Dave's WSOP Adventure - Morning May 24
May 24 morning
First the good news. I have made it past the first day. What follows is an account of the hands that I played that were memorable. Warning… I played two hands LIKE A BABOON. On the other hand, I played some hands VERY WELL and I find myself with $60,000 chips. The average is $22,000. I am in about 35th place in the remaining field of 1200. Gulp.
The good news is that I felt very relaxed all day. No stress at all.
I can also see that fatigue will be a factor. I had no trouble sleeping last night. None. But, I have only had six hours of sleep. I will have to keep a careful watch on my fatigue level over the next days. It really is obvious that this is a HUGE marathon tournament. It’s hard for me to imagine the really “big†men making it through the whole six days.
Level One -- $25-50 My stack $10,000
I am table 8 seat 8. This is in the old poker room at Binion’s and it a great seat draw because the tables are not packed in like some other areas. I like to stand up and move around a lot and this will be no problem with this seat.
The first hand I play… re-raise pre-flop with A-K. Flop is 7 high. I bet 700. Only opponent goes deep in the tank and eventually calls. The turn is another rag and I bet 2000 and he folds. Whew. I am above $10K
My first real opportunity to make a big score goes nowhere. I raise 9-9 pre-flop. The big blinds who I will call “sunglasses kid†calls. Flop A-9-7 he checks, I bet, he folds. Drat! No ace in his hands. If I had known then what I learned about this player later I would have checked the flop.
A few hands later “sunglasses kid†calls a raise. Then, when it is checked to him on the flop he makes a HUGE overbet. Everyone folds and he announced “All I had was a flush draw†and shows Q-8s. Aha! He has a betting reflex. Note to self, set him up to bluff off his chips.
With five minutes to go in the level “sunglasses kid†goes pop. I raise pre-flop from middle position with A-J. S.K. calls. The big blind calls. Flop is 8-8-2. All check. Turn is an ace. The big blind bets out. I folded my A-J. I wasn’t actually certain that I didn’t have the best hand but I didn’t want to be mucking around in a pot with a paired board. S.K. jams all-in. Big blind calls and has A-Q. S.K. is on a pure bluff. Dang. I never got any of his chips…
The only realy problem player at the table is Noli Franceso from New York two seats to my left. Noli plays a lot of hands and he plays aggressively for the most part. It seemed to me that he was, mostly, playing strong from behind. A little raise pre-flop from Noli wasn’t too meaningful.
Level 2 -- $50-100 My stack $10,475
One limper to me on the button. I raise with Q-Ts. The small blind – a very tight player – calls. The limper calls. The flop is Q-Q-7 with two diamonds. It is checked to me and I bet. The big blinds calls. The limper folds. What can he have? I think there is a very good chance that he has A-Q or 7-7. Maybe a fluch draw. The turn is a blank and he checks. I check behind him. The river is another blank and he fires a $2000 bet. I call. He shows K-K and I win a nice pot. This hand also set me up to steal from Noli since I feel certain that he is amazed I only call no the river.
Observation: Most players are not as focussed on the game as they should be. By a long shot. They are chatting and having fun etc. I occasionally got drawn into conversations – I mean I have to I’m an extrovert – but I am LONG and AWAY more focussed than most of the players. This is interesting only because if you know who is focussed then you know who has noticed your play. I know, for instance, that Noli has picked up on this hand.
A few hands later I raise with 9-9. Noli re-raises me by a large amount. I re-re-raise. He folds. I was very confident that (1) Noli thinks I am a rock; and (2) If he had a big hand he would not have raised so much. He was trying to push me off the pot and I was having none of it.
One raiser and three callers to me in the big blind. I have 6-3s. I flop a gutshot. It is checked around. I hit the gutshot on the turn and bet out LARGE. The only hand better than be is 9-6. Nobody has it I am sure since the raiser was UTG and I can’t picture any of the callers calling with such a hand. I was hopeful either that my big overbet would be taken as a bluff or I would catch someone slow-playing a set. No such luck. All fold. I show down the hand. I want people to think that (1) I am not a rock, I am a dopey internet player; and (2) I only bet with the goods.
