chrisjp Main Event Day 1 report

[chrisjp]

Day 1D of the Main Event. Well for me the ME is the most prestigious event of the year. I used to watch it way back around 1980 down at the Horseshoe. I watched a bit of it many many times. I never played NL so it was just a spectacle. Then an acquaintance of mine, Russ Hamilton, won the darn thing in the middle 90s. I watched a fair amount of that one. Russ and I did battle in many casino tournaments, craps and BJ and such. He was the best player outside of our group, but no better than we were. Perhaps I should look into this. But I didn’t. Finally, in 2004, the year Matthew finished 33rd, I watched another acquaintance of mine, Blair Rodman, play. I watched him a lot on Day 4 and Day 5. I didn’t get the feeling he was doing anything special. Maybe I should check this out in more detail. I decided to jump in. The televised hole cards and the online sites had created the explosion. It was past time. Getting to play in The Main Event wasn't and isn't the be all and end all for me. But this year, finally, I knew I was ready. Here we go.

I have played in so many tournaments, tournaments beyond poker, but this is the biggie for me. But I really didn’t feel any different in my walk through the casino to the starting table than I did in any of the 1500NLs that I played. That surprised me a bit.

20K to start with. We play 5 levels with 2 hours per level. We will have a dinner break of 90 minutes at the conclusion of Level 3. We break for 20 minutes after Levels 1,2,4. We started at noon and finished at about 12:45am. Not bad.

I get to my table early to check out the competition. Hazey is at his table and we wish each other good luck. Back to my table. I try to size up the opposition before a single card is dealt. Daniel taught me that one. Here’s the line up:

Seat 1. A Senior like me. Talked a lot about how he was 24th in the Seniors going into Day 2 and barely finished in the money. He was retired, wealthy, I put him on solid/weakish. That’s exactly what he was. Since I’m in Seat 8 he is in a perfect Seat 1.

Seat 2: 40th, looks like weekend player. Should be fairly easy to read. Who knows if he’s loose or tight. He was pretty middle of the road. Not scientific at all but wasn’t afraid. I was happy to have him at my table

Seat 3: Late to show up. That is always a bad sign. He was a younger kid with Bodog gear on. Originally I thought he was good but too tight. Later I revised my thinking. He was just plain very good. But he wasn’t a LAG so he wasn’t really scary or dangerous. I can live with him especially since he is on the opposite side of the table. I targeted him when he was in the BB and successfully stole from him a few times.

Seat 4. A 30ish guy with PokerStars gear on. He looked dangerous. He wasn’t. In fact he was the best target at the table. That’s because he not only was weak, but you could get him to fold if you put pressure on. Perfect! He busted in Level 4. He was the only person to bust from this table. That in and of itself was surprising.

Seat 5: An Israeli living in San Jose, California. He was personable, funny, and a calling station. His chips were going somewhere and hopefully to me. But you were going to have to beat him. He was stubborn and would not fold. He was a great guy and kept the table loose. Also, he had been playing satellites all night and finally won a seat. Perfect.

Compare Seat 4 with Seat 5. Matthew discussed this in his recent thread. You would much rather have Seat 4 at your table. You can beat him with no cards…but you have to beat Seat 5 with the better hand.

Seat 6 and Seat 7. Both Floridians and both in their 40s. One is Latin, and one from Eastern Europe. Both nice guys. Didn’t put too much pressure on me when they were in late position. Some but not a lot. Both gamblers but paranoid by the turn and river. Dangerous but not very good. They are not bad players but are too cautious. Seat 6 made a horrific weak check on the river once with a set of 9s on a T9xxx board. Just pitiful.

Seat 8. That’s me. No one knew I finished 12th in the Seniors. No one knew I even played the Seniors.

Seat 9: Nice guy, Mr. Know It All But Doesn’t. He cashed for $40K in the ME last year. He must have told us that a million times. Not a bad player but not creative at all. A straight forward player to my left. That’s good.

