Fowldogg finally plays the WSOP

Also, for those wondering, we'll be staying at Caesars Palace this trip.

The original plan was Aria. However, for the five nights I needed, they wanted close to $500. I thought that was pretty bizarre considering the amount of table game action I've given them over the years. Apparently my donations have not been properly appreciated.

Caesars, on the other hand, offered me a fully comped room and I only have to pay the resort fees, so that was an easy decision. I'd rather save a few hundred bucks and take a couple bigger shots in some tournaments. That's called bankroll management, or at least that's what I'm telling my wife.

For those who don't know, I usually play up in Blackhawk and tend to do pretty well. I consider myself much more of a tournament player than a cash game player. My style is pretty loose-aggressive. All gas, no brakes, baby.

That said, despite what my opponents may tell you, there is actually some thought process involved. I usually get a pretty good read on people and know when to pump the brakes against your classic OMC who's only putting chips in the pot when he's got aces, kings, or the nuts.

For example, I played a tournament a couple weeks ago. We were still in the early levels and everyone was about 100 big blinds deep.

I look down at 5♣4♣ in UTG+2 and open to 2.5x. An aggro rec who I'd been playing with for a few hours 3-bets me to 11x. The sizing felt weak, his demeanor felt weak, and the whole thing just screamed, "Please don't fight back."

So naturally, I did the most reasonable thing possible and 4-bet 5-high.

I make it 27x.

He tanks for a bit and calls.

The flop comes Q♣ 6♦ 3♥.

Not exactly a flop I'm framing and hanging on the wall, but if I'm going to get out of line, this is about as good as I could ask for. I've got an open-ended straight draw, a backdoor flush draw, and enough confidence to get myself into trouble.

I fire about 16 big blinds.

He tanks and then rips it in for about 60 more.

At this point I'm thinking, "Well, I finally found the top of his range and it's probably pocket queens."

But the pot is huge, I've got an open-ender, and I've pretty much created a situation where folding would require maturity and self-control. Unfortunately, I possess neither.

I call.

He tables K-Q offsuit.

Now listen, who am I to judge another man's preflop decisions after 4-betting 5♣4♣ from early position? But calling a 4-bet with K-Q offsuit seemed a little optimistic.

The turn is the J♣.

The river is the 8♣.

Wham. Flush.

Never a doubt.

That's basically my tournament style in a nutshell. Apply pressure, trust your reads, and occasionally get there in a way that makes everyone at the table question whether poker is actually a skill game.

The Wynn is a tricky room to peg.

The regs at the Wynn are probably the best in Vegas. Don’t ever open, if you don’t know how you’ll react to a 3bet.

But the Wynn is ALSO the room where you’re most likely to see a loaded Euro dust off thousands and thousands of dollars like it’s nothing.

Play the Wynn if you love the competition. But it’s definitely not the softest games.

This.

And it is my favorite room, but I would advise that it's incredibly challenging overall, especially for us rec/rec enthusiast and I say that as pretty experienced former reg/grinder. If you fire the tournaments you will be playing with at least 1-2, if not more players who have over 1M earnings online or on Hendon mob etc at your table at any given time, and especially in late game (in my experience in frequenting the room over the past many years during the summer).

Alright, so the game plan currently is Sunday me and B-Man are gonna head to Virgin Casino in Vegas. He's always wanted to go, and it might be a fun way to kill some time with a little $5 craps. If I somehow turn $20 into $200 there, I'm retiring before the poker even starts.

Once J-Money lands, we'll head back to Caesars and drop our bags off. Maybe we'll even get an early check-in, which I doubt, but hey, it never hurts to ask. Worst case, they look at us like every other degenerate trying to check in at noon.

After that we've gotta meet our proxy for the Circa Survivor. It's crazy how much strategy goes into a contest where the whole goal is just to survive. Basically the NFL version of "don't be the guy who takes the Panthers in Week 1."

