The Summer Wind - A WSOP Trip Report …… and beyond!
Don’t ask me why I chose the title of an old Sinatra song to be the title for this year’s trip report, i have no idea, i
GL Tony
and GL Europe
GL! I hope you run like the sun!
(It's difficult for me to be an American right now, but I can't cheer against the U.S. Ryder Cup team!)
Trump’s gonna need to pick himself for the Saturday games!
Euros looked good today. Guess this is the Ryder Cup thread, I haven't seen one anywhere else.
Borgata Big Big Buy-In Series
Post Game
November and December could potentially be Borgata - Hard Rock - Wynn. Dates are out for Borgata and full schedules are out for the other two. They go back to back to back with no days in between. Not sure exactly how I’ll manage it yet but will figure something out.
Thinking about playing the $600 TORSE and 2-7 Triple at the Hollywood Hard Rock in November- it'd be my first time playing either format, but reading this thread has made me excited to fire a couple bullets.
Thinking about playing the $600 TORSE and 2-7 Triple at the Hollywood Hard Rock in November- it'd be my first time playing either format, but reading this thread has made me excited to fire a couple bullets.
Cool. I’ll probably be there as well. Perfect place to play those tournaments for the first time. Very well run with good structures and good dealers.
WSOP-C Thunder Valley
Day One - Friday September 26th
Loooooooong travel day. I guess I didn’t fully realize that it’s further away than Vegas or L.A.
6am wake up call. I was able to watch the first hour of the golf at home before heading to the airport.
Medellin - Houston - Sacramento with United.
I was able to charm an exit row seat out of the check-in girl for my first flight but they couldn’t assign me a seat for the connection for some reason.
The flight from Medellin was only half full so had an empty middle seat next to me. Running good already [emoji3]
Unfortunate 5 hour layover in Houston though, but it did allow me to catch the last hour of the golf and what a first day for Europe. [emoji3] [emoji1099]
I knew them not being able to assign me a seat earlier for the 2nd leg of the trip would be problematic. I end up with a middle seat on a full flight. [emoji30]
Finally arrived in Sacramento and the casino was nice enough to send a black town car for me. It took about 30 minutes from the airport to the casino.
The casino looks to be in the middle of nowhere but it’s dark so will have to assess in daylight.
They gave me a twin room but it’s nice enough and seems new.
A quick look on wiki tells me this place opened in 2003 so I’m guessing they recently renovated the rooms.
On Deck
04:10 [emoji30] Ryder Cup Day 2
10:00 Final flight of the $400 NLH opener
WSOP-C Thunder Valley
Day Two - Saturday September 27th
My 4am alarm wakes me and I turn the TV on to watch day two of the Ryder Cup which turns out to be another day of complete domination by Europe.
When the sun comes up I look out of the window and it’s confirmed, I am indeed in the middle of nowhere.
After the morning foursomes conclude I head down to the casino to sort my players card out and then find a 24/7 cafe for breakfast. Every casino should have such a place and they should serve the full menu around the clock too, which they do here. Not being much of a breakfast person I opt for the grilled salmon which is nothing special, standard cafe food.
I go for an on-time arrival at 10am for the final flight of the $400 NLH Opener.
The poker room is quite large and spacious with the tournament area connected to it in a L shape.
Seems like I’m being dealt a suited Ace every hand but my opens are getting 3-bet and I can’t connect with any flops. 20k starting stack down to 10k in short order.
I then get a suited AK and 3-bet someone else’s open. Villain calls.
Flop: A-T-8
Villain donk leads for pot.
I push all-in and he quickly calls and shows T-8 for two pair.
I don’t improve and we’ve blanked a bullet in record time before the 1st level has even finished.
I take a 5 minute walk round the casino before firing again. It’s only one re-entry per flight so better make this one count.
I chip up to 32k at the 1st break and 85k at the 2nd break and the end of late reg.
Shortly after we come back from break I open KK and get two callers before a 3rd villain 3-bets. I 4-bet for about half my stack folding out the callers before villain goes all-in. Stacks are very similar, he just has me covered.
I should add that this is a new table after my original table got broken so I haven’t seen much if this villain. There’s a good chance it’s AA of course but with half my stack already in and not much more info to go on I can’t fold.
Sure enough:
Nice hand. GG.
…….. but wait a minute. The poker gods are good and kind and are smiling on us:
What’s that I see? A King on the turn you say?
I don’t think I’ve put a bad beat on someone like this since 2005. Must have been due. Now we have this much:
The tournament format is that 15% make the money but only 10% advance to day two. Seems reasonable. I like it. So this is the tournament situation on break at the end of level 12. We have 160k.
Had a couple of interesting spots not long after the KK double up. I think I played them okay but as I’m not a two-card expert would be interested to hear opinions.