Off we go…..I give people too much credit early until my reads are better. But that’s ok. This deep stack is great. I limp after limpers OTB with TT. An Ace flops, someone bets, I fold. I get TT in the SB. I complete first in. BB checks. Flop 972rainbow. I bet, he calls. Turn is a 6. I don’t like that card. I check. He bets small, I call. River an Ace. I check, he bets small, I call. He shows 96o. Damn deep stacks. OK I lost 2K there, that’s ok. I see the flop with a couple of small pairs. I don’t hit and fold. I’m actually, about two hours in, down to $16K. We played 50/100 and are now going to 100/200. Obviously I have a very deep stack, but I feel a bit anxious. I don’t like the feeling. I need to make it go away.

I get KK in the SB and it’s folded to me. I raise, BB folds. My first pot! Such a deal.
On the next orbit it folds to the BTN and he raises to 350. I see AQo in the SB and reraise to 1050. I expect him to fold but he calls. I hate AQ! Flop is A92rainbow. I check, he checks. Turn is a blank. I check, he bets 1500, I call. River is a blank. I’m thinking of making a small value/blocking bet. He could have hit the river to a set or to Aces Up of course. But not likely. I decide to check and if he bets I’ll call hoping it is a bluff. I fully expect him to check behind with one pair. I think I should have made a small ¼ pot size bet here. I think I was a little off not having won a pot yet. Anyway he checks behind. My hand is good. This win puts me almost back to my starting stack of 20K. The anxiety disappears and I’m in a good frame of mind the rest of the day.

Level 2: 100/200. Nice slow structure. I get KK again. I raise in MP and take it down. I raise with T9o in late position and take it down. I raised several times in late position and almost always took it down.

I limped several times in the next three hours with small pocket pairs. Sometimes it was raised behind me and I called. I never flopped a set. By the end of the day I had done this maybe a dozen times….no sets. Oh well, not that unusual. But those chip losses add up. I limped after limpers with suited connectors about ½ dozen times. Never came close to hitting a flop. Well, you don’t get hurt that way.

I raise after Seat 4 limps with something like QJ. He calls. There’s a flop. He checks, I bet, he folds. This is what the game is suppose to be like.

I am pretty much between 16K and 23K for the longest time. I steal some, then lose it back when I have to fold on the flop. I need a hand against Seats 4 and 5, especially Seat 5. Finally I get one. I raise in ep with AQo and Seat 5 calls in the Blinds. The Board comes Axxxx. I bet the flop, turn, and river. Not big bets like ½ size pot. I bet a little less than ½ size on the river. He calls all the way and shows AT. Nice. That puts me at what will be my high water mark of the day….24.5K Actually I think I could have milked Seat 5 for quite a bit more by betting about 60% of the pot all the way. I need to remember that.

Level 3. 150/300 I drift down a bit back to 20K. I never play beyond the flop. It sucks. Then a real possibility shows up. CO raises to 1300. I look down and there they are: AA I don’t want to give him odds to hit a set on me with these deep stacks. I raise to 4850. I’m hoping he reraises. Please. At least call. He folds quickly. That’s OK. I won 2K there. I’m not complaining. I’ve shown him I’m no pushover. I won the AQ hand and I won this one. That should keep him in line.

I raise first in from the SB with A5o. BB calls. That’s surprising; he’s got something. Flop is Axx. I bet, he folds showing 77. Thank you kind sir for showing. What a meatball—showing hands like this and giving me an accurate read on his play is just great for me! He showed me many of the hands he mucked. He was in Seat 9 and no one could see at the other end. I was always already out of the hand, but still loved it. Now we are at the end of this level and it’s dinner time. I raise in the CO with any two which happened to be K2o this time. Some people have already left the table but not the BB. He calls. He’s talking about how we are wasting time and we should be at dinner. The flop is A64. He checks, I bet, he says, “Let’s go to dinner.” I’m for that!

Level 4. 150/300A25. Finally antes and more reward for stealing. Nothing really eventful during this time. The first hand is interesting. Two players are not back from dinner including the BB. There is a limper and I raise from MP with KJs. A call behind me. What am I getting myself into? The limper calls. Flop is Kxx. My c/b takes it down. Whew!

