The Main Event: WSOP Pt. 3
I wake up after a near-sleepless night around 9:00. Took my time getting ready then sat on the couch in the room for some "Zen" time while my wife got ready. I tried to stay calm & not think too much. With all this going through my head I stopped to think about where I was, where I was about to go, where I came from. It kind of overwhelmed me. Here was this middle-class, overweight, out of shape husband & father who qualified to play in the biggest poker tournament in the world. I had made it. Two years of dreaming came down to a couple of hours.
I cried.
I hadn't cried in a very long time but I let it out. The wife, who had never seen me really cry, came to comfort me. Don't get me wrong, I knew the world will continue to spin if I didn't cash, or win, or got knocked out on the first hand. I just took a few minutes to allow myself to be proud. Proud of what I had accomplished. There were thousands of people who would love to be where I was.
That being said I got myself together, ate breakfast, then headed to the Rio. Of course it was packed with all sorts of people meandering around the place. They wouldn't let the players in until 11:30 so we spent some time in the expo & trying to figure out who was playing that day. I knew Raymer was playing but that was it. Would he or any other name pro be at my table? There was no way of knowing 'til we sat down.
They opened the doors & I'm the first one at my table, #142, seat 5. And it's absolutely freezing in there. Wow. Where's my freakin' jacket!
The other people filter in one at a time & (thankfully?) I don't recognize any of them. There were 3 PokerStars players & one other PartyPoker player at the table. Not too bad.
Earlier in the week I had talked to a few guys who had busted out already & they reminded me to just play tight in the beginning & wait for premium hands. I had decided before I left for Vegas that with 10,000TC & 25/50 blinds I would play the first couple levels like a cash game, maybe a little looser than the norm, & see how the table reacted.
You can see the difference between the two approaches. I guess I let the influence of others overtake me because I played squeaky tight in the beginning. I believe my first dealt hand was J4o, an easy fold. I didn't get involved in any pots until about 1 hour in. I get AA UTG & raise it to 150, which was the standard. All fold. Damn. I wanted a bigger pot. Didn't feel like getting fancy yet & just limping, I still didn't know how the table would react. Better to play it safe & raise.
From here on out I don't remember a lot of specific hands, but I do remember, through the course of the day, getting KK 3 times, QQ once, JJ once, TT once, AK once, and a few small PP, 33 to 77. That's it. No AQ, AJ, KQ, QJ. Not once. I went card dead again for the most part.
I remember having 9550 at the end of the second level when the PokerStars kid in seat 2 - who I labeled as pretty weak, he had shown down some terrible holdings & wouldn't ever raise postflop - raised to 300 (blinds 50/100) from EP. I look down to see 77 & flat call. All else fold. Flop comes down K52. He puts a standard continuation bet of 300 out. I think for a second, believe he's full of poop & pop him to 950. He folds after 15 seconds. Bingo, 9550.
Nothing else really exciting happened by the dinner break, where I had 6900. The blinds were about to be 100/200/25 & I was not happy at all where I was. I decided that I was either going to double up in the next two levels or go home. I was not going to limp into Day 2 with like 5,000 or 6,000 in chips. Fuck that. I've got to give myself a chance to compete or bust.
I called a friend of mine back in H-town whose opinion I trust & talked it over with him. He pretty much agreed that I had about an hour to stay patient, then I had to start making moves. So that was the game plan after dinner. My wife asked if I was OK with that & I told her I was. I had to fight.
I wanna finish this story now but I'm about to get of work. Maybe I'll finish tonight. If not I definitely will tomorrow. Take care.
I cried.
I hadn't cried in a very long time but I let it out. The wife, who had never seen me really cry, came to comfort me. Don't get me wrong, I knew the world will continue to spin if I didn't cash, or win, or got knocked out on the first hand. I just took a few minutes to allow myself to be proud. Proud of what I had accomplished. There were thousands of people who would love to be where I was.
That being said I got myself together, ate breakfast, then headed to the Rio. Of course it was packed with all sorts of people meandering around the place. They wouldn't let the players in until 11:30 so we spent some time in the expo & trying to figure out who was playing that day. I knew Raymer was playing but that was it. Would he or any other name pro be at my table? There was no way of knowing 'til we sat down.
They opened the doors & I'm the first one at my table, #142, seat 5. And it's absolutely freezing in there. Wow. Where's my freakin' jacket!
The other people filter in one at a time & (thankfully?) I don't recognize any of them. There were 3 PokerStars players & one other PartyPoker player at the table. Not too bad.
Earlier in the week I had talked to a few guys who had busted out already & they reminded me to just play tight in the beginning & wait for premium hands. I had decided before I left for Vegas that with 10,000TC & 25/50 blinds I would play the first couple levels like a cash game, maybe a little looser than the norm, & see how the table reacted.
You can see the difference between the two approaches. I guess I let the influence of others overtake me because I played squeaky tight in the beginning. I believe my first dealt hand was J4o, an easy fold. I didn't get involved in any pots until about 1 hour in. I get AA UTG & raise it to 150, which was the standard. All fold. Damn. I wanted a bigger pot. Didn't feel like getting fancy yet & just limping, I still didn't know how the table would react. Better to play it safe & raise.
From here on out I don't remember a lot of specific hands, but I do remember, through the course of the day, getting KK 3 times, QQ once, JJ once, TT once, AK once, and a few small PP, 33 to 77. That's it. No AQ, AJ, KQ, QJ. Not once. I went card dead again for the most part.
I remember having 9550 at the end of the second level when the PokerStars kid in seat 2 - who I labeled as pretty weak, he had shown down some terrible holdings & wouldn't ever raise postflop - raised to 300 (blinds 50/100) from EP. I look down to see 77 & flat call. All else fold. Flop comes down K52. He puts a standard continuation bet of 300 out. I think for a second, believe he's full of poop & pop him to 950. He folds after 15 seconds. Bingo, 9550.
Nothing else really exciting happened by the dinner break, where I had 6900. The blinds were about to be 100/200/25 & I was not happy at all where I was. I decided that I was either going to double up in the next two levels or go home. I was not going to limp into Day 2 with like 5,000 or 6,000 in chips. Fuck that. I've got to give myself a chance to compete or bust.
I called a friend of mine back in H-town whose opinion I trust & talked it over with him. He pretty much agreed that I had about an hour to stay patient, then I had to start making moves. So that was the game plan after dinner. My wife asked if I was OK with that & I told her I was. I had to fight.
I wanna finish this story now but I'm about to get of work. Maybe I'll finish tonight. If not I definitely will tomorrow. Take care.
posted by SugarlandStump at 2:18 PM
1 Comments:
another great post...cool blog...erik
Post a Comment
<< Home