chrisjp Senior Event 42 report-- I won $22K!

[chrisjp]

Day 1 begins. Wow, over 2200 of us. My table looks weak. I have no idea just how weak—it was bizarre. I am not prepared and the poker gods give me a swift kick in the rump. I raise OTB with Ad6c. SB was already throwing his hand away. A Lee Strassburg lookalike in the BB calls. Hmmm, didn’t expect that. Flop is QhQsAh. He bets. What? Does he have a Queen? Why wouldn’t he check? He seemed scared. I called. Turn is Jh. He checks. Hmmm. Looks like he has Ax and got scared. Or maybe just a small pair. I bet, he calls. River is a blank. He checks. I’m not betting now. I expect to split the pot. Thank goodness for the Jack on the turn. He turns up 5h4h for the flush. Yike. OK I lost about 1/3 of my chips, down to 2000 on this. Why were you even raising OTB Chris you moron. You don’t even know how they play yet. Sheesh. OK, a bad mistake. But calm down and focus. Ok, I’m focused. Let’s play some poker. Be careful!!!!!! I listened to myself and followed my advice closely after that.

Some random notes:

I played some with Amarillo Slim. From IRC:
<chrisjp> I played with Amarillo Slim
<chrisjp> briefly
<chrisjp> He couldn't make out the suits very well on the board, he was in 3 seat ten handed
<chrisjp> one hand, he limps UTG
<chrisjp> i complete in the SB with 7c5c
<chrisjp> flop is 9d4d2c
<chrisjp> He bets
<chrisjp> we fold
<chrisjp> he shows 6d5d
<chrisjp> Too bad 55x wasn't the flop
<chrisjp> The he raises OTB and BB reraises
<chrisjp> he folds and shows T3o
<chrisjp> BB had QQ
<chrisjp> He's like 84 years old and looks it too
<chrisjp> but still the texas drawl and all his sayings
<chrisjp> and he had a big stack
<chrisjp> he finished 99th I think, got a standing ovation
<mx> may be old, but the brain still workin
<chrisjp> yeah he's very slick with the chips and the cards
<chrisjp> But i don't think he's paying any attention to the other players at all
<chrisjp> just having fun
<chrisjp> attention to their betting patterns that is. glad i got to play with him


I was down to 1650 in level 1 - fought back.

Example of bizarre play. CO is short stack at 250 chips - bb is 200. CO pushes first in. Small blind and big blind call.
Flop is Q 8 7 all spades.
small blind checks, big blind bets into dry pot. Small blind is disgusted but folds. Big blind shows 43o with no spades. Small blind goes ballistic.

I was involved with 2 hands with the 43o guy after this:

1st: I raise 55 in MP (he has 3000 or so). called by 43o guy who has position. Flop is a (beautiful) AK5 rainbow. I check-raise all in. Guy goes in the tank and calls with TT. I double up

2nd. Same guy. I raise AA in MP. This was to be my only Rockets in 21 hours of play so play them well chrisjp. 43o guy calls again. Flop T82 with two diamonds. I ck-calls when guy bets 800 and I think he is weak. The turn is a jack - bring two hearts (so now two flush draws on a T82-J board). I check again, and guy bets 1000, I move in. He has me covered but not by a lot. I have the Aces of both potential flushes so if he started with Ax suited he doesn’t have a flush draw. The guy decides to fold KJ face up after long thought. I liked my check on the flop to hopefully allow him to bet a ten or hit an overcard. Then lower the boom when he bets the turn. No guarantees to win with this draw heavy board, but make him pay to draw it. Turns out he had no draw.

These tournaments are often about avoiding the beats more than getting lucky. Well a combination of both obviously.

1) I'm all in JT v. AQ Q98x He calls drawing dead.

2) I'm all in 87 v ?? AT96 or something like that 2 suited, villain folds

3) I'm in a coin flip preflop with dead money in the pot for his life. Pro John Esposito raises UTG. UTG+1 calls. I’m in the BB with AKo. I push. This is a key hand fairly late in Day 1. Esposito folds like a shot. UTG goes in the tank and calls for his life.