I’m patient but I also know this is chip accumulating time and I’m not doing my part. I’m in the 18K-22K range almost the whole way. Cards please! But they don’t come. Gus Hansen is at a nearby table growing a stack. I am jealous. Cindy Violette is nearby at a different table. She is in the process of getting busted. I am happy.

I wish I had some interesting hands, but there were none that I was involved in. Except for 2. Seat 4 has busted and been replaced by The Russian. He’s a nice guy, kind of looks like Yul Brenner. He has about 20K when he arrives, nothing special, but moves it up to 40K pretty quickly. He’s pretty unobservant. He raises to 1100. Oops, no he didn’t. He raised to 5100. That’s a 5K chip you threw out there.

Another hand. Seat 5 raises UTG. I call with 99. It folds to the kid in Seat 3 who’s thinking. Suddenly The Russian says, “All In!” What???….Seat 3 is to act sir. Seat 3 continues to think and finally mucks. He said he mucked AKs. I believe him. Seat 5 folds as do I. The Russian shows QQ. Seat 5 said he had AK. I said I had AQ. The table is amazed at all these high cards.

66 hand next. Not proud of this one. I think it’s really only my significant mistake of the day. The Russian raises and I am in the blinds. I call with 66. Flop is 987 rainbow. I check, he bets, and I just felt he was weak. He has been very active. Anyway I miniraised him. He called fairly quickly. Oops. From IRC--

<chriswsop> a ten could be a really bad card for me
<chriswsop> even a 6 could be awful
<Jrs> yeah
<chriswsop> ok so now I thought, "OMG" lol
<chriswsop> I really thought he would fold
<chriswsop> But I don't like my play, ignorant end here is basically a bluff unless a 5 hits
<chriswsop> so turn was a K, check check
<chriswsop> river was a J, I check, he bet, he folded
<chriswsop> think I should have just folded to his flop bet...that looks tight but I don't think so, esp with big stacks
<Jrs> you can be a little more open this deep
<Jrs> I wonder if day 4 becomes the cash day
<Jrs> with such a slow structure
<chriswsop> Probably end of Day 3, maybe the beginning of Day 4 but I doubt it. Maybe there is something in the rules about playing to the money in Day 3. I have to look that up.
<Jrs> and I wonder if that change is ESPN lead
<chriswsop> I don't think so, it was a committee with Daniel and others on it that urged a slower structure
<chriswsop> plus last year day 4, 5, 6 were all pretty short days
<chriswsop> The good player was directly across from me.
<chriswsop> I stole his BB a lot, he wasn't confrontational
<chriswsop> but he never had a stack
<chriswsop> then he got the dream hand against the Israeli
<chriswsop> He had about 12K, Israeli had about double that
<chriswsop> He raised preflop, bet the QTx flop, bet the turn, all in the river, just normal size bets
<chriswsop> the Israeli went into the tank on the river. He probably had like 88 or something like that, or Q9
<chriswsop> finally called, I mean it was 100% loser
<chriswsop> bodog showed TT

We are in Level 5 now, the final level of the day. 200/400A50. This is the level where you can take advantage of the large antes and the tightening play of the opponents to build a stack. People will want to make Day 2. It doesn’t make any poker sense, but certainly makes sense psychologically.

But I don’t have a big stack. It sucks. I have about 13K or so. I am dealt KK in MP. Great! I raise to 1075. Seat 2 is thinking. I get the feeling he is thinking of raising, not folding. He finally calls. Folds to The Russian. He raises to 3000. OK gentlemen lets see if you want to play. I move in. Seat 2 thinks for a bit and folds. The Russian folds quickly. Seat 2 said he had AK. I have no reason to doubt him.

We have a table change! I liked this table but it is no more. With 45 minutes remaining until we adjourn for the night I am headed to Blue 13. Right near Hazey who is at Blue 17. Hazey has an average stack but it is double mine. I am jealous.

