WSOP 2005 Day 5 part 3
The last hand. Ahhh, the last hand. Damn that last hand. Hate it. Shit.
I had 80K or so. Here's my problem: I'm not great at counting other people's stacks. I play a lot of online poker, where the player's chip counts are always right there in front of you. Live, I have a problem ballparking it. The bottom line is that I thought I was on a much shorter stack, comparatively, than I actually was. The other guys looked like they had monster stacks. And in a way, they did, but my 80K was not as hopeless as I thought it was at the time.
Bob's advice to me in the dinner break of the NLHE event, and again going into this final table, was that your last chips are your babies. A lot of guys just piss away their last chips like they're worthless. It's quite the opposite: your last chips are EXTREMELY valuable. They're your babies and you have to protect them.
Well, I pissed them away.
Why?
I was hoping I was in a coin-flip situation.
I thought my stack was hopeless with the 5K/10K blinds playing 10K/20K limits, especially when compared to the other stacks at the table. It wasn't. At least, it wasn't THAT hopeless.
And finally, it all adds up to one thing: I wasn't ready to play at the final table of a WSOP event, under the lights, with the cameras recording my every action. I felt calm, but I wasn't. I couldn't have been. No way. I was a bundle of nerves and emotion, and the fact that we were playing for a lot of money didn't help me any. There you have it. The 3 reasons why I played the following hand so poorly.
Folded to me with 22 on the button. I raised, SB folded, and me and the BB went 5 bets for 50K each. I got the rest of it in on a flop that missed me. Coinflip? I don't think so. But by then, it was too late, or at least I thought it was too late, but it wasn't. I could have called his first preflop reraise and folded the flop. Or, I could have folded the hand altogether. I had to get moving, that's for sure, but I could have waited just a LITTLE longer. I didn't.
He had aces, of course. Some delusional part of me was believing that he had AK or AQ and wanted to see all five cards against my shortstack, but really, what else could he have had but aces. No deuce for me on the turn. LOOOOOOOOOOOONG wait for the river card, while I stood there shame-faced and embarrassed with my rash play. No deuce on the river, and that was that.
6th place, for $72,380 USD.
I shook hands with everyone, and walked over to do my bust out interview. I totally forget what I said... I was kind of reeling. It's a very emotional experience, but all of the emotions are conflicting with each other. On one hand, I was crushed, dejected, embarrassed. On the other, I was thrilled, giddy, and elated. I was a mess. I hope they axe my bust out interview.
Dave was then immediately by my side. He patted me on the back, and said quietly: "I know how you feel. I know exactly how you feel. Don't worry, in two days you'll feel a lot better". A casual observer might have wondered: "72K and he needs to FEEL BETTER? WTF?!?" Well, as poker players you know how it is. You know how it is.
And Dave was right. I feel freakin' great now.
I went over to the woman who gives away the money slips, and got a piece of paper I was supposed to take to the cashier in the tournament room. I went over to the cashier and then pulled the first and only premadonna move of the entire trip. The lineup was huge. I found a floorperson, showed him my slip, and he said I could stand with the chip runners in the much shorter employee line instead, which I did.
After a bit of paperwork, I was given just over 72K in casino chips. Big denomination chips, so there weren't that many of them. All of a sudden, I was holding 72K in chips in the palm of my hand. I said to the guy "what do I do with these?" fully expecting him to direct me towards the nearest high-limit blackjack table. Instead, he told me that if I wanted a cheque I'd have to take them to the main cage in the main part of the casino, which was quite a ways from the convention room we were in. I asked Ralph (who is around 10' 7" tall) to please walk near me. I know it's a casino, so nothing was going to happen to me, but you can't be too careful.
On our way out, I was stopped and asked for my autograph by two women. One of them told me she "liked my style" at the final table.... I have no style. Maybe that's what she liked. I had the chips in one hand, and I was fumbling with them trying to grab her pad and pen, so I asked her to hold the chips for a second. She did so, cradling them like a baby, being careful to keep thim within my view at all times. I smiled to myself.