Then we'll probably gamble and do some dumb **** for a couple hours until dinner at Bazaar. I've heard great things about it. Someone told me they were closed, but they look open to me, so hopefully that's still on.

After dinner, I think we'll head back downtown. J-Money has never experienced Fremont at night, and I honestly think that's a must for any Vegas traveler. If you've never seen a shirtless guy playing electric violin next to someone dressed as Spider-Man, have you really been to Vegas?

Then Monday the poker begins.

My plan has changed a little. I'm gonna avoid the Wynn. I agree with a lot of you guys—it's just loaded with crushers. Instead, I think I'm gonna fire the $600 Ultra Stack and give myself up to two bullets. J-Money wants to play the 2 p.m. daily deepstack, so if I go busto early, I'll just switch gears and jump into that.

I'll try to share the majority of the interesting hands and take notes throughout the trip. I can't wait.

Last trip ended up being a great gambling trip overall. At one point I was up about $8k, then I started doing dumb **** like playing $500 a hand. Naturally, I proceeded to lose three in a row before finally stopping. So I still walked away up about $6.5

Don't forget the nuns with their t*ts hanging out! As a survivor of Catholic school, this one always got me. 2-3 "girls", with a Mother Superior type leading, and maybe some leashes involved, too. Pasties were involved. Hard to lose that image.

Looking forward to more!

gl

Guys, here we are at beautiful Denver International Airport. Took an early morning Uber with B-Man. Holy cow... why are there so many people here? Security took about 35–40 minutes. I booked this flight thinking it'd be quiet, but apparently everyone else had the same idea.

Now we're at the gate waiting to board. The funny part? Somehow this flight is practically empty, yet I already know we're going to get seated with people in the only occupied row on the entire plane. It's basically a law of air travel at this point.

Next stop: Caesars. Time to see if we can run a little better than my seat assignment. [Uploading Image...]

Was on the road, didn't see this. I'm in! Have a good trip. Represent Denver for us.

Alright guys, we landed right on time and me and B Money zoomed over to Virgin Hotels. We fired up some $5 3:2 blackjack, and after about an hour B Man was up around $125 while I managed to donate about $250 to the casino. Great start. Nothing says "welcome to Vegas" like immediately reminding yourself why casinos have billion-dollar chandeliers.

After the rough start we hit their breakfast buffet. I'll give credit where it's due—the made-to-order omelet absolutely slapped. The rest of the buffet? Eh... not exactly life-changing. For $23 though, it's honestly hard to complain too much in Vegas. These days twenty-three bucks barely gets you a bottle of water and a dirty look on the Strip.

J Money lands and immediately goes, "Let me see if I can get us a room now." It's like 10 a.m. I just laughed and said, "You can try, man. You try hard." Sure enough, about ten minutes later the kid texts us: "Got one." I don't know how he does it, but somehow he always pulls it off.

With a room secured, we wandered over to Ellis Island. I proceeded to donate another $100 playing Ultimate Texas Hold'em. They have this weird bad beat side bet now that completely changes how you think about the game. The catch is you're only allowed to 3x your preflop bet, but sometimes if the board runs out just right, you actually make more money by losing the hand than winning it.

I remember looking down at pocket jacks with no clubs. The board runs out with four clubs, and I'm thinking, "Awesome... I lose." But then B Money had the 8 of clubs, and the dealer flips over the 9 of clubs on the river. Suddenly B Money loses the hand too—but because of the bad beat payout, he actually ends up making more money than if he'd just won normally.

It's such a bizarre concept. Your brain is literally rooting to lose a poker hand. Vegas somehow found a way to make you celebrate getting sucked out on.

After that we started walking over to Horseshoe to meet up with J Money and get registered for tomorrow's tournament (which, by the time you're reading this, is today). Credit where it's due—the registration process there is ridiculously easy.

this thread is awesome

Alright guys, I bought into the $600 Ultra Stack, grabbed myself some snacks and an energy drink, and we're officially ready to rock and roll.