Interesting hand in which I was not involved but it made me feel very good about my game. Noli limps in. Super-rock (and I mean Super-rock) makes a BIG raise. Noli calls. I felt sure that the Super-rock had a middle pair. I was guessing J-J to 8-8. I also felt sure that Noli was going to put a move on the Super-rock on the flop. Flop is J-9-8. Noli checks. I was thinking to myself that Noli needs to be very careful because this hand, to me, made it VERY likely that Super-rock had flopped a set. Super-rock bets. Nolie makes a big check-raise. Super-rock calls. The turn pairs the 8. Noli checks. Super-rock bets. Noli folds. I felt good watching this hand because I really felt in control.
New player moved to the table. Some may know him. Will from Winnipeg. Young blonde haired guy who runs a cardroom.
Level 3 -- $100-200 My stack $16,450
Predictable woman raises coming in. She is only about $4,000 deep coming into the hand. On the button I have A-K. I ask her “how deep are you†and she shows me her stack. This was, I think, key to the way the hand played. It was obvious that my attention was putting a lot of pressure on her. She was scared. I called. I considered simply jamming her pre-flop but I felt certain that she would play her hand predictably post flop. I wanted to bust her without much risk to my stack. Flop is T-7-2. She fidgets around a lot. She wants to be. She wants to. She finally checks. I check. Turn is an ace. She bets, I jam, she calls with A-J and I bust her. I feel like my pre-flop question to her froze her up on the flop. She was scared that I was slow playing something and she didn’t bet out at me. She would have won the pot if she had.
UTG I limp is with 6-4s. Super-rock raises. I call. This is the kind of hand I am really interested in playing at this point. I have lots of chips. I can speculate a little bit. And I can possibly take Super-rock for A LOT of chips if I hit this hand. The flop is 8-5-3 two suited (not my suit). I check. Super-rock bets. I call. I am REALLY hoping of an off-suit 2 for the ambush. Instead the turn is another spade. I bet out representing the flush and Super-rock folds.
2-2 flops a set. I never put a raise in after that and get beaten by a flush. I should NOT have paid off the river. First mistake of the day. Not a big one.
T-T on the button. I limp in. David from Vancouver calls in the small blind. Big blind calls. Flop is 5-6-7. Big blind bets. I call. David calls. Turn is a 5. David bets. I think about this for some times. I don’t know David but I know Elmer and Romer from Vancouver. They are skilled, dangerous players. I give David credit for the same abilities. He would be betting a lot of different hands here. I call. River is an 8. He bets again. Again, I call. He shows me A-A. I played this hand badly as well. Given the board I should have either folded or raised the turn. Since I limped in it is VERY possible that I was hit in the face with that board. I played that hand badly.
Level 4 - $25 ante $100-200 My stack $17,900 (110 of 120 tables left)
This was the first break after supper. I made a note to myself that I didn’t really have my “A†game. I resolved to play cautious for a while. Of course, I ignore my own advice.
Folded to small blind. I, as I often do, announce: “No shame in folding.†He raises. Dang. I defend my big blind with 9-7o. Flop is T-9-2 all diamonds. He bets. I call. He cannot pull the trigger a second time and I beat his A-Q. This was a new player at the table and he goes into fits of mumbling and swearing. I thought to myself “man, if the pressure of level four is getting to you imagine what it will be like in a couple of days from now.â€
Super short stack raises. I jam him with A-K. He calls with 6-5s??? He wins on the river.
Limp in with Q-Js. Flop is K-Q-7. Big blind bets out. One limper calls. The big blind was an interesting player I will call “Tom Collins.†He tended to slow play a lot and he tended to make some big best with drawing hands. I decided I needed to see the turn. I called. Turn was a rag. Big blind now checks, limper checks. I bet 1200. Both call. River is another K. Big blind now bets out??? Limper folds his broken flush draw. I cannot put Tom Collins on a King. I call. He shows Q-9 and I win the pot.
