WPBT Summary Part 1

WPBT Summary Part 1


The tournament finished up for me at about midnight last night. I was pretty tired but of coarse I couldn’t sleep because I was still wired from poker adrenaline. I usually need at least a half hour in between playing poker and going to bed, otherwise I just replay all the hands in my head. So if I start to ramble or babble more incoherently than normal, I blame it on lack of sleep.

Overall I was pretty satisfied with my play. I don’t think made any horrible plays, and what mistakes I did make were small enough that I was able to overcome them. Here’s a breakdown of how the tournament went for me. If I reference you and don’t link back to your blog, I apologize. I’m still a relative newbie and I don’t recognize everyone. That and there’s like a bagillion poker blogs out there now and I can’t remember who goes with which blog.

I realize that by now there are probably 150 other blog posts out there about this tournament, but I don't care, I'm writing it up anyway. So here goes. Warning this is going to be long.

Round 1: 10/20 Blinds.

We got off to an explosive start as the first hand gets folded around to the big blind. We have a new chip leader as pokerlife’s stack climbs all the way to T1510. Exciting I know.

In hand number two, we get our first player eliminated as lifesagrind and DropDHammer trade raises and both end up all-in pre flop. Lifesagrinds AK lose out to DropDHammer’s AA.

I then get moved to a new table just in time to see AlCantHang’s JJ lose out to RevModPoker’s TT when Revmod spikes a ten on ther river.

At this point I’m thinking “What have I gotten myself into?” Two hands have gone by and already two people are out. I wouldn’t be surprised by all-ins on the first hand in a normal SNG, but I was expecting a little more patience here.

Round2: 15/30 Blinds

I’m still playing tighter than I should be at this point, since I figure I’m way out of league. I’m afraid to try anything fancy because these are good players I’m going against, not the people I’m used to playing online. Usually I start off pretty tight, and then loosen up and get aggressive once I win my first pot. Once I get over that hump, I start to relax and play with more confidence.


The first hand that really played I had AK and it didn’t go so well. DuggleBogey calls my preflop raise and we see a flop of 89Q. I bluff at it, but he calls me. The turn brings another 8 and I fire again. DuggleBogey reraises and I have to fold. He shows TJ for the flopped straight.

Next hand I have Kh Jc and again find myself going up against DuggleBogey. The flop is three hearts, including the ace. I bet and he calls. The turn is a club, and we both check. The river brings the fourth heart that I was looking for. I’m tempted to check raise, but afraid that he will also check so I through out a pretty small bet, which he called. Woo-hoo. I won my first decent sized pot.

A few hands later, I’m in the big blind with J9, and get four limpers from middle position. The flop is 329, and I bet 60 into a 130 pot. Anisotropy calls and the other two drop. Turn is a Jack, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to win this one. I check, and Anisotropy bets 300. I bump it to 600 and he folds. Maybe I could have gotten more chips out of this hand had I seen the river, but I was plenty happy to take this pot right there.

That last hand definitely gave me some confidence to start loosening up a bit, and it didn’t hurt that I started getting some cards. I win a small pot with AA and a big one when my AQ turns into trip aces on the flop.

Round 3: 25/50 Blinds

DuggleBogey frequently reminds the table that min raises make the baby Jesus cry. He’s crying a lot due to our table as there’s a bunch of pre-flop min raises, most of which do not get called.

Not much happens for me in this round. I don’t really get any cards. I notice that a flop of 277 is a whole lot scarier when you’re playing with a bunch of bloggers. Anyone who tries to take that pot is just asking to get knocked out.

Round 4: 50/100 Blinds.

I’m still not getting many cards. Apparently neither is anyone else as its rare that we see a flop. I win some blinds with AK and AQ when no one wants to play with me. I get bored and steal some more blinds with 56o and A7o.

On the last hand before the first break on_thg goes all in with the hammer against RevmodPoker, who I think is the chip leader at the time, if not for the whole tournament, then for our table. Revmod has big slick, and its not looking good for on_thg. The flop is no help – Q93, but the turn brings a 7 and the river is a useless jack. Behold the power of the hammer, as on_thg goes carries this momentum on and eventually wins the whole tournament.

BREAK 1.

Round 5: 75/150 Blinds

My cards go cold for a while as I do absolutely nothing for this whole round. Every hand is raised ahead of me and I have nothing worth calling with.

Round 6: 100/200 Blinds

My cards are still cold. 89o in early position is starting to look like a raising hand. I start checking bloglines to see if there are any reports from people who have already dropped. I see that Pauly cracked AA and KK in the same hand with 72. Wow.

I finally get to play a hand as it gets folded to me in middle position with K9. I raise it up and the blinds are mine.

This is the part of big tournaments that I hate. I’m basically in the middle of the pack, but the blinds are starting to take their toll. Those below me are either dropping out or doubling up and moving ahead of me. So while my chips are staying at about the same level, I’m slowly moving from the top third to the bottom third of the remaining players. We’re getting close to the money, so I’m trying to play tight and hang on, but doing that prevents me from actually gaining any chips. On the other hand, I’m hesitant to enter a pot because I’m afraid of being raised, and having to fold, leaving me crippled.

People are starting to drop fast now.

Round 7: 100/200 Blinds 25 Ante.

I start playing aggressive now. I read The Venetian’s summary of a previous WPBT event and recall him talking about playing with antes. Stealing blinds just got a whole lot more profitable, and I start to steal more than my fair share.

I’m up to 4590 and in 16th place, and I’m starting to feel really good about my chances. I think to myself that I probably shouldn’t be watching the leaderboard so much. There’s still a lot of poker to still be played.

I keep pressing and building my chip count.

Round 8: 200/400 Blinds 25 Ante.

I don’t get many cards in this round, but its ok, as my chip count is high enough that I can absorb a few orbits of antes and blinds without having to feel too much pressure to make a move.

There’s five minutes left until the second break and I’m thinking to myself, “Just don’t screw this up.” I then get dealt Ac3c in early position, and decide that since I haven’t done anything for a while, maybe I’ll try to steal some blinds and antes right here. I raise to 1200 and get called by Riddim Killa in the small blind and tobyleah in the big blind. Uh Oh, looks like I might have screwed this up. The flop is Qc Jc 4h. I have the nut flush draw and that’s about it. Riddim Killa and tobyleah both check to me, and I go all-in. I was expecting to take the pot right there, but I figured if I got called, I still hand plenty of outs. Riddim Killa calls with KT for an open ended straight draw. Both the turn and river bring me clubs, and I’ve managed to double up.

I’ve got 12280 heading into the second break and I’m in 3rd place out of the remaining 30.

BREAK 2;


To Be Continued…