A Different Breed

Today I played in the 1k NL event of the WSOP. I forgot how different the world series events are in comparison to the WPT events. Throughout the year I dont play a lot of tournaments but when I do they are World Poker Tour Events. I either play in a couple of the bigger preliminary events or the 10k main events. The players that play in the WPT events are almost all some sort of poker players, that may not be all be great, but definately understand a lot more of the game. So I sit down in this first event and I am surronded by 9 other people all of which are so excited to be playing in the WSOP they just cant stand it. They are all talking with each other and they are not going bust! These people played so tight and were so afraid to go broke it was comical. The hands I saw being folded and thought over was amazing. Here are some funny hands and samples.

The blinds are 25 25 and a guy limps in for 25 and its folded and to the blinds. I am the Big Blind with 25 out there and the small blind and I check. So 3 of us go to the flop there is 75 in the pot. The flop comes j87 and we all check. The turn is an Ace. The small blind chks I bet 75 and the limper shows me an Ace and folds! What? Obv I have Q7 here and am amazed, it was a nothing pot, but it just shows the tightness of these guys.

So I am playing a lot of pots cause they all stink and I can steal from them. So I raise the button with 34 and the big blind calls (I make it 125 blinds are 25 50). Flop 886, he chks I bet 200 he calls, now Im done I know he has an 8 most likely. The turn is a Ts putting 2 Spades, he chks, I chk, the river is Js. Now this makes the final board 886TJ with 3 spades he puts out 325 as a bet, I know he has an 8 and will fold if I raise cause it looks like I make a flush. So I raise 700 more he thinks for while gives me a speech and finally calls with 66, making him a full house! How could this hand ever not be good?

In the 150 300 25 ante level a guy opens for 1200 and I have QQ, I decide lets get the chips in so I raise him all in. He has 5k behind. He thinks and thinks and says I wish you wouldnt have done that. Im praying please call and finally he grants my wish and calls me with KK! Thanks for the slow roll buddy! Maybe he is just an idiot and didnt slow roll me. Either way I lose. It always seems to work that way, just like in the 25k at Bellagio I did well in last month. I do great until I get some big hand and I run into the KK like every time. Oh well.

Anyway, I build up my chips from 2k to 11k and then go down to 3-4k several times and each time make a comeback to around 11k, then this pot comes up. A guy who had been raising a lot of junk hands opens for 1200 with the blinds 200 400 with a 50 ante, I am in the Big Blind with TT. He has 6k behind him I have 9k, I think for a bit and decide to try to get him to overplay a hand so i can stack him and I just call instead of shipping all in. The flop comes A97, I check and he instantly goes all in for 6k more. This is the dumbest move I can think of and it makes no sense. There is no logical reason to go in with and Ace here. He should bet like 2200 or something. I cant imagine he would insta ship an Ace here. It was like he knew he was shipping any flop. He looked nervous and I really felt he had like 89 or 67 or even kj. I finally go with my read and call. A good european player next to me instantly says nice call you have jj dont you? I say ya basically tt. He says good call no way he has an Ace. Well we were both wrong, he had A4. Pretty terrible play by him, but his horrible play got me to call off horrible. Anyway I build back to 5k and then get it in with AQ vs 77 and I dont win this coin flip and I am eliminated.

I played almost 8 hours today, I played really well for the most part. I had a really good feel for my game and my opponents and feel great about things moving forward. I am playing in the Monday noon event which is 1500 Pot limit Omaha. Its kind of a gambling game so the chips will be flying and most people suck at it, so there will be a lot of land mines. If I fail to make day 2 of the PLO then I will play in Tuesdays lottery event, a 1500 No Limit.

Im sending out updates of chip counts on twitter, my name is audavidb. If you dont have a twitter account they are easy to set up. I have been told by others you may want to make your account private so you dont get any unwanted followers, but you can always block someone if you get a follower you dont want. Also, if want to send out updates via twitter, I will get your updates via text. You can set your twitter up to get texts of updates or just be able to check them online, its up to you.

Thanks for reading.