Vegas October 2021 (WSOP)

Day 14 - NLH at Aria

Last Updated: 2021-10-22 02:03:49

Usual start to the day, just Starbucks for breakfast. Patrick and I bought into the tournament around 9:30 I think, thankfully got different tables. I get the one seat. Ugh.

I went up and showered and headed back down in time for cards getting in the air.

First half hour or so I was winning a bunch of small pots. Generally I'd flop top or second pair, lead out and take the pot. I did once raise out preflop with pocket 4s, flop came 7-4-8 but 3 hearts. I wasn't going to mess around, bet about 2/3 pot and the other person folded.

Second half hour was exactly the opposite, missed everything, couldn't hit a flop, had to give up every pot I tried to play. Before I knew it I was down around 20k from my 25k starting stack.

It got worse.

Raise out with pocket 9s, one caller in the big blind. Flop 10-3-4, great flop for 9s, I bet about 2/3 pot. They call. Turn a queen, check around, river an ace. He leads out for 4k, I'd seen him be aggressive on the river so I call ... and he rolls over A-Q. Of course he does. I'm down to half a starting stack. I should have saved 4k there probably.

Next hand Q-10 offsuit I limp in after others limp, flop 6-9-J. I lead out with my open ender, get one caller. Jack on the turn, he goes all in, I'm done with the hand. 10k now.

Back to back hands I get kings and aces. I make a standard raise, get no action, just blinds. Sheesh...

13,700 at the first break.

I'm in the big blind and someone early to act who usually raised 2.5 to 3 times the big blind only makes it 1400 to go at 300/600/600. It folds around to me and I decide he probably really is weak, and I'm pretty sure the reshove chart blesses an all-in with ~20 BBs with A-2 suited so I go all in and he folds.

Blinds go up a hand or two later and I'm down around 17 bigs now. Steal some more blinds with A-J off.

A tight-ish player makes it 2000 to go at 400/800/800 and I have pocket fives. All my chips go in, he calls, he has A-Q off. He gets no help, I hit a 5 on the river for a set and double up.

To my loyal readers, he's an example of something never to do at a poker table...

I look down at 9-7 suited in the hijack seat (2 before the button) and raise out probably to 2000. The button, who defended his blinds and his buttons almost 100%, is the only caller. Flop comes A-9-5.

So ... I'm probably going to continuation bet here anyway, but I'm not 100%. This guy is probably calling me with any two cards preflop because he defends incessantly. But the ace doesn't thrill me in that spot. I look at my chips trying to decide whether to c-bet, much less how much ... and as soon as I look at my chips he picks up his cards to fold them.

OK. Gee, I'll make it 3500 to go. He predictably folds.

Look, I can't tell you how many times I see someone start counting out their chips and hold my cards up to fold once it is clear they are going to bet some amount after the flop. Because they're clearly going to make a bet that I'm never, ever calling. But I never announce to the other person before they actually display that they're going to make a bet that I'm folding.

If that guy had just sat on his hands there's a chance he could have gotten a free card. Probably not ... but maybe.

Blinds up to 600/1200/1200, I make it 3000 to go with 9-10 suited. One caller, flop 10-high, bet 4500 and take it down. Easy game...

Super tight woman who folks at my end of the table were commenting on the fact that she had a decent chip stack without ever getting to showdown until a few hands ago when she got all in preflop with aces and won.

She leads out for 3000 or so and I look down at A-K. All the chips go in and she rolls over her aces. Argh!

Flop Q-5-J.

5 on the turn...

10 on the river. Ship it! I crack aces with A-K. Ooops.

That set me up for quite a while as you can imagine. Oh and the dealer missed the straight and I didn't realize he was counting my chips to make sure she had me covered (she easily did, didn't need a count for that...) until he started pushing my chips the other way and other folks started yelling.

64k at the break.

Since the weather has been so beautiful but not quite pool weather, Joann has just been sitting in a chair just outside the poker room just outside the hotel reading and, since wifi works, doing things on her tablet much of the time while I play at Aria. I go outside on breaks to chat with her.

