veeRob’s Blog

Yesterday I played my second World Series of Poker event, the $2k NL that I won a seat to from Ultimate Bet. I only lasted 2 1/2 hours, which is a much worse showing than the 7 hours I lasted at the $1500 NL event, but when the cards just aren’t going your way…

So I sat down at a table full of young players. No big names, nobody that seemed to pose much of a threat. We started with 2000 chips, and the blinds were 25/25, so I had to work on building up my stack so I’d have chips when our table broke or I had to encounter better players. Things were going just fine until I got crippled in the first round.

All folded to me two off the button, and I raised from 25 to 100 with Ad Js. The BB called, so we saw a flop heads up with 225 in the pot. The flop came something like 8s 5h 2s, and the BB checked to me. I bet around 225, and he called quite easily. At this point I usually give up on my bluff as I have nothing to fall back on other than my overcards and my backdoor flush draw. The turn brought me the Jd, which seemed to bring me the best hand. The BB checked, and I bet around 650. The BB shot me an angry glare, and I figured him to have flopped a pair and put me on overs, but realized he had just gotten outdrawn. A5 or A8 seemed a likely holding, and I expected him to go away now. He labored over the call for quite some time, and he finally called. The river came As, and all of a sudden the BB bet out 700. Now I’ve already committed about 1/3 of my chips to the pot, and it’s about 1/2 of my chips to call. He’s representing the made flush, but I can’t see him calling two pot sized bets, especially because he didn’t have the nut flush draw as the As just hit the board. He could have had something like 67 and is betting his busted straight draw, but I didn’t figure that too likely. Going back to my original read, he could have A5 or A8 and just made two pair, not realizing I had two bigger pair. I debated for awhile about folding, but he didn’t look very comfortable, as if the flush on board scared him. I finally called, and he flipped up Ks Ts. My read was off, and this guy made a horrible call on the turn for more than 1/3 of his chips with a king high flush draw.

So I was down to around 700 chips early. I was able to get back up to over 1000 when I called a raise from the BB with Ad Td and check raised all in on an ace high flop. I kept fluctuating, going from 500 to 1200 in chips, depending upon the blinds. When the blinds were 25/50, I went cold decked and couldn’t catch a hand. Further, when I had a steal-worthy hand, I would end up getting reraised and would have to fold (Ks Js, for example). At the 50/100 level, I found myself down to 500 or so after the blinds passed by. Another desperate short stack moved all in from UTG and had me slightly covered. All folded to me, and I pushed the rest of my chips in with 44. He showed A8, which is exactly what I put him on, ace rag. The flop came 88x, and that was it for me.

All in all, a pretty uneventful and disappointing tournament for me, as I had high hopes coming into the tourny. Oh well… sometimes the cards just don’t agree with you. GambleAB and I had a discussion about the AJ hand and whether I should have even been in it in the first place. I still think I played it correctly as I would have built a decent stack had that last spade not come, considering he called my bets all the way down with the worst hand.

Nothing else exciting going on in my life. Been going to LA every weekend to work on the UltimateBet World Poker Showdown on Fox Sports Net, and that’s been going great. This past week a top online player, madhatter/highroller48, won the $10k. He’s definitely going to be a great player to watch on the season finale’s $200k freeroll. Well, I’m off to go hit up some $2/$5 NL at the Bellagio!

Well it’s been a fun 24 hours. Last night GambleAB and Quiet Lion had a heads up S&G for $100 on Full Tilt, and it lasted all of one hand, with GambleAB getting sucked out when he called all in with top pair against Quiet Lion’s open ender. Long story short Quiet Lion gets to chatting with AB and he invites us over to the MGM Grand for drink.

We hit up the High Rollers Lounge as apparently the Lion knows all of the other tigers and bears, and we sip a few drinks while discussing poker strategy, roshambo strategy, RGP, and other interesting subjects. Quiet Lion’s a great guy, but loves to talk. Luckily he has some interesting things to say. We took a quick ride up the elevator to go see the Lion’s Lare, which was sweet. We did almost die when the elevator almost gave out on the way up, but we came out without any cuts or bruises.

We then headed over to Tangerine at TI to meet up with wamperr and Phil Gordon, who apparantly had a booth to celebrate his final table at the WSOP. We found a very drunk wamplerr outside of the club, and he instructed us where to go. We got past the bouncers and made our way outside, but apparently the bouncer guarding Phil’s table was instructed not to let anyone else in, so we decided to call it a night and head home. It’s a good thing, too, because we had to play the World Series of Roshambo tournament early in the morning.

The tournament was a blast, with a who’s who of poker players battling for the $10k first prize among the 64 entrants. The matches were the best of seven, so you needed to win four to advance. I drew David Pham on my first run, and beat him quickly and quietly when I had him 3-0, he gained one point on me, and then I took him down for a 4-1 record.

