Event #28 Underway

We started Event #28 $530 Omaha with 829 players. 126th is the edge of the money and pays $829. 1st is $76,268. Right now there are 764 players left and I'm in 496th with a little less than my starting stack.

Triple Shootout Double Update!

I started out Event #27 the $530 triple shootout really poorly. About 15 minutes in I lost half of my chips. I took a flop with 55 vs 2 players and decided to call a fair sized bet to see the turn on a flop of 632. The turn was a 5, but it put three clubs on board and made anyone with a 4 a straight. While I wasn't too worried about running into a straight I was worried about the flush. But I wasn't going anywhere. One of my opponents bet big and I called. I was hoping for a board pair on the river, but instead I got another club. ACK! This time my opponent bet small and I was forced to call. He had TT with one club and took down the pot.

But with the blinds still so small I wasn't under any pressure at all. I waited and waited and eventually crawled back to my original starting stack of 5,000. After that it was turbo time! I made a few good hands and before I knew it we were playing 3 handed with each of us having about 15,000 chips.

One of my too opponents was fairly passive and the other was a bit of a nut. The nut went down first and when we got to heads up I had 30,000 to his 15,000. I got him all the way down below 10,000 before allowing him to double up. I had AT, he had J8 and the board was JT5. When he made a huge bet on the turn it looked like a bluff so I called. I missed the T or A that would have given me the victory and we were back to all square. CRAP!

While it's normally good news to be up against a very passive opponent that you can just run over, it was driving me crazy in this case. I had at least 5 hands where I would have busted an aggressive or even a standard opponent. I was making two pair vs his top pair. I JJ and he had a smaller pocket pair. I was making sets and flushes and straights and making little or nothing. This guy just kept hanging around.

Then a big hand came up. With blinds at 100/200 I had my opponent out chipped 35,000 to 10,000 and made it 800 to go from the small blind with 55. My opponent called and the flop came down 764. I fired out a bit of an overbet - 2,000. My opponent made it 4,000 which made me nervous. I was almost certain I was behind at this point, but baring something really unusual I knew a 3 or an 8 would make me the best hand and I figured a third 5 would as well.

I decided to go for it and put him all in. He instantly called with 76 for top two pair. The turn was a king and I had visions of this match lasting forever. But the river was an 8! BOOM!

So I'm in the money and have $1,640 locked up. My next match will start whenever all of the other matches are done. Since it only took me 3 hours to win mine I have a few hours to wait.

In other news I also played the $320 second chance triple shootout. They didn't get the full 729 and in fact the tournament started with 208. This meant we were split into 81 tables with either 2 or 3 players. Luckily I got paired with one opponent (about 3/4 of the tables were three handed).

I was still playing heads up in my other tournament and in the Omaha so it was a little crazy for a bit. While it's easy to play multiple full games, playing two heads up games is pretty taxing.

This guy was much more aggressive than my other heads up opponent and I made some big hands against him too. I made top two pair against what he said was AA before he folded. I made a straight against his two pair and on the final hand he got his last chips in with K9 vs my A9. I took him down in 61 hands which was very fast given the deep stacks we had.

I've made the money in this one too, but so far it's only $280 which is $40 short of what I paid to get into the tournament. But if I can win the next table (which will be 9 handed) I'll be at the final table where there is some nice money. 9th is $624, 5th is $3,432, and 1st is $13,104.

So now I've just got to sit here and wait.

Event #27 Underway!

We started this one with the predicted 729 players. Even though my first table is essentially a winner take all SNG. It's a little different from the ones I'm used to playing. The SNGs that I usually play have 5 minute limits and everyone gets 1,500 chips to start. To play down to one player takes between 35 and 45 minutes (7-9 levels).

In today's tournament we all started with 5,000 chips and 30 minute limits. To add to the length the blind increases are a little slower. Instead of going to 300/600 blinds after 40 minutes, that jump happens after 5 hours of play (not counting breaks). And with more than three times as many chips in play those blinds which usually force you to go all in will only put a small ding in your stack.

Winning the first table is worth $1,640. No matter where you finish in the second round you still get $1,640. If you make it to the third round every place pays a different amount with 9th being $3,645 and 1st being $76,545.

2008 WCOOP Events #27 & #28 Preview

Event #27 is a $530 triple shootout. The way this is going to work is we'll start with 729 players playing on 81 tables. Each table will play until there is only one player left. Those remaining 81 players will then be split into 9 groups of 9 and again they'll play until there is only one player left at each table. The final 9 will come together and play it out for the title. Essentially it's like trying to win three SNGs in a row. If you win your first table you're in the money and I think no matter how you finish at your second table everyone gets the same payday.

Event #28 is $530 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo split. This is the form of Omaha in which I have the most experience. In fact it's a close race between this game, Razz, and 7 card stud as to which is my second best game behind hold'em.

These events will both be paired with a $320 second chance.

After Wednesday's action my $10,000 starting bankroll stands at $17,837.

2008 WCOOP Event #26 ($320 NL 6-Max)

No more zombie magic in this one. I finished 60th of 3,273 which paid $1,964. On the final hand I got it in with 88 vs KQ. The flop was good but the turn was a Q and that was it.

Not a single bad feeling about this one. When I was down to 2,000 chips there were 222 players left, the blinds were 500/1000 and the average stack was over 60,000. My two minute stall let me hit the jump between 217th and 216th place which if I'd had any normal run of luck is where I would have finished. 216th paid $736 so that zombie magic resulted in an extra $1,228! Solid proof that it's never over until it's over!

Non WCOOP Update

Guess what happened....again! I won the nightly $109 HORSE tournament! There were only 48 players, but 1st paid $1,850. That makes 4 firsts in 12 attempts in this tournament! Take that HORSE jerks!

I was in first with 25 players left and while I had a few stumbles, once again when we made it to the final table I blew everyone apart. It's such a huge advantage to not care about moving up one more spot.

For the record, today has been MUCH better than yesterday!!!!

This Zombie Has Found a Hatchet!

BRAINS! BRAINS! I NEEEEEEED BRAAAAAAAAAIIIIINNNS!

This has been a startling comeback! A little while after my last post I picked up AQ and raised t0 3,600. The player in the big blind Uncledrkmeat (who for some reason was one of two players who didn't understand why I waited for my whole time bank to be used before going all in to pick up a free $50 when I only had 2,000 chips - even after I explained it to them!!!) went all in for about 24,000. I had to call and was hoping to see anything by AA, KK, QQ or AK. He had JJ, but I flopped two aces and turned a queen!'

A little while later a player limped in under the gun for 1,600. I was on the button with AT of spades and decided to just call. At this stage, 7+ hours into a tournament the only thing that makes any sense to call first to act is AA or KK. Since I had an ace I put him on KK.

The flop came down AA5! BINGO BABY! The blinds checked and the player who had limped bet out and I just called. The turn was a J, he bet again and I just called again. If he had garbage I wanted to give him every chance to bet again and if he had KK as I suspected I figured he'd pay me off on the river. The river was a 5 and he put me all in for another 22,000! I snap called and he showed 44!

This is a case where going unconventional made me a ton of chips. Your average player would have raised the flop or the turn, but by just calling I induced a major bluff and took down a big pot.

I'm up to 84,000 and in 64th of 92!!!