The plan for Saturday was to watch the England game at 8am then enter the $2k No Limit at midday. An early night was therefore required on Friday but Dave had a big stack in the $2,500 short-handed, so obviously a few drinks were required to unwind at the end of play, we eventually went to sleep about 3.30am. I got up at 7.30 for the England game on the Saturday, we hired a cabana and watched the game in there by the pools at the Rio. Obviously disappointed in the result but none of us were too bothered as we were about to enter a poker tournament with a close to $4 million prize pool an hour later!
So this was my second WSOP event, and the largest buy-in I've bought into directly so far, and also the largest field live event I've ever played. The blinds started at 25/25 with 2,000 chips. On the first lap I have 7-7 in the big blind. Folded to the button who limps, small blind checks, I decide to check at this stage. The flop comes a pleasant looking 7-J-A, and even more pleasant when the small blind fires out a 75 bet. Now judging on my experiences at the tables in Vegas so far, the players generally struggle to lay down Ax when an ace flops, so I decide to raise to build the pot and give him a chance to double me up very early on. So I make it 225 and he dwells for a minute before folding J-4 face-up :-(.
No more interesting hands for me in the first two levels, I win a couple of small pots and have 2,600 at the first break which is about average. At the beginning of the third level, with blinds at 50/100, a player, who just about has me covered, limps under the gun, the hijack (which apparently is a name for the position one before the cut-off - a new one on me but I like it) limps aswell.
Anyway, this time the player doesn't seem too happy but flat calls the 350, and the hijack folds. The flop comes down J-8-3 with two hearts. I bet 550 into the 1,100 pot (the half-pot bet size is to make it look like he can move me off the hand by raising if he has missed the flop) and he instantly moves all-in. Impossible to fold in this situation over here, his range of hands is simply too big. He could have A-J to T-J, T-T, 9-9, T-9, the flush draw or even a total bluff, while the only hands he can have which beat me are J-J (though unlikely given his preflop play), 8-8, and 3-3. If he has 8-3 I'll probably give up poker. Anyway, I call and he turns over 8-8 for the flopped set and I'm out. Not disappointed at all though as I simply got dealt into an unfavourable situation which of course is the nature of the game.
I then play a $500 single table satellite, where I have Pascal Perrault two to my left. Apart from him the standard of play is pleasingly dire, then 5-handed me and Pascal get the lot in with my A-K v his J-J. I don't hit and that's the end of poker for another day! Whilst playing this, the table behind us did a five-way chop on a single table satellite. I've seen some ridiculous things so far but I think that takes the biscuit.
Dave is still in the $2,500 short-handed even at this stage, sitting two to Negreanu's left. Then Negreanu rivers a five-outer to crack Dave's aces in a massive pot documented here on Cardplayer. He's somehow taken it remarkably well, in fact last night I appeared more gutted about it than him.
I can't write a blog without mentioning TJ Cloutier. When we went down at 8am to watch the England game, TJ was at the Rio craps table. He was there at 8pm in the evening too. We also have witnessed Men Nguyen (spelling may be wrong), who Martin assures me has won three WSOP bracelets, glued to the penny slots machines. Very difficult to understand the mentality of these people. Talking of which Martin 'TJ' Green has decided to give up playing poker and become a professional craps player as, in his own words, he feels he has more control over the outcome!! Here he is at 'work' giving lessons to two of his keen students! I am of course joking, but on a serious note I'm really not sure about that shirt.
So far Martin and Dave have both gone deep in WSOP events before getting unlucky, I on the other hand haven't got going in either of the two events I've played so far. The next event I can consider playing is a $5,000 buy-in which starts on Tuesday. However, if i am going to enter this I need to spin up some money first (in the single table satellites, not the craps table!).
It is now 2.30pm on Sunday afternoon, I'm just having a little game online while I write this, the first time I've played online since arriving here. This morning we went to the Mandalay Bay to watch the final of the Las Vegas Desert Classic (darts). Pretty boring, so after 30 minutes we left. This evening I may play the daily $500 tournament in the Rio, or some single table satellites. Either way I hope to have something more interesting to write about tomorrow.
