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| World Series of Poker Trip Report: My Dance at the Big Dance |
by Matthew HilgerDay by day recollection of my 33rd place finish out of 2576 players at the World Series of Poker good for an $80,000 payday I won my way into the Big One at the World Series of Poker through a $150 satellite at Empire Poker. Until the World Series of Poker, my biggest tourney accomplishment was winning the 2002 New Zealand Poker Championship. That was quite a thrill at the time but playing in the World Series of Poker is an experience like no other and the one I will never forget.The field started with 2576 poker players and $10,000 in chips each. They divided the field the first two days so I had to wait for Day 2 to hear those infamous words…Shuffle up and deal! The butterflies were going as I sat there thinking to myself, “Here I am at the World Series of Poker!” Playing in the World Series of Poker is quite a rollercoaster ride…there are so many highs and lows in this poker game that it is quite taxing mentally and emotionally. The following account talks about some of the key poker hands I played each day in the poker tournament. The blind amounts, chips counts, and bet amounts are my best recollection of what I remember but I cannot guarantee that they are always exactly right. Hopefully they are close enough to convey the thought processes and strategies which were being played out. World Series of Poker Day 2 Level 1: $25-$50 blinds. I was all ready to show my skills to the world; except there was one small problem…I didn't win a single poker hand the first hour and was already down to $8200 by the first break. The good news is that I had a great table as I identified three very weak poker players who just couldn’t wait to give away their chips. Level 2: $50-$100. On one of the very first poker hands of the second level I finally got to feel what it is like to rake in a big pot at the Big One. A poker player raised under the gun who hadn’t been playing very many poker hands. Another early player calls. I reraise a significant amount with QQ from the big blind. The UTG player calls and the other player calls allin as he was rather short-stacked. The flop comes KQx. I bet about about $2000, the UTG player raised to 4K and I moved allin. My opponent calls with AK and I double up. The very next poker hand another solid poker player raises from early position, another player calls, and I call with 66 from the SB. The flop comes 764. I think about checkraising but determine that this solid poker player might back off if he suspects a set with this type of flop. I decide to bet out 2K hoping to represent a middle pocket pair like TT or 99 to see if I can trap him if he has a big pair. He raises to 4K and my trap is set! Using the same logic, I’m afraid my opponent might suspect a set if I reraise here so I decide to call and try to trap on the turn. Unfortunately I get a little unlucky as the turn card is a 3. I check, my opponent bets 6K, and I move allin. My opponent folds and I find myself sitting with 30K early in poker the tournament. Level 3: There are still some poker players left at my table ready to give away their poker chips but unfortunately the table is broken up right before dinner break. Level 4: $100-200 Blinds, $25 antes. My poker table has Andy Block sitting about 4 or 5 seats to my right and Tomer Benvenisti on my immediate right. A key poker hand and one of the most interesting of the poker tournament came up as I got myself involved in a pot with Andy who also had a big stack comparable to my 30K. Andy raises to $600 under the gun. I’m sitting in late middle position. Conventional wisdom is to choose your battles wisely and avoid other big stacks…so I thought Andy would think this way also and respect my reraise. I decide to raise to $2200 with Ah Qh thinking that I could take the pot unless Andy had a super premium poker hand. I really didn’t think we would see a flop…either he would reraise or fold but to my surprise he calls. Now I’m thinking what have I gotten myself into. The flop comes KT6 but with two hearts. I have a nut flush draw and gut shot straight draw. He checks and I check. The turn is 7x. He bets $2500. I have a great draw but I decide to represent a slow play poker hand like KK and decide to raise hoping to take the pot. I really thought Andy would lay down a poker hand like AK in this situation which is what I mistakenly put him on. To my surprise, he calls and I realize that I am in big trouble! How did I get myself into this situation… The river comes the 8h! Phew…I have the nuts! Today is my day! Andy checks. I decide to make a bet large enough that it might look like I am trying to steal but not so large that it would put him so short-stacked that he would be in major trouble in the poker tournament. I bet 12K. He thinks for an eternity and I mean an eternity. To my delight he calls with TT and I have over 50K in chips and am looking good during the first day of the poker tournament. I’ll never know why he didn’t reraise me on the turn. I guess that my check on the flop confused him and that he was indeed worried about KK. In any case, I was fortunate to be able to see the river card and that it hit my poker hand. What a fun game! The next few hours playing poker were uneventful. The table was quite tough and there weren’t any players just willing to give away their chips. Erick Lindgren was moved to the table making things worse. I