So close, and yet so far.
Tonight I hit two big tournamnets, the Party Million Guaranteed ($200+15), and the Pokerstars massive WSOP seat giveaway ($350+20). I finished 1457th in the Party Million which is my best finish there so far out of the two times I've played in it I think - still well away from the money (top 750 paid) but close. But made a much better run on Stars, where they were holding the largest WSOP satellite in history, and I believe the second largest online prize pool in poker history. 7377 entrants for a prize pool over $2.5M and 234 seats being given away. I ran all the way to finish in 500th place, inside the top ten percent but still a couple hundred spots away from a seat. A running log follows - after just busting out I don't have the patience to sit and clean this up, but might tomorrow:
sitting a little above average most of the way out. with ~2400 players remaining, I stacked a guy to jump a little above double average, just over t15k. my AKd connected on a great flop of Ac 6h 4d - with such a great candidate for a slowplay I was able to stack the guy who thought his A7o was good.
Few hands later, I lose a few chips making a move on the blinds. Holding A8o I raise from the button and am called by the small blind. The flop is a jumble of 4c 7s 3c, and we both check. The turn is an offsuit jack, and the small blind bets 300 in to a ~2000 pot. Sensing weakness I pop it to 1500, he thinks a second and calls. The river is the Td and he leads out for 300 again. I elect to call with my ace high - he held ATd and drags the pot with the ten on the river. While I was outkicked on the turn, I'm still happy with my ability to identify that he didn't have much of a hand, and I'm surprised he called me there with nothing but ace-ten high.
But then next hand am able to steal the blinds + antes from the cutoff with QJo to jump back to t13k. I then lose a little on AQo when I get two callers to my EP raise and fold to one of the caller's flop bet when I don't connect, and drop down just under t12k. Average stack at this point is 8695, 2121 players left right now out of the 7377 who started.
6:37pm - JTd gets to see a free flop from the big blind, and I drag a little pot when the flop comes 89J rainbow and I lead out for 1/3 pot. Next had I call from the small blind with K7o when its folded to me, and lead out on the flop and steal the blinds that way. Next hand from the button I make a standard raise with K7 suited this time, and take down the blinds again. Just over t14k, just 1950 players remaining.
6:47pm - the guy directlyto my left really doesn't like me stealing from him. After giving him a pass for two orbits I take a shot on the third and he calls. I drop down to t11,646 when I miss the flop and fold to his aggression on the turn. Two hands later I get KK in the cutoff and make my standard raise again - this time the small blind in the hand raises again and I push in an overbet, hoping he'll call with a wider range. He folds however, and I jump up over t15k again.
6:54pm - knowing once again the guy to my left is resteal happy, I again make my standard raise from the button, but this time with AQo. He re-raises and I just call. He leads on the uncordinated undercard flop, and I immediately put him all in. This is a very risky move - I've got him covered by a couple thousand chips, but I'm representing a big hand here and I'm pretty confident he's just trying another resteal play based on my past response to his resteals. Purely a read-dependant play here - he's shown a tendancy to aggressively resteal from me, and I've shown a tendancy to lay down to him. He's also shown that he can find a big fold to a re-raise. He thinks for a bit and then folds. I jump up to t21,566. We hit the next break (second or third?) just a couple hands later. There are 1556 player remaining on 173 tables. Average is t11,867, and blinds jump to 300/600 with a 30 ante after the break concludes.
7:09pm - I make a really bad, weak play with AJo and cost myself some chips. Player in MP open limps, the player behind min-raises, and I just cold call the 1200 from the button. The flop drops a king but otherwise small cards, and we end up checking the hand all the way down. I'm not sure why I didn't fire a bullet on the turn or river when it was checked to me - felt like a monster from the min-raise I guess, but if that's the case I probably shouldn't have called. the minraiser held ATo, the original limper pocket dueces, and the deuces hold up when no one else connects and we check it all the way down. Down just under 19k, but two hands later I am able to steal the blinds and antes and jump back just under t20k
7:20pm - my table broke a bit ago, and I get dropped directly to the right of the table chiplead in this one. not the best draw. I play my first hand with 33 from the button, cold-calling a MP minraise. the flop comes 882, and when he leads in to me for 600 I pop it to 2500. He folds, and I jump to t21,416. Currently 1240 people left, average stack is climbing rapidly with the latest blind jump, now just under t15k.
7:25pm - blinds jump to 400/800 with 40 ante. Players are dropping relatively quickly, given that an average chipstack now has an M of just 10. After being card dead at this table since I got here, I make a very marginal steal from CO+1 with K7o, but do take the blinds to jump back to t21,776.