I leave a table with 200K in chips total and get moved to one with over ½ million for sure. A couple of stacks over 100K. Oh boy. This is going to be a wild table I thought. I had no idea how wild. Crazy gambling and bluffing and stupid plays right and left. Yike. I’m here with my puny 17.5K. Give me a hand please. I’m in Seat 1. Seat 8 has a huge stack and a huge mountain of greens, the $25 chips. He must be playing every hand. We he sort of was. The older gentlemen in Seat 3, who has almost 100K himself says, “They guys been a yo-yo all night. Up and down all over the place.”

Immediately I get JJ. Yo-yo limps, I limp, two others are in. Flop is Q62 rainbow. Yo-yo bets 2K . I call. Ladbrokes over in Seat 7 is annoyed and finally folds. I bet he had a weak queen. He’s scared of me not Yo-yo. I look like a tight old fart for sure. Turn is a K. Yo-yo checks. He looks done with the hand. I bet 6K. He folds quickly. Whew, I’m up to 22K or so. Nice! Thank you Seat 3.

It’s a nutty table. Outrageous bluffing. Limping UTG and calling a raise. Ultimately, on a board of QxxKx, the raiser fires 5K into the pot on the river. UTG thinks for a long time and calls…. He shows Q2o What???? It’s good, raiser had A7o. I get KQo in the CO. Raise. BB calls. Flop is A55. I c/b he calls. Rats. We check the turn and river and he wins with A9. I’m watching this spectacle. The board is KKxxx with a third club falling on the river. Ladbrokes checks and Yo-Yo bets 17K into a 6K pot. Mr. Ladbrokes goes into absolute agony mode. “This is absurd. 17K into a 6K pot? Why did I slowplay this. I’m an idiot. How can he do this?” He was in complete agony. Finally he calls the clock on himself. “Will you show me if I fold?” “Sure,” says Yo-Yo. Ladbrokes mucks KT. Yo-Yo shows the flush. Ladbrokes is still agitated. Calm down man….

I can’t get anything. I miss a couple of flops. I’m back down to 16K or so. A young straight forward looking player moves in on the River against one of the loose talkative kids to my left. The board shows KK7x7. The all in is about 20K into a pot of 20K. Mr. Talker takes a long time. Counts out his chips. He will have 60K instead of 80K at the end of Day 1. He doesn’t want to lose those. He folds. Mr. Straight Forward shows JTs. Total bluff all the way through. A thing of beauty. Wow, the table is impressed. I take one more BB and SB and we are done. Thank goodness I’m moving from this table.

We bag our chips, wish each one well, and get our table assignements. We have two days off until Wednesday. I will be back in the Red Section, Tbl 40, Seat 1. I’ll be in the SB. Hazey draws a table in Brasilia. Good luck Hazey! I have 14,750 and we will be playing 250/500A50. I'm fine.

Final thoughts of Day 1. Well I failed miserably to accumulate chips, but I’m still alive with an M=12. I think my reraise with the 66 was a result of a bit of impatience. But other than that I was steady. No need to panic. Some of the greats have nice stacks now. Carlos Mortensen and Gus are over 100K. Johnny Bax and Antonio are almost that high. Hellmuth almost 80K And these are just to name a few…. There are many many more.

But….What do all these people have in common?

Alan Jaffray

Andy Bloch

Annie Duke

Chris Ferguson

Chris Savage

Cyndy Violette

Dario Minieri

Doyle Brunson

Fabrice Soulier

Jennifer Tilly

John Murphy

John Phan

Karina Jett

Layne Flack

Mark Seif

Melissa Hayden

Michael Mizrachi

Mickey 'Mouse' Mills

Noel Furlong

Paul 'Eskimo' Clark

Paul Magriel

Phil Ivey

Robert Williamson III

Shane Schleger

Tim Pham

Todd Brunson

Tom Schneider

Vinny Vinh




Right, they all in the ZERO club. Gone. Done. And those were just from Day 1D. Daniel is gone. Sexton, lilholdem, Gavin Griffin, Dmitri, ZeeJustin, Ambrose, Lisandro, JC Tran , Phil Collins, Fahra, Hamby, Ted Forrest, Andy Black, Raymer, Ram, Jamie Gold—yes!, Orel Hershiser, Nordberg, Rodman, McEvoy, Watkinson, Dan Druff, Benyamine, Deeb, both Feduniaks, Rahme, Harrington, Chad Brown, Galfond, Froelich, Helppi, Tuan Lam, Miami John, BeLoWaBoVe, Arieh, Devilfish, Shannon Shorr, and 3000 others.

