Cfinnn In Vegas, Day 3

[cfinnn 0]

Vegas, Day Three: Playing in the WSOPI walked into the tournament room in my FCP polo shirt and navy FCP hat. I made my way to table 32 and gave the dealer my ticket and ID. As the players gathered at my table I started sizing them up. My plan for the day was to take my time, play tight until I got a good feel for the table and try to keep the pots small.The first hand, with blinds at 25-50, the action is folded to me in late position. I look down at A10 and make it 150 to go. The button and big blind call and the flop comes J-3-8 rainbow. I make a continuation bet of 300 and the button raises. Then the big blind re-raises and I fold as fast as humanly possible. The button then moves all in and the big blind calls in a flash. The button flips over 33 for bottom set of 3s and the big blind flips over JJ for top set. Two blanks come on the turn and river and in 30 seconds we have our first bust out of the day. Wow. I felt like I was back on FCP in a baby buy-in tournament.Two couple of hands later there is a ton of action between two other players at my table and the money goes all in preflop. It’s AA vs KK and on the river comes a K! Two players out in the first round. I have a feeling things may not go according to plan today. After a few rounds I get a feel for my opponents, my assessments are as follows.In Seat 1 we have a guy who I like to call, “Super-Loose Regular Player with Scruffy Face.” He is an older gentleman and it’s clear to me he plays often, if not daily, and has a ton of experience. He is very loose aggressive (playing 60-80 percent of his hands) and loves to call all the way to the river with his draws, whatever the price. I would guess he plays a lot of limit hold ‘em. I look forward to picking up a hand and relieving him of some of those chips.About every half hour a pro, whose name escapes me but I remember watching him at a WPT final table in either the Bahamas or Caribbean, comes to talk to “Super-Loose Regular Player” and they discuss how they’re doing. Later in the day, Humberto Brenes also comes by to see how he’s doing. SLRP may even be a pro, but I don’t recognize him.In Seat 2 we have, “Nice Guy with Hat” who is tight aggressive. He has also made more than his fair share of laydowns to re-raises preflop and thereafter. He doubled up on the first hand with top set and already has 20k in chips. I hope to get in pots with him and force him to make some more of those “good laydowns” he’s so fond of.In Seat 3 we have, “Tight Guy with Glasses and Hat.” He is tight aggressive and smart enough to lay down a second best hand when he needs to, but not scared of making a big call if he feels he has the best of it. In Seat 4 we have, “Young Gun” who right now is playing tight aggressive, but he clearly has more bullets in his arsenal. Out of all the players he is the only one I think has the skill and discipline to cash in the tournament.In Seat 5 we have, “Typical Internet Player.” I’m not sure if he really is an Internet player, but he plays like one. He is young and cocky. His play is somewhere between loose aggressive and tight aggressive, key word being aggressive. He has trouble letting go of any kind of a hand. He will put in a lot of chips with the worst of it and call off bets with the worst of it. I can’t wait to trap him with something. He also has a 20k stack as he got it all in preflop on hand #3 and cracked AA with his KK.In Seat 6 we have, “Maniac with Mowhawk” who is a loose aggressive calling station. This guy is raising like there’s no tomorrow, re-raising with the worst of it and making horribly bad calls. And by bad calls I mean calling an all in re-raise preflop for 2/3 of his stack with A7o! But he’s getting lucky today and has put some chips together quickly. Unfortunately, he is two to my right and over-betting every pot, making it hard for me to play. I can’t wait to pick up a hand and let him give me all of his chips.In Seat 7 we have “Experienced Online Tourney Player” who told me he is mostly a tournament player, loves the $100 rebuys on PokerStars and also enjoys playing 12 tables at once. It’s amazing how much you can learn about other players if you just ask. So far he is playing a solid game.In Seat 8 is yours truly. I won’t give a description of myself; I’ll leave that up to you. I will say, my goal is to make correct decisions and adjust my style to the type of table I am at.In Seat 9 we have “Loose Passive Regular who Enjoys Sulking.” He usually brings it in for a raise before the flop, but almost always check-calls on the flop and thereafter. He is willing to pay almost any price to draw and calls preflop raises quite liberally. He mostly enjoys complaining about his bad beats and the flops that would have hit him, had he only called a raise and re-raise preflop with his pocket 4s. On that hand, he flashed me his cards before folding and said, “I bet I hit. Just watch.” I bet him a dollar that his 4 wouldn’t hit. I was wrong. He would have won a monster pot, and boy was he steaming. I love it when they steam.In Seat 10 was “Shaky Hands” who was an older gentleman who played mostly tight aggressive, but was capable of making plays at pots.As I mentioned the plan was to play small pots early on. In level one a hand came up early where I flopped top and bottom pair and led out, but Maniac with Mowhawk turned a straight. I layed it down on the turn and he smiled and flashed me KJo for the nut straight. Not the best start to the day, but there’s plenty of time and chips left to go.A