Win it M=15. Lose it M=3or4
AKo v TT Board AxxAx

4) This scares me big time. Late Day 1. CO limps. What? BTN limps. I'm in the SB with A9o I've been quiet. I raise. CO folds. BtN reluctantly calls. Short stack, reasonably short. Flop is QQ5 two clubs. I c/b 5700 chips, he has 6000 behind. He's thinking. Fold kind sir. He says, "It's late, time to gamble." No, it's early there is plenty of time to gamble later I'm thinking. He shows A7 both clubs. Turn a Q. River a J. No clubs Chop chop. Whew!


5) I'm in a fairly large pot for another person’s life: AK v. A6 Board K6xxx
I saw the 6 for a split second before the K; and so did villain

The rest steals and such. Early on I raised in the BB for all the marbles, raised like to 1800 at 100/200 after 3 limpers and SB completes with QJo They all fold. That actually increased my small stack tremendously. Whew.

6) one more Key hand. Level 5 I think. I raise UTG+1 with AKo. I have the biggest stack. Two callers plus the BB. Flop is JhJc9h I have the Ah. It is checked around. Turn is a 9. BB bets 800, which is about 1/4 of the pot. I look at him, he looks at me, and he is screaming, "Take it, I have nothing." Of course the 9 counterfeits anyone who limped with a low pair. I raise to 2200. They are scared of me. They all fold quickly. That was huge too. I felt that if anyone flopped trips they would probably bet on this draw heavy board. That is giving them too much credit I think. They would bet because they have a good hand. That is the correct analysis here.

We play until 1am and bag up. 220 runners remain, and they pay 198. It will be bubble time when we come back for Day 2.

Day 2 begins at 2pm. I took a nap, then went swimming, then took another nap. I hope it is a long day. There are still 220 players remaining and we will play down to the final 9 players. This should take until 6am I figure. Maybe they will stop at 27 players or so. We should be so lucky. Since I am rested I feel playing down to 9 will be better for me. Pretty presumptuous of me, but need to stay positive.

ITHers are great. They do the homework for me. Elmo, KT, Jrspm and Janeg helped out big time. The lineup of my new table is as follows:

Here is Jane’s scoop--

Herald W - he was 61st in 2006 $1k Seniors Limit, didn't find anything else on him He was a 91 years old, very nice Amarillo Slim type, very predictable. Chrisjp desirability rating at table (10 being ideal, 0 being Gus Hansen) CDR=9


Edward C -
1985, 15th in Grand Prix of Poker Ace to Five Draw
2001, 10th in WSOP $1,500 Ace to Five Draw Lowball
2004, 5th in Oasis Open Poker NL Tournament
2005, 13th in Winnin on the Green Limit Tournament
- all cashes under $3k
Very dangerous, lots of heart, but technically not good. Didn’t try to steal. CDR=2

Lloy S -
2004, 25th in a WPT $1,000 NL event
2005, 77th in WSOP $1,500 NL Event #22
2006, 15th in WPT $2,500 NL event
2006, 11th in WSOP $1,500 NL Event #44
Feb 2008, 20th in $330 Deep Stack Extravaganza NL tourney

- PokerPages profile says he's only been playing since 2004; appears to belong to the TucsonPokerClub, a group that is bent on improving
- decent chance he's a thinking player Seemed like a good solid player. Didn’t appear tricky but who knows, didn’t see him long enough. Wasn’t aggro but wasn’t a pushover either. CDR=4

Patrick T
2007, 12th in a WSOP NL Circuit Event Short stacked and tying to make the money. Free chips on the bubble. CDR=10

Ray K - search only turned up his seat in this tourney Short stacked and tying to make the money. Free chips on the bubble. CDR=10

Michael C
2006, 509th in the ME (??)
Dangerous and a gambler. Wasn’t just trying to make the money and had over $30K in chips. He was in my BB. May have been a good player but a bit too aggro v. me I think since I had a decent chip stack too. Nice guy. CDR=4

