Event #2 - My Final Table Journey

[NoSup4U 0]

Ok, I'm splitting this up into 3 posts, one for each day. They are long. If you don't like long posts, just don't read them. I tried to make them funny, include a lot of stuff maybe not everyone knows (I didn't at least) about what happens at the WSOP, and just give some good info on my thoughts and hands I played. I hope everyone enjoys. Random stuff I’ll get out of the way first:Jen Harmon I barely was able to interact with her, but came away feeling like she must be one of the nicest professionals by far. She was super sweet and soft spoken. Midway through day 1 she was at a table behind me and seriously short stacked. She never gave up and every time I looked over, she had slowly grown her stack. She ended up going out 12th running her AK into Aces. I was only able to play at her table for about 20 minutes. At one point, it folds around to the button. He looks over at Jen in the bb, looks at his hand, says that he has a good hand but folds and lets her pick up the antes which are huge at this point. I say to her: “It must be nice to be you” She smiled wryly… Before playing the final table, I was railbirding a friend in the limit event that was going on. From where I was standing, Jen was at a table facing me and while playing she waved at me and told me ‘Nice shirt’. So anyway, I’m a huge Jennifer Harmon fan now.Phil Gordon As he was passing by, I called to him: Phil, just wanted you to know, you were WAY better on Celebrity Poker than Hellmuth is. He says: “Go tell Hellmuth that too.” Heh. Also, my buddy Chris saw Gordon RoShamBo a guy at his table for $100 in between hands. Gordon won.Phil Hellmuth Hellmuth made the money in my event, which was his 50th WSOP cash. During play, they announced this to everyone. Afterwards, Chris tells me he overheard the Tournament Director telling someone that Hellmuth called him over and told him to announce it to the crowd. Hhahahaha.Bill Gazes After commenting when I sat down at his table that I seemed to have an aggressive tendency to steal pots, we got involved once where I raised him out of a pot. He turns to the Cardplayer reporter behind him and says to her: This is a bad man, a bad bad man. This was the highlight of the tournament for me.Day 1: Ok, now on to my journey through the field. I had just incredible table draws for the most part. Very few big name pros at any of my tables all tourney. I started off at Table 79, seat 1. I hate seat 1 btw. Before the first break I was able to more than triple up, knocking out 6 people from my table in the process. Key hands: Seat 11 (we started the tournament 11 handed. I believe there were 500 alternates in the tourney making the total almost 2800 people) raised from mp. I reraise with KK, and he moves all in. I have him barely covered and memories of the conversation I had with my friends about the nightmare scenario of running kings into aces early on to get knocked out are dancing through my head. But I make the call obviously and he turns over AK. He doesn’t improve. Greg Mueller, an ex hockey player who now plays professionally is moved to my table. He limps UTG, 3 callers behind him. I have T3o and decide to see the flop on the button. (For those of you that don’t know my style, I like to see a lot of flops with any 2 cards if I can.) Flop comes JT3. Greg bets out but not too big. I smooth call. Turn is a deuce. Greg bets again, still only about 1/3 of the pot. I think for a long time, and finally move him all in. He thinks for a bit and starts to ask me questions. “Would you limp with JT?” Stuff like that, trying to get me to talk. I’m very talkative at the table and love that part of the game. I have some standard tricks that I use in this scenario, I employ them, and he calls me almost immediately with QQ. He doesn’t improve and I knock him out as well. Later I saw him on the rail and he confirmed that he called because of what I said to him, so that made me feel good.And finally, it gets to me with TT, 3 limpers in front of me. I will just limp in this position for a number of reasons. One of them Phil Gordon talks about in his little green book and this hand worked out exactly as he describes. You have a potential to make a huge hand, instead of win a small one. Flop comes QTr. The bb leads out, and the ep limper who is short stacked moves all in. I smooth call hoping the bb has a weak Q and will still call. He does. Turn is a 7 and the bb immediately moves all in. I call. Bb shows Q7, ep limper shows AA. Nobody improves and I knock them both out. After this, I go pretty much card dead for the rest of the tournament. I didn’t see AK until the end of day 2. Had aces once, and flopped a set once. Other than that, I had to steal/claw/luck my way to the final table. I maintained a good sized stack through most of the afternoon. Average stack was maybe 4000, I had about 10000. I pick up TT on the button. Late position player raises to 1800. He has 5400 total. I reraise to 4500, he says he guesses its time for him to go home and goes all in, I call. He has QQ and doubles through me. Now with the blinds and antes where