Journey to $10,000 playing 1 million hands of 10nl zoom

Been busy, but I survived day 2 as well. I'm at 300,600k chips for top 10%-15% of the field for AB and C. We'll see what it is after D finishes in less than an hour. Probably have a bit above a 50%+ chance of making the money at this point given my stack depth and number of players left. Anything can happen though and I really want things to go smoothly.

What username can I use to follow you in the app? Do you plan to return to the NL10 marathon after the WSOP?

Look up Kyle Mart and you should be able to see my chip stack and other information on the WSOP live app. As for the 10NL marathon, I actually may complete that mission some day believe it or not, but there is a chance I won't. I have to be in the right mood to do that kinda thing. The way things are turning out on the geofenced in sites that I play on are just too good to resume that challenge for now. If I am to complete that challenge it would be more so for the sake of completion than anything else.

Anyways, tournament is about to start in less than 30 minutes. Super nervous, but I think I'll calm down after playing a few hands. I do have a pretty big stack, but there is a guy 2 seats over that has me covered which isn't ideal, but I just got to deal with what table I've been given. There are a lot less players with million dollars worth of cashes at this table so hopefully this table will be a bit softer than yesterday.

8/900, gogogo!

I’ll make sure to post a long thread with a bunch of hands when I’m done with the tournament. Lot’s of exciting stuff happening!

3/533, they even gave you profile pic #hotrun

I've been making posts on this other thread starting on page 34 talking about the Horseshoe.

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/ne...

I'll make sure to come back to this main blog once my trip is done so I can collect my thoughts and experiences of everything and put the whole story here in a neat little bow.

Just want y'all to know that this whole experience at the WSOP has been surreal and it is wild to think about all the spots where I could have busted, but didn't. I think it would be really cool to put a compilation of all these close calls that ended up working in my favor. Not only in the spots where I won flips or as a dog, but the spots where I almost punted off my tournament life, but decided not to.

Wow what a trip this was. If you had told me 2 weeks ago that I would be running deep in the main event battling it out with top tier poker players and being on poker TV, I would be surprised. I can't say I wouldn't believe it, because honestly a part of me felt like this was a real possibility. The fact that it actually happened though is still rather incredible. When I arrived in Vegas I took a taxi to go to the Horseshoe hotel. The main thing that stood out to me is that when I walked into the place it was not like an ordinary hotel. I was expecting a guest check-in and a place where the elevator was. Instead I was greeted with casino games and people moving about everywhere. It took me awhile to figure out where the check-in spot was, but I eventually found it and was directed to the elevators to find my room which smelled of a strong cherry fruit scent that was a bit over powering. After checking in, I started exploring the enormous hotel trying to figure out all the steps I needed to complete to register and eventually buy into the Main Event for the next day. After that I tried mapping out the area more and once I got my seat number and table number, I calculated the time it took me to get from my room to my table which was a bit under 7 minutes at a normal, but brisk, walking pace. This was a really good idea, because being able to get to my table on time after breaks was very important.

On Day 1, I met some interesting people. All of the people at my table were older gentlemen. I know one of them owned a construction business that specialized in cooling units or something like that and another one owned permanent season tickets for the Green Bay Packers or something like that. He was saying there is a 25 year waiting list to get those tickets which is insane. Throughout the night I noticed that the players to my left really let me steal the blinds quite a bit and they would sometimes shuffle the cards in their hand when they were planning on throwing it away and would some time already exhibit other body language tells that suggested they were about to throw away their hands.

There were a couple cool hands from day 1, but they were fairly standard. I 3bet KJs SB vs CO open and barreled off on Q7xr K 7 runout and got a fold on the river in one hand which really helped build the stack. There was another fancy hand where I called BU open w/ 75s from HJ, flop came QT8r, we both checked, turn was some low card that gave me a flush card. I 2bet his 40%ish bet to like 75% pot he called and I bluffed all-in on 8 river (maybe this one, not so standard). He tanked for a long time before catching the bluff with Q7s for his tournament life. Another hand I 3bet JTs SB v CO bet 1/4 on J4tt board and got called, turn made the board double suited and gave me a flush draw. We both checked. River completed the other flush but not mine and I check/called a 1/3 bet and it held up. Another hand I called w/ K9o in BB v BU player and flop comes A94r. I check, he bets 1/3 and I call. Turn is a 9 and I lead out for 1/3 and barrel 2/3 on Q river and he folds.