I'm feeling good. Another day to relax is nice. Then back to the wars tomorrow.

A favor though. Could someone post my opponents and Google them please? I am Red Table 40, Seat 1 playing Day2B. Chris Platt 14,750.

Good luck to Hazey and good luck to me.

Chris

[taz115]

Good report as always ChrisJP. Good-luck tomorrrow, it will be a big day for you.

I can understand the impatience that builds a little bit. When I played I didn't start getting awesome cards until about 3 hours in. In a tournament that slow it seems like you should be more involved at times but you really can afford to have 1+ hours stretches of no cards in the Day 1 without it affecting your stack significantly.

It is quite a tourny, I hope I get the chance to play again.

Gooo get 'em on Day 2!

[nsidestrate]

Here is your table:

Chris Platt 14,750 R40 01
Robert Betts 56,100 R40 02
Valter Farina 68,050 R40 03
Brett Jungblut 22,575 R40 04
John Tabatabai 60,250 R40 05
Evan McNiff 51,175 R40 06
did not report did not report 53,175 R40 07
Kyle Hegeman 15,100 R40 08
Clement Tripodi 27,100 R40 09

The only two I recognize by name are Brett Jungblut a/k/a "Gank" who was one of the annoying "crew" and John Tabatabai who was the guy who finished second to Annette_15 in the WSOPE event. I believe he is sponsored by Betfair and blogs on their site

[chrisjp]

Thanks nside, yes I know Jungblut. Let's see if I can bust him.

I read Tabatabai's blog. Great, I now know exactly how he plays. Thanks, again.

[nsidestrate]

Jeez. Robert Betts finished 39th the Jamie Gold year. He might be on some of the ESPN coverage. He also has a final table from the year before in a 3k event. He would appear to be decent, but he "looks" like tighter old guy. He has a cash all the way back in 1997, so he has been playing a while.

He lost in the 3k event like this:

[taz115]

Looks like it could be a pretty tough table... ah well... I know that Chris is up to the task.

[nsidestrate]

Farina is an Italian. His WSOP cashes are mostly PLO and 7 stud, although he has a number of smaller cashes in the Caribbean. Lifetime winnings are 250k, with 150k being a 1995 bracelet in 7 stud. Maybe you saw him back in the day:

[nsidestrate]

Evan McNiff is a probable internet player. I'm guessing he just turned 21. He has two WSOP cashes this year in the 20s.

In a hand reported from an earlier event:

[chrisjp]

Since I'm in the Red Section we should break fairly soon, certainly the first two levels. We will see.

Chris

[nsidestrate]

I'm guessing Kyle Hegeman is this guy, a PhD candidate in computer science at SUNY-SB.

He has a 5th place finish in this year's new mixed PLO/PLHE event and a cash in PLO and PLHE too. I can only find two hands reported for his PLO/PLHE finish and they are both depressingly standard.

Where are the donks?

[nsidestrate]

Clement Tripoldi appears to be an unknown. At least that is something.

[nsidestrate]

GL, my friend. Win a lot of loot.

[chrisjp]

My stats from Day 1. We played ten hours so about 300 hands.

AA: 2; 2-0
KK: 3; 3-0
QQ: nope
JJ: 2; 1-1
TT: 2; 0-2

Only two decent pots with a KK and JJ, and I won both, the losses were all small. No huge pots.

AK: nope
AQ: 4; 4-0 two of them to the river were nice
AJs: 1; 0-1 small pot to AA, i totally missed the flop, he showed
AT: nope

Never hit a set, never hit any of my connectors.

[taz115]

[kw]

Another great report Chris. Good luck tomorrow!