little while later a couple of players limped and Maniac with Mowhawk made a sizable preflop raise. I called the raise in late position with my JJ and the blinds and limpers folded. The flop came 843 rainbow. It was checked to me and I led at the pot. Maniac with Mowhawk then came over the top of me for a huge raise. I studied him for a while. This was early on, before I knew he was a maniac. And thankfully so, because I really felt he had a big hand and laid down my JJ. He said, “Good Fold” and showed me KK before throwing them into the muck. I love that this guy enjoys showing his cards to me.A while later, near the end of level one, “Loose Regular who Enjoys Sulking” limps in and “Super-Loose Regular Player makes it 150 to go in early position. “Young Gun” re-raises to 650. This is only the 2nd or 3rd pot Young Gun has come into since play began. I look down at pocket aces. So much for not playing big pots early on. I make it 1,500 to go. This pushes Super-Loose Regular Player out of the pot. Young Gun calls. At this point, I’m pretty sure he knows I have aces. The third preflop raise always means aces.The flop comes Kd-4d-6c. Young Gun checks to me and I bet 2,000. He thinks for a second then re-raises all in. He has me covered. Before the flop I put him on KK, and with a K on the flop I feel like I could be in big trouble. I know he’s smart and he almost certainly knows what I have, which is why I think he pushed, believing I could never get away from AA. I think for a long time then muck my hand. He looks surprised. As the tournament went on Young Gun never once put in a re-raise preflop with a hand like AK or a pocket pair under KK or AA. I think there is slim chance he may have had the other two aces, but with all the preflop action I think it’s unlikely. I also feel that if he had AA he wouldn’t have check-raised all in on the flop, because I could easily have had KK. This hand was either my greatest laydown of the tournament or the dumbest move in history. I guess I’ll never know for sure.At this point, nearly every pot is being raised preflop (in round 2 the blinds are 100-200 and the standard preflop raise at my table is 700-900) and I can’t even count how many times I heard all-in by the turn or river. I really think they’ve just seen it on TV and like saying, “All in.” I’ve seen a few of flops, but aside from the hands mentioned above, I haven’t hit top pair or better on a single flop. Things are not going as planned as my chip stack is steadily declining, but I know at a crazy table like this, all I need to do is pick up a hand and have it hold up and I’ll be in good shape again. That’s when the deck turned cold. I can’t count how many times I was dealt 10-5o. Fast forward to the end of level 2 and I’m crippled with just 1,850 in chips. Ouch.During level 3, I pick up 10s5s in the big blind. Maniac with Mowhawk limps from the button, the small blind folds and I check my option. The flop comes K-K-6. It goes check, check. Turn 10. I bet, Maniac with Mowhawk raises me all-in. I think for a while but just can’t put him on a hand that beats me so I call for my tournament life. He flips up QJ for a turned straight draw. I fade the river and double up to about 3,500.Later in the level Maniac with Mowhawk limps from the button again and I check my option with A5o. The flop comes A-4-9. He bets and I raise. Then he re-raises all-in. I am pretty well pot committed at this point and would be amazed if there was an ace in the deck he wouldn’t raise with preflop, so I call. He flips over 9-7o. My hand holds up and I double up again to 5,500. Whew.In level 4 I’m back to being card dead and 4 more people have busted out at my table, including Experienced Online Tourney Player who bluffed off half his chips to Maniac with Mowhawk (who wasn’t smart enough to fold his bottom pair) and went on tilt to lose the other half. Other casualties were Loose Regular who Enjoys Sulking and Shaky Hands.I now found myself getting very short stacked at a table with about 150,000 in chips flying around. The antes have kicked in and I am not picking up any hands. Near the end of level 4 with blinds at 100-200 with a 25 ante I have been ground down to 2,600 in chips and pick up 99. As per usual, Maniac with Mowhawk raises. He makes it 900 to go. At this point, I have an M of about 5 and think about Doyle Brunson and how he says he will never let himself get so low in chips that he can’t play. He will either double up or go home, and that’s what I decide to do. I have been on the short stack all day and need to take a stand sometime. I push all my chips in and Maniac thinks for a bit then calls with AQ. An ace hits the flop and I’m done.So, that’s it. All in all, I’m pretty content with my play as I almost always got the right read on my opponents. There were a few bluffs that I didn’t see coming, but not in pots that I played. I definitely need to work on playing tables with loose aggressive calling stations. You would think it would be my forte after playing online so much, but alas no. I think it just restricts your options, which isn’t good for me. Maybe I could have made some plays without a real hand to stay alive, but it really felt like it would be suicide doing that at a with essentially four loose aggressive calling stations (2 on my left, 2 on my right).I am having dinner with some fellow FCPers tonight and maybe they can tell me where I went wrong. As far as I know, they’re all still in the tournament, so I will be rooting for them from the rail on Day 2.Until tomorrow…