There was a guy at the table that seemed to be getting frustrated with me, because I kept hitting hands. I can't recall the hand, but a flush completing river came in and I was thinking about going massive as a bluff with the ace high blocker. After a while of thinking and fiddling with my chips he says "If you're still deciding on how much you're going to bet your flush, it's okay I'm just gonna fold." and he went and mucked his hand without me needing to make a bet.

Against that same guy I ended up opening AK in EP and he called on the button. I hit two pair and eventually getting a fullhouse which I bet big on the river with. He said he had a lower fullhouse and was thinking about raising. I did get AKs later on again in a different orbit in the same spot, he called on the BU and flop came A76tt, I had a flush draw. I bet 1/4 pot he called. Turn was a scary 8 and so I checked and so did he. River card I can't remember, but it completed the flush, but not the str8. I decided to be tricky and check, because this flush combo blocks the most flushes, and I felt he may have been defending too wide and so I opted for the x/r. He did bet, but unfortunately folded to the x/r. Later that night I picked up KJs and binked a str8 flush which didn't really get paid off, but I was still running super hot. In another hand I picked up AA, 3bet and called a 4bet. Flop came Q9xtt, he bets 1/4 I call, turn card is a low card that creates a double flush board. He checks. Even though I had both blockers to the nut flushes, I decided it would be best to ship it in versus this particular player. He calls and has AA as well and we both split the pot. Glad he didn't have QQ, because that would suck.

At one point throughout the night I did end up opening 32o from HJ, because the other players were shuffling their cards behind me and I thought I could scoop the blinds too much. I don't know if I've ever opened with 32o in HJ in my life, but it felt reasonable in the moment as an exploit and I was getting a lot of free blinds.

I had another hand where I opened JJ in EP, BB player 3bets and I call. Flop comes 98x or 97x he bets 1/3 or 1/2 and I call. Turn brings another 9, he checks and I bet 1/4. He calls. River is a nothing burger and we both check and he has AA. Phew! That one could have been a lot worse.

On Day 2 is where I ran the hottest I have in the entire tournament, at least at the first table. This was the table where I noticed a player with shy of a half a million dollars in winnings. There was a guy on my direct right that eventually ended up being a bit grumbly at me. I think I've had at least one player get upset with my play each day of the tournament. On this day, it was this guy. In EP I opened w/ AJo and he defends in the BB. Flop comes T97r, I bet 1/3 flop and barrel 3/4 on a king turn where he decides to x/r the minimum. Since the price is good, I decide to call. River is the oh so beautiful Q. He bets 3/4 pot and I jam all-in trying to get value from a jack, but he folds and pouts a bit.

The very next hand I get dealt TT, it folds to him in the SB where he opens and I 3bet him. He calls. Flop comes KT3tt and he leads for 1/3 which was a bit different. I decide not to raise and just call. Turn was some insignificant card and he bets 1/3 again. I think about raising, but I decide to call again as a trap. River is an ace and this time he bets 1/2. I guess I could be scared about the QJ combos, but I honestly just felt like he had like two pair at best and I have a lot of strong hands in my range so I ended up jamming all-in hoping to get called by a frustrated two pair. He ends up folding angrily saying "That play works every time until it doesn't! Ridiculous play, you're only getting called by hands that beat you." I'm thinking to myself, "well if that's the case then all my bluffs are making mad profit", but I didn't say that.

There was a guy at my table that open folded A6s SB v BB and would not raise AKs preflop. When this guy raised my blind, I called w/ AJo and when the flop came 992, I decided to lead very small with a less than 1/4 pot, maybe even less than 1/5 pot and he said something about me maybe hitting a nine and threw his hand away. A lot of these spots came up throughout the tournament, but they aren't super exciting. However, I decided to add this one, because it just gives an idea of how my paying attention to the other players allowed me to do these small little exploits that helped me build a chip stack. It isn't always the big pots that get you the stack. Often times it is the cbet that takes down the pot, or calling the flop light hoping for turn to check back and then stealing it on the river. On day 1 there was a hand where I x/r 64s on KQ5r without a backdoor flush draw just because I thought the guy would fold too much and it worked.

