chrisjp Event 39 report

[chrisjp]

So we are back at 1500NL and it’s maxed out. Completely sold out. 2720 runners. Very nice! There are tables all over the Casino. 272 tables total with ten per table. The Main Room, the Amazon Room, has about 165 tables. Then there are tables in the Paradise Room, The Brasilia Room, in the walkway to the Casino near Buzios, about 14 tables there, and all the tables at their regular poker room in the Casino. Niin and I are playing and he’s stuck in Brazilia again, but I’m at Orange 23 so I should be good for 4 Levels or so.

OK, 3000 chips and Level 1 is 25-50. I absolutely LOVE this table! All the players are weak and fairly predictable. Some are tightish and some are loose. No maniacs. Time to just outplay them and pray that no really good players move in as they bust. I had considerable discussion with Neil and I’ll post a lot of it along the way.

<chrisjp> I had the greatest first table
<chrisjp> Everyone was weak and predictable
<chrisjp> Not really loose, just weak
<chrisjp> And the same guy, poor Seat 7, kept busting
<chrisjp> So I knew all the players
<chrisjp> It was heaven
<Neilis> lol
<Neilis> death to seat 7 hey?
<chrisjp> We busted him like 5 or 6 times
<chrisjp> actually the second guy to play there was pretty good
<chrisjp> and came with a stack
<chrisjp> but he got bad beated to death and lost lol
<chrisjp> Here’s one of his hands
<chrisjp> playing 100-200: He raises to 425 in the CO
<chrisjp> I'm in the SB and fold
<chrisjp> BB calls
<chrisjp> Flop is A23
<chrisjp> check, bet, call
<chrisjp> turn: blank
<chrisjp> check, bet, call
<chrisjp> river: 8
<chrisjp> Now BB has like pot size number of chips remaining
<chrisjp> CO bets like 1/3 pot
<chrisjp> BB calls
<chrisjp> CO confidently shows 32o
<chrisjp> BB shows A8o lol
<chrisjp> BB didn't even put him all in after calling all that way
<Neilis> he put him on AK? oh.. stupids! lol

<chrisjp> Here's an interesting one
<chrisjp> I have KQs at like 100/200 no ante
<chrisjp> UTG
<chrisjp> I limp
<chrisjp> I used to always raise now I limp ep a fair amount when I play
<chrisjp> I'll even limp in middle position
<chrisjp> So I limp KQhh
<chrisjp> loosish player in MP raises to 650, tightish kid to his left calls, I call
<chrisjp> Stacks are not huge but substantial
<chrisjp> Flop is AhAs6h
<chrisjp> I check, MP bets about 40% of the pot, looks like a scared bet to me, kid calls, I call
<chrisjp> Now the turn is the Th completing my flush and giving me a gut shot royal draw
<chrisjp> So what do you do, bet or check there?
<Neilis> I tend to bet.. but then I usually have deeper stacks and a lot more money to get in
<chrisjp> I bet to deny a free card to maybe the kid who might have trips
<chrisjp> I can’t give him ten outs to beat me without making him pay
<chrisjp> but I think most players will incorrectly call there with trips
<chrisjp> I gave him bad odds to call,
<chrisjp> That Th is a cooler card
<chrisjp> it will freeze the action of trips
<chrisjp> If someone has AT here I'm getting stacked unless I hit the royal
<chrisjp> So I bet and they both folded
<chrisjp> and the kid said he folded trips
<chrisjp> could be, I doubt it
<Neilis> if he had trips he played it bad? heh
<chrisjp> I'm not convinced he had trips
<chrisjp> If he had them I would have raised the flop to get me out
<Neilis> yep
<Neilis> but people do love to slowplay
<chrisjp> He probably had a pocket pair
<chrisjp> If he had trips he likely would have incorrectly slowplayed them, but he couldn't lay them down I don't think, or wouldn't
<chrisjp> to my turn donk bet

<chrisjp> Here's one of my favorites. My first table. We are playing 100/200A25 I think
<chrisjp> I'm in Seat 9
<chrisjp> Seat 1 has a big stack which he has been donating to me
<chrisjp> The chips are moving the wrong way around the table from him to me
<chrisjp>
<chrisjp>
<chrisjp> He is the type that will take one stab and then give up
<chrisjp> And a loose player preflop
<chrisjp> So I am in the CO, ten handed
<chrisjp> I raise with 98s and he calls in the SB
<chrisjp> Flop is AT3 rainbow, I have a backdoor flush draw
<chrisjp> He checks, I check
<chrisjp> Turn is a 7
<chrisjp> He bets, I raise, he folds in a shot
<chrisjp> Ship it!
<Neilis> nice
<Neilis> helpful turn card too of course
<Neilis> giving you outs and all
<chrisjp> Very, don't know if I would have had the guts to raise the turn
<chrisjp> But I think I would have
<chrisjp> Will never know