Level 5 – ante $50 $150-300 My stack $20,925
Here comes a WILD twenty minutes of hands WILD.
The very first hand back from the break (note to self, do not be fancy when coming back from the break – make sure you have your focus back first). I am small blind with 8-6o. David is big blind. I limp in. He raises. I call. Flop K-9-5 with two hearts. I check raise David. He calls. Turn makes the flush. Now I figure he will have to fold since he will put me on the flush. I make a big bet. He calls. Board makes a fourth suited card on the river. Check, check. He wins with K-Q with the Q being a heart. I have run my stack from 21,000 all the way down to 6,000 in a single hand. Ugh. This was the BAD hand of the tournament. I don’t hate my check-raise on the flop but when he calls there I should simply have stopped. Don’t lose anymore chips.
Couple of hands there is a raise and I move in with 8-8. I am called and I double through against A-Q. Whew.
K-K a couple of hands later. I flat call a raise. Flop is Q-X-X. He bets. I jam. He goes deep into the tank and folds A-Q. I show him K-K to make him feel good.
Whew… from $20,000 to $6,000 to $22,000 in one lap of the button!
Now comes the second GROTESQUE hand of the tournament. Mid-position raiser and one caller. I raise with A-K. Original raiser goes all-in. We both have about $20,000 chips. I give this one a lot of thought. He pre-flop raise was an overbet. And his re-re-raise was an overbet. It doesn’t look, to me, like K-K or A-A. On the other hand my instinct is telling me that it is. In the end, I call. He shows K-K. Ugh. Then, I river an ace. Oh my God. I put a three outer on him on the river and bust him.
I get moved to a new table. Now as a big stack.
I limp in with A-3s. It is raised by the button. I re-raise representing the classic aces slow-played pre-flop and he folds.
Level 6 – ante $50 $150-300 My stack $38,000
I cut out about three minutes early at the end of level 7. I am tired. I am not playing my best game. I need to get to my room, wash my face and hands as relax. I decide to go into rock mode for the remaining hour and forty minutes and get to tomorrow. I don’t… of course…
Crazy raiser. I mean crazy. I saw this player put in a raise and then call a big all-in re-raise with J-9o Crazy raise raises my blind. I defend with 6-4o. Flop is T-8-4. I check and call (as does Santiago from Mexico who also has a Buddha on his cards – bigger than my Buddha!). The turn goes check check. Crazy raiser makes a bet on the river I call and win. Showing hands like that makes me feel good.
My “A†game did come back. I had a coffee and relaxed and it returned.
Tom McEvoy is moved into my table. Another one of 1200 players I still have to iron out.
Lars from Norway on my right is a very dangerous player.
The VERY last hand of the night. I have A-K in late. I raise. The big blind goes on and on about something but I can’t actually hear him. He eventually re-raises. I am certain, based upon his performance, that he does not have K-K or A-A and he doesn’t have all that many chips. I jam him. He folds A-Q.
I have no trouble sleeping. Now… on to day two.
First the good news. I have made it past the first day. What follows is an account of the hands that I played that were memorable. Warning… I played two hands LIKE A BABOON. On the other hand, I played some hands VERY WELL and I find myself with $60,000 chips. The average is $22,000. I am in about 35th place in the remaining field of 1200. Gulp.
The good news is that I felt very relaxed all day. No stress at all.
I can also see that fatigue will be a factor. I had no trouble sleeping last night. None. But, I have only had six hours of sleep. I will have to keep a careful watch on my fatigue level over the next days. It really is obvious that this is a HUGE marathon tournament. It’s hard for me to imagine the really “big†men making it through the whole six days.
Level One -- $25-50 My stack $10,000
I am table 8 seat 8. This is in the old poker room at Binion’s and it a great seat draw because the tables are not packed in like some other areas. I like to stand up and move around a lot and this will be no problem with this seat.