In another hand I 3bet with AJs versus an EP opener and the SB 4bets. I decide to call and the flop comes T87tt, what a beautiful flop for me. He bets 1/3 and I call. Turn is a 9 giving me the straight. He bets 1/3 again. I think about raising, but I don't want to give hands like KK or AA an easy decision and it is also possible that he barrels off some bluffs. Yes the flush draw comes in sometimes, but I felt it was worth the risk. Anyways, the river ends up being nothing. He checks, I move all-in and he ends up folding. The guy with the 400k+ in tournament earnings says outloud "Either you have it every time or you're the best poker player in the world" I chuckled after hearing that. I indeed, did have it every single time. I didn't want people to know this of course. The guy with 400k+ in tournament earnings was fun guy to talk to. I recall him being from New Jersey which ended up being a common place where people would say they are from later on in the tourney.

Eventually the table breaks and they move me to a different table and this table was a very tough table with a lot of younger guys. A lot of folding, but also players willing to 3bet and 4bet aggressively. Some of these guys had millions in tournament winnings so it was a bit intimidating. This Asian guy to my left was wearing a triton series t-shirt on and I'm thinking "oh ****". I didn't pick up too many hands at the beginning of this table which may have been a good thing. During chip up, I didn't really know what to do and it became obvious that this was my first Main Event. The Asian guy basically taught me how chip up works and why everyone is trying to trade me all their black chips. There are a lot of little noob mistakes that I made that kind of made it obvious that I haven't played very much in a live tournament setting. I do feel this has worked to my advantage though, because it may have given the impression that I'm more noob than I really am. Sometimes I was a bit too expressive during hands which worked against me, but it also helped me sometimes as well. As in this next hand:

I opened CO with K♠ 6♠ and the players start folding and the BB (who has cashed for lots of money in previous tournaments) was about to fold after checking his cards, but he caught me smiling, because I was happy I was about to get a free blind. He stares at me with this suspicious look and I burst out laughing. He shakes his head and then decides to call. Flop comes A♠ T♦ 9♦, he checks, and I bet 1/3, he calls. Turn is a 2 (not diamond or spade) and we both check. River is an 8♣ and he bets out 2/3. Now this might be a good spot to fold in theory, but I also know that at the beginning of the hand he was about to fold so I know he probably doesn't have an ace or pocket pair, or even a hand that could make a str8. He has two pair at best. Also, if he perceives me to be a more armature player he might think a river 2bet is under bluffed or perhaps he thinks I didn't bet the turn with 76 or got there with 66. He also may not think that I'm paying attention to the fact that he almost folded preflop. So I put in a big 75%ish raise (at least I think so, calculating the pot sizes is very difficult for me live). He tanks for a bit and I shift my demeanor to a very serious one not wanting to give anything away. He tanks a bit more before helicopter folding T2o face up. I did not expect to get that big of a fold, but I was glad to see it.

At the end of the night I end up picking up KK and 3bet it against a tough EP opener and he calls. I don't remember exactly what had happened, but I know that I hit top set and went for 3 streets of value, shoving at the time I got to the river. He ended up folding river, but it was a huge pot nevertheless. I seemed to have never been able to get an all-in call on a lot of rivers when hitting big hands. I started wondering if I should just size down for value on river and go all-in as a pure bluff. I did not adopt this philosophy, but I was starting to consider it at how often people would just fold the river in this tournament.

On Day 3, I got sat at another table of players, there were some tough players here as well, but I do feel it was a bit softer than the table yesterday. I got into conversation with some of the other higher stakes players and had someone recommend a poker coach and he also said if you really want to make money, rather than playing 200NL online, just play 10/25 live and you'll make a lot more. He also told me that probably 90% of the people in this room probably can't beat 200NL and that I shouldn't be so intimidated. When we got to talking about previous jobs I mentioned that my previous job was a salesman and apparently that shocked everyone at the table. The guy on my right says "that's probably the last job I would have expected you to say."

There was a cool hand that happened this day where I opened A♥ 6? (sorry can't remember the suit of the 6) on the BU. BB calls and flop comes 8♥ 7♥ and another 7. He checks, I bet 25 and he calls. Turn is the T♦ and we both check. River is a 6 and BB bets 3/4 pot. Even though my ace of heart blocker might not be the best the 6 is, I decide to put in a 75% 2bet on the river, because I think a good player would bet this river with bluffs and str8s. After facing the river 2bet it is still not easy calling with a straight, because my line looks like a fullhouse. Which is what he thinks I have and folds and even mentions that he thinks that's what I had in another hand. I'd probably overfold to the river 2bet as well against an unknown.

