 Vegas June 2025 (WSOP Part 1) |
| Day 2 - Aria HORSE, WSOP daily DS |
| Last Updated: 2025-06-18 21:54:31 |
| Not a bad first day of poker for me...
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| Starbucks for breakfast, wrote up my first BLOG and on to HORSE at Aria only a few minutes late. 30,000 starting chips, randomly selected starting game was 7-Card Stud (high only).
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| Not much going on through Stud and Stud 8/b, first hand of limit hold'em I pick up is pocket aces! I'm under the gun, I raise out, everyone folds. Can't even get action from the big blind!
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| Next hand pick up A-2 suited, now I'm in the big blind and call a raise and end up winning a small-ish pot with my lucky, rivered straight.
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| No cards in Omaha 8/b, but then I win 6 of the 8 hands of Razz we play (the rotation is every 8th hand we change games) but again no big pots, just mostly antes, "bring-ins" and the occasional 3rd street call that turned into a 4th street fold by my opponent. And one of the hands I lost I started out great through 4th street but then go face card, face card and have to pitch it.
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| Bottom line I couldn't get paid off for my good and big hands.
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| 30,500 chips up from a 30,000 starting stack at the first break.
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| The first big pot I lost in the tournament came shortly after the break. I started out in a Stud hand with QQK with the QQs down. I raised out, had one caller. He paired his door card, which was a jack, on 5th street and bet into me but then I paired my king on 6th street and quickly led out.
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| Pairing the door card is very significant in 7-Card Stud. Generally if you are playing against competent players most of the hands you are going to play should have a pair to start out. If you assume that 100% of the time your opponents play a hand they have a pair then 2/3 of the time the card you can see is involved in the pair.
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| By extension that means if they pair the card they started out with later in the hand, and you assume they started out with some kind of a pair then 2/3 of the time that means they just hit 3 of a kind. As such, you always fear your opponent pairing the door card!
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| Well, long story short when he paired his door card jack I decided if he had a pair of jacks at the beginning of the hand he would have re-raised so I definitely did not put him on a set at that time.
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| When I then paired my king door card he was absolutely convinced I hit a set. I bet out on that street and quickly bet out after the rivers were dealt. He went long into the tank, went on about how I must have 3 kings, openly told me he had aces up (so AAJJ based on the two jacks I could see), started to fold his better two pair ... but made a "fuck it call" and won the pretty big pot against my KKQQ.
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| But I worked my way back up to 34,500 heading into the second break.
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| All went to hell after that tho in Omaha 8/b. One hand I had a nut flush/second nut low draw on teh flop and missed everything for a good chunk of my stack, then flopped three pair with only one low card on the board but the board ran out low-low and the other guy rivered a gutshot A-5 straight to scoop with the nut low (if the river was a blank I scoop).
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| I was crippled, I did win a razz pot to double up my tiny stack, but then started with a face card every hand and basically got anted out of the tournament because I couldn't play a hand. The hand I played my last 1500 chips in (with antes and bring-ins 500 chips) I actually picked up a flush draw in a 4-way pot, missed the flush and had the only pair (aces!) of the four of us ... but the guy next to me rivered a flush and I was out.
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| I had no intention of playing in the early afternoon WSOP daily deepstack side tournaments because the format just turns into an all-in fest before you even get to the money because the blinds go up so much so quickly.
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| But ... I'm here to play poker, and I've got plenty of time to walk over and late-reg in.
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| This new system with the WSOP is really cool! As I'm walking into the Horseshoe I bring up the app and buy into the tournament. I know where they run the dailies so I go up the two escalators, the app tells me I'm next to be seated as I walk into the room. Then it pops up with a table number and seat number.
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| Bluffed at a pot, got very little for pocket kings and after the only two levels (for me) before the first break I was down to 26,500 from a 30k starting stack.
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| A few levels after the break tho I go on a bit of a tear.
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| Folds around to me on the button, I go all in with 33 hoping to steal the blinds (I did say this was a fast structure, you can't just sit around!!) but the big blind shorter stack woke up with A-J offsuit and quickly calls. 33 holds up and I'm at 36k with blinds at 1000/1500/1500.