The first hand I play… re-raise pre-flop with A-K. Flop is 7 high. I bet 700. Only opponent goes deep in the tank and eventually calls. The turn is another rag and I bet 2000 and he folds. Whew. I am above $10K
My first real opportunity to make a big score goes nowhere. I raise 9-9 pre-flop. The big blinds who I will call “sunglasses kid†calls. Flop A-9-7 he checks, I bet, he folds. Drat! No ace in his hands. If I had known then what I learned about this player later I would have checked the flop.
A few hands later “sunglasses kid†calls a raise. Then, when it is checked to him on the flop he makes a HUGE overbet. Everyone folds and he announced “All I had was a flush draw†and shows Q-8s. Aha! He has a betting reflex. Note to self, set him up to bluff off his chips.
With five minutes to go in the level “sunglasses kid†goes pop. I raise pre-flop from middle position with A-J. S.K. calls. The big blind calls. Flop is 8-8-2. All check. Turn is an ace. The big blind bets out. I folded my A-J. I wasn’t actually certain that I didn’t have the best hand but I didn’t want to be mucking around in a pot with a paired board. S.K. jams all-in. Big blind calls and has A-Q. S.K. is on a pure bluff. Dang. I never got any of his chips…
The only realy problem player at the table is Noli Franceso from New York two seats to my left. Noli plays a lot of hands and he plays aggressively for the most part. It seemed to me that he was, mostly, playing strong from behind. A little raise pre-flop from Noli wasn’t too meaningful.
Level 2 -- $50-100 My stack $10,475
One limper to me on the button. I raise with Q-Ts. The small blind – a very tight player – calls. The limper calls. The flop is Q-Q-7 with two diamonds. It is checked to me and I bet. The big blinds calls. The limper folds. What can he have? I think there is a very good chance that he has A-Q or 7-7. Maybe a fluch draw. The turn is a blank and he checks. I check behind him. The river is another blank and he fires a $2000 bet. I call. He shows K-K and I win a nice pot. This hand also set me up to steal from Noli since I feel certain that he is amazed I only call no the river.
Observation: Most players are not as focussed on the game as they should be. By a long shot. They are chatting and having fun etc. I occasionally got drawn into conversations – I mean I have to I’m an extrovert – but I am LONG and AWAY more focussed than most of the players. This is interesting only because if you know who is focussed then you know who has noticed your play. I know, for instance, that Noli has picked up on this hand.
A few hands later I raise with 9-9. Noli re-raises me by a large amount. I re-re-raise. He folds. I was very confident that (1) Noli thinks I am a rock; and (2) If he had a big hand he would not have raised so much. He was trying to push me off the pot and I was having none of it.
One raiser and three callers to me in the big blind. I have 6-3s. I flop a gutshot. It is checked around. I hit the gutshot on the turn and bet out LARGE. The only hand better than be is 9-6. Nobody has it I am sure since the raiser was UTG and I can’t picture any of the callers calling with such a hand. I was hopeful either that my big overbet would be taken as a bluff or I would catch someone slow-playing a set. No such luck. All fold. I show down the hand. I want people to think that (1) I am not a rock, I am a dopey internet player; and (2) I only bet with the goods.
Interesting hand in which I was not involved but it made me feel very good about my game. Noli limps in. Super-rock (and I mean Super-rock) makes a BIG raise. Noli calls. I felt sure that the Super-rock had a middle pair. I was guessing J-J to 8-8. I also felt sure that Noli was going to put a move on the Super-rock on the flop. Flop is J-9-8. Noli checks. I was thinking to myself that Noli needs to be very careful because this hand, to me, made it VERY likely that Super-rock had flopped a set. Super-rock bets. Nolie makes a big check-raise. Super-rock calls. The turn pairs the 8. Noli checks. Super-rock bets. Noli folds. I felt good watching this hand because I really felt in control.
New player moved to the table. Some may know him. Will from Winnipeg. Young blonde haired guy who runs a cardroom.