Playing 1.5k / 3k / 3k
I open for 7k with AK from the hijack and the BB defends.
Flop: A-6-4r
Villain checks, I bet 6k, villain calls.
Turn: K (now two diamonds on board)
Villain checks. I bet 12k, villain calls.
River: 8 (completes the diamond flush.
Villain donk leads for 40k
I go into the tank.
Both my cards are black so no blockers. The Ace on the board is not the diamond. As played I think Ax both diamonds is a credible hand for the villain. I do a Negreanu and tell him I think he has Ax diamond trying to get a read. He doesn’t respond and is not giving any tells. I haven’t seen him get out of line prior to this. I eventually let my top two go and say nice hand. He doesn’t show.
The other spot still plying the same level:
I open to 7k with QJs from middle position and both blinds defend.
Flop: Q-T-6
Checked to me I continue for 12k and both blinds call.
Turn: K
Checked to me and I check it back.
River: 3 (completed a runner-runner club flush)
SB checks, BB bets 35k
(The BB is the big chip leader at the table)
BB has been using his stack to bully and is a good player. He’s certainly capable of trying to steal it here but I don’t think so and I’m in a bad position with SB still left to act after me so o think it’s an easy fold.
SB calls.
SB had been playing it cute with a flopped set of sixes but BB made a flush on the river (don’t remember his exact two cards) so I give myself a little pat on the back for losing the minimum here.
The money bubble bursts after only 1 hand of hand for hand and then we get rid of the other 23 players needed to get down to 10% and bag in record time.
After the dust is settled we bagged a slightly below average for the flight 198k
And it’s only 6:30pm and we’re done for the day which is just what the doctor ordered after getting up at 4am after only 4 hours sleep.
Watching the Bama - Georgia game in the room as I write this. I have Alabama money line that I bet live early in the game. Hopefully they can hang on. Roll Tide.
Re-start tomorrow at 10am.
Huge Georgia fan. It sucks that Saban, and apparently Deboer also, completely owns our soul.
For the AK hand, I probably call river. But I also pay off too much. If you were listening to my advice, about playing for the fish, and not giving in to any resistance, it’s fine. I might have cbet the flop a greater percentage of pot.
Maybe you could have bluff-caught with maybe the best hand. But also maybe you were beat, and then couldn’t have rode that stack to a healthy bag!
…Which is all that matters, at the end of the day.
Good luck on Day 2!
Don’t be afraid to flip for large portions of your stack. With the structure, you may have to. Embrace the gambollllll!!!
With the ask hand I probably fold there too but it’s a horrible spot.
but I think your turn bet has to be a lot bigger - I’d be going 80% pot there I think?
Playing 1.5k / 3k / 3k
I open for 7k with AK from the hijack and the BB defends.
Flop: A-6-4r
Villain checks, I bet 6k, villain calls.
Turn: K (now two diamonds on board)
Villain checks. I bet 12k, villain calls.
River: 8 (completes the diamond flush)
Villain donk leads for 40k
After the dust is settled we bagged a slightly below average for the flight 198k
Well done on bagging 😀
-----
As 'feel wrath' said above, I think you are betting a bit too small here. Let us go through the pot sizes on each street.
Flop (18,500): A-6-4 r
You bet 6k, that seems fine, He probably doesn't have a ton of Ax and we would like 6x and 4x and hands like 75 and 85s with a backdoor or similar to continue.
Turn (30,500): Kd (two diamonds out)
With another 'overcard' out there, we are no longer concerned with getting value from marginal hands. Hands like 67, 45 or Q6 is not going to call once more anyway. So we should probably shift focus to get paid by his Ax and good draws. I could see betting 25k here, although I am sure I have done the same mistake as you in the heat of the moment and gone too small here.
River (44,500): 8d
Ugly spot when he bets almost full pot, but you probably made a good fold. Well done on checking which diamond combos were available, as it makes a huge difference in this spot.
Congrats on a strong day. Good luck today!
Thanks for the feedback guys. Agree bet sizing on the turn with the AK could have been bigger. Bet sizing not normally a variable I have to worry about playing fixed limit mixed games lol! And I guess because of that I tend to favor a more small-ball style when I do play big bet games.
