Event #29 Underway!

Sorry about the lack of preview. This one is some serious shit. 6 handed $530 with unlimited rebuys (you still have to have 4,000 chips or less to rebuy).

We started this one with 852 players and after an hour of play I'm only 30 chips down from what I started with. After 1 rebuy and the add on I'm in for $1,530. 132 spots pay with the edge of the money being $2,205 and first paying $211,000!

Event#28 ($530 Triple Shootout) Recap

In my second round I busted someone early and then sat on my 10,000 chip stack for a long time. The other players gradually busted one another and soon enough we were playing 4 handed. I caught a big break at this point. I've forgotten the precise action, but I think it went like this. I raised before the flop with 67 suited on the button and got reraised by the big blind. I called and the flop came down 6 9 T with one of my suit. My opponent made a substantial bet and I moved all in. He had AA, but I made a straight on the river and sent him packing.


At that point we were three handed. I could tell both of my opponents were nervous and neither wanted to take any big risks without a major made hand. Since I wasn't nervous at all and I had a slight chip lead I kept my foot on the gas. In fact I put the pedal to the metal! I raised almost every hand regardless of what I had. If I got reraised I usually took a flop and looked to out play my opponents. Sometimes I just hit them with a massive preflop re-reraise and blew them off whatever they had.

I think we played 3 handed for 30-45 minutes which seemed like forever. Even though the blinds were VERY small compared to our stacks (they were 75/150 with 45,000 chips in play!) I was chipping away at my opponents nicely.

Then I caught another nice break. Again I'm not sure if this is exactly how it went down, but it's close enough. I raised to 450 from the small blind with A6 and my opponent reraised to 1,350 as he had done many times before. The flop came down T 5 4 which missed me completely. I checked and my opponent checked behind me. On several previous hands anytime he'd raised or reraised before the flop and then checked it meant he missed. Then I'd bet the turn and take the pot. I guessed that was what was going to happen here too. The turn came a 6 and I bet out about 2,000. To my surprise my opponent went all in for about 9,500.

I didn't think he was capable of a slowplay or a big bluff at this stage in the tournament, but I thought this had to be one or the other. I decided it was much more likely to be a big bluff with a hand like AK, AQ or KQ so I called and my opponent showed 88! ACK! I was is such a state of shock that it took me 2 or 3 seconds to realize that I'd hit an ace on the river and had won the pot!

Now I was in total command. I had 35,000 chips or so to my opponent's 10,000. I'd actually played with this guy in maybe 100 or so SNGs, but he wasn't playing his normal game. I guess it's a little different playing the second round of a $530 triple shootout compared to $60 SNGs!

I kept on the major offensive. It wasn't unusual for me to win 6, 7 or even 10 pots in a row. But they were all small and whenever I got resistance I never had the best hand. The blinds had gone up a little bit to 100/200 and then to 125/250, but I wanted them to be at something like 500/1000. If they were bigger I could really make some progress, but with the small blinds I just couldn't chip away fast enough. With 30 mintues limits it's not like I could stall and wait for them to go up either! While I was winning tons of blinds and small pots, I wasn't getting paid off on my made hands.

I started to get really frustrated as my opponent made a slow comeback. He got it back to where we were all square and then I took him back down to 10,000 when I made trips vs his pair and straight draw.

Then a major turning point came up. I had QT and came in for a raise. My opponent reraised, I called and the flop came down AK4 with two clubs. When my opponent bet, it just felt like he had and ace. Even though I wasn't quite getting the right pot odds, I decided to call thinking if I could hit a jack I could end it. The turn was a Q and now I thought a Q, T or J all might make me the best hand so I called another big bet. The river was the jack of clubs. AH HA! I blew all in hoping it would look like a bluff and my opponent called. I thought it was over. I thought I'd done it. My opponent did have an ace, but it was the ace of clubs. He had another club too and when I made my straight, he made a flush. SHIT!

He had a small chip lead at that point, but I never recovered. I had been over an hour (maybe as long as 90 minutes) playing heads up which is the longest I've ever played heads up. It had been hundreds of hands and even though I was certain I was the better player I just felt like I was never going to beat him.

Then I did something really stupid. I had J9 on a flop of QT2 There were a few thousand chips in the pot, but it wasn't huge. My opponent made a massive over bet and put me all in for about 18,000. Without really thinking I called. I had an open ended straight draw which is great to bet with or call small bets with, but not what you want to risk all of your chips with. My opponent had QT, I missed and that was it.

I never would have made that call if it wasn't for the frustration that had built up over the past hour plus of play. It was a total amateur mistake and I'm pissed at myself for getting rattled.

With a 3.5 to 1 chip lead like that I should have won AT LEAST 80% of the time.

This WCOOP has been great and horrible at the same time. For the most part I've been playing great and I'm happy with my results, but these close calls are really hard to swallow.

2008 WCOOP Event #28 ($530 Omaha) Recap

I finished 715 of 829 in the Omaha. What a crappo tournament! That's all I have to say about that one!

The good news is I'm in 1st place in the $320 Omaha second chance after close to an hour and a half of play. We started that one with 99 players and it pays 15 spots with 15th being $653 and 1st paying $7,425.

I also picked up a quick double up in the second round of the $530 triple shootout.

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.