[XX44466XX 0]

Thanks for sharing C.

[Vatche 0]

nice recap cf, sorry you went busto.

[gatortom64 1]

Nice read. Thanks for the perspective and reasoning as to why you did what you did.

[mosley 0]

thanks for the report, sounds like you picked up some good experience at the very least.

[Theraflu 1,035]

that aces hand...i hope you were right.

[Dratj 0]

I think you shoud have called the all in with your rockets. I have a feeling you were up against AK. KK probably would have pushed all in preflop. And it's 4th raise means Aces from "The little green book" by Phil Gordon.

[ForRealDD 0]

that aces hand...i hope you were right.

Slightly painful, but good read....

[socalpoker_j 1]

Thanks for the hands you discussed and the glimpse into your WSOP 2006, it is much appreciated.

[chrozzo 19]

sounds like you ahd an awesome time...im sure you learned a lot and will be more prepared next time you play there

[Royal_Tour 0]

nice read cfinn,i cant believe you threw away aces on that board, he is screaming AK

[EStormOk 0]

Don't second guess yourself to much on the hand you mucked your aces. If you doubt yourself to much, you might make the opposite play next time, and it will almost always be wrong. Trust your reads and be proud you made it. I really enjoyed your post, it was very well written. Enjoy the rest of your trip. Soak up the experience so you can be the returning veteran next year.

[sixhands 0]

Thanks cfinn, this is by far one of the best recaps we have all read in a long time.Sorry you busted out but it seems like you played well.Good Luck next year.

[Muck, You Suckers! 0]

LMFAO And, you're the over-analyzing player that went bust while paying too much attention to meaningless BS.You need table experience, and not just internet daily.

[playingtowin 0]

Your AA hand, why did you reraise from 650 to 1500, why not more? Your thinking?? Especially if you say that Young Gun is a very good player IYO and that he would put you on AA...???

[Kuge 0]

Was the guy on seat 7 Marcos Lechman? aka: Premier on PS...it sounds like you described premier in seat 7.

[neblon 0]

K.I.S.S. just play Poker, unless you're writing a book or something along those linesedit; Just took a look at your blog, I understand your take now. good luck

[Thriceknurd 0]

Good read. Now about your AA hand it's very possible that your opponent put you on QQ as well. Check raising all in can easily get you off that hand if your opponent missed the flop and that was his read. I'm SO curious as to what you were up against. Wish you were shown just like when you layed down JJ which was an awesome laydown btw. Anywho... good read.

[cen 0]

Folding Aces on a King high flop!!! WTF!

[Painter567 0]

nice read cfinn,i cant believe you threw away aces on that board, he is screaming AK

QFT!~

[nutzbuster 7]

Nice post finnn. Sounds like my table, we lasted about the same amount of time.We'll only get better from here!

[mhoward29 0]

nice read cfinn,i cant believe you threw away aces on that board, he is screaming AK

[HLS2k6 0]

I've really enjoyed your updates Carol, and I hope they'll keep coming for the remainder of your trip. Great job in your first ME.

[gilbertology 0]

Sorry about the knockout cfinn, I hope you have fun the rest of your time there. Great blog today, I might be the only one to say this but I think you were right about laying down your AA based on the way you described the other guy's play. Everyone has told me to always trust your gut, and you did in this case. I wish you had asked the kid after you busted what he had, it was definitely either AK or KK, maybe he could've whispered it to you. Preflop maybe you could've raised a bit more to like 2k, but of course its easy to say that in retrospect. If he was a good player he wouldn't go all-in with KK preflop against your reraise, especially with blinds still low. The way he played it fits in well with KK, but also AK, since he was priced into calling preflop. Postflop, if he was good it doesn't make sense for him to checkraise all-in with AK there unless he really read you as someone who would fold aces on that board. Any worse hand you could've had, mainly QQ, he already had beat so why go all-in when he knows you'll fold QQ but probably call with AA? The way he played he had to have kings, or just read you so well that he really thought he could get you to laydown aces, assuming he was a solid player like you said. Anyway, you probly dont want to here about that hand much anymore, lol. You still represented FCP well and this experience has probly helped your game improve even more.

[XX44466XX 0]

Sorry about the knockout cfinn, I hope you have fun the rest of your time there. Great blog today, I might be the only one to say this but I think you were right about laying down your AA based on the way you described the other guy's play. Everyone has told me to always trust your gut, and you did in this case. I wish you had asked the kid after you busted what he had, it was definitely either AK or KK, maybe he could've whispered it to you. Preflop maybe you could've raised a bit more to like 2k, but of course its easy to say that in retrospect. If he was a good player he wouldn't go all-in with KK preflop against your reraise, especially with blinds still low. The way he played it fits in well with KK, but also AK, since he was priced into calling preflop. Postflop, if he was good it doesn't make sense for him to checkraise all-in with AK there unless he really read you as someone who would fold aces on that board. Any worse hand you could've had, mainly QQ, he already had beat so why go all-in when he knows you'll fold QQ but probably call with AA? The way he played he had to have kings, or just read you so well that he really thought he could get you to laydown aces, assuming he was a solid player like you said. Anyway, you probly dont want to here about that hand much anymore, lol. You still represented FCP well and this experience has probly helped your game improve even more.

You are the cutest little puppy ever.