played pretty conservative waiting for the table to break up hoping that I would be seated at a better one. When it finally breaks, I am taken to a table with one of the Boatman brothers from the Hendon Mob. The table is excellent as no one has over 20K in chips to do any damage to my big stack of between 40-45K. Time to bully! Level 6: $200-$400, $50 antes. The day had been fantastic and I finished off the day with what I think was two of my finest hours at a poker table. I got some big poker hands and kept making big raises basically forcing my opponents to either lay down their poker hands or risk being knocked out of the poker tournament. Several of the poker players took an obvious dislike to me even though I was just sitting there not saying a whole lot…but using my stack to my advantage. One of the players taunted me by raising allin to 5K and told me to play my poker hand this time. I folded the poker hand but it was obvious the effect my big stack was having at the poker table. Some of the poker players laughed when I made some of the big raises but everyone kept folding. I overheard the poker player to my right telling the other player to his right that someone had to go over the top of me. About 15 minutes later, this poker player that was two to my right raises to 2000. I reraise on the button to 8K. He thinks forever and finally calls out allin which was about 12-14K. I flop over AK and he shows KTs. He risked his entire poker tournament with KTs! Now I see how a bullying strategy can affect a poker player’s mentality! I had worn out his patience and he decided to gamble with quite a weak poker hand. My poker hand stands up and I am over 60K. Last poker hand of the night I am dealt JJ. One player limps, I raise and take home one last pot. A great way to finish off a very good day in my first ever World Series of Poker. I’m sitting at 67K in chips which was about the 15th highest total after 2 days of action…only 25,709,000 chips to go! World Series of Poker Day 3 It’s not easy getting any sleep at the World Series of Poker. We played poker every day from 12 to about 1:30 AM. I was quite excited having done so well on the first day of the World Series of Poker so it took a while to get some sleep. Unfortunately this would be a common theme every night that I kept surviving. I tried using the dinner breaks to get in a short cat nap between all of the action. Level 7: $250-500 blinds, $50 antes. There was another big stack at my table and he kept challenging me. He reraised me a couple of times preflop which started to frustrate me a lot. I didn’t want to go to battle with him but I couldn’t let him bully me all day either. After a while I started to hone in on his betting style…Bet big with strong poker hands and bet small with weak poker hands. He made a small raise from early position, another player called, and I decided to call with Ac 9c from the button. The flop came J Xd 3d. He made a small bet into the pot. I decided that I was going to make a play at him on the turn and called with nothing. I was going to represent a flush if a diamond came and hopefully a set if a rag came. The turn came another 3 pairing the board. He made another small bet of about 4K. This card gave me a dilemma. I couldn’t represent a flush and I thought I couldn’t really represent a full-house either by raising big as this would be a situation where one would most likely slow-play. I just called hoping to make a play on the river. The river card was quite ugly…a Q. Again, he bet 4K. This is such a wimpy bet into a large pot. My moment of reckoning…if I make a play and don’t succeed I will have lost most of my stack in the first few hours against this one opponent. I decide to raise to 16K and wait for my destiny…he folds! I rake in quite a nice pot. I am not sure if this poker hand was a stroke of genius or just lucky frustration but fortunately it worked out for me. I didn’t feel nearly as sharp as the day before but this pot got me motivated again and I was determined to grind it out the rest of the day. The next six hours were quite frustrating. I wasn’t getting very many good poker hands and when I did I didn’t get any action. I made a poor play on the following poker hand. A large stack limps from early position. I decide to raise to 4K with AJ from middle position. The SB and limper both call. The flop comes Qxx and they both check. I bet 9K and the SB goes allin. I gave away 13K with AJ! A little while later I decide to limp UTG with A4s. A middle player called and the SB with a large stack raised to 3K with about 3K already in the pot. I decide to represent a large pocket pair and reraised to 8K. I figured this was an 8K risk to win 6K and even if I am called I might win on the flop. My opponent folded. The two biggest pots I won in the first 8 hours of the poker tournament that day were just plain out bluffs that kept me going. Our table was then broken up a short while later and I was moved to a much better table. I was happy to get out of there as I just didn’t seem on top of my opponents at the first table. The new table had an Internet poker player loaded with chips who played NL poker as if it was $2-$4 limit. It was the strangest thing and I thought to myself that this could be the poker player to help build me a nice stack. She ended up being the last woman poker player to survive and finished pretty high up in the money so she did quite well in the poker tournament. We got moved upstairs which