My WSOP Main Event Day One
To my left was a tough player, I could tell based on how deliberate he was and how he handled his chips. I picked up 10-10 and made it 225, I got one call, and then this tough player made it 1050 in position. We were still very deep obviously, so I made the call hoping to flop a set, and the other player folded.
The flop came Qc 8c 3s and I checked. The tough player bet 1650 and I called. The turn was the 4c, I did not have a club, and checked. He also checked, so now I actually felt like not only did I have the best hand, but I felt like my opponent probably didn’t have a club. That read was based partly on a tell and partly based on my assumption of this players betting patterns and that if he had the Ace of clubs he would bet.
The river came the Ks and I checked. He now bet 3650 and I tanked. The way the hand played out, it appears as though he is repping AK, but I didn’t buy it based on his bet size. I felt like if he had AK he’s bet closer to 2400 hoping to get value from a Queen. This bet was a big too big for AK, so the question was, “What the heck does he got?” Well, I sensed pre-flop that he could be just making a squeeze play in position with any two cards. I thought long and hard, convinced myself he didn’t have AK so he’d have to show me the nuts or nothing. I called the bet, and he showed Jc 9c!
After seeing that hand I feel good about my call strangely enough. He made a tricky check on the turn with that hand and I never could put him on that.
HAND 2:
I was still doing fine over my 30,000 start playing a decent number of hands when a player to my right opened for 500. I called in position with QQ and the big blind re-raised to 2250 with the original raiser folding. This guy was super easy to read. This was never a hand other than: JJ QQ KK AA AK. I can honestly say that his hand is literally down to these hands and with 10-10 he would have called. I’m sure of it! We are relatively deep so I feel like it made sense to call the raise in position and hope to flop a Queen. This guy was a bit of a calling station and wasn’t getting away from AA or KK if I hit.
The flop came 5s 6c 7s and he bet 3450. I think I’m beat in this spot, but it looks like a really good flop for me to represent and straight card that hits the turn. I mean, I have his range narrowed down to a select few hands, but there is no way he can correctly narrow down my range to anything as specific as what I actually have. I call.
The turn is an 8… perfect! He checks to me, and I see that he has about 14,000 left while I have 31,000. Seems like an automatic bet here for me so I stick it in fully expecting him to fold AA or KK. He thought for a minute and said, “Hmmm, well I can’t put you on a set or having a 9 in your hand so I have to call.” I was thinking, “Dude, have you never seen me play before! I’m waaaay more likely to hit that flop than I am to have QQ!” He turns over his KK proudly, but on this hand the river bails me out as a 4 completes the straight on board.
HAND 3:
There was a novice player two to my right and anytime he entered a pot I played virtually anything playable in position in the hopes of busting him. He min raised to 400 and I called on the button with 3-4 off suit. The tough player from earlier called from the big blind. The flop came 8s 5h 5c and it was checked to me so I bet 750 hoping to steal it right there. The tough player called.
The turn came the Kc and he checked again, this time I decided to bet 1800 hoping to get him to fold a draw- he called. The river was a Js and he checked again. At this point I figured he’d call me if he has a pair, but if he’s drawing he’ll fold, so I decided to make a relatively small bet of 2400. He paused for a moment, then check-raised me to 5800! I didn’t but it for a second, seriously. He is repping 88 or 55 in this spot but I didn’t believe he’d play it that way, so I decided that I would rep the 88 or 55 and made it 11,200 leaving myself with 17,000 in case I had a bad read. He tanked for a bit, then asked me how much I have left which left me thinking, “Oops, well it looks like I’m toast.” Finally, he decided to fold his hand and I said, “You had the right idea,” and showed the 3-4. We laughed about it and he said, “I knew it! I should have put them in.” He actually had 6-7 for 7 high.
That hand got me to 40,000 and from there I cruised to 55,000. Once I hit that point, though, I couldn’t hit a flop and it seemed my opponents would either river me or hit the flop consistently. The main event is an interesting struggle because it’s sooooo much easier than a typical tournament that you have to fight against trying to outplay everyone, every single hand. When they start hitting against you, that will make your chips bleed away.
I had a steady balance of aggression going throughout the day, but the cards really went dead for me in the last two hours. One kid in particular was short and he doubled through me twice. The first time when his AK beat my AQ, and then he shoved again with 55, I called with AK, and he doubled again bringing me back down under my 30,000 starting stack. I ended with 24,475 and the blinds will be 200-400 with a 50 ante so I still have plenty of chips to work with, over 60 big blinds.
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I get one off day today and then it’s back at it again tomorrow. I plan on relaxing all day. I did Kenpo which is part of the P90X workout I’m doing and it’s the funnest one for sure but still gets you sweating pretty hard. After that I decided to clean out my closet (no not come out of the closet you weirdos) since I haven’t done that for a while. I’ve recently developed an addiction for online shopping and need to make some room for new stuff. It’s so quick and easy online! Never used to do that ever, but now I prefer it.
Whether I make it through day 2 or not, I’ll have two off days and plan on actually going out! Probably take in a show or maybe a movie, we shall see. Whatever we end up doing doesn’t really matter, I’m just excited to have a chance to unwind after a grueling 6 weeks where I was more disciplined than ever before in my life. Like, in every way you can define what makes you disciplined, I was that this month. I was such a good boy!
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