<chrisjp> Another, I'm in the CO again with 65s
<chrisjp> A limper, I raise, SB calls, limper calls
<chrisjp> Flop is T52 rainbow
<chrisjp> Checked to me, I cb, they fold
<chrisjp> Reluctant fold by limper with his two overs or maybe middle pair
<chrisjp> But he was a scared player


<chrisjp> Next one. I'm in the BB with KQo. Seat 1, my favortie one barrel in the world, raises in UTG+1, a late position caller, I call
<chrisjp> Flop is Kd7d4h
<chrisjp> No it's not a late position caller, it’s the SB
<Neilis> sounds like floating might be the best play in the world at the WSOP? does everybody give up after the first stab? hehe
<chrisjp> So blinds check to him and he bets
<chrisjp> yes, floating early is hugely profitable
<chrisjp> not so much later, the play is better, and it's lots of short stack all in stuff preflop
<chrisjp> So we check to him and he bets, SB folds, I call
<chrisjp> Turn is Qh
<chrisjp> !!!
<chrisjp> I check, he checks
<chrisjp> River is a blank T
<chrisjp> I bet about 1/4 of the pot, he folds
<chrisjp> Too bad he didn't have AK there
<chrisjp> or AQ even
<Neilis> lol yeah
<chrisjp> Thankfully he didn't have AJ
<Neilis> yeah that wouldn't have been cool

<chrisjp> This one. Loose player limps in Seat 5. He has hit 3 sets of tens already and has a stack
<chrisjp> I'm in the BB with KJo
<chrisjp> I have raised him off his limp one or two times before
<chrisjp> Folded to me, and I'm deliberating
<chrisjp> I deliberate before every action, even folds
<chrisjp> Now dealer takes his limp and my Big Blind chips and puts them in the pot.
<chrisjp> I don't like them doing this, because now it looks like I have checked and I haven't
<chrisjp> So Seat 5 thinks I've checked and the dealer says “No, that’s the great chrisjp over there in the BB and he is deliberating.” Well he didn’t say it in exactly those words, but that was what he meant. 
<chrisjp> This somewhat pisses off limper
<chrisjp> And now I know he is likely very weak because he obviously wants to see a flop cheaply
<chrisjp> So I raise, a healthy raise, unusually large raise
<chrisjp> The pot has 100+200+200 His limp
<chrisjp> And I raise it 725
<chrisjp> So I raised to 925
<chrisjp> And he's mad, but calls
<chrisjp> I think he called because he was mad at the dealer
<chrisjp> Now the flop is Txx
<chrisjp> I bet, he's thinking
<chrisjp> I figure he has Ax
<chrisjp> He wants to call but finally folds
<chrisjp> We laugh about the fact that he didn't hit a set of tens that time
<chrisjp> ....whew!

Later there are like 3 limpers, including Seat 5, and the SB completes. I’m in my, “Oh I’m just going to raise and take this down.” I check my cards and it’s QQ. Wow, that’s the best hand that I ever get today. No AA, KK, or AK all day. Anyway, I put in my raise and they all fold. But I finally have a hand so the SB, a nice guy and we’ve been talking, I show him my cards and muck them. No one else just him. And Seat 5 immediately goes, “What did he have?” Which is just what I wanted him to say. And SB says, “Pair of Queens.” 

Earlier at this table there was a UTG raise by the tightish kid I referred to earlier. He didn’t have too many chips. Then there was a call by a Seat 7 player who was loose but had even less chips. I have 88. I said to myself. Hmm, don’t have close to set value here and UTG is tight. I have to let this go.

Flop is K8x. UTG bets and wins.

This made me mad. But then I turned my anger into determination. No more wimpy folds! Sure the UTG can have a great hand. But he can also have AK or AQ or who knows what 66. You never know. Yes, I don’t have set value, but I can outplay these guys and win this hand, maybe, with an unimproved 88. I’m in position! Lindgren is whispering in my ear: “You win these tournaments by chip accumulation!” He’s right. Actually this hand got me in a great frame of mind and for the next 6 hours or so I really did play the best poker of my life. 

Well we actually made it into Level 5 before this table broke. I was sad to leave it. I took my 9200 chips, we are playing 150/300A25 so I am in good shape, and got moved to Blue #1. Wow, #1. This table will never break so I get to play there until close of shop tonight. Hope there are some weak spots. I head over there and move right into the BB. Ugh.