Ron S
- blackjack player? listed as an 'internet winner' for an episode of 'Ultimate Blackjack Tour'
- dealer at Hard Rock Hotel?
Didn't find any poker related resultsShort stacked and tying to make the money. Free chips on the bubble. CDR=10




Bill S
listed as a coach on www.pokercoaching.com
Too many cashes to list, Hendon Mob db has him at $317k in all time winnings
Probably knows a few tricks, so be careful of him.
Very nice guy. Completely predictable. Didn’t want to tangle without a hand. Didn’t defend his blinds. Absolutely love players like this. CDR=10

My comment about these searches. I love them, I think they are valuable. They help with your confidence big time, and keep you relaxed. They provide a basis from which you can start. But after one orbit you need to just go with your feel. Bill S, for instance, was not a threat and it was immediately apparent.

OK here we go. We have 220 players and 198 get paid. They announced that we would start hand for hand with 200 remaining. Happened sooner. There were so many short stacks that in one orbit they were down to about 203 players. They were dropping like flies. So ½ hour in or so we started hand for hand. I stole once or twice until I was in the BB. Now Seat 2, Ed Clark, who would be on my left with two tables remaining in the tournament, raised. Darn, a raise in the CO, and even more scary I have a hand: 99. He has me outchipped…this could get ugly. But I’m not worried about bubbling…I’m worried about playing correctly and winning chips on the bubble. I call. The flop is QQ8 rainbow. Well he might pull a move but here goes. I donk bet. He quickly folds. Good, looks like he won’t fool around unless he has something. Or he was just on a straight steal. Anyway those chips are gold. I’m up to 45K from 37K I think. Now I think I stole once or twice more until we got to hand for hand. I know I stole with the button in Seat 9. Now we are in Hand For Hand but no one is busting. Yeah! I stole a couple and now the button is in the shortie in Seat 8. No one appears to be playing without a real hand. The three shorties are absolutely not going to play anything. Seat 9 looks like a rock. This is wonderful! I raise in the CO with a real hand sort of, Q9o. Seat 7, the guy with a fairly large stack, my stack has increased considerably already, calls in the SB. This is Mike Cassella. He looks like a former Hawaiian surfer, old former surfer, old non athletic former surfer . Very nice guy. OK here we go. Flop is TT9. Nice flop for me. But Mike leads out for 6K. Hmmm. I call. Turn is a J. Nice card for me. He leads for 8K. I call. All my play is very deliberate, even my folds. Now the river is a blank, some low card. He has this look like, OK I’m done betting, and checks. That’s wonderful to hear but I go into the tank. He’s gotta be weak, well he thinks he’s weak, but he didn’t bet again so he probably has something, a pair no doubt. I figured he would bet a Jack for sure, and check a low pair. What about a 9. Well he could have K9 or A9 and check maybe. Or bet who knows. If he has 98 he would probably check. I really wanted to bet here but it’s just not worth it. Will he call with a worse hand. Not unless he had 98. Will he call with A9 or K9, certainly. I check. He shows: 55. Ship it! I’m very happy. My stack is now closing in on 70K. Just amazing. Plus he bet into that dangerous connected board twice with 55. My goodness. He is not that good. And he’s decimated down to 15K or so. Nice! The shorties are getting ultra short. But they can survive to the money I figure and that’s what we all tell them. Seat 6 limped UTG one hand. Hmmm, what is that. Then he folded on the flop. He said he limped QQ and was not going to play the hand unless he flopped a set. I fully believe that. Seat 4 busts out. Too bad. Don’t remember what got him in trouble. AK I think. We are one to the money. But it takes like 4 hands to bust it. I steal from Seat 9. Love it. And the bubble bursts. Everyone is happy. I am too. I have gone from 37,600 to 75K. Now THAT was a bubble.

I keep it up. I steal Seat 9s BB every time I am first in. I get 54s with Seat 9 in the BB. Seat 1, the nice 91 year old, limps. Should be low pair, Ax, or connectors. I limp in Seat 5. BB checks. Flop is K86 two diamonds. BB checks, ok nothing, old guy checks, ok no pair. I bet, they fold. Thanks guys.