In another hand EP opened and got a call and an older guy on the BU called. I'm in the BB with AQo and call. Maybe I'm supposed to 3bet squeeze this, but I really feel like calling just works better, but that's just me. Anyways, flop comes Q44r I check, EP check, other player checks and BU checks. I bet 1/2 turn and everyone folds except the older guy on the button who makes a hefty raise. I thought about calling, but versus this guy I felt he was tighter and more fitting of the profile of a recreational player. I find those player types love to slow play 3 of a kind on the flop a lot more often than usual. Also the fact that I can have 4x in my range made it easier for me to find the fold. Not sure if the fold was good, but I feel like it was. That guy had at one point in the day folded KK BB vs BU or something like that. It was a pretty big fold.

There was a hand I played that made this same guy very angry. He opened and I called in BB w/ 74s flop came J63tt and I have a flush draw. He bets small and I call (I could raise, but I think calling works better against him because I felt he was strong). Turn is another jack and he bets like 2/3 or something like that. I almost fold because even if I hit my flush draw it might not even be good, but I decide to because I have the straight draw to go with it. May have been a mistake, but it's what I did. River was an ace and completed the flush. As I reached for my chips, he reached for his like he's ready to call me. I wasn't sure if I was going to lead river or not, but thought maybe he'll bluff here since he's weak. What I should have pieced together is that he's not necessarily weak for reaching for the chips early, he just doesn't want to have to call a bet with trips. So I ended up making the mistake of checking. He checks back and is furious. He fumed under his breath something about idiot player stupid something. I couldn't quite hear exactly the words, but I also just decided to ignore it. I don't think he was able to stay mad at me for long though, because there was some good conversation around the table and we all ended up having a good time.

There was a big hand at this table where I opened 9♥9♦ in LJ and face a BU 3bet. Flop comes 8♣ 7♣ 3?, I check, BU bets 1/3 and I call. Turn comes a K♣ and we both check. River is a Q♣. I bet 3/4 pot and BU starts to think. This might not seem like a big pot, but given my current stack size this pot is pretty significant. He starts saying "I have a good hand, but this is a really unfortunate river for me" which is good to hear, but I don't want to celebrate too early. After awhile he does end up folding aces.

Eventually our table breaks and I head over to another table and there is this British dude on my right who has this professor kind of appearance (glasses and beard) telling me about the craziness that has just ensued at the table I've come to. At this point the bubble is approaching and people are pretty excited about possibly hitting it. The British guy has a massive stack and is opening a lot of hands and I'm mostly getting junk and folding. He announces to the table at one point "I'm opening with garbage" and someone else says "Well I was kind of expecting that, but it's nice to know that it is confirmed" and then he says "You all know I'm opening with garbage, I'm practically opening every hand". I'm not sure why this was so hilarious to me, but it was. He had this very polite demeanor about him yet at the same time he'd be super aggressive post flop with ballsy barrels and announcing all-in on turn or river against other players.

Eventually I pick up QQ in the BB and I have about a 50BB stack and so does BU player, but I have him slightly covered. BU player opens and I 3bet, he jams all-in and well, I'm not folding QQ so I call. He flips over AK, unfortunately for him I end up holding and he yells out some profanity, grabs his bag, and leaves. It dawns on me that this is the first time in the tournament where I was flipping for an amount that would have crippled my chip stack had I lost. I wouldn't necessarily be out of the tournament, but it would not have been good. This is what I consider the first bullet that I dodged in this tournament. But with a 100BB stack, I'm feeling pretty comfortable and there is a decent chance I'm making the money.

That is until I get dealt A5s in the BB. EP player opens and I 3bet in the BB, but then I face the 4bet and it starts getting real serious at the table and I'm contemplating a 5bet jam all-in as a bluff. I came really close to doing it, but then I realized that I do this in 6max and not full ring and he's in an earlier position than LJ and because it's the bubble he may be less inclined to 4bet light. Maybe not, but it is possibly the human tendency. I also think back to my 5bet bluffing chart that I posted in this thread and remember it is negative in terms of bb/100, also 15k is kinda nice to know is in the bag and so I ended up chickening out and folding, but I was so close to ripping it all-in. Later when the night ended he confirmed that he had KK and was going to call me. So that is a second bullet that I dodged. Even though I didn't do it, I almost did and if he was telling the truth I would have had a 66%ish chance of busting the tourney and going home with nothing.