was also a refreshing change as there was more light and people upstairs. I was down to 30K at this point. Level 11: $600-$1200 blinds, $200 antes. I remember thinking to myself that I had played 8 hours all day and had not won a single significant pot with a good poker hand. In the last few hours that changed. I had Qs 8s from the cutoff and decided to limp first-in as the crazy poker player from the Internet was in the big blind and I wanted to poker play a hand against her. The button and SB called. The flop came Qx Ts 5s. I flopped top pair and a flush draw. I bet 5K and surprisingly the button and BB called. The turn came an 8. This was a good card but potentially dangerous. I decided that if an opponent had J9 so be it…I would have to risk my poker tournament with my relatively short stack and this large pot. I made a big bet and added about 15K to my stack. A little later the Internet poker player raised 2x the blinds from early position. I called from the BB with 33 and the flop came 853. I decided to bet out 5K hoping she had a big overpair but unfortunately she folded. In hindsight, this was probably a decent play against a strong poker player but against a weak poker player I should have let her take the first action. This poker strategy however would work a little later. Level 12: $800-$1600 Blinds, $200 antes. The crazy Internet poker player limps, a middle poker player limps, and I’m in the big blind with K4. The flop comes 844. I decide to bet about 5K hoping someone would take my bait. The BB immediately moves allin with T8 and I add another 30K or so to my stack. I get moved to a new poker table with a lot of dangerous stacks and very tight players. This was the last level of the poker tournament that day and I decide I would play it conservatively and ride out the night in hopes of a better poker table draw the next day. I did win a nice size pot with AK from the cutoff when the BB called and folded on the flop. This added another 20K or so to my stack. From then on I won a little more than my share of the blinds by raising with a lot of small pocket pairs and finished the night off in good shape with 110K in chips and 289 players left. World Series of Poker Day 4 Level 13: $1000-$2000 blinds, $300 antes. My first poker table of the day included this fellow named Greg “Fossilman” Raymer. He wore these funky glasses and I felt like I recognized his name but couldn’t put my finger on it. I then remembered that he was a frequent poster on 2+2 and RGP. He was seated directly to my right. By the way, he ends up going on to be the 2004 World Series of Poker champion taking home the $5 million dollar prize. Today was going to get off to a great start. I believe we were about 30-45 minutes into the first level. A middle player raised to $6K and Greg sitting with a very large stack on the button raises to 22K. I look down at AA and decide that the pot is big enough for me and move allin. Greg looked and stared and I did my best to ring the poker gods for a call. Greg calls with QQ and I double-up to 220K early on Day 4! I got the best of him on that poker hand but Greg would gain some of those poker chips back from me later on in the day. He also recuperated very nicely against some of the other poker players at the table over the next couple of hours. My table gets broken up again and I end up at a poker table with Greg once again, Mike Matusow, and newcomer John Murphy. Level 15: $1500-$3000, $500 blinds. After a few hours of play at this table we get moved to the ESPN feature poker table where they show our hole cards. Greg’s style was to raise quite frequently preflop when he was first in. I remember one particular poker hand which I misplayed against him. He raised to $8K and I was either in the cutoff or button and decided I would challenge him. I didn’t put him on a very strong poker hand and was sitting there with A9s. I felt I could pick the pot up from him by raising; however, I decide to only raise to 20K to make it look like I wanted him to call and therefore he would fold…lots of reverse psychology in poker games. What I failed to realize was that I gave Greg a good price to call even if I had a premium poker hand because he could potentially bust me if he hit. Greg decided to call and the flop came JT9. In my mind this was a terrible flop for me as it could easily hit many mediocre poker hands which I though Greg was holding. We both checked. The turn was a blank and we both checked. The river was an 8 and we both checked. Greg showed 76s and took the pot with a straight. If I had raised to 24K preflop I think I would have gotten him to fold his poker hand. I wasn’t involved in this next poker hand but it changed the entire outlook of the poker tournament. This interesting poker hand involved Mike Matusow and Greg Raymer. For those who don't know Mike, he loves to talk and he loves the camera. During the day he had often referred to weak poker players as “donkeys”. I thought he made the donkey play of the poker tournament. He insisted that he didn’t regret this play but I would bet that he is having second doubts now. Mike had a huge stack. Greg had another big stack although not as big as Mike’s. Mike raises before the flop and Greg calls from the big blind. The flop comes Td 9d X. Greg moves allin about 270K! Mike immediately starts talking. "I know you don't have anything! I know it! God, please let me be right (as he looks up in the air as if he is praying). Please let me be right. You