I’m building my stack quickly. I get an awkward hand. Seat 2 limps in the CO. BTN limps. I’m in the BB with A6o. I check. Flop is A75 two clubs. I check to the CO who bets, BTN calls. What to do. I have no idea where I am in this hand and they have stacks. Yes I can be best but time to bail out. I have a stack and no need to risk it in this tricky situation. I’ll leave this hand to Gus Hansen. But I’m not good enough to play it. Over the next couple of hours I’m treading water. I get no hands but I steal enough to slightly increase my stack. Finally I get AK v. Seat 1. He is short. He raises, I reraise, he calls. He shows 88. I flop a King. Nice playing with you sir. Seats 6,7, and 8 all bust out but are replaced by more timid players without stacks. Seat 9 reraises all in twice with AQ and wins both. So Bill is still there and I am still stealing from him. Life is great. I probably got up to 100K or so, but didn’t have any decent starting hands. Finally Bill raises in Ep. I have AKo again. I push, he calls with a look of resignation. He shows: 99. Another one of these AK v. a pair. I have won so many of them including the key AKvTT late last night. I flop an Ace this time and win one of these again. Good Bye Bill. Nice playing with you. Wow, I am up to like 300K. I don’t remember. My table is breaking.

I raised first in BTN or SB for hours and hours. Every time with any two. I won about ten of them uncontested. But on one the BB called. He’s a scared player. I have T6. Flop is 987 rainbow. Wow. I check, he bets, I raise. He calls. He has like 60K behind now. I have 200K. The pot is 60K roughly. The turn is a 5 putting two hearts on the board. I push, he reluctantly folds. Anyone bet smaller there? I’m worried about a T or J on the river, plus a cooler card. Maybe I should bet smaller on the turn. Thoughts anyone?


About this time, to quote pokernews, “…eliminate Amarillo Slim in roughly 90th place. As he stood to exit the floor, the entire Brasilia Room stood and acknowledged Slim's departure with a generous round of applause. Slim removed his hat, waved to the room saying "Thank you everybody" before exiting the tournament area.” It was great. I’m so happy I got to play with him on Day 1, albeit briefly.

OMG. I’m moved into Seat 7 and a completely drunk Men The Master is in Seat 1. Seat 9 is vacant for the moment so he is in my BB. Geez, very unlucky. Have to tone down my late position steals. Plus a very personable guy, Mad Martyn Wilson, is in Seat 2 with a big stack. He is quite aggro, but I got the feeling he wasn’t a stealer. He really was a great guy from the UK. So Men has about what I have. But he loses a race, then another, then another, all to short stacks. Then I’m OTB and Men’s in the BB. He’s been berating the dealer. The flustered dealer has been making more mistakes, getting dumped on more by Men, it’s a vicious cycle. Men is one reprehensible creature. He spills his beer. Martyn is justifiably outraged. The cards can get wet. Good grief. OK, back to the hand. Martyn limps UTG. I call OTB with QJs. Men checks. Anyway to quote pokernews, who left me out of the preflop.

“Martin Wilson has taken down Men 'The Master' Nguyen with a great acting job. Wilson called under the gun and the Master checked in the big blind. The flop came 853two diamonds and the Master checked. Wilson threw out 8,000 and the Master quickly came over the top for 38,000. Wilson called and discouragingly stated, "I played this all wrong." The turn brought a 2 and the Master pushed all in for his remaining 60,000 and Wilson insta-called. The hands were flipped and the Master tabled 9d2d . Wilson flipped over 55 and had the Master's tournament life in his hands. The river was a blank and Men the Master left the room in surprisingly quiet fashion.” More like staggered from the room. Everyone at our table cheered. We thanked Martyn for busting him.