they are, I’m hurting if I raise a pot and don’t win it. I raise, am forced to fold, and now I’m down to 3000 or so with the blinds up to 400/800 and antes. So I’m just looking for a hand now. Also per Phil Gordon’s advice, in this situation I’m much happier to get my money in with 87s than with A8. I just want both my cards to be live. But I get nothing. So finally the bb gets back around to me, I post it, have about 2300 left. It gets raised from middle position and folded to me. I’m looking at 96o. Not ideal, but if I fold here, fold my sb, and then double up in the next round, that still only gets me back to where I am now. So I decide I can’t afford to give this pot up, and I’m almost sure both my card are live. I call. Guy has AQ, I flop a gutshot and immediately know I’m winning this hand to stay alive. I hit it on the turn, my friends on the rail explode, and the guy with AQ can’t believe I moved in with 96o. I don’t bother trying to explain tournament poker theory to him. Paul Darden and another semi well known pro (but not well enough for me to remember his name) (Edit: This was Jeff King btw) get moved to my table. Darden comes in short but picks up a few hands and goes to work. After about an hour, he’s amassed a good sized stack. The other dude didn’t play a lot of hands. The last hand before the dinner break the other dude raises pf, Darden calls, and I call in position with AQo. Flop is J high. Other dude weakly continuation bets, Darden folds, I reraise. He folds and I flash AQ, my buddies on the rail erupt, and we go have a fun dinner at the Tilted Kilt. Ironically enough, at the 2 tables next to us in the bar are the Tilt Boys themselves, Phil Gordon and Rafe Furst, and all the Cardplayer reporter girls. Maybe my buddy Chris will post a picture…So dinner was good. Had a margarita, talked some strategy, and generally tried to decompress. Once you start ante-ing, every pot that you can steal becomes so important so you are just focused all the time. Its draining. Back at the tables, my goal was to get chips. We were getting close to money, so I was trying to take advantage. Again, still getting nothing for cards, just mediocre stuff here or there. I’m stealing at least once a round just to stay even, and try and grind my way up a little. I’m hovering around 8000 with a normal pf raise being in the 3000 to 4000 range. We are now 20 players to go until the money. I keep trying to tell myself that I don’t care about making the money, just play. $2450 isn’t the end of the world to me, (especially after taxes) but it isn’t pocket change either. But I want to play my best. Someone limps, and I’m on the button with T7d. I raise praying I can steal this pot. The bb moves all in. limper folds, and I’m facing a huge decision here. I have about 4500 left. That gets me through about 2 orbits. I’m getting almost 3 to 1 on my money in this pot. If I win it, I will have a stack big enough to once again start attacking. If I lose, I’m out right before the money. I call, and the guy flips over AQ. The table thinks I’m a moron for making this call, and the AQ guy goes bezerk when I flop a 7. So after that I’m on a mission to build my stack. I would like to get up to about 30K which I estimate will be average stack by days end. My table gets broken and I’m moved to Phil Gordon’s table. I come in on the bb, with T5o. Late position raises and I call. Flop is 753. I move in and he folds. In the sb, I have 55. Late position raises, I call. Flop is J52. I check, he moves all in, I call. He has KQ and is drawing almost dead. Then that table breaks. So I made the most of my 2 hands there. From there, I spent the rest of my night sitting 2 spots behind Bill Gazes. I love Bill’s style of play so I’m happy to have position on him and be able to see him live. When I arrived at the table, I had to make two trips to carry all my chips because I had so many of the black 100 ante chips (5 racks worth). When I sat down, he says to me: “Now how does somebody get so many black chips?” (Implying that I steal a lot of blinds/antes, which I have been.) So I decide if I’m ever in a pot with him, that he will try and slow play me, expecting me to try and steal the pot. I do get involved with him only once. He raises in mp and I call with AJs. Flop comes all rags. He checks to me, I check behind. Turn is a Q. He checks again to me. I have just picked up the flush draw here. Normally this is an autobet for me, but I just suspect he is up to no good here, so I check behind. River blanks, and he bets, but small enough that I think about calling with my Ace high. I think for a while and fold. He shows me his set of Queens and tricks me into telling him what I had. Later I tried to act like I was lying about having the nut flush draw on the turn, but I think he was on to me.End of day one, I’m 11th in chips with 122 people remaining. I get back to my room at the Venetian at about 2:30, and am asleep by 3.Edit a year later: LOL at me talking in this post like I know anything about tournament poker. I'm suck a donkey!Link to day 2:http://www.fullcontactpoker.com/poker-foru...showtopic=65813