Early on Day 4, there was a high degree I was going to make the money due to the large stack I had accumulated and there were a lot of 1bb, 2bb players just trying to hit the money. Although nothing is guaranteed. After it popped there was a great sense of relief, because I had been nervous every day that I had come to the table. After playing a few hands the nerves would go away, but once I reached the money I really didn't have these nerves to the same degree. I made a huge blunder on this day, I'd say probably my biggest blunder of the tournament.

SB short stack around 15 to 30 bbs (I don't remember exactly) moved all-in and I snap call in the BB w/ AKo and announce "call, I got ace king" and then made the action like I was going to reveal my hand and people at the table go "woah woah woah, he's still has to make a decision." I had not noticed that there was an EP opener who had around 100bb stack, but probably a bit less. The ruling ended up being that I called this initial jam and the EP player had the option to do what he wanted. After awhile he announced all-in and I was in a tough decision. I wasn't entirely sure if he had heard me when I said that I had ace king or not, but if he had he might be willing to jam even hands as weak as TT or 99. In the end I decided to call and he flipped over QQ and SB showed TT. I ended up winning the pot which I believe put me in a really high place like 6th place in the overall tournament or something ridiculous. I can't remember if it was at this point or another since all the days have kind of blurred together in my mind.

Awhile later they ended up moving me to a new table with some other players. After someone got busted Alex Foxen got moved to my table and in case you don't know, Alex Foxen is the number one player in terms of GPI (global poker index). Basically, he's really good and quite poker famous. During random hands the camera crew would start creeping around the table to film hands he was in. Alex was a lot bigger in person than what I remember in YouTube videos that I've seen. The guy is a tank of muscle. I asked him how it felt having the camera crew follow him around and if it ever influenced hands and he basically responded by saying that you get used to it, but occasionally it can make people not want to fold as much sometimes and it can mess with the outcome of the hand. Anyways, he seemed like a pretty cool guy overall. There was a big pot that I played against him very close to the last hand. He opened from like HJ I think and I called in BB with 7♦ 4♦. The flop came J♣ 3♦ 6♥, he bets 1/3 and I'm thinking well I got the backdoor flush and a str8 draw, I can call and sometimes raise, let's raise this time. It's close to the end of the night and he'll maybe just throw away a typical cbetting hand but then he calls. Turn card comes an 8♣ and then I throw in another bet and he doesn't fold right away and now I'm kicking myself in my head thinking why didn't I just call flop to bluff river. After awhile he ends up announcing call and I'm wondering if I should blast the river or not if a non-club falls, I hadn't made up my mind what I was going to do. The river comes a 5♣ and I'm really liking the 5, but worried about the clubs coming in. For some reason I gave clubs a lot of credit so I opted to go with a split sizing including a small size. So I bet about 1/4 pot on the river hoping to get calls by over pairs with a club. SPR is a bit over 2 so if it may induce a small bluff raise. I was thinking if I go 3/4 and get jammed on then life sucks whereas if I go 1/4 and get raised I might still be able to call this hand, but throw away sets. Foxen starts saying "What can you have?" he thinks for a bit and then ends up calling and he is really steamed. Turns out he had pocket jacks which is brutal. That pot was a pretty large pot at the time so it really increased my chip count by a lot. After a few hands he calms down and when the night is over he shakes a couple of people's hands including mine.

In hindsight the 7♦ 4♦ continue on the turn may actually be a bit loose since there are a lot of different draws that I can choose from. At the same time it is easy to overfold the turn. Although, I'm not sure if Foxen would be one of those players. Either way it ended up working out for me. Several rivers could have been pretty bad especially non club rivers that don't change anything.

Heading into Day 5 I have a massive chip lead with 3.5 million in chips. This is where I get placed at the featured table where you can view online if you wish. This is the first day I believe where I end up lower than what I started. Most of the footage on ESPN shows hands where I get my ass kicked and misses a lot of the hands where I won. It kind of sucks, because I was hoping this would showcase some of my skills, but instead it kind of makes me look a bit goofy. I'd like to share a cool hand that I played against Foxen that wasn't aired/filmed that actually would have been really cool for TV.