I’m getting in trouble. It’s amazing how long you can go being card dead. Well, we’ve all been there. We are now reassigned at 27 players left and my table isn’t bad. There is a huge stack in my BB but he turns out to be clueless. I need chips! A strange feeling came over me with three tables to go. I was short. M was like 4. I had gotten lousy starting cards the whole tournament. But I'd treaded water through the dry spells with well placed steals and I really really raped the blinds when I was in late position. Saved me...absolutely saved me. Plus I had the great fortune of the bubble lasting quite a while. I played the bubble really well, and got lucky enough to actually win two pots during it. Tremendously valuable period, crucial.

Anyway, back to 3 tables remaining. I pushed QJs in MP. All folded. I pushed A7s MP same orbit, they all folded. These were huge. Then I get Q5o in the BB at the start of the next orbit. UTG, who never limps, limps. 3 more limpers. Then the SB completes. I had the kind of stack to try a push here, those chips would have been fantastic. But these players are the kind that someone may actually call with AT thinking they have a good hand. Not that it would be that bad of a result as long as no one called with a pair >44 or a Queen with a better kicker. But I felt this way uncalled for, especially in this weak tournament where it was important to be patient so you could take advantage to the opponents' misplays. So I checked. The flop was the glorious Q52 two spades. So I pushed. Another player, Mike Allis, one of the better players, and fearless, also moved in. Before we turned our cards he said, "You on a draw?" "No sir'" I replied. He turned over KQ. Turn was a 7. Don't put a river 7 out there, that would be too cruel. Harmless river card, an Ace I think.

In like 20 minutes I had gone from 120K chips to 450K chips. Wow. I suddenly realized at that moment I could actually win this thing. I had to get lucky at the appropriate time, but I was self confident or arrogant enough to know that, with one exception, all of the players I had played against had flaws. The one exception. Fred Berger. I played with him for about 2 hours, and I never saw him make a mistake. He's a nice guy and a fine player. Exactly how good who knows. He had a short stack but played it correctly as far as I know. Fred is at the Final Table and I wish him well.

Some where along here I take out two shorties. Both are interesting. In a “real” tournament you have to worry about someone putting the squeeze on. Not here in this situation. I had a monster stack two to my left. But if he raised in squeeze position believe me he had a hand. So I didn’t have to protect myself with an all in that could be fatal if the big stack woke up with a monster. I could fold to his push behind me saving my life, if appropriate. So shortie pushes, I call with AKo. Him 22. I win the race. Shortie pushes in late position. I call on the button with KQs. Him ATs I flop a K and river a flush. Overkill. I’m not complaining.

We are down to 18. Table redraw. I get a bad draw. I have Ed from my first table on my left and Mad Marty to his left. The free stealing in late position is a thing of the past. Darn it.

Then I'm dwindling again. There are 14 players remaining and we have played 7 handed for a long, long time. I finally get QQ, raise, and win the antes. Better than nothing. That’s my first pocket pair above 99 today. Allis limps, I raise with TT, and Marty comes over the top. I muck. Mad Marty shows QQ.

The player on my right, Mick, very nice guy...doesn't steal...has 102K. I'm there with about 220K. He's in the SB, ante 3K, his blind 12K. I post 24K BB. It folds to him and he pushes. So his raise is an additional 75K. What to do. Count the pot first. There is 69K in the pot. 24K+24+plus 21K in antes. So it's 75K to win 144K. I round to 2-1. Those are wonderful odds. Plus there is a prize jump at 12 players and removing him will move it closer. Now I know I'm trying to win this, but it's just another factor. Eliminating a player is a plus at this point. Another serious problem exists. I'm short! I need chips! Those 144K chips sitting there need a home in my stack. I desperately need those.

I can have 370K after this hand, 195K, or 120K. Now the problem. My cards: T4 both diamonds. Yuck.

Let's see. I know against any two I clearly have odds to call, just pot odds not counting any of these other factors leaning to a call. But here's the problem. Mick should push with any two, but he won't. Will he push with top 50%. Maybe. Top 25% probably. I know i'm like only a 6-5 dog to a random hand. That ten is pretty good. The suited cards add a bit. My SAGE number for this hand is 26. There are lots worse. I know I'm not worse than 2-1 even if he's raising top 25%. How do I know this? Well the only way I'm worse is if he has me dominated, and he could have K4 even, not just T9, or he has a pair >44. If he has a high pair I'm crushed too of course. But if I'm not against any of those hands I have clear easy pot odds to call. I figure I'm probably around 40% against his range of 50% hands, maybe upper 30s. Doing this at almost 3am in the morning...well I rethink it. OK, I've got it right.