<chrisjp> UTG+1, with 9BB, moves in for 2700 or so
<chrisjp> He is youngish, not a brat, appears to know what he is doing
<chrisjp> Folds to SB who is just covered with tattoos
<chrisjp> And he calls
<chrisjp> He has about 20K, huge stack
<Neilis> and you pray for aces?
<chrisjp> And I, lucky me, look down and see AQo
<chrisjp> So I push
<Neilis> ha... AQ is a little scarier
<chrisjp> Perfect size stack for a push
<chrisjp> Yeah, not a great hand
<chrisjp> But UTG+1 range should be pretty wide
<Neilis> that dude is getting auto-call odds too?
<chrisjp> and tattoo guy didn't push on me
<chrisjp> That's a bad play by him to call, so he doesn't know what he is doing
<chrisjp> And since he only called he shouldn't be really strong
<chrisjp> I'm probably ahead of his range
<chrisjp> It's close
<chrisjp> But I have folding equity
<chrisjp> Well there’s 2700 from UTG +1, 400 in antes and the SB,
<chrisjp> my 9200, and it's 6500 to him to call and win what: 8500
<chrisjp> But my bet has the illusion of being stronger than it is
<chrisjp> because he obviously doesn't get what is going on
<chrisjp> If he had a calling hand, then he had a pushing hand
<chrisjp> Anyway he thought a long time, I put him on AT, KQ, 22-99, probably middle pair, or AJ or maybe AQ
<chrisjp> And he folded
<chrisjp> which I loved
<Neilis> lol awesome
<chrisjp> UTG+1 showed AT
<chrisjp> tattoo guy said he folded 99
<Neilis> who'd have thunk people were so bad at tournament poker ?
<chrisjp> I 100% believe him
<chrisjp> Board came JxxQT
<chrisjp> too bad in hindsight he didn't call
<chrisjp> So what a welcome to the table
<chrisjp> And John Strzemp was in Seat 2 there
<Neilis> works for me
<chrisjp> You know him?
<chrisjp> He lost to Stu Ungar heads up in the ME
<chrisjp> back in the 1980s
<chrisjp> The one where the final table was played outdoors
<Neilis> i don't recognise too many of the names.. we don't get poker on TV so much over here
<chrisjp> I mean he's a good player
<chrisjp> and yet I saw him make a couple of mistakes playing in the M=3 to 6 range
<chrisjp> that made me feel good
<chrisjp> The guy has won 7 figures in prize money over the years

On the next hand I get Q2dd in the SB. There is a limp from UTG+1 and I decide to complete. The flop is AT2. It checks around. The turn is a T. I bet, UTG+1 raises, I muck. Back to reality.

I am just card dead at this table. It really sucks. And it seems like there are a lot of good players here. Seat 2 is Strzemp. Seat 3 busts and is replaced by a very good young player with a lot of chips. Seat 4, the tattoo guy, is horrible but he busts soon after. I’m in Seat 5. Seat 6 is a “Mister Know It All”. He mumbles to me about Mr. Tattoo. “That guy let you win that big pot by not isolating and forcing you to fold.” He was good, but not by any means great. And he showed his cards all the time and allowed me to get very comfortable with his play. I thought Seat 7 was good, but he ended up being way too tight. This table actually wasn’t too bad.

But I’m dwindling. We go to dinner and I have 11,200 chips with the average about 15K. I’m ok. When we come back we play 300/600A75 in Level 7. My M is almost exactly 7. But I need chips! There’s about 600 players remaining at dinner. We will likely make the money, the final 270, in Level 9 sometime. As usual.

On the first hand after dinner, Mr. Know It All, pushes with a big stack in the SB. BB has about 5K in chips. This young guy seemed like a good player but he was short. He thinks for a while and finally calls. 75s for KIA, KQo for BB. KIA flops a 7 and busts the guy. Then KIA mumbles about what a horrible call the kid made. Actually I thought it was a very well reasoned and good call. I thought the push, into a M=3, was poor.

I’m dwindling. It’s so excruciating. My M is approaching 4. I have 7100 chips in the BB. It folds to Button, the aggro kid. He raises to 2000. I look down at A7o. OK if I push then he will have 5100 to call to win a little over 10K. 2-1 pot odds. That is a Gus Hansen no brainer mandatory call from him. But he is no Gus Hansen. I think his range is very wide there, and might even be any 2 knowing him. At least 75% of his hands I figure. While I shouldn’t have any folding equity, this is a straight value bet to try to double up. I push.

He goes into the tank. He is mad at himself lol. He is counting. Wow, this guy has told me two things. 1) He has a bad hand AND 2) He’s not that good. He has an instacall.

Finally he mucks. Yeah me! That was nice of him. Viva la Re Steal!