Foxen opened from UTG+1 and I look down in the BB and see QJo. I pretend like I'm thinking about throwing it away like how I accidentally do sometimes when I don't like a hand and Foxen says "C'mon Kmart, play the hand." So then I say "okay, alright" as if that had changed my mind. I call and flop comes 752r (I think it was rainbow), I lead for 1/4 pot and foxen calls. Turn comes and I'm pretty sure it was a ten. I bet 1/3 and he calls. River is a 5 and I overbet to 1.5x pot. Foxen tanks for awhile and then starts speaking out loud. "I don't have much of a hand, but I just don't think I believe you... I have ace high, but I have a bad kicker... You're usually more chatty in a hand" He tries to talk more to try to get me to talk, but this time I decide to remain silent. I feel like speaking in this spot, might give him some information and I didn't want to play any leveling games at this moment. He eventually did end up folding.

Normally I don't really do the 1/4, 1/3, 1.5x overbet line unless flop is really straighted like 765r, but because my range might be perceived to be weighted toward garbage I decided to take this line on this board even though it somewhat falls outside of the criteria of what I want to normally do this. The idea behind this line is to frontload all broadway hands with no ace and no backdoor draws into the 1/4, 1/3, 1.5x overbet line to take advantage of overfolds. No other hand classes in this line, only bluffs. If river pairs one of my high cards, I go 3/4 bet instead and get calls by a lot more stuff. Also, as a bonus, my flop checking range is artificially stronger than it should be. The fact that he was thinking about calling me with ace high makes me believe I probably got outplayed, but got lucky, since if he's thinking about calling ace high then random pairs aren't going to be much of a decision although granted, it is hard to have many pairs on that board as an EP opener so who knows.

We shared what we both had after the hand because I thought they had caught it on film and we would all know in 45 minutes anyway. He said he had A4 and I told him I had QJ. This hand never aired or wasn't filmed and this information given by me may have actually been very costly. Had I known this hand would never be shown, I would have never shared what I had. In a later hand where I x/r AQo with bad blockers on JJ4 in a 3bet pot against Kyle Lin he jammed all-in w/ K9s. When Kyle and I briefly discussed the hand after it had aired, he mentioned that I had hollywooded having a foldable hand from the BB earlier against Foxen. Not sure how much of a role that may have influenced his decision to shove. He did block K♠ J♠ and J♠ 9♠ so there is a chance he would have done it any way. Either way it was a good read/play by him versus me. I actually probably should have ripped it in preflop, because it was around 20ish bbs and AQo is likely a pure jam.

I ended up being card dead for a lot of the day and just either folding preflop a lot or just missing flops completely and folding. There was a big hand where I had AK vs AQ, but the other guy got a flush and it really took a hit to my chip stack. I think it brought it down to somewhere around the 20bb region.

Later on in the night I threw out a single chip that was a higher denomination to be a min raise from EP and the dealer announces call. So I had just accidentally limped in when I meant to raise, but I decided not to react so as if it was intentional. Not sure if the other players knew it was a mistake or not, but I ended up getting 4 callers including the BB. Flop came J42. I bet small and both players IP fold, but the BB calls. Turn comes a king and I'm debating on whether to try and get a fold or take my hand to show down. I decide to check and take it to showdown, because I still have room to check river or make a move given a certain bet size trying to rep a tricky preflop AA/KK type hand. River comes another jack. BB bets small and I think about calling, but I feel like I'm getting milked by a medium pocket pair and instead I jam all-in for my tournament life. I have the blocker to 44 so that is kinda nice. He does end up folding and I get told that he had folded TT. Not sure if that is true, but if it is to be believed then I made the right decision. This win actually really helped my chip stack because it was in perilous shape. This is actually the very first time my tournament life was at risk. Other hands would have crippled my stack but this was the first time where the other player covered me.

There were some other hands throughout the night where I had 3bet 54s in the BB versus a CO or HJ open and I cbet a high card flop and took it down. I did also get AQo and 3bet an EP open, bluffed 10% on a monotone flop with no flush card, and continued betting on the turn for 75% with intention to bluff a flush completing river. Fortunately he folded turn so it didn't have to come to that. These hands were not shown on TV, but they did show a hand where I had J9o and hit a flush and bet river for value and didn't get called so I'm not losing every hand on TV so that's good.

They did air a hand where I called a turn all-in barrel with 88 in a 3bet pot and I kinda wonder if I played that hand badly since turn was double suited. At the same time it was shorter stacked so I don't know. Knowing what I know about how the other player plays now, I would definitely fold.