Dave took a couple of pictures of me holding the chips out to the camera. I'm looking forward to seeing them.
Then I stuffed the chips in my pocket and made the long trek to the cage with Team Canuck Poker. I was then directed to the super duper special high roller's cashier room, complete with glass door and plush seating. TCP came with me, and made themselves comfortable while I dealt with the cashier. I put the chips on the counter, and she added them up. I was missing about 7K. I went from calm and happy to INSANELY PANICKY in about half a second, searching every pocket at once. Thoughts were flashing through my mind: 'did I drop a couple? Did that girl with the autograph somehow palm one or two of them?' The consequences of losing 'one or two' of those chips was disastrous. I should have been more careful.
Eventually, I dug the remaining chips out of the bottom of a pocket, and all was good. There was an older gentleman in the room with me, and I thought to myself: 'when am I ever going to get the chance to talk to a legitimate high roller again'? So, I engaged him in conversation. He was very polite. He told me that he plays craps, and has been playing craps for 20 years. I said that was impressive. He replied that it would be more impressive if he ever won. I got the sense, however, that money had very little meaning to him.
The four of us went off to a quiet bar, after getting some shots of the cheque (which I now have a photocopy of). I was still feeling out of sorts a bit. Not for long... a couple of beers later, I was laughing so hard that tears were running down my face. Dave, Bob and Ralph were lightening me up, a lot. I remember a couple of things they said that were so funny, but I won't repeat them here. I could feel the tension sliding away, and my focus, as I had another beer, switched to celebration. I wanted to walk down the strip and -- to quote John Travolta from 'Stayin' Alive' -- strut.
Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) the other guys weren't up for it. They'd spent 12 hours on their feet cheering me on, and Dave had been busy on top of that, taking pictures and sending updates to Toronto and to Saskatoon. I totally understood.
We had made an agreement that if any of us cashed in a WSOP event, 1% of that person's winnings would go to the Team Canuck Poker party fund, to a max. of $400. We didn't get close to the $400 at that bar, so I still owe TCP a party, on me.
We hopped in a cab and went back to the Orleans. There was no way I was going to sleep, so I said goodnight to the guys, and wandered over to the Orleans poker room. I asked them to seat me in the biggest game they had. It wasn't very big... 2/5 NL, with a $500 max. buy-in. I bought in for the max., sat down, plunked my beaver on the table, and was met by inquisitive looks from the players. Finally, one of them asked me the question I'd been waiting for: "what's with the beaver?". Well, I said, this is the beaver that just took me all the way to the final table at the World Series of Poker. Conversation got a lot more lively after that. I ordered beer after beer, and tried to lose my money to them. It didn't work... I ended up losing only $200 or so after a ridiculous tip to the dealer. A few hours later, I wished everyone luck, and went to my room to pass out.
I had 80K or so. Here's my problem: I'm not great at counting other people's stacks. I play a lot of online poker, where the player's chip counts are always right there in front of you. Live, I have a problem ballparking it. The bottom line is that I thought I was on a much shorter stack, comparatively, than I actually was. The other guys looked like they had monster stacks. And in a way, they did, but my 80K was not as hopeless as I thought it was at the time.
Bob's advice to me in the dinner break of the NLHE event, and again going into this final table, was that your last chips are your babies. A lot of guys just piss away their last chips like they're worthless. It's quite the opposite: your last chips are EXTREMELY valuable. They're your babies and you have to protect them.
Well, I pissed them away.
Why?
I was hoping I was in a coin-flip situation.
I thought my stack was hopeless with the 5K/10K blinds playing 10K/20K limits, especially when compared to the other stacks at the table. It wasn't. At least, it wasn't THAT hopeless.
And finally, it all adds up to one thing: I wasn't ready to play at the final table of a WSOP event, under the lights, with the cameras recording my every action. I felt calm, but I wasn't. I couldn't have been. No way. I was a bundle of nerves and emotion, and the fact that we were playing for a lot of money didn't help me any. There you have it. The 3 reasons why I played the following hand so poorly.