I count out 75K in chips. "I call!"

He has that god awful ten, geez. Oh well, any two cards. And it's not for my life although I will be in horrible shape. Anyway the rest is history.

From Pokernews:

Mick Bentrup Eliminated in 14th Place ($17,156) The action folded to Mick Bentrup in the small blind who pushed for his last 75,000. Chris Platt thought for several minutes and did some mental calculations before making the call. Bentrap: KTo Platt: Td4d Bentrap was in good shape for a double-up but the board landed with two diamonds, turn blank, but a cruel diamond on the river gave Platt the flush to send Bentrup to the rail in 14th place for $17,156

What is this with this cruel diamond on the river. It was a thing of beauty.

Wow, that was something. And shortly thereafter another player, Villareal, busts. He was singing and doing all sorts of nonsense. I could see through his act. He was fairly short and trying to stall so someone at the other table would bust and he would be at least 12th. 13th paid about $17K, but 10-12th paid 22K. He busts! His AK<AQ when Ed turns a double gutter into a straight. Serves him right. We are down to 12.

So now I had about 350K and about one orbit later, playing 6 handed, UTG raises. I'm on the button with JJ, the first time I had those Jacks in 21 hours of tournament play. I had the perfect reraise total and the perfect situation.

This UTG guy, Mark the Jerk, had pushed a massive stack twice in the last hour. He showed both times KK and AK. LIke he was proud of winning the blinds and antes with them.

Anyway now he just makes a raise and then I push. First of all, since he just raised, presumably he will be weaker than his pushes. That doesn't really matter since I have the perfect pushing opportunity here regardless, but it is icing on the cake. Plus with my bizarre call with T4s he may think I've lost it and call with who knows what....TT, AT, AJ. Even if he has AQ I'm a nice 56% favorite. He goes into the tank for over 5 minutes and I figure I am way ahead of him. He finally calls. Well, just win this race and I'll have 800K. Yike. He shows AQ. Please let me win this. But the flop contained an Ace and I was history. Lots of hand shakes. Martyn was particularly gracious. All the dealers said this was the best tournament to deal by far. I believe it...unless you had to deal to The Master.

This tournament is the nuts. And I got lucky enough to make it a long way. I never lost a showdown hand until the final JJ.

Everyone overrates their own play, but I must admit I think I was the best player among all those that I played against in this tournament, maybe Fred Berger excepted. It feels good. I feel I’m in a Zone. And I’m getting rewarded. There is nothing like it. My next tournament, I think, will be Event 49 beginning Saturday. Another $1500 NL. Let’s fill it up guys and gals.

It's two days later. How lucky was I? i don't know. Pretty lucky I think. Well obviously you have to be lucky but I think I had at least my share.

I got lousy starting hands. But who cares. I wasn't complaining, just observing. Some would get frustrated, not me. I played 21 hours. That's probably about 630 hands, maybe less with the slow downs.

I got AA once, KK ZILCH, QQ three times, JJ once (my last hand), TT twice.
But I got AK probably a dozen times.

I got some well timed and fantastic flops. Flopped that nut staight early with my BB special. Turned the nut straight soon after. Flopped 987 to my T6 attempted steal from the BB. Flopped 864 to my BB special 86. Flopped Q52 to my BB special Q5. Now THOSE were lucky.

I would never had made it so far without just stealing the blinds like crazy in the middle of the tournament....that is for sure.

I never lost a hand that got shown down...until the ultimate hand. Never got sucked out on. Won about 1/2 dozen flips in a row. All with AK v. pair...well one with KQs v. ATs. Finally I lost a flip JJ<AQ. Very lucky to win 6 in a row.