Over the next hour or so I raise OTB with QJ and win. I raise Hijack with 77. Winner, I raise hijack again 88, winner. Now I have A2o OTB. I have about 12K. SB has double that. BB has 6K. We are now playing 400/800A100. So I do the math. If BB pushes I have to call, the Gus rule. I hate calling with A2o there. Plus the SB can make me fold anyway by pushing. And all my chips are precious at this point. I fold. Good fold?

Now we are 20 minutes from Level 9, the bubble level. There are 370 runners remaining and I have about 13000 in chips. Average is about 19K. Level 9 will be 500/1000A100. I need a double and I will be in really good shape.

<chrisjp> So Hijack, a quirky guy with a huge stack who played too loose but was not a terrible player
<chrisjp> Raises in the Hijack to 3000
<chrisjp> I'm in the BB with 13250.
<chrisjp> I have AQ
<chrisjp> This is an easy push with the perfect stack size
<chrisjp> The ol' M=6
<chrisjp> He actually thought for about 2 minutes about this one
<Neilis> looks like a pretty elementary sort of shove
<chrisjp> Completely elementary.
<chrisjp> With position I could shove or call, probably shove anyway to avoid a squeeze
<chrisjp> but here an easy shove
<chrisjp> I actually thought I was ahead with him thinkin
<chrisjp> But he finally called and showed 99
<chrisjp> I win this race and I'm chip leader at the table
<chrisjp> and significantly above average of 19K or so
<chrisjp> but he flopped a 9
<chrisjp> took all the excitement out of it
<chrisjp> I had a runner runner staight draw
<chrisjp> and even rivered a Q which would have been so exciting without that 9 on the flop
<chrisjp> oh well
<Neilis> how much did he have just as a matter of interest?
<Neilis> it's a reasonably loose call
<chrisjp> He had about 30K
<chrisjp> Yeah it's a borderline call.
<chrisjp> My range there would be much larger than he would expect
<chrisjp> But I had a tight image at the table
<chrisjp> I had never shown a hand while he was there
<chrisjp> although I had raised or reraised probably 5-6 times in the last 90 minutes or so
<chrisjp> well one reraise
<chrisjp> and the rest hijack or later pushes or raises

So that’s it. Feel good. Feel great. Would feel greater if I had cashed. On to Monday. The Seniors.

Chris

[jrspm]

Great report Chris. Lots of great information in that post. I like your outlook on other players and how you apply it to your game. It looks like you played well and could have done with a few more cards and/or better spots.

Good luck in the seniors event. Please wear a shirt that says 'ZOMG instashove' or 'LOL NH GG'

[PauliF]

gg mate


watch out seniors here comes our man

[chrisjp]

One other little hand at the first table. I'd been there for 2 or 3 hours and won a bunch of pots but can't remember showing down any hands. Must have.

Anyway I'm in the BB and SB completes. He's a nice guy, weak tight. I have 53o I check.

Flop is QTT

He bets. Now I fold but I fold face up. He shows me one card: Q
This has accomplished two things.

It shows that I am just passive and let things go when I have nothing. The rest of the time I always have it.

It also comfirmed that SB bet when he had it as I suspected.

Chris

[chrisjp]

Another hand I just remembered. This is just at the start of Level 4. 100/200A25 Folded to me in the CO and I raise to 550 with 88. BTN pushes. Quite a big push actually. He pushes in about 3500. OK so Gus Hansen time.

There is Main Pot of 550+550+550=1650
There is his raise of 3000 or so.

So it's 3000 to win roughly 4500. OK 3-2 pot odds

Now what's the deal? Now my numbers are just "made up" based on everything in the world. The guy looks like a good player, he hasn't been at the table long.

I think. 50% he has an overpair. I'm .2 chance roughly there
He's 40% to have two overs: I'm .5 there
He's 10% to have some other nonsense, I'm .7 there.

.2*.5+..5*.4+.1*.7=.37

Not .4 like I need. Plus if I call here and lose I will be at about 2500. Pretty low but not desperate. This table is so good this is a clear fold. I don't even have the pot odds, although close, I'm at a great table, just preserve the stack and keep chipping away. Now I spent like 4-5 minutes thinking this one over. Want to make sure. Take your time on key hands.

I liked this one.

Chris

[hazey]

Yet another great tourney report. Well played Chris. I really like reading these - the detail is amazing. I have problems remembering my hole cards after the flop, nevermind every hand played in an entire day of poker!

[chrisjp]

I thought of another hand lol. A player in MP 2, this is fairly early in the tournament, like Level 4, goes all in with a short stack. I'm in the SB with A6o and getting like 1.8-1 to call or so, just under 2-1. I thought this was very close. I folded, but I would have called in the BB. The fact that the BB was still to act and might pull an isolation play, got me to fold. The BB was a decent player.

It was funny. The BB called. Shorite showed KTo. BB showed KK. Board came Txxxx.

Chris