Folded to me with 22 on the button. I raised, SB folded, and me and the BB went 5 bets for 50K each. I got the rest of it in on a flop that missed me. Coinflip? I don't think so. But by then, it was too late, or at least I thought it was too late, but it wasn't. I could have called his first preflop reraise and folded the flop. Or, I could have folded the hand altogether. I had to get moving, that's for sure, but I could have waited just a LITTLE longer. I didn't.
He had aces, of course. Some delusional part of me was believing that he had AK or AQ and wanted to see all five cards against my shortstack, but really, what else could he have had but aces. No deuce for me on the turn. LOOOOOOOOOOOONG wait for the river card, while I stood there shame-faced and embarrassed with my rash play. No deuce on the river, and that was that.
6th place, for $72,380 USD.
I shook hands with everyone, and walked over to do my bust out interview. I totally forget what I said... I was kind of reeling. It's a very emotional experience, but all of the emotions are conflicting with each other. On one hand, I was crushed, dejected, embarrassed. On the other, I was thrilled, giddy, and elated. I was a mess. I hope they axe my bust out interview.
Dave was then immediately by my side. He patted me on the back, and said quietly: "I know how you feel. I know exactly how you feel. Don't worry, in two days you'll feel a lot better". A casual observer might have wondered: "72K and he needs to FEEL BETTER? WTF?!?" Well, as poker players you know how it is. You know how it is.
And Dave was right. I feel freakin' great now.
I went over to the woman who gives away the money slips, and got a piece of paper I was supposed to take to the cashier in the tournament room. I went over to the cashier and then pulled the first and only premadonna move of the entire trip. The lineup was huge. I found a floorperson, showed him my slip, and he said I could stand with the chip runners in the much shorter employee line instead, which I did.
After a bit of paperwork, I was given just over 72K in casino chips. Big denomination chips, so there weren't that many of them. All of a sudden, I was holding 72K in chips in the palm of my hand. I said to the guy "what do I do with these?" fully expecting him to direct me towards the nearest high-limit blackjack table. Instead, he told me that if I wanted a cheque I'd have to take them to the main cage in the main part of the casino, which was quite a ways from the convention room we were in. I asked Ralph (who is around 10' 7" tall) to please walk near me. I know it's a casino, so nothing was going to happen to me, but you can't be too careful.
On our way out, I was stopped and asked for my autograph by two women. One of them told me she "liked my style" at the final table.... I have no style. Maybe that's what she liked. I had the chips in one hand, and I was fumbling with them trying to grab her pad and pen, so I asked her to hold the chips for a second. She did so, cradling them like a baby, being careful to keep thim within my view at all times. I smiled to myself.
Dave took a couple of pictures of me holding the chips out to the camera. I'm looking forward to seeing them.
Then I stuffed the chips in my pocket and made the long trek to the cage with Team Canuck Poker. I was then directed to the super duper special high roller's cashier room, complete with glass door and plush seating. TCP came with me, and made themselves comfortable while I dealt with the cashier. I put the chips on the counter, and she added them up. I was missing about 7K. I went from calm and happy to INSANELY PANICKY in about half a second, searching every pocket at once. Thoughts were flashing through my mind: 'did I drop a couple? Did that girl with the autograph somehow palm one or two of them?' The consequences of losing 'one or two' of those chips was disastrous. I should have been more careful.
Eventually, I dug the remaining chips out of the bottom of a pocket, and all was good. There was an older gentleman in the room with me, and I thought to myself: 'when am I ever going to get the chance to talk to a legitimate high roller again'? So, I engaged him in conversation. He was very polite. He told me that he plays craps, and has been playing craps for 20 years. I said that was impressive. He replied that it would be more impressive if he ever won. I got the sense, however, that money had very little meaning to him.
