It's the first WSOP event I have played in Africa, and it's a real joy to have the tournament directors from the USA, take control, and teach the locals - they can only learn, which is fair enough.
I played in Flight A, starting 11am local, and have just finished, an hour ago.
120 odd players played in Flight A, and thru 15 levels, we played down to 16 players. Average stack is 71k.
I got a bit lucky, early on ..
Starting stacks were 10k (I think - brain a bit frazzled), but levels/structure is great.
Nothing much happened early on .. Ripped up 4k, on some bluff, then got it back ..
I had a stack of about 8k, and was playing fairly tight, when this hand comes along :
Blinds of 75, 150, under the gun, makes it 300, called by 4 players, including me.
I have 8 ♦, 7 ♦, In late position .. Total stack, maybe 7k .. I flat call.
Flop comes : A♦, J ♦ , 4 ♣
The initial raiser, bets 750. This is called by the next guy, and I make it 2500.
A solid cash game player, who has seen me win hands, with 8 ♣, 2 ♣ and other junk, ships for 6500. Initial raiser, caller, fold.
I have a deep think, and call.He turns over K ♦ , Q ♦ and I am in pretty bad shape.
Turn : 7 ♣ .. A few gasps
River : 7 ♠
Nice to get lucky, and have built the stack, to 60k .. One of the 16, from Flight A.
It's a thrill to be playing .. Grinder and Scotty are being very nice to everyone, and it's fun.
Will see how many get thru, from Flight B, hopefully, 25 or so. 1st place is $20k, down to $465 for 30th.
..................
Got not much sleep .. Mind buzzing etc, and was gonna drive home (1hr), but it wet, and roads are badly lit, so found a hotel ..
43 players in total, will play Day 2, and I am in 20th place, a mile away from the chip leader on 191k, but, with 30 BB or so ..
Something to work with.
It's the morning after, when u reflect what your stack might have been, if you had done, this or that, but, I have v few regrets. Poker variance can be rough .. Especially when u are a loose player, who looks to be aggressive.
Definately, fun thou.
............
Day 2 .. got 60k, blinds now 1000, 2000 with 300 ante.
I steal 2nd hand of day, and get stack to 66k.
Seat 3, missed 1st 2 hands, but arrives, with 100k chips.
He raises next 3 hands in a row, and wins all hands, without showdown.
Next hand, in the small blind, I get 10 ♠, 10 ♦
Same guy, raises his normal figure .. 5500, a solid player, in mid-position, who only plays good hands, flat calls. Now 16k in pot. I bet 20500. Hoping for a squeeze, but really thinking the initial raiser can't have good cards again .. (I played 7 hours yesterday, and never saw a pair above 10's).
Anyway, initial raiser ships, and I am now in a really tough spot. I have only seen him play 4 hands. Maybe he's bluffing, but, I sorta put him on A K, A Q, type hands .. but can also have mid-pairs, or air.
I call .. He flips over A ♦, A ♥
No miracles on the flop, turn, river, and I am gone.
Deep sigh ..
Maybe I should fold .. V hard hand .. Comments welcome.
Posted with Blogsy
lucky fish
ReplyDeleteUnless you put him on a stone cold bluff i don't think you can call here. If you put him on AK or AQ do you really want to race a 56% win 44% lose for your tournament life?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think its v tricky.
ReplyDelete2 Pros I spoke to, both would have played it differently.
One, would have flat called the 5500, trying to keep the pot small, and re-evalute. Its a route which would have saved me.
Another pro, liked the re-raise, but would have only bet 15k, and folded to the shove.
On balance, I must have been wrong, and in hindsight, over the 8 hrs of play, I saw pocket 10's 2x, and lost big pots with both.
I literally didnt see and pair higher than those 10's, in the tourny, so, have few regrets overall, but suppose, I should have made the money.