know you have nothing! I call!" This is the condensed version of the one minute performance for the cameras. Mike was right...Greg didn't have "anything” except for a big draw. The fact that he didn’t have a pair didn’t make Mike’s call correct. I put Greg on Qd Jd but he actually had Ad Jd. Mike showed 97! He risked one of the top stacks in the poker tournament with second pair because he "knew" his opponent didn't have anything. The thing he didn't account for was that Greg had to have at least a huge draw. Greg was actually the favorite with about a 55% chance of winning. Mike went on and on about how he didn't regret the play and that he was here to win the poker tournament...but in my opinion that was just bad poker. Mike was soon knocked out of the poker tournament with his AK versus AQ. Greg's poker game was quite aggressive. I really thought he had Qd Jd which would have been a much better draw if he was called, but with Ad Jd it took a lot of guts. Fortunately he was able to hit his poker hand or poker history as we know it would have been completely different. As for me, my day saw me doubleup to 220K only to see my stack slowly dwindle down all day long. Once again however I was able to make a comeback during the last two hours and finished the day with roughly 220K in chips. Unfortunately I misplaced my notes for this day and can’t remember the details of how I got back up. World Series of Poker Day 5 Day 5 of the World Series of Poker is moving day. There are about 80 poker players left and if I can survive today I will be guaranteed 120K and be within close striking distance of realizing my dream of becoming the World Series of Poker champion. I struggle most of the day raising more than my fair share of pots but not getting any action from my opponents. At the same time, poker players kept dropping from the poker tournament as my winnings started to grow. But I realized that at some point I needed to start making a move with my chips. One important poker hand came up. I raised in the cutoff with KTs and the BB moved allin for an additional 60K. I was basically getting 2 to 1 pot odds and this opponent had to make a stand at some point. I realized I was not a favorite but the pot odds justified a call. The flop came AKx and a K fell on the turn. This was the first and only “bad beat” I gave an opponent during the entire poker tournament when our chips were allin. Level 20: $5-10K blinds, 1K antes. I rarely lose my cool at the poker table; however, there was a poker hand on the last day where I lost my cool. It was about 10 minutes before the dinner break so the blinds would soon be going up again. I got KK on the button and raised to 28K. The big blind called and the flop came QQx. My opponent bets out 50K and I have about 180K left. This is the kind of bet a strong poker player might make to try and trap you with. At the same time, he could be buying the pot. I go into a deep think trying to go through all of the plays of my opponent during the day. Is he the type of poker player who would check-raise here or go against conventional wisdom and try to induce a bluff raise by betting into me with trips? I could fold here and still be in position to double-up. Of course, if I fold this poker hand I am giving up a much-needed pot of about $130K. So here I am in the World Series of Poker with a super critical decision and the opponent on my right calls for a time clock! Now at this point in the poker tournament there was about 10 minutes left for the next blind increase. This opponent was also short-stacked so I understand that he does not want a lot of time wasted but I was not simply wasting time. This was either a fold or go allin situation so my entire poker tournament and chance at $5.0 million was on the line. I became visibly irritated at him. I almost knocked my chips over and stood up in frustration blurting out how he could ask for a clock in this situation. I tried explaining that I was short-stacked also and that it wasn't in my best interest to stall either. In any case, the time flew by! I asked the floorman for a count down and he immediately started saying 12 seconds, 8, 7, 6...jeez, what happened to my minute! I had to make a $5.0 million decision in an instant and yelled "allin!". Fortunately, I knew I was in good shape immediately as my opponent asked for several minutes to think through his decision since I had thought so long. Obviously he didn't have trips so I was hoping for a call. In the end, he decided to fold. I'll never know if I would have gotten a call here if there weren't all of the visible dramatics I showed at the poker table. Everyone asked for me to show my cards with the ESPN cameras looking on but I didn't give them the pleasure. The entire thing really got me unraveled. Fortunately the dinner break was coming and I was able to regroup. There are situations when asking for a time clock is justified. I had asked for one in a situation where it looked like my opponent was stalling, but for difficult decisions in large pots I don’t think asking for a time clock is appropriate. I was surprised at my reaction to this situation...but it felt good to show a little emotion during the game. Level 21: $6K-12K blinds, $2K antes. I am not sure exactly when this occurred, but I remember when I was sitting at this poker table that things started to sink in for me. My father was watching the action just a few feet away on the rail. I hadn’t slept very much in days, I was