7:29pm - the medium stack two to my right sniped my big blind last time, and has shown he's very aggressive open raising on other hands. Its folded to him on my BB, he pops it, and I immediately resteal with A3c. He folds to my resteal and I jump just over t24k. Next hand the bigstack to my left crushes someone's QQ with AQo when he builds a flush with his queen. He's now over t41k. We're inside 1100 players remaining.
7:31pm - I make a standard raise with 77 from MP and the bigstack cold calls behind me. The flop comes 4c 9d 5d and I lead for half the pot. he calls. the turn is the 4c, and he fires 4000 in to the 12k pot. I'm not exactly sure what to put him on here, and I find a fold after calling for more time. down just under t19k. Average is catching up to me
7:36pm - I make a mistake and it costs me plenty. UTG+1 makes a standard raise and its folded around to me in the SB. Holding AJo I raise enough to put him all in (he's got less than half my chips) and he instacalls. He turns over AKo and catches a king on the turn to boot. I drop down to just over t11k. Really not a good spot for the play I made there - the big stack was yet to act between us, and this was an early position raiser so he's representing more strength than someone who raised in later position.
7:38pm - A9o steals blinds + antes from the CO and I'm over t12.5k Average is closing in on t19k. I still have room to play poker, but I'm going to need to catch some cards and some luck. It would really help to get moved from this monster stack to my left.
7:45pm - i now have two massive stacks both positions to my left. both are over 45k, more than double average. I open push ATo from the button in to their deep stacks, hoping that the overbet might bring action from a weaker ace and certainly maximizes what little FE i've got. I steal the blinds and jump over t12.5k. Two hands later blinds go to 500/1000 with 50 ante.
7:47pm - I open push one of my favorite hands, 87d, from MP and steal blinds + antes. A marginal hand but one that does very well multi-way and is unlikely to be truly dominated if I'm called. I jump over t14k. Average stack is over 21k, currently 872 players left fighting for the 234 seats.
7:52pm - down to t12.5k. 828 players remaining, average stack of 22k. Now is the time to catch some cards and double through to some breathing room.
7:56pm - K6o gets a free flop in the BB, but i check it down to the river and my opponent hits his J3s on the river to drag the pot. Next hand I get A2c in the SB - the button just calls and I push over the top and both the BB and button fold, so I jump to t13,600. Very next hand I push A5c from the button and take the blinds + antes. Now over t15.5k. Bought myself a little bit of room with some marginal hands there. 754 players remain, average stack just shy of t25k.
8:04pm - I open-push AKo from UTG. Maybe should have just standard raised to try to take a flop and build a stack, but trying to build a stack takes a backseat to survival. I jump just over t17k. Next hand we go on break again. 711 players elft, with an average stack of almost t26k.
8:12pm - I make a close decision and fold AJo from the button in the face of a raise from MP.
8:20pm - KcKh in UTG+2. I make a raise to 6k leaving 10k behind. A late position player comes over the top - I instacall, and he flips AQo. The flop is 5s 8c Qc, and I'm screaming HOLD in to chat with Dross. The turn is a brutal Ace, but its also a club, so i've added club outs for the river: however the poker gods are kind and king me instead, so my three kings beat his two pair. I jump over t33k. Average is just over t29k, with 625 players remaining.
8:25pm - Another mistake - I open raise A2o from the CO in to a very shortstack and basically price myself in to calling when he pushes over the top. I guess i probably should have folded anyways, but getting 2:1 was tough to hit fold. He turns AQo and I drop down to t24k. I slap myself and soldier on. The problem there is with him having about 8k total, my standard raise basically prices myself in to calling if he comes over the top getting about 2:1. And I'm basically going to be in a coinflip at best and behind with only an overcard or even dominated. So its generally a no-win situation unless he's too tight and will inappropriately fold there.
8:30pm - I get saved. Aggressive player in MP pops it, and I'm ready to resteal in the BB with A9o. However, the small blind calls the raise. I think about going for a squeeze, but decide against it and lay it down. Turns out the MP player has AK and the SB TT, and I would have gone broke against MP's AK. 563 players are left, I'm just over t21k. Half of the remaining players are going to the WSOP, half are going home empty handed.
8:41pm - small blind completes and I check with JTo. we check it down and my jack high wins. Now at t22k. 526 players remaining, average over 35k. I need another double-through, but at least I have enough of a stack at this point to threaten most of my table.