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| Shortly after I pick up JJ, 44 goes all in ahead of me and JJ holds up (we both caught diamond flushes) and I almost double up to 56k with the average stack 53k.
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| Sweet!
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| Still in that same level I made it 4000 to go with A-J and we see a flop 4-handed. Q-high, it checks around. Turn is a jack, I lead out, only one caller. River a blank, I'm worried he's got a Q with a bad kicker and would call any bet so I check down the blank river but beat his J-T.
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| 71k at the next break with the average now only 55k. I'm in great shape!
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| At this point there is no more registration, and because the format is so fast people start busting out at a rapid pace. My table broke up, and I got moved to a table that was second in line to be broken up. At that time I was about to be the big blind, and with blinds at 2000/4000/4000 I'm about to lose 10,000 in chips in two hands if I didn't get moved.
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| Go to the next table, but people are busting out so fast I would get moved again without paying the blinds. But ... before that happened I raised out second or third to act with A-T offsuit. It folded around to the small blind who had not seen that I had raised, and he went all in trying to steal the big blind ... ooops! He started to muck his hand, people stopped him, he obviously could not be very strong ... so I quickly called and my A-T held up against his A-4 and I got a full double up! For the record the dealer had clearly announced that I had made it 10k to go.
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| Sometimes you just gotta get lucky!
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| I win a coin flip against someone with half my now 134k stack (KQ vs 88, flop a Q), so stack up to 227k!
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| At that point two things happened. I again get saved from blinds getting moved finally to a table that I assumed (correctly) was one of the final three tables so I wasn't moving again for a while. The second thing was that we were very close to the money. They announce that we are one from the money and dealers should finish the hand they are on and stop so they can do a count. Well the count was correct, but in that hand at one table one more person busted out and we did not have to go hand-for-hand!
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| $800 guaranteed for my $400 buyin. 57 remaining out of 374 that started, but I have to outlast 20 people just for another $40, and then 9 more for another $131 on top of that. I'd have to be in the final 14 to get a full triple of my original buyin. Long way to go to get significant additional money!
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| And blinds are huge...
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| Get in again with KQ suited and run into KQ offsuit. I did turn a flush draw for a freeroll, you all know I love a good freeroll but no club on the river.
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| Go against the same guy, this time I go all-in first with Q-J suited, he's big blind and bigger stack and he calls with A-T off. He flops a 10 but two hearts, turn is the Ace of hearts giving him two pair but me the flush and the river is a blank.
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| 355k in chips!
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| Same guy again goes all in for about 160k. Big stack to my right just calls, I snap all-in with pocket 10s. Everyone folds, including the caller who later said he had 7s. Other guy only had 43 suited(!), he did catch a 4 on the turn but the board was paired so only another 4 would help him and the river was a blank.
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| Just like that I'm at 645k with the average stack at 400k. I'm among the chip leaders for sure!
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| We get down to the final three tables and a new rule comes into effect. At the final three tables no electronics whatsoever. I can't take notes, can't message Joann.
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| Total radio silence!
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| But ... doesn't matter. For the rest of my tournament I never played another significant pot. Went all in a few times just to keep my stack in the 500-650k range but nobody was calling me so on one hand I maintained my stack but on the other hand my stack wasn't going up. Blinds went up to 40000/80000/80000 while I was at 500k. 40% of my stack in blinds and antes next time I have to pay the blinds.
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| We get down to two tables so only 18 left and I've gotten through the first couple of money bumps!
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| I finally lost a flip, small pair vs and ace with another card bigger than my pair that I don't remember. Crippled down to 120k I just went all in before I had to pay the blind with J-T suited in a 3-way pot (someone else also in with a little more than me) vs KQ and T-6. Q on the flop, J on the turn to give me hope, blank on the river and I was done 17th out of 374 for almost triple my original buyin.
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| What a first day!
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| As I'm typing this last sentence today's NLH tournament at MGM Grand is just starting, and now I have to decide how late I'm willing to buy in if I want to have any kind of breakfast first. I don't really have a lot of other great options today so it's pretty much that tournament or nothing (and nothing is not an option! :-) ) |
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