[GrinderMJ 0]

Nice post for sure, but limping behind numerous limpers with 103 is bizarre

[Vertigo 0]

Good post. I enjoyed it.

[mrdannyg 274]

quite enjoyed the post, and looking forward to the others. thanks for taking your time to write it out for us.nice use of paragraphs.

[sirch1 0]

this doesnt need three threads

[Yoda 1]

Can u post these in one big thread in an obscure forum like Sports-Basketball and PM me the tread so I can read it later with little effort? That would be great.

[DaBruins 0]

"I’m hovering around 8000 with a normal pf raise being in the 3000 to 4000 range."was that a typo?

[NoSup4U 0]

Nice post for sure, but limping behind numerous limpers with 103 is bizarre

My strategy in the early stages of the tournament was this: See as many flops early for cheap as I could. I wouldn't call from the button with just one limper, but with a few, its SO cheap to see a flop compared to my chipstack. At this point, I already had a ton of chips, so I was just looking to bust someone. Plus, I don't need a hand on the flop to win the pot. I felt like early, I had an advantage because I'm a moderately good player, and there are still lots of fish. Later on in the tourney I would never make that call.Mark

"I’m hovering around 8000 with a normal pf raise being in the 3000 to 4000 range."was that a typo?

No, why do you ask? I was trying to say I was feeling very short stacked. Less than 10X the blinds.Mark

[wax120 0]

Here's a pic with Mark's cardplayer girl...Sorry about the quality, flash is not allowed. That's the man himself peaking out at me over there.Enjoy,Chris

[NoSup4U 0]

Here's a pic with Mark's cardplayer girl...Sorry about the quality, flash is not allowed. That's the man himself peaking out at me over there.Enjoy,Chris

You can tell how focused on the poker I am, that I'm getting Chris to snap a picture of me in the middle of a hand with a cute girl behind me...

[DaBruins 0]

No, why do you ask? I was trying to say I was feeling very short stacked. Less than 10X the blinds.Mark

just wondering why your normal preflop raise would be half your stack.

[Yoda 1]

just wondering why your normal preflop raise would be half your stack.

No you are misreading completely. He is saying the average pre flop raise at his table was equal to about half his stack - as in, he is really short stacked, get it?

[tapeworm 0]

I have some standard tricks that I use in this scenario, I employ them, and he calls me almost immediately with QQ.

I have a feeling he would a called anyways with an overpair, but I am kinda curious what you said that you think made him lean towards calling? I find this psychological aspet interesting....I read all your posts. You seemed upset about the way you lost, but it seems like taking those risks is what got you there in the first place. I mean your calling of 107 against AQ right out of the money was not much different. I guess go big or go home. Good job on the cash.

[NoSup4U 0]

I have a feeling he would a called anyways with an overpair, but I am kinda curious what you said that you think made him lean towards calling? I find this psychological aspet interesting....

I talked to him later. He said he could have laid it down. QQ on a JT32 board with some limpers making an all in isn't that strong of a hand. Its hard to explain in brief on a forum, but for instance: If I want someone with an overpair to NOT think I flopped a set, I'll tell them: I flopped a set of...And then make it obvious I'm looking at the board to pick a card that I flopped a set to. Like if the board is JT3 I'll say: I flopped a set of....pause, look at board, and then say 3s. And they will think: Well, clearly he didn't really flop a set of 3s because he had to look at the board to figure out what his set was. If I really flopped a set of 3s, I'd know it and would just be able to say I flopped a set of 3s without looking at the board while I was talking about it. So I did this same thing with Greg. He was asking me if I would have limped in that spot with JT, because he was worried about me having 2 pair there. So I told him: I would have limped on the button with...(and then looked at the board and said:) JT, pocket 3s, pocket tens, and pocket 2s. He then decided that since those were the only possible hands I could have here to beat him, and he was sure I didn't have them, he made the call. He never counted on T3 though because its not a hand most people would even play as a limp.

I read all your posts. You seemed upset about the way you lost, but it seems like taking those risks is what got you there in the first place. I mean your calling of 107 against AQ right out of the money was not much different. I guess go big or go home. Good job on the cash.

Yeah, that is what I keep telling myself. I did make a concerted effort to not change my aggression at all, and I'm proud I had the guts to push it in there, with only my read to tell me I was 50/50. But at the same time, if I fold there, I still am 3rd or 4th in chips probably and was really owning the table, so I could have still won it. Thats my dilemna in the whole thing, which option gives me the better chance of winning the bracelet? I don't know. Maybe Daniel will read and give me a pros perspective :)Mark

[Fluffdog87 2]

Lol good read. Some of those hands are hilarious. I think you can safely say you've improved a lot in the year since. Gl at the WSOP this yr.Mark Pwns All!

[quadaces 0]

WTF I started reading and saw that this is from last year. Nice fu.cking bump!

[NoSup4U 0]

Lol good read. Some of those hands are hilarious. I think you can safely say you've improved a lot in the year since. Gl at the WSOP this yr.Mark Pwns All!

LOL yeah, I was SOOO bad last summer. Shows how much you can luckbox in a tourney. Which I hope to do again in about 8 hours. CRAP I need to get to sleep :)Mark

[a__thekevlar__2 0]

i was standing next to jen harmans table for a while so I'm sure I saw you nearby just didn't know what you looked like. gl the rest of the wayedit: this is wandigo, forgot i'm using kevlars laptop.

[Gallo 1]

LOL yeah, I was SOOO bad last summer. Shows how much you can luckbox in a tourney. Which I hope to do again in about 8 hours. CRAP I need to get to sleep :)Mark

Mark, I see you lurking. Go to sleep and good luck. And make a final table so I can say, yeah I played with him, he sucked out me when I flopped 2 pair and he couldn't lay down AA. :)Good luck Mark!