Oh and Angus had his hernia surgery today. So Joann has also been getting updates (surgery went perfectly, but he woke up coughing like crazy so they're keeping him overnight to make sure he doesn't pop any stitches!) and been on the phone while I've been playing. So that's my chance for her to catch me up.

Anyway ... I spend my 10-12 mins with Joann, head back in, and who is walking out the same double-doors I'm walking in through but Mr. Mike Tyson. Only in Vegas...

Shortly after the break I look down at 10-10 with blinds 1000/1500/1500 and make it 4000 to go. A short stack goes all in, I snap call, he has 4s, board runs out no help for him and a straight for me.

Monster stack (the guy who made the oddly small bet I went over the top of) makes it 3500 to go early to act and I look down at A-Q off in the small blind I believe. I call, big blind folds.

Flop comes 5-J-Q all diamonds and lookee there I have the ace of diamonds. I'm never getting away from this hand. I check, he makes it 2500 to go, I check raise to 6500. He thinks a bit and folds. I've built my stack up to around 95K.

Then the last real highlight of my day, unfortunately.

I'm in the big blind, 1500/2500/2500, the small blind calls (older guy who replaced the woman whose aces I cracked, she never recovered and had busted) and I look down at 7-4 off. I knock.

Flop 7-3-J. He leads out, I'm not folding middle pair in this spot for a flop bet, I call.

Turn is a king and a second club. He quickly checks and I make it 5500 to go thinking I'm probably going to take the pot down with any bet.

He tanks a while and eventually calls.

River is an offsuit queen. He immediately checks.

I make it 10,500 to go. 2/3 of his remaining stack. He tanks for a long, long time. Counts his chips over and over. At this point I'm convinced he has some kind of jack. Eventually he folds. Whew!

A couple hands later I look down at aces for the second time! All I get is blinds for them ... again ... ugh ...

My table breaks up. There are 70 players remaining and we're paying 35. I'm a little under average stack. I'm in pretty good shape.

Unfortunately for me I go pretty card dead from that point on, which is not good close to the money. I steal blinds now and then, but it's all I can do to maintain my stack in the 95-115K range while the blinds keep going up. I go from a 30 BB stack to a 25 BB stack to a sub 20 BB stack while my stack stays in that range but the blinds just keep going up on me. I get to the next break at 112,500. Make that 113,000 after I win the 500 chip race.

Come back from break in the big blind at 2000/4000/4000 and someone min-raises, I call with suited connectors. But whiff the flop, then go a full orbit without a playable hand and give up blinds again when my blind hands are 6-3 suited and 6-2 offsuit ... and just like that I've lost 24,000 out of my 113,000 stack.

89K and blinds go up to 3000/5000/5000.

21 from the money...

A short stack goes all in, I go over the top all in with fishhooks (pocket jacks). He has just Jack-Ten. I have him crushed...

K-Q-10 flop, 9 on the turn but three hearts and I have Jh ... queen of diamonds on the river, chop it up. GRRRR.

18 from the money.

Then 14 from the money.

Blinds up to 3000/6000/6000 and I'm sitting on 84k. Just 14 bigs.

Similar stack goes all in, I look down at A-Q off in the big blind, I snap go all-in. He has 77, I get no help, I'm crippled down to 9k and in the small blind.

With 1/3 of my stack already in the pot and crippled I'm played whatever two cards I get, someone raises to 11k, I push my chips in, everyone folds, he has QQ. I turn over my cards to see I have 9-3. He flops a Q, out. 14 from the money.

I got incredibly lucky cracking aces with A-K, but I got incredibly unlucky close to the money. Card dead, karma showed up to have me chop a pot with J-J vs J-T (at least I didn't lose :-) ), couldn't win a final flip. Either of those two hands sets me up for a cash, neither went my way.

Patrick had busted out a few hours earlier than me, so Joann, Patrick, Dyan and myself went and had pizza for dinner at NYNY and gelato at Eataly for dessert.

Patrick is done with poker for this trip, he and Dyan have lots of plans for their Friday and Saturday.

I, however, am not done. I will be playing the seniors on Friday at Aria, had to get this BLOG done Thursday night since I'm going to have a real short morning with a 10am start. Gotta get those seniors to bed at a decent hour!