getting sick, I was mentally worn out…but here I was in the biggest poker tournament in the world. I looked up on the wall and there was a nice size banner that read “2004 World Series of Poker”. As I stared at the banner I tried to reflect on the moment. Sometimes when you are so involved in the action you forget what really is at hand. As I looked around the room I saw a lot of ESPN cameras, spectators, and on the rail were some well-known poker players who had come back to witness the action. Here I was in the big dance and I was still dancing! That minute of reflection was quite peaceful and one that I will remember for a long time…but there was still work to do! With blinds of $6-12K and 2K antes it was going to cost me 36K every nine poker hands. I needed something to happen and to happen soon. Finally I get the situation I was looking for all day. I get dealt AA UTG. I was normally raising a little less than 3 times the big blind but decided to overbet a little and raised to 48K. The opponent to my left with a very large stack raised it to 96K. Yes! Finally a big poker hand and some action! I decided to just call his bet in attempts to double-up my stack on the flop. Unfortunately, the flop came up Axx. Normally you would think this is a great flop but this ace can also be a scare card for my opponent. I check and my opponent makes a small 50K bet. I put on my best Academy Award performance and finally decide to call. The turn comes a blank and I check. My opponent again makes a small bet and I move allin. My opponent calls with QQ announcing that there was too much money in the pot now to fold. I doubleup and now have 550K in chips with an average stack of about 700K. Things are starting to look a lot better! I then get moved to the feature ESPN poker table once again. The featured poker table had a completely different dynamic then the poker table I had played at all day. The table consisted of several top European pros including Marcel Luske, Julian Gardner, and another familiar face. John Murphy was also at the table again who impressed me a lot the day before. During the first hour the cards went dry and I did not play one single poker hand that I recall. Many pots were raised, reraised, go allin, etc. Very aggressive play. Marcel Luske was quite a showman. Time for another break…two more hours before moving to the next day! Level 22: $8K-16K blinds, $2 antes. Soon after the break I get dealt AA UTG once again. This would be the first poker hand I would play at this table against these opponents so I wasn’t sure how I would get some action but I knew these poker players were quite aggressive. I decided to again overbet the pot to try and indicate that I did not want to see a flop. I raised to 65K. An opponent immediately to my left said my raise was quite high since everyone had only been raising to 42K. He folded but a middle player decided to go allin. I had him outchipped by about 200K. This was my big poker hand! It was a 600K pot but unfortunately a T fell on the river drastically hurting my chances at my dream. I was still alive however as I had 200K in chips and could still get back in this thing. I was quite impressed with how I handled the beat. I understand what poker is all about and I didn’t get rattled at all with the results. I was determined to stay focused and get back into the poker tournament. I made a raise a little later on the button to 42K, the SB went allin and I decided to fold. I made this up a little later when the SB raised to 50K and I went allin from the big blind and he folded. It was now time for my last poker hand of the 2004 World Series of Poker after some 40+ hours of play. I had KQ on the button with about 200K in chips. My stack was right on the borderline for either moving allin or folding. But I decide that I can still make a normal raise and then decide whether or not to call an allin bet depending on how my opponents react. If I sense a lot of strength I could still fold and wait for a better opportunity. I raise to 42K and the BB puts me allin. I immediately felt that my opponent was not super strong. This is one of those situations where you have to go with your instincts. A super premium poker hand just didn’t seem likely. A bad case would be Ax but still not a disaster. However, I didn’t “feel” that an ace was a possibility. I thought he might have a small pocket pair but I thought there was even a better chance that he had something like KT or QT in which case I would be a big favorite. After a couple of minutes of thought I decided I had to follow my instinct and take a risk if I was going to win this poker tournament. I called and my opponent showed 22. My destiny was in a coin flip. Unfortunately destiny was not on my side this time. I finished 33rd good for an $80,000 payday. Looking back, my first World Series of Poker was a fantastic experience. I got to test my poker skills against some of the best in the world and was able to outlast most of them. It was great going to battle with the likes of Andy Block, Tomer Benvenisti, Erick Lindgren, Marcel Luske, Mike Matusow, and the new World Series of Poker champion, Greg “Fossilman” Raymer. After I got knocked out I was rooting for Greg to win the entire poker tournament. He was a lot of fun to play poker against and I think he will make a great poker champion and representative of poker. So congratulations Greg, but look out for me next year! |
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