Level 3 -- $100-200 My stack $16,450
Predictable woman raises coming in. She is only about $4,000 deep coming into the hand. On the button I have A-K. I ask her “how deep are you†and she shows me her stack. This was, I think, key to the way the hand played. It was obvious that my attention was putting a lot of pressure on her. She was scared. I called. I considered simply jamming her pre-flop but I felt certain that she would play her hand predictably post flop. I wanted to bust her without much risk to my stack. Flop is T-7-2. She fidgets around a lot. She wants to be. She wants to. She finally checks. I check. Turn is an ace. She bets, I jam, she calls with A-J and I bust her. I feel like my pre-flop question to her froze her up on the flop. She was scared that I was slow playing something and she didn’t bet out at me. She would have won the pot if she had.
UTG I limp is with 6-4s. Super-rock raises. I call. This is the kind of hand I am really interested in playing at this point. I have lots of chips. I can speculate a little bit. And I can possibly take Super-rock for A LOT of chips if I hit this hand. The flop is 8-5-3 two suited (not my suit). I check. Super-rock bets. I call. I am REALLY hoping of an off-suit 2 for the ambush. Instead the turn is another spade. I bet out representing the flush and Super-rock folds.
2-2 flops a set. I never put a raise in after that and get beaten by a flush. I should NOT have paid off the river. First mistake of the day. Not a big one.
T-T on the button. I limp in. David from Vancouver calls in the small blind. Big blind calls. Flop is 5-6-7. Big blind bets. I call. David calls. Turn is a 5. David bets. I think about this for some times. I don’t know David but I know Elmer and Romer from Vancouver. They are skilled, dangerous players. I give David credit for the same abilities. He would be betting a lot of different hands here. I call. River is an 8. He bets again. Again, I call. He shows me A-A. I played this hand badly as well. Given the board I should have either folded or raised the turn. Since I limped in it is VERY possible that I was hit in the face with that board. I played that hand badly.
Level 4 - $25 ante $100-200 My stack $17,900 (110 of 120 tables left)
This was the first break after supper. I made a note to myself that I didn’t really have my “A†game. I resolved to play cautious for a while. Of course, I ignore my own advice.
Folded to small blind. I, as I often do, announce: “No shame in folding.†He raises. Dang. I defend my big blind with 9-7o. Flop is T-9-2 all diamonds. He bets. I call. He cannot pull the trigger a second time and I beat his A-Q. This was a new player at the table and he goes into fits of mumbling and swearing. I thought to myself “man, if the pressure of level four is getting to you imagine what it will be like in a couple of days from now.â€
Super short stack raises. I jam him with A-K. He calls with 6-5s??? He wins on the river.
Limp in with Q-Js. Flop is K-Q-7. Big blind bets out. One limper calls. The big blind was an interesting player I will call “Tom Collins.†He tended to slow play a lot and he tended to make some big best with drawing hands. I decided I needed to see the turn. I called. Turn was a rag. Big blind now checks, limper checks. I bet 1200. Both call. River is another K. Big blind now bets out??? Limper folds his broken flush draw. I cannot put Tom Collins on a King. I call. He shows Q-9 and I win the pot.
Level 5 – ante $50 $150-300 My stack $20,925
Here comes a WILD twenty minutes of hands WILD.
The very first hand back from the break (note to self, do not be fancy when coming back from the break – make sure you have your focus back first). I am small blind with 8-6o. David is big blind. I limp in. He raises. I call. Flop K-9-5 with two hearts. I check raise David. He calls. Turn makes the flush. Now I figure he will have to fold since he will put me on the flush. I make a big bet. He calls. Board makes a fourth suited card on the river. Check, check. He wins with K-Q with the Q being a heart. I have run my stack from 21,000 all the way down to 6,000 in a single hand. Ugh. This was the BAD hand of the tournament. I don’t hate my check-raise on the flop but when he calls there I should simply have stopped. Don’t lose anymore chips.
Couple of hands there is a raise and I move in with 8-8. I am called and I double through against A-Q. Whew.
K-K a couple of hands later. I flat call a raise. Flop is Q-X-X. He bets. I jam. He goes deep into the tank and folds A-Q. I show him K-K to make him feel good.
Whew… from $20,000 to $6,000 to $22,000 in one lap of the button!