The four of us went off to a quiet bar, after getting some shots of the cheque (which I now have a photocopy of). I was still feeling out of sorts a bit. Not for long... a couple of beers later, I was laughing so hard that tears were running down my face. Dave, Bob and Ralph were lightening me up, a lot. I remember a couple of things they said that were so funny, but I won't repeat them here. I could feel the tension sliding away, and my focus, as I had another beer, switched to celebration. I wanted to walk down the strip and -- to quote John Travolta from 'Stayin' Alive' -- strut.
Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) the other guys weren't up for it. They'd spent 12 hours on their feet cheering me on, and Dave had been busy on top of that, taking pictures and sending updates to Toronto and to Saskatoon. I totally understood.
We had made an agreement that if any of us cashed in a WSOP event, 1% of that person's winnings would go to the Team Canuck Poker party fund, to a max. of $400. We didn't get close to the $400 at that bar, so I still owe TCP a party, on me.
We hopped in a cab and went back to the Orleans. There was no way I was going to sleep, so I said goodnight to the guys, and wandered over to the Orleans poker room. I asked them to seat me in the biggest game they had. It wasn't very big... 2/5 NL, with a $500 max. buy-in. I bought in for the max., sat down, plunked my beaver on the table, and was met by inquisitive looks from the players. Finally, one of them asked me the question I'd been waiting for: "what's with the beaver?". Well, I said, this is the beaver that just took me all the way to the final table at the World Series of Poker. Conversation got a lot more lively after that. I ordered beer after beer, and tried to lose my money to them. It didn't work... I ended up losing only $200 or so after a ridiculous tip to the dealer. A few hours later, I wished everyone luck, and went to my room to pass out.
Comments
Another question - how do you feel about your limit game? Obviously pretty good after the fact, but do you think you would have been more comfortable in a No Limit final table?
Wish I could have been there with you to celebrate the win man - oh well, I'll look forward to our next game to do that. Seriously awesome shit man, couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
Maybe I'm paraphrasing Doyle a little.
Great run, and it's awesome that you did so well.
It was great reading your reports--- you have a very interesting and entertaining writing style. Thanks a million (or maybe thanks 72K) for sharing your stories.
ScottyZ
You had all of us on our toes waiting anxiously for updates..
I compare it to when Mike Weir was in the lead at the Masters..
I had that same feeling reading updates..
great work
Thanks to you, all the great TCP guys, and Natalie, for allowing me to "live the dream".
It's been a thrill, and I look forward to the next time I can read reports of the successes of you or another member of the forum.
macbb
"Prould to wear my TCP hat"
One more time... glad I was there to share it. Fear the beaver, baby. Fear the beaver.
And, can I share my final table thoughts that I gave you at one break? The difference in personality? Or, you can. It is an interesting truth about poker, I think.
Hopefully I'll be hanging with you next year with a good showing @ the WSOP
It was very interesting following the story as it developed and then reading about the inside stuff just days later.
You are a great ambassador for TCP and this forum. Kudos to you.
Dave, I'm not sure which final table thoughts you are referring to, but by all means, share away.
I perceived the final table to be TOO TIGHT. The only exception to this was, I think, Peter Costa, but he had been eliminated by a couple of REALLY bad beats. Good news from Devin, for sure.
So, Devin found himself in the position in which:
(1) Everyone was short stacked. The blinds were getting very high.
(2) The prize money and big blinds had tightened everybody up.
I felt there was a very real possibility that a player could run away with this event by opening the throttle and raising every single hand ... or, close to every single hand. With a modicum of luck, one would get away with the first three or four steals and the route would be on.
I thought that the only player capable of deploying the "three bet resteal" was directly on Devin's left. So, that weighed against taking that path. On the other hand, he had gone awfully quite and appeared to me to be in a shell.
I said to Devin "If you want to choose this path, it's a good table to try it. But, you should only choose this road if you will be at peace with finishing in 9th spot with your boots on and your cutlass out."
