the poker community, you out him.
Regarding my point about Den sharing the money he received from your former friend, my take on it is this is a part of the money owed. It should go into a pool for all. Show this to him and see what he thinks. This is completely separate from his results from the trip.
That is why there are so many losing mtt players...they don't understand that poker should add some value to your life/time. I can see the appeal of a wsop bracelet in a large field in Vegas but the rest are really just everyday (depending on where you live) tournaments.