The first interesting hand comes in Level 2. I'd actually been playing pretty disciplined up to this point—folding a lot of hands that, honestly, old me probably would've talked myself into playing.

Blinds are 200/300, seven-handed. An older gentleman opens UTG+1 to 1,100. He seems on the tighter side, but also like the kind of guy who's capable of randomly mashing buttons every once in a while. The cutoff calls, and I peel back pocket tens.

I think calling or putting in a standard 3-bet are both perfectly reasonable here. I decide to flat.

The flop comes **J-5-4** with two spades. Not a bad flop. The original raiser leads for just 1,000 into multiple players, the cutoff folds, and it's an easy call for me.

The turn is the 6♦.

Again, he fires... for only 1,000.

This sizing is just weird. I definitely considered raising, but the tiny bets almost felt like ace-high trying to get to showdown as cheaply as possible. No reason to blow the pot up, so I just smooth call.

The river is the A♥.

And then... out of nowhere... he bombs **9,000**.

Well... that's annoying.

I went into the tank for a bit, but at the end of the day this is just one of those spots where you've got to trust your instincts and find a better one. It felt way too much like A-K or A-Q that finally got there, and I just couldn't convince myself that pocket tens were good often enough.

Into the muck they go.

No hero call this time. Still plenty of poker left, and no reason to torch a stack trying to prove I'm the smartest guy in the room.

The next interesting hand comes not too long after. We're still in Level 2, blinds are 200/300, and I'm sitting around 54-55k after the slow start. Nothing to panic about, but it'd be nice to stop donating.

The action starts with this aggressive kid from the Netherlands. He had just turned 21, had a heavy accent, and definitely wasn't afraid to put chips in the middle. He opens to 800. An older gentleman on the button—who had apparently made it his personal mission to call basically everything—comes along.

I look down at the absolute monster...

4♦6♣.

Now, I think mixing in an occasional squeeze here is completely fine, but we're 200 big blinds deep. Ninety percent of the time I'm just defending my big blind, and I think that's the standard.

So I call.

The flop comes...

**5♠-7♠-3♣.**

Ladies and gentlemen...

What.

A.

Time.

To.

Be.

Alive.

I flop the absolute nuts.

The Dutch kid continuation bets 1,400. Then Mr. Call-Everything suddenly wakes up and raises it to 5,000.

Now this is a weird spot.

I tank for a bit before making it 17,000.

The Dutch kid goes into the blender before finally folding. After the hand he tells me he had pocket queens, which honestly got me thinking. Maybe just calling the flop raise is better. What are we really protecting against? A set? Sure, but there just aren't that many combinations. Raising probably folds out a lot of hands that would've kept blasting.

Either way, the older gentleman isn't going anywhere. He makes the call.

The turn is the **5♥.**

Not exactly my favorite card. Sure, he can have pocket fives, sevens, or threes every now and then, but there just aren't many combos. I still think I'm miles ahead of his range, so I fire 14,000 for value.

He calls.

The river is the **6♦.**

Not exactly the card I was hoping for. It doesn't improve my hand at all—I already had the straight I don't think he has many of those, but it's still one of those rivers that makes you go, "Really?"

After thinking it over, I decide to throw out the world's saddest value bet. I slide out one lonely 5,000 chip, basically praying this man doesn't suddenly wake up and make my life miserable.

He doesn't even think that long before making the call.

I table the straight.

He just smiles and says, "Pocket jacks."

We'll take that all day. It felt good to finally drag a decent pot and erase that rough start. Time to build.

I love this sizing against weak opponents, and often use it myself 😀 Just gotta be careful with it sometimes, as it might induce a bluffing frequency from people who otherwise don't have one. But the opponent you describe is probably just extatic about getting to showdown cheaper and will never stop to consider a raise.

Edit: I also like your 4-bet on the flop. Your line is going to look super strong no matter what you do, and by raising it at least appears like you could have a combo-draw that you are trying to play fast (two spades on the flop). Plus, if the OMC have flopped a set we obviously want to get it in against him before any scare-cards come.