Day 6, I woke up refreshed and filled with energy. I was feeling a bit groggy the day before, but today I was feeling sharp and alert. I was at a low bb level but I was feeling prepared to make some well calculated decisions at least for me.
Someone opened in a later position and I call with K♣ and a jack. flop comes 8♣ 7♣ 6♥ and I decide to lead for a small size since I have the club. Since the flop is two toned and it is from a later position I'm not using the strategy that I used against Foxen. I prefer that versus EP and on rainbow boards. The IP player calls and turn ends up being a J♥. Since turn is double suited I decide to opt for a check/raise, because I think it is possible to get too many stabs on this board and once the bet is out I have strong yet vulnerable hand. That is exactly what happens and the other guy tanks, but eventually calls with QJ and I double up and survive a second time of my tournament life at risk.

Shortly after that I double up again. A guy opens from EP, a short stack 3bets, and I 4bet all-in with AK. EP guy ends up folding JJ and the 3bettor calls with KJs. Now my stack is starting to get healthy again. There is a hand where I open 8♦ 7♦ I get a caller IP and the blinds come along. Flop comes A77r. Instead of betting I opt to check, because I suspect the IP player to start bluffing too much. The IP player bets small, SB and BB get out of the way, and I call. Turn brings another ace. I check and call another smallish medium sized bet. River is a 6 and he bets again for a mediumish size. I think about calling, but I feel like I could be perceived to have so many Ax hands in my range trapping and the sizing felt like a milk so I just didn't think he was bluffing and threw it away. I believe this may have been a mistake because the guy was asking me if I folded kings.

There was a hand where I 3bet squeezed in BB for about 1/4 my chip stack, but the original raiser moved all-in and I was forced to fold which wasn't great. My chip stack ended up getting closer to the 20ishbb region with the blinds and antes increasing.

Finally an EP player opened and I look down at A♥ K♣ on the BU and make a 6bb raise. SB player makes a smallish 4bet to like 15bb. BB player begins tanking and eventually folds. The EP player folds and since the 15bb size would commit most of my stack I announce all-in. The SB player quickly calls and flips over A♣ A♦. The board runs out 6♠ 3♣ Q♣ 7♣ T♥ and I am out of the tournament.

After going to payouts I'm talking to the lady and I'm like "you probably get to interact with a lot of happy people because they've made a bunch of money in tournaments" and she informs me that it is the exact opposite and that most people are actually really upset that they didn't win the whole thing. I found this to be a bit surprising because the most likely outcome is to walk away with absolutely nothing in the first place. I was actually in a pretty good mood that day knowing that I did what I could to the best of my ability and going out with AK at 20BBs is kind of a good way to go out, because it wasn't a spot where I did some silly bluff or make a ridiculous call down. It was a standard spot that can't really be avoided and if there is a way to go out, I think that's about the best way to go.

Later that night I actually did start to feel really sad, not so much that I wasn't in the running anymore, although that definitely is a part of it, but mostly because all the fun was over and it kind of felt like there was this party that was going on that I wasn't invited too. I don't know how else to describe it, but I was a little sad. Perhaps it was because I wanted to do this thing for like 15 years. I had done the thing and now it was over. At the same time, there definitely is a relief for being done, because it really is hard to push yourself to be focused for so many hours of the day to play your best and not make silly mistakes.

I'll be leaving to hit my flight home in a few hours now.

everyone who busts, if they catch a river or don't get sucked out on they get more money, that's why everyone is sad

great writeup and gg

foxen made a good read on you regarding talking in your hands but folded partially because he really wasn't sure he had your bluff range beat. He didn't outplay you if he folded the best hand though and yeah I think he would've called any pair there with his read.

Brilliant write up Godson, you made me hungry to play it again. I did only once over a decade ago and did not do or play nearly as well as you did.

Enjoyed reading all the hands and interactions. The part that surprised me the most was salesman, never ever in a million years would I have guessed that!. You played great with all the bluffs, it was definitely the right strategy.

GG WP. It's interesting, because after observing you on the stream for 2-3 hours one of these days I was convinced you were just a random young-ish American who was button-clicking a bit and didn't have much finesse (in addition to what I mentioned in another thread about your demeanor giving away hand strength).

But it seems you know a sh*t ton of theory that I have no idea about, and have a very specific plan for which sizes to use on a ton of different board textures. And the various check-raises you found seem to have put a lot of opponents in the blender and making them find incorrect folds.

Can I ask how you study? GTO Wizard or something else?