8:50pm - AQo in the big blind. Button makes standard raise and I come over the top all-in. He calls and shows TT. He catches a ten on the flop which sucks really bad, but I get a jack as well for a gutshot straight. However I can't catch my coinflip-turned-four outer and finish in 500th place. Final hand posted here. A super deep run, but sadly absolutely nothing to show for five hours invested. Blah.
sitting a little above average most of the way out. with ~2400 players remaining, I stacked a guy to jump a little above double average, just over t15k. my AKd connected on a great flop of Ac 6h 4d - with such a great candidate for a slowplay I was able to stack the guy who thought his A7o was good.
Few hands later, I lose a few chips making a move on the blinds. Holding A8o I raise from the button and am called by the small blind. The flop is a jumble of 4c 7s 3c, and we both check. The turn is an offsuit jack, and the small blind bets 300 in to a ~2000 pot. Sensing weakness I pop it to 1500, he thinks a second and calls. The river is the Td and he leads out for 300 again. I elect to call with my ace high - he held ATd and drags the pot with the ten on the river. While I was outkicked on the turn, I'm still happy with my ability to identify that he didn't have much of a hand, and I'm surprised he called me there with nothing but ace-ten high.
But then next hand am able to steal the blinds + antes from the cutoff with QJo to jump back to t13k. I then lose a little on AQo when I get two callers to my EP raise and fold to one of the caller's flop bet when I don't connect, and drop down just under t12k. Average stack at this point is 8695, 2121 players left right now out of the 7377 who started.
6:37pm - JTd gets to see a free flop from the big blind, and I drag a little pot when the flop comes 89J rainbow and I lead out for 1/3 pot. Next had I call from the small blind with K7o when its folded to me, and lead out on the flop and steal the blinds that way. Next hand from the button I make a standard raise with K7 suited this time, and take down the blinds again. Just over t14k, just 1950 players remaining.
6:47pm - the guy directlyto my left really doesn't like me stealing from him. After giving him a pass for two orbits I take a shot on the third and he calls. I drop down to t11,646 when I miss the flop and fold to his aggression on the turn. Two hands later I get KK in the cutoff and make my standard raise again - this time the small blind in the hand raises again and I push in an overbet, hoping he'll call with a wider range. He folds however, and I jump up over t15k again.
6:54pm - knowing once again the guy to my left is resteal happy, I again make my standard raise from the button, but this time with AQo. He re-raises and I just call. He leads on the uncordinated undercard flop, and I immediately put him all in. This is a very risky move - I've got him covered by a couple thousand chips, but I'm representing a big hand here and I'm pretty confident he's just trying another resteal play based on my past response to his resteals. Purely a read-dependant play here - he's shown a tendancy to aggressively resteal from me, and I've shown a tendancy to lay down to him. He's also shown that he can find a big fold to a re-raise. He thinks for a bit and then folds. I jump up to t21,566. We hit the next break (second or third?) just a couple hands later. There are 1556 player remaining on 173 tables. Average is t11,867, and blinds jump to 300/600 with a 30 ante after the break concludes.
7:09pm - I make a really bad, weak play with AJo and cost myself some chips. Player in MP open limps, the player behind min-raises, and I just cold call the 1200 from the button. The flop drops a king but otherwise small cards, and we end up checking the hand all the way down. I'm not sure why I didn't fire a bullet on the turn or river when it was checked to me - felt like a monster from the min-raise I guess, but if that's the case I probably shouldn't have called. the minraiser held ATo, the original limper pocket dueces, and the deuces hold up when no one else connects and we check it all the way down. Down just under 19k, but two hands later I am able to steal the blinds and antes and jump back just under t20k
7:20pm - my table broke a bit ago, and I get dropped directly to the right of the table chiplead in this one. not the best draw. I play my first hand with 33 from the button, cold-calling a MP minraise. the flop comes 882, and when he leads in to me for 600 I pop it to 2500. He folds, and I jump to t21,416. Currently 1240 people left, average stack is climbing rapidly with the latest blind jump, now just under t15k.
7:25pm - blinds jump to 400/800 with 40 ante. Players are dropping relatively quickly, given that an average chipstack now has an M of just 10. After being card dead at this table since I got here, I make a very marginal steal from CO+1 with K7o, but do take the blinds to jump back to t21,776.
7:29pm - the medium stack two to my right sniped my big blind last time, and has shown he's very aggressive open raising on other hands. Its folded to him on my BB, he pops it, and I immediately resteal with A3c. He folds to my resteal and I jump just over t24k. Next hand the bigstack to my left crushes someone's QQ with AQo when he builds a flush with his queen. He's now over t41k. We're inside 1100 players remaining.