Alright, now we're sitting at about 90k.

Blinds are 200/400. The button opens to 1,000, and I look down at K♦6♦ in the small blind.

Looking back, I don't love the preflop call. It's probably just a fold most of the time, but I decided to defend. The Dutch kid comes along in the big blind, so we're three ways.

The flop comes **A♦-7♦-4♣.**

Not bad at all. We've got the nut flush draw, so I'm perfectly happy seeing what develops.

I check, expecting the button to continuation bet.

Instead...

Check.

Check.

Check.

Well... that wasn't on my bingo card.

The turn is the **5♠.**

Now we're cooking. We pick up an open-ended straight draw to go with the nut flush draw, and after everyone waved the white flag on the flop, this feels like a great spot to stab.

I lead for 2,500.

The Dutch kid calls.

Google Guy gets out of the way.

The river is the **6♥.**

Well... we miss everything but back into a pair of sixes.

Now I'm sitting there wondering what the heck the Dutch kid is actually calling the turn with. If I bet, what worse hand is paying me off? It just feels like I'm value-owning myself.

So after a little tank, I check.

The Dutch kid thinks for a while too...

...and checks back.

I proudly roll over my pair of sixes.

He immediately ruins the moment by tabling **A-4** for two pair.

Damn it.

I really thought I had dragged that one after he checked back. Instead, it's just another reminder that pairing your six on the river doesn't automatically mean you've won the hand.

Alright, next one.

Blinds are up to 500/1,000, and I'm sitting on about 85k.

UTG opens to 2,600, and somehow we end up with four callers before it gets to me on the button. I peel back pocket eights.

Looking back, maybe there's an argument for squeezing here, but with this many people in the pot and getting such a good price, I think flatting to set mine is perfectly reasonable.

So we take a flop.

**K-J-4 rainbow.**

Not exactly what I ordered.

It checks all the way around to me on the button, and I decide to check it back. No reason to turn pocket eights into a bluff just yet.

The turn is...

Another **J**.

Now this is a really interesting card.

When five people check that flop, this second jack is actually a pretty good card for me to represent later. Most people are betting a king for value on the flop, and if someone had complete air, they'd usually take a stab at it too. It felt like everybody had a lot of medium-strength showdown hands that didn't love putting money in.

The cutoff finally wakes up and bets 4,500.

I just smooth call. I've already got a plan if the right river comes.

The river is the **2♣.**

About as clean of a brick as I could ask for.

The cutoff bets again, this time 7,500. For the size of the pot it felt pretty small, and after thinking it through I decided this was the spot.

I raised to 23,000.

He went deep into the tank.

Like... "please fold because I really don't want to show pocket eights here" kind of tank.

Eventually he sighs...

...and calls.

He tables **A-J**.

Well...

That is pretty much the exact hand I wasn't trying to bluff.

I still think there's merit to the bluff. I expect a lot of one-pair king-x hands to have a miserable decision facing that raise, and that's really what I was targeting. This time he just happened to have trips, and sometimes that's poker.

That one hurt in the meow meow.

Alright boys, we've hit the danger zone.

I'm sitting on about 38k. Blinds are 1,000/1,500.

A guy in middle position opens to 4,000. The button calls, and I look down at A-Q offsuit in the big blind.

Normally there's definitely an argument for squeezing here, but this guy had been **incredibly** tight. I think he'd played maybe two hands in the last three hours, so when he opens, I'm giving him a ton of credit. With that in mind, I think calling is the better play.

The flop comes...

**A-Q-5 rainbow.**

Now we're talking.

I check, the preflop raiser bets 6,000, the button folds, and I just call. Against a range this strong, I don't see much reason to blow the pot up yet.

The turn is the **2**.

I check again.

This time he sizes up to about 14,000.

Well...

This felt like my spot.

I've only got about 28k behind, and against a player this tight, I'm never folding top two here. If he's got A-K, great. If he has a set, that's just poker.