I got set up to be eliminated by being crushed about 3 times, but mucked my pair each time. Good decisions, at least good in the Sklansky sense.

Overall I stayed alert and focused. I got tired the end of Day 2 so I played very deliberately. It was so important to avoid the blunders then.

I'm happy with my play for sure. And got rewarded nicely this time. Still dreaming of the final table that was likely if that JJ held. But that's poker.

Chris

ps. Number of times all in with my life on the line and called? Four times.
I never called all in for my life.

1) Early tournament with the nut straight, my opponent called and had no redraws
2) Early tournament 55 v. TT on AK5 flop
3) Q5 v. KQ on Q52 flop with 3 tables remaining
4) JJ v. AQ with two tables remaining preflop.

[janeg]

Great report Chris, too bad losing the flip at the end but nice job staying alive as long as you did while being card dead

Looking forward to railing your next one

[Nutjob]

Brilliant TR and fantastic run, Chris.

During the latter stages of Day 2, we were saying in IRC that it would be great to see a HH from this, and then I said, wait, it's Chris, we WILL see a HH history from this.

You are awesome.

[nsidestrate]

I was just thinking about the first time I ever met an ITHer. Suited and I were in Vegas to play some live poker and we made arrangements to meet up at the Bellagio where I was planning to play a live tourney there. There were many pros that I knew from TV playing in the event and I was somewhat intimidated. I was also concerned about what kind of freak chrisjp might turn out to be.

I learned two wonderful things that day:

1) Chris is as nice, friendly and genuine a person as I have ever met. He is single-handedly responsible for me deciding to go to the first ITH convention and realizing that there were really a lot of very interesting and cool people here. I imagine he has served a similar function for many of us. Whenever I am in a group of ITHers, any time Chris is mentioned, you will universally hear comments about what a great guy he is.

2) Despite the fact that the tourney had lots of poker pros who I had seen on TV, I realized quickly that I could play on at least an even footing with them. On breaks in the tourney, Chris and I huddled in a quiet spot and discussed the mistakes we had spotted and the situations we were hoping would develop. He saw things that I did not and I think I saw a few that he didn't but we both realized one obvious truth: we could beat these guys. As Chris posted about it "Plus I learned that we can hold our own in this game! " For me, that was the moment when I realized that most of us are +EV in most live games.

Being the careful guy that he is, Chris has only slowly increased his live MTT and WSOP play over the years, but we have all known that he was certain to be a big winner if he played more events. I think we have some pretty good evidence now. Two cashes in what five WSOP attempts this year? An inch away from the elusive WSOP final table? It couldn't happen to a better or more deserving guy.

[chrisjp]

Thanks guys! Yeah it feels good. 2/6 this year, 4/12 my last twelve. Played 3 more I think the year before and zilch, but that helped improve my game. Short term really means little, but I know we have the ability to more than compete.

[chrisjp]

The players who finished First, Second, Third, and Fourth. Total WSOP cashes prior to yesterday: ZERO.

What a missed opportunity. There was only one decent player with experience at the Final Table....Fred Berger. What a shame.

Chris

[jfletcher]

Awesome Chris. I can't believe I totally missed that this was happening. I'd have been "railing" you for sure on Pokernews if i knew.

Congrats for a nice summer so far.

You gonna play the ME?

[nukeduke]

I've been away a couple of days and so happy to see this!!
Congrats Chris and many,many more.....

[BigSwings]

Nice report and gratz on a very fine result!

BigSwings

[doubleup]

Sweet to see an ITHer make it this deep in the WSOP. Good luck and definitely hope to see you make the FT on your next event.

[PauliF]

you da man
man

[jfletcher]

I think this is the higest ever finish in a WSOP bracelet event by an ITHer. I remember looking it up when nside was deep in his tourney, and the best we came up with was a 14th or something. (Matthew's FT was not a bracelet event.)

[taz115]

Great report Chris.

[taz115]

[cymansez]

I LOVE this stuff, Chris. The report and the success. Thank you again for both sharing the story and the vicarious ride to a heck of a tourney.