Taardvark Event 49 Report

[Taardvark]

I'm back home and have gotten enough rest to write something coherent so here is my report on Event 49.

FRIDAY

I play in a poker league with around 50 players. We have 20 satellite events that everyone buys $25 into. You can pick and choose 12 events to play so in the end it's a $300 satellite fee. Points are awarded in lieu of cash payouts and at the end the top point getters get a seat and travel for Event 49. We were able to send 6 and I was one of them.

I arrived on Friday to register and got goose bumps walking down the hall and seeing all the WSOP signage. It finally started to dawn on me I was playing in a WSOP event.

I go back to my hotel and do some work and then play the nightly at the Orleans. I didn't fare well but I played good and made it through half the field with only 2 playable hands in three hours: pocket nines and big slick. I was really encouraged because I was reading the players and board texture really well which is almost always a good omen for me. I get back to the hotel after busting and get a good night's sleep.

DAY 1

My buddies and I make our way over to the event and take our first look at the Amazon room with hundreds of poker tables and the famous TV table we all recognize from ESPN.

I take my seat and play begins and to my surprise I'm not at all nervous. This feels like any live event I've ever played and I just go about my business. After a few orbits a strange thing occurs to me: I'm the best player at my table. I didn't expect this to happen at all in a WSOP event. I take my 3K stack up to about 4K at the first table. No hands of note. Mostly raises and takedowns and a few c bets on the flop.

About an hour or so in ChrisJP gets moved into my area and stops by briefly to say hello on his way to his new seat. Not long after my table breaks and I get moved again. Again I am shocked to find that after a few orbits I am the best player at this table, too. I run it up to 5K with nothing eventful when my first big hand takes place.

I get K7 in the SB and it folds to me and I raise it up. The BB, a player clearly nervous and out of his element, makes the call. He is eyeballing me and doing his best job of "don't tread on me". I fight back the urge to laugh. The flop comes K72 rainbow. Golden. I check and he leads out for a little more than half the pot. Interesting. His line is consistent with holding a king. I re-raise a little less than the size of the pot. He pauses and then moves in. I call and he turns up 67 drawing slim. No six on the turn and he is drawing dead. I have about 10K at the first break.

With the bathroom line and a short visit to talk to my poker group buddies I don't have time to meet up with the ITHers unfortunately.

About an hour in I get moved to another table with about 15K. Matthew is at the table directly across from me and I plan on introducing myself at the break which is around an hour away. I get to this table and for the first time I have some real competition. A couple spots to my left is an older Asian gentleman I recognize from a WPT final table and a young Euro pro I've seen on TV before. He's very, very good and I luckily didn't get mixed up in any hands with him. I do play two big hands against the Asian gentleman. I make a standard opener with AK and he calls in the big blind. The flop has an ace but it's all spades. I can't recall if I have the king of spades and I don't want to be a donkey and give up my hand by looking down so I just play it and make c bet somewhere in the 2/3 range. He takes a few moments and calls. I put him on a weaker ace, maybe AQ with a spade. The turn pairs the board with a 4. I am going to be pot committed after any kind of action here, my hand is strong and I'm not folding, so I push. He takes a long time to make a decision and I know I am good. He finally calls and turns over A3 with no spade, drawing dead to a split with the case 4 or ace. They don't come and I double up.

A few hands later he opens in early position. It's smallish and really looks like he is just trying to take it down. I have tens on the button and I isolate enough to put him all in. He takes a while and calls with a weak ace. The tens hold up and I have about 35K.

I have what I think are the two most crucial hands in my tournament life over the next several orbits. I give away about 5K when I get into a blind versus blind battle all in with JJ against AA. Absolutely sick but it happens. This hand is key to what happens next. I couple of orbits later I have QQ and make a standard opener. It folds to the BB, who I tangled with in the JJ/AA hand, and he hems and haws and then pushes. He does something with his chips that he did with the aces and I take a little bit of time and tell him "your aces are good" and muck. He asks what I have and I tell him I'll show if he does. He flips the aces and I flip queens and he looks rather disgusted he doesn't get paid in this situation. I get a silent nod of approval from the Euro pro. about an orbit later I get kings and open raise. The guy to my left, a player who represents himself as better than he is with his LA poker classic hat and demeanor he picked up from TV min reraises. It folds around to me and I just call, knowing there is a high likelihood he has aces. I know if I hit my king I'll get paid so I peel one off. The flop comes 6Q6 which I am not crazy about but I know he isn't either. I check and he makes a little more than half pot bet and I call. I figure this freezes the action and he probably isn't going to bet the turn, afraid I have queens or will try to steal on the river if I have something like KQ or AQ. The turn brings another 6. I check and he does too. The river is a deuce and again I check and surprisingly he doesn't value bet and turns over aces and I turn over kings. The Euro pro tells the table it's the best play he's seen in the tournament that I didn't get crippled in this spot.

Right before the break I see Matthew bust out and I don't get a chance to say hello. I reach the break with about 22K in chips.