TJ - I did have your advice in mind all day. I guess in golf parlance it was my key swing thought and it stood me in good stead. I made some other big laydowns during the day that I didn't mention in the write-up but it made sense because the field was super soft early so not hard to find easier spots when getting played back at. Why poke the bears when there are plenty of lambs to slaughter?
looking like 'to retain' might end up being an important part of that RyderCup bet
but I think your turn bet has to be a lot bigger - I’d be going 80% pot there I think? He most likely has a draw or a worse two pair so charge the **** out of him
As 'feel wrath' said above, I think you are betting a bit too small here. Let us go through the pot sizes on each street.
love the concept of a binary aka polarizing wager
your future street decisions were made the moment you offered it to be booked
almost a sick backdoor cover on the RC bet
WSOP-C Thunder Valley
Day Three - Sunday September 28th
The golf didn’t start until 9am today so I could have a lie in.
not so fast my friend
There’s a NFL game in Ireland at 6:30am! [emoji30]
We go with the Steelers and despite Mike Tomlin’s ineptitude they somehow manage to hang on for the win.
Breakfast in the cafe again.
We re-start the opener and I’m card dead. I ante away for about 5 rounds. The only hand I played I doubled up a short-stack with A-Ts < Q-Q so now I’m short and make my stand with 8–8 and get called by A-K. A King on the flop sees me heading to the payout window. 86th place for $943.
I go back up to the room to watch the golf and NFL until the Omaha 8 starts at 3pm.
The usual mixed game faces are out in force today including Ari Engel, Allen Kessler, Frankie O’Dell, Shirley Rosario and Norman Chad.
Everything is going according to plan early. We maneuver the 25k starting stack up to 30k at the 1st break and 58k on the 2nd break and the end of late reg.
Not so fast my friend
An absolute awful next two hours leaves us with only 16k at the end of level 12 going back to 4k - 8k limits. Only 2 big bets. Why does it always have to be the hard way?
The only good thing in our favor is that if you’re going to be short stacked then this is probably the best game to be short in. I find a double with 2336 making a set of threes and using the 2-6 for low to scoop and all of a sudden I start accumulating chips again.
The money bubble comes and goes and we make it without any drama. I’m actually sad it didn’t last longer as I picked up a lot of chips around the bubble and got a couple of bluffs through.
We deserve a last level beer tonight.
I almost win a big pot on the last hand of the night. We both have the wheel and a flush draw but im free-rolling as mine is bigger. Alas it doesn’t come and we chop.
Another day another bag.
We did a re-draw at two tables so we’ll keep the same tables and seats for tomorrow as follows:
Tournament situation. Re-start at 12pm
Another day, another bag!
Great job, good luck on Day 2!!!
WSOP-C Thunder Valley
Day Four - Monday September 29th
Part One
With no early morning sport to keep us occupied I finally got to go outside and get my morning swim.
Had the pool all to myself! [emoji3]
A high noon re-start in the Omaha 8 and we make the final table of 10 after about 20 minutes of play. I’m one of the shortest stacks, so nothing new there!
We take a break at the end of level 19 to race off the 1k chips. I’m down to 100k and the shortest stack. Been very card dead. Only played 1 hand, AAK6 and couldn’t improve on the pair of aces. Villain made two pair on the river with no low possible. Going back to 20k - 40k limits.
I get a double with AKKQ making top two pair, aces and kings and getting called by aces and eights, no low possible.
A couple of hands later I win another one with A56T making a flush and A5 low.
Level 21: 30k - 60k limits
I have 300k. Average is 350k. 7 players remaining.
I win a pot with AKQ4 making broadway and get paid by top two, no low possible.
Down to 4 players now. We have 400k
Level 25: 80k - 160k limits
3 players remaining. The overnight chip leader, Ben Primus, was eliminated in 4th.
One guy, Adam Kipnis who is a mixed game player from L.A. has all the chips. Looks like it’s between me and the other guy (Doug Lockwood) for 2nd place.
We’re the stack on the right here:
We eliminate Doug to get heads up. AIPF our KK53 holds against his A568.
We’ll start the heads-up battle out-chipped 600k to 1.9 million.
I didn’t make any notes as there’s not really any time to when playing heads up but I slowly clawed my way back to level in chips and then pushed ahead.
When I had the lead I chopped away at him and applied lots of pressure, betting whenever I thought he was weak, regardless of what I had.
I had him down to about 700k when we played a big pot. I had top set on the turn with no low possible and he called my bet. There were two flush draws on board. One of them came on the river and he led out. I had to pay him off (he had the flush) and we were back to level again [emoji30]
At this point I had visions of another 3 hour heads-up marathon like at Hard Rock.
Back to chopping away and I soon had the advantage again. I made a flush and a low when he had a set of threes and got paid off to leave him really short.
He made a stand with AKKJ and I called with QQ82. It would prove to be the final hand:
Ship it!
Pppprrrreeeccciiiooouussssssss
Now we has two of them.
One for each of us.
Yyyyeeeeeeessssssss
Pppprrrrreeeeccciiioouuussssss
Oh, and looks like we’re going to the Bahamas as well [emoji3] [emoji2520]
Brilliant! Well done. You are crushing
What event is the ticket for?
Shorty to shipin it. Great job