Now comes the second GROTESQUE hand of the tournament. Mid-position raiser and one caller. I raise with A-K. Original raiser goes all-in. We both have about $20,000 chips. I give this one a lot of thought. He pre-flop raise was an overbet. And his re-re-raise was an overbet. It doesn’t look, to me, like K-K or A-A. On the other hand my instinct is telling me that it is. In the end, I call. He shows K-K. Ugh. Then, I river an ace. Oh my God. I put a three outer on him on the river and bust him.
I get moved to a new table. Now as a big stack.
I limp in with A-3s. It is raised by the button. I re-raise representing the classic aces slow-played pre-flop and he folds.
Level 6 – ante $50 $150-300 My stack $38,000
I cut out about three minutes early at the end of level 7. I am tired. I am not playing my best game. I need to get to my room, wash my face and hands as relax. I decide to go into rock mode for the remaining hour and forty minutes and get to tomorrow. I don’t… of course…
Crazy raiser. I mean crazy. I saw this player put in a raise and then call a big all-in re-raise with J-9o Crazy raise raises my blind. I defend with 6-4o. Flop is T-8-4. I check and call (as does Santiago from Mexico who also has a Buddha on his cards – bigger than my Buddha!). The turn goes check check. Crazy raiser makes a bet on the river I call and win. Showing hands like that makes me feel good.
My “A†game did come back. I had a coffee and relaxed and it returned.
Tom McEvoy is moved into my table. Another one of 1200 players I still have to iron out.
Lars from Norway on my right is a very dangerous player.
The VERY last hand of the night. I have A-K in late. I raise. The big blind goes on and on about something but I can’t actually hear him. He eventually re-raises. I am certain, based upon his performance, that he does not have K-K or A-A and he doesn’t have all that many chips. I jam him. He folds A-Q.
I have no trouble sleeping. Now… on to day two.
Comments
ScottyZ
SCHARF DAVE $59,950 78 1
DORFMAN MARC $23,925 78 2
REID CHRIS $15,700 78 4
SPENCER ERIC $16,675 78 5
BOATMAN ROSS $31,725 78 6
DEMARET TRACY $14,000 78 7
KORSON ALAN $47,600 78 8
LADANYI PAUL $18,275 78 9
WEISBLUM SCOTT $2,750 78 10
No-one was listed as being in seat 3... not sure if that's an omission, truly an empty seat, or if there are actually supposed to be only nine players per table at this point.
Oh my.
VANPATTEN VINCE $14,400 59 1
ScottyZ
Ross Boatman is a well known brit who is able to make a move.
Paul Ladanyi I also met and he is a very good long time player.
Table looks much better than most though, can't wait to see where you end up after day 3.
Seat 3 is ANTHONY CRINITI $13,400
HOLY SHIT!!!
Man, you're playing awesome. Sure, you got lucky with that AK vs. KK hand, but everyone needs to get lucky once or twice. Very impressive play so far, Dave. Keep it up!
Regards,
all_aces
David Scharf $170,000
Tobias Persson $135,000
Doyle Brunson $120,000
Greg Raymer $103,000
Mike Laing $100,000
Teddy Tuil $100,000
Mike Matusow $93,000
Marcel Luske $90,000
Alex Brenes $80,000
Lucy Rokach $80,000
Gus Hansen $70,000
Julian Gardner $60,000
Chris Ferguson $55,000
Erik Seidel $50,000
Average $44,722
Annie Duke $43,000
Randy Holland $33,000
Robert Varkonyi $33,000
Howard Lederer $31,000
Louis Asmo $30,000
David Chiu $30,000
Dewey Tomko $30,000
Devilfish Ulliot $28,000
Robert Williamson $27,000
Aiden Bennet $25,000
Derek Tomko $24,000
Tomer Benvenitsi $20,000
Phil Gordon $20,000
Syracuse Chris $17,000
Erick Lindgren $13,000
Brett Jungblut $10,000
Jack McClelland $10,000
Mattias Andersson $6,000
Phil Hellmuth Jr $5,000
GO DAVE GO!!!!