So I rip it.

He doesn't even think.

Snap call.

He rolls over...

Pocket fives.

Well...

That's about the one hand I really didn't want to see.

At least we've got outs.

Dealer?

Any ace.

Any queen.

One time.

The river...

Brick.

And just like that, we're out of the Ultra Stack.

Sometimes you flop top two against the tightest guy at the table and run into bottom set. That's tournament poker.

Always tomorrow.

Alright boys, Day C of the Ultra Stack. Let's get it.

First interesting hand comes in Level 2. Blinds are 200/300, seven-handed.

I'm UTG and look down at...

**9♠6♠.**

I open to 1,100.

I know, I know... some of you are probably shaking your heads already. But I love this hand. And before Boski took my joke and started using it, this hand was mine. It will always belong to me.

Anyways, the next guy calls. He's been a pretty straightforward Italian guy on the button, and then the nerdy long-haired guy in the big blind comes along.

Three ways to the flop.

The flop comes...

**9-8-7 with one spade.**

Hmmmm.

Honestly, I actually love this flop. Top pair, open-ended straight draw, backdoor possibilities... plenty of ways to make something happen.

It checks to me, and I decide to fire 2,100.

Only the Italian guy calls.

The turn is the **Q♦.**

He checks again.

This is an interesting spot. I can definitely bet here, but I also don't want to just start inflating the pot with a hand that has showdown value but can get uncomfortable quickly. So I decide to take the safer route and check it back.

The river is the **3♦.**

Now we have three diamonds out there, and he checks again.

I decide to go for a small value bet/bluff-catcher type bet and put out 1,500.

He snap calls.

I turn over my 9.

He shows...

**7-5 offsuit.**

Nice little pickup.

Nothing crazy, but those are the pots you love early in a tournament. Pick up some chips, keep the pressure on, and avoid getting yourself into a giant mess in Level 2.

Alright, this one hurt a little.

I'm in the small blind. Blinds are 300/600, and I'm sitting on about 80.1k.

I look down at...

**3♦4♦.**

Not exactly a hand that's going to be winning any beauty contests, but we're deep and I'm getting involved.

UTG Indian guy makes it 1,200. A new lady in the hijack calls—no real info on her yet—and I decide to come along from the small blind.

The flop comes...

**A♦-2♦-K.**

Okay, now we're talking.

We flop the nut flush draw and a gutshot straight draw. Against the UTG raiser, this is actually a pretty solid spot.

I check.

He leads for 1,500.

The lady folds.

I call.

The turn is the **A♣.**

I check again.

He bets 3,500.

Now this is where I start wondering if I should have put in a raise. I've got a ton of equity, and with the ace pairing, this could be a good spot to apply pressure. But we're deep, and I decide to just call and realize my equity.

The river is the **6♥.**

We miss.

Looking back... man, I probably should have just led the river. The ace pairing is a pretty uncomfortable card for a lot of his range, and I can definitely represent some strong hands.

Instead, I check.

He checks back.

I proudly turn over my...

**4-high.**

Not exactly the hand you want to show down in a poker tournament.

He flips over...

**8-9 offsuit.**

And somehow 9-high is good.

Feels bad, man.

Those are the ones that stick with you—not because they matter much, but because you sit there thinking, "Man, I had so many ways to win that pot."

It would have worked against his specific hand, but in reality - are you ever putting in a raise on the turn here with any value hands besides 22 or A2s?

Your value range is very narrow, as you can't really represent AK when you only called from SB. And I assume you are not going for the check-raise with a hand like.. A7 of spades for trips, now that opponent has bet twice.

Obviously against an opponent who thinks 89o is a raise from UTG, you don't need to think much about balance. But in general, Ace high boards are pretty bad for putting in bluff-raises (well, semi-bluff) in my opinion. Simply because an Ace is never folding, and against a decent opponent you might even have problems getting KQo to fold here. At least on the turn.