Also, I don't think that this is a matter of "right way and wrong way" to approach the table. I think Devin had a significant skill overlay and he would have done very well if he could have caught a hand because the lesser skilled players at the table would have paid it off with any top pair, or worse. Devin's approach may, therefore, represent the maximum EV play. Although, I do feel that "run and gun" would have given maximum chance at outright victory.
I've really enjoyed your recaps, you have a fun to read writing style.
So when do the "Official TCP Beaver Card Cappers" go on sale?
I'd love to hear you thoughts on this one AA.
Thanks for the trip reports and don't sweat the bustout..
About Dave's 'EV vs variance' thoughts... I have to say, I don't think the table was THAT tight. Maybe Dave saw the thing from a more objective perspective, but what I remember were a lot of preflop raises, and most of them (but not all of them, of course) getting called to at least the flop. I also remember some monster hands being shown down. And, the stacks (particularly mine) weren't deep enough relative to the blinds to sustain more than a few losing hands. Basically, I agree with Dave that the variance approach is a good way to go at a tight table. However, I think we have different opinions on exactly how tight, or 'easy', the table was.
This may be because it was difficult for him to follow the action--the set-up for the audience, as he has mentioned, was far from ideal. Or, he may in fact have been right about the tightness of the table, but I couldn't see it the way he was seeing it because I was in it. In any case, I guess the main thing was that I didn't think it would work. I pictured a lot of preflop raises getting called, and then getting called down by some monkey who made a pair on the flop. And, I pictured about 3 unsuccessful attempts before I was on the felt and busted.
But, maybe I'm a pessimist. Maybe it would have worked... I'm not sure. I just wasn't convinced, so I didn't go that route. Not because of prize increases or because I was afraid to bust out, but because I thought I'd get called.
As an aside, I don't think winning a bracelet would change my life, either (unless of course it's the championship one, simply because of the money attached to it.) I'm not a 'pro player', so I don't need credentials or some kind of roster of big wins. Any win, big or small, is essentially a bonus in my life.
And, there's the rub. The chips stacks were too shallow. It made any attempt to run over the table VERY high variance.
That's a pretty classy little "aside" bud. There is a free lesson there for anyone willing to see it.
Course, I play so loose that I perceive EVERY lineup as too tight.
LOL, yeah I feel pretty good about my limit game. When I look back on that tournament, I realize how lucky I was. Not 'sucking-out on people with the worst hand' kind of lucky (I think that only happened once or twice in the entire tournament) but lucky that people didn't get lucky against me. Lucky that I wasn't dealt a MONSTER hand when somebody else was holding the stone cold nuts. Basically, I got lucky in ways that wouldn't really be very obvious.
That being said, I can't ignore the fact that I picked my spots really well over the two days. 90% of my bluffs worked (if I had to average it) and that is a tremendously high success rate. I guess I was in 'the zone', knowing when to push extremely marginal hands (or nothing hands, for that matter), and knowing when to stay out of the way.
My win in Regina (5th in the Canadian Poker Championship) was in a limit event too. This, plus the WSOP, has my mother convinced that limit is "my game". I am less convinced... if I look at my overall track record I've had a lot of success in no-limit tournaments, and previous to this year's WSOP my biggest tournament win was in a NL tournament. Maybe that's because I play more of them, though. I'm not sure.
As for feeling more comfortable at a NL final table, I think that yes, I would have been. I am more comfortable in NL hold'em when I'm not getting many decent starting hands, because I can more easily manufacture ways to get chips. In limit, it's tough, but it is possible. Yet another part of my game that I need to work on.
Thanks for all your kind words Al, I'll buy you a few beers at the next BIPC.
Way more important that making the occasion suckout is the "luck" of not having a really bad thing happen. Or, the luck of your seat assignment. Getting a TOP player on your immediatte left is really bad luck.
Devin ducked when the high hard ones game, and jumped when the slow rollers came along. Fun to watch.
I believe this is the main principal of NL tournament play
where can i get a lucky beaver?