My wife is in town and I have dinner with her. A couple of my poker buddies are gone but we still have 4 alive which is great. My wife is incredibly excited that I am still in it.

I stay at the same table for most of the rest of the evening. A really active player who claims to be a pro and a PLO cash specialist arrives at the table. He starts to dominate the table along with another new player two spots to my right. I play two keys hands, one against both of them.

The PLO guy raises in early position and I hold 10 9 hearts on the button. I call light with every intention of stealing this pot from him. The flop comes 67Q with two hearts which is a great flop for me to semi-bluff at. He checks and I lead out with a larger than usual bet to try to represent a pair that is afraid of this board. I fully expect a re-raise from him here and he obliges. I move all in, not because I have the best hand but because I know he is weak. Everything about how he's played the hand to this point let's me know he's just trying to bully. He actually makes a statement wondering if I have 78 hearts here which makes me think maybe he's a litle stronger than I suspect but he ultimately folds. I'm up to about 35K. I pretty much stay between 25K and 35K the rest of the night. I'm down to 25K and have been getting no cards at an active table. The other active player raises from the button and I hold 63 in the big blind. I call light again planning to steal on the flop. The flop is rags and I whiff but I lead right out. I have a tight image at the table and I've had to show nothing but solid values at this point. He postures and folds and I turn over the bluff.

Unfortunately, I don't get any benefit from the advertising and get moved to another table as we approach the bubble. With about 285 left I get moved to a table where Andy Black is to my left and Kristy Gazes to his left. I come to the table with 30K. The cards continue to be mostly dead. I take down a couple of uncontested pots and win a pretty big pot with aces (villian later tells me he had AK). This table was a great deal of fun. Andy Black is the kind of dude you'd want at your home game. Just the life of the party and Kristy was a lot of fun also. Very friendly and nice people, just like they come off on TV. The bubble finally busts. We bag our chips and get our new assignments. I have 47,500 to start Day 2.

DAY 2

Day two isn't as favorable table wise. I have Jon Friedburg at my table and a couple of other active players. I get nothing going but our table is broken quickly. I move and get my stack up to about 65K when I get involved in a hand with a rather active player to my right. He raised on the button and I called with KQ. The flop was raggedy and I knew it didn't hit him and I led out representing the ten on the board. He calls. He's good enough to make me convince him I have a hand. The turn is a blank and I lead again between half and 2/3 the pot. He takes a while and makes an all in move. Well played sir. I take a few moments and hollywood before folding. he shows AQ. I could have played this more conservative in hindsight but the blinds were getting big enough to defend and KQ was strong enough against his range.

I start turning up the agression and get back up to 50K before the table breaks. I get moved to my final table with Kristy Gazes and Hevad Khan. He's nothing like what we saw in last year's main event although he was a very nice guy and seemed to enjoy himself. The table was super active and I go card dead again. I have next to no stealing opportunities and my stack dwindles to 38K. I pick up 77 and it folds to me on the button. I have enough to raise and push to a reraise or fold. I raise and the big blind, a big stack bully pushes and forces me to decide. I decide I'm flipping and call. He has K10 and the sevens hold. I have 74K which is a little less than average. The blinds and antes erode my stack and my final hand comes. An active player from the day's previous final table who had been raising light opens under the gun and I hold KQ in the SB. I have enough fold equity to push him off his likely holdings and I push. Even if I'm called I don't figure to be in bad shape against the majority of his range. He turns over QQ and theory and my read firmly kick me in the sack. I don't improve and I'm out in 75th.

I was a little bummed to be gone but at the same time I was extremely happy with my play. My first thought was "I can't wait until next year". I definitely plan on budgeting time and money to play a couple more events, even if I don't quality in my poker group next year.

To anyone that is on the bubble deciding on whether or not they should give it a shot I say to do so without question. Just a great time all around. The $50K HORSE event was going on across the room and it was nuts to see some of the game's biggest names going at it in the same room where we were playing. I saw just about every major star over the course of the weekend which was cool.

All in all a fantastic experience and now I have a little bit of a bankroll to play around with which is exciting. Can't wait for 2009.

Brad

[jaydreb]

Nice report and congratulations on the cash!

[nsidestrate]

Well done! Between your report and the Pearljammer book, I feel like the biggest LAGtard on the planet. I would have certainly gone bust in the KK/AA hand. It was a real pleasure to read your report.

[Nutjob]

You guys are taking these trip reports to a new level. Awesome stuff.

Congrats on the cash ... Did any others in your group survive the bubble?

[Taardvark]

Unfortunately no. The next closest finished around 400. The big pairs were not kind to my friends. One lost KK against 99 with a set and another hit a set against Kessler's straight and didn't fiil up.

[chrisjp]

Great report! Next year will be here before you know it.
Nice meeting you Brad.

Chris

[PauliF]

[Scully]

Great report and a great performance.

Well played and good luck in 09!!

[jfletcher]

Congrats Tard. Well played.

[maf66]

Good read. It would be interesting to find out who the other unknown pros you played against are.