That said, I like that you are thinking about unconventional ways to win hands, and for that reason alone you are probably a ten times better tournament player than me. Just offering my two cents regardless, since I love hand histories 😀

The next hand was actually pretty interesting.

Quick little bit of table drama first.

Our England friend, who was sitting directly to my left, had just gotten absolutely crushed in a massive pot against the "Italian" guy... who, it turns out, was actually French. Sorry, buddy.

The English guy rivered the ace-high flush and was feeling pretty good about life.

The French guy calmly rolled over the straight flush.

About 40k changed hands, and you could practically see the life leave this poor guy's body. He definitely looked a little tilted after that one.

So literally the next hand...

Blinds are 500/1,000, and I'm sitting on about 73k.

The French guy opens UTG+1 to 2,000.

Then our England friend, fresh off the straight-flush disaster, rips his entire stack for around 40k.

It gets to me and I peel back...

Pocket tens.

Man...

I think I just have to go with it here.

Seventy-five big blinds is definitely deeper than you'd usually love getting it in with tens. I guess there's an argument for just calling and seeing what the French guy does, but with the England guy looking like he was steaming a little, I thought his jamming range could easily be wider than normal.

So...

I rip it.

The French guy quickly gets out of the way.

We table the hands.

England guy rolls over...

**A-K offsuit.**

So he wasn't punting with complete garbage. He actually woke up with a real hand.

Luckily, the poker gods were finally on my side.

The board runs clean.

The tens hold.

And just like that we're up to **105k**.

We'll take those every single time.

**Big hand alert.**

Blinds are 600/1,200, and I'm sitting on about 105k in the small blind.

UTG opens to 2,500, the young aggro kid calls, and the Mexican guy calls. I peel back **pocket queens**, and with all that dead money out there, this is an easy squeeze. I make it 14,000.

UTG quickly gets out of the way, but the aggro kid calls. Then the Mexican guy announces, "All in," for about 30k. Perfect. The shove reopens the action, and with queens there's no chance I'm going anywhere. I stick the rest in.

The aggro kid goes deep into the tank. He looks at his stack, looks back at me, shrugs, and says, "Okay... I'll gamble."

Fair enough.

We table the hands. I've got **Q-Q**, the aggro kid shows **A♣8♣**, and the Mexican guy rolls over **Q♥J♥**.

The flop comes **10-7-3 rainbow**. Beautiful.

The turn is the **9♠**, bringing a second spade. Still looking good.

Then the dealer peels off the **3♣** on the river to seal it.

The queens hold, we scoop an absolute monster, and just like that we're sitting **23rd in chips**.

Now we're cooking.

Alright, sorry guys, it's been a while. I've just been grinding a ton, but this hand was interesting and I'd love to hear what everyone thinks.

A loose, splashy Brazilian player with around **200k** opens from the lojack. I'd seen him opening a very wide range all day. I'm on the button with **A♣T♥** and about **335k**.

Against most standard opponents, I actually think I lean toward a 3-bet here. But against this guy, I figured I'd let him keep firing with his wide range, so I just flat. He opens to **16k**, I call, and the big blind comes along.

**Flop:** A♥ K♥ 8♣

BB checks, lojack bets **16k** into the field. This feels like a standard call with top pair, and the BB folds.

**Turn:** Q♥

He continues for **32k**. Again, this feels like a standard call. I still have top pair, the **T♥** blocks some flushes, and I pick up a Broadway draw with any jack.

**River:** 6♠

He thinks for a bit—not instantly, but fairly quickly—and then rips it in.

I went back and forth for a while. Against an average live tournament player, I think this is probably a fold because river jams on three-heart boards tend to be under-bluffed. But this guy had been opening an absurdly wide range and seemed capable of putting people in tough spots, so I convinced myself I had to bluff-catch here and made the call.

He tabled **9♥7♥** for the turned flush.

Curious what you guys think. Is this just a disciplined fold against population, or do you like the call given the player profile?