7:31pm - I make a standard raise with 77 from MP and the bigstack cold calls behind me. The flop comes 4c 9d 5d and I lead for half the pot. he calls. the turn is the 4c, and he fires 4000 in to the 12k pot. I'm not exactly sure what to put him on here, and I find a fold after calling for more time. down just under t19k. Average is catching up to me
7:36pm - I make a mistake and it costs me plenty. UTG+1 makes a standard raise and its folded around to me in the SB. Holding AJo I raise enough to put him all in (he's got less than half my chips) and he instacalls. He turns over AKo and catches a king on the turn to boot. I drop down to just over t11k. Really not a good spot for the play I made there - the big stack was yet to act between us, and this was an early position raiser so he's representing more strength than someone who raised in later position.
7:38pm - A9o steals blinds + antes from the CO and I'm over t12.5k Average is closing in on t19k. I still have room to play poker, but I'm going to need to catch some cards and some luck. It would really help to get moved from this monster stack to my left.
7:45pm - i now have two massive stacks both positions to my left. both are over 45k, more than double average. I open push ATo from the button in to their deep stacks, hoping that the overbet might bring action from a weaker ace and certainly maximizes what little FE i've got. I steal the blinds and jump over t12.5k. Two hands later blinds go to 500/1000 with 50 ante.
7:47pm - I open push one of my favorite hands, 87d, from MP and steal blinds + antes. A marginal hand but one that does very well multi-way and is unlikely to be truly dominated if I'm called. I jump over t14k. Average stack is over 21k, currently 872 players left fighting for the 234 seats.
7:52pm - down to t12.5k. 828 players remaining, average stack of 22k. Now is the time to catch some cards and double through to some breathing room.
7:56pm - K6o gets a free flop in the BB, but i check it down to the river and my opponent hits his J3s on the river to drag the pot. Next hand I get A2c in the SB - the button just calls and I push over the top and both the BB and button fold, so I jump to t13,600. Very next hand I push A5c from the button and take the blinds + antes. Now over t15.5k. Bought myself a little bit of room with some marginal hands there. 754 players remain, average stack just shy of t25k.
8:04pm - I open-push AKo from UTG. Maybe should have just standard raised to try to take a flop and build a stack, but trying to build a stack takes a backseat to survival. I jump just over t17k. Next hand we go on break again. 711 players elft, with an average stack of almost t26k.
8:12pm - I make a close decision and fold AJo from the button in the face of a raise from MP.
8:20pm - KcKh in UTG+2. I make a raise to 6k leaving 10k behind. A late position player comes over the top - I instacall, and he flips AQo. The flop is 5s 8c Qc, and I'm screaming HOLD in to chat with Dross. The turn is a brutal Ace, but its also a club, so i've added club outs for the river: however the poker gods are kind and king me instead, so my three kings beat his two pair. I jump over t33k. Average is just over t29k, with 625 players remaining.
8:25pm - Another mistake - I open raise A2o from the CO in to a very shortstack and basically price myself in to calling when he pushes over the top. I guess i probably should have folded anyways, but getting 2:1 was tough to hit fold. He turns AQo and I drop down to t24k. I slap myself and soldier on. The problem there is with him having about 8k total, my standard raise basically prices myself in to calling if he comes over the top getting about 2:1. And I'm basically going to be in a coinflip at best and behind with only an overcard or even dominated. So its generally a no-win situation unless he's too tight and will inappropriately fold there.
8:30pm - I get saved. Aggressive player in MP pops it, and I'm ready to resteal in the BB with A9o. However, the small blind calls the raise. I think about going for a squeeze, but decide against it and lay it down. Turns out the MP player has AK and the SB TT, and I would have gone broke against MP's AK. 563 players are left, I'm just over t21k. Half of the remaining players are going to the WSOP, half are going home empty handed.
8:41pm - small blind completes and I check with JTo. we check it down and my jack high wins. Now at t22k. 526 players remaining, average over 35k. I need another double-through, but at least I have enough of a stack at this point to threaten most of my table.
8:50pm - AQo in the big blind. Button makes standard raise and I come over the top all-in. He calls and shows TT. He catches a ten on the flop which sucks really bad, but I get a jack as well for a gutshot straight. However I can't catch my coinflip-turned-four outer and finish in 500th place. Final hand posted here. A super deep run, but sadly absolutely nothing to show for five hours invested. Blah.
posted by Performify at 8:52 PM
3 Comments:
You played great, it was fun railbirding you.
Hey man... drope me a line at cjhoyt@upforanything.net.
I need to know if you're going to be in Vegas at any point during the Main Event. I just came across your Otis bounty from the last WPBT. I apparently forgot to send it to you. So I can either give it to you in Vegas or mail it to you. Drop me a line!
can you email me too? purty please?
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