Next up I was matched with wamplerr, who had just come off a win against Quiet Lion. As I had seen him hours earlier drunk off his ass, I didn’t think him to be a threat. He quickly had me dominated with a 3-0 lead, but I sucked out and got runner-runner-runner-runner wins to win the match. As we were the last ones standing, and all of the crowd was watching, I yelled out, “We’re taking over the World Series of Roshambo 2004! Forget it!” Everyone got the crew reference and laughed, so look for that on TV.

My next match was against Mr. GambleAB (rigged brackets much?), and it was a decent freeroll for us as we had 50% of each other’s action. The match went back and forth, but I finally was able to pull out the win after we were tied 3-3. At one point in the match, GambleAB exclaimed, “You’re disrespecting the game!” More TV time, we hope.

I then made it to the “Elite 8″ which apparently was a big deal. I was matched up with Dutch Boyd’s brother. He walked up stone faced. I said, “Good luck… even though you have no chance of winning.” He didn’t like that very much. The battle was intense, and I played horribly, and Mr. Boyd advanced to the Final 4, and I was out.

I think I played great, and I really got inside my opponents minds. Unfortunately I couldn’t take home the title, the trophy, and the $10k. I did do well for my sponsor, Golden Palace, and I think I got them some airtime, so look for that in October when the WSOP airs.

So I spent the rest of the day participating in Bodog’s “24 WSOP Seats in 24 Hours” promotion. I played 3 of them, but couldn’t win my seat. In the first round, I called a raise with 66, and the flop came ten high. The preflop raiser bet out on the flop, and it looked very much like an AK bet, so I raised all in after thinking for a bit. He thought and finally called my bet with AQ… no pair, no draw. The turn gave him a flush draw and a gutshot straight draw, and on the river he hit a queen to bust me out. He said something about being pot committed, but he clearly wasn’t after reviewing the HH.

Then I played a $100+9 WSOP satellite on UltimateBet with GambleAB. I got busted out in 30th when I raised all in from 100/200 to 2000 with QQ after one limper, and he slowrolled and finally called with AA. GambleAB went on to make the final table, but busted out in 9th place when he reraised all in after UTG minraised, and UTG called with 22. GambleAB outflopped him by catching an ace, but a deuce hit the river to send him to the rail with no seat.

My next Bodog satellite was going well, but the structure was way fast at the end, and I had to coin flip with KJ vs. 88. As always, I lost the race, and I was out in 13th place. I played one more satellite, and was tearing it up from the start, but then got crippled on one hand.

All folded to the SB who completed, and I raised with KQ. As I did this, I told GambleAB (who was JUST WATCHING) he was going to reraise all in and I was going to call with the best hand. As I predicted, he raised all in and I called in a flash. He showed 6h 7h. A horrible flop came of Jh 4s 5d, then an even worse turn of Jh, and a terrible river of 8c. He made a straight and doubled through me.

I finally went all in from the SB with 55 after the button limped, and he called my large all in with TJo. He flopped a double gut shot, caught a jack on the turn, and I bricked on the river. That was that. Four WSOP satellites and nothing to show for it. I can’t be too mad, though, as I won $1k from the UB satellite the other day and only pissed away $261 of it today. Plus, Bodog has great bonus clearing rules, so I cleared $40 in bonuses playing their three satellites, making my net loss $221 for the day. Oh well, more WSOP satellites tomorrow. Time to go drink!

Well, due to the horrible run I’ve been having lately, I was convinced that I forgot how to play poker. But I’m happy to announce my first major tournament win! UltimateBet has been running $25+2 rebuys to various preliminary WSOP seats, and I just found this out a few days ago. I’m not a big fan of rebuys, but I thought I’d take a shot at it since nothing else was going on today.

I couldn’t get much going on early in the tournament, so I decided to call a raise with Kd Qd. I was heads up, and we saw the flop of 8d 7s 3d. I had been watching the preflop raiser play, and I was pretty sure he had a big ace, rather than a pair. I checked to him, and he made a bet that had me convinced he had a big ace. I check-raised all in as the pot was sizeable, and it would be nearly impossible for him to call with ace high here. If he did call, I’d have my flush outs, and whatever overcard outs he didn’t hold; if he called, I was hoping he’d flip over AJ, JJ, or TT. He did call and showed me AKo, and I bricked on the turn and river and was forced to rebuy. “Interesting call,” I said, and he responded with, “Easy call.” Hmm, ok, buddy.

My chip stack was low when the rebuy period ended, and I almost didn’t rebuy or add-on so I could just cut my losses at $52. But I knew better than that, so I took both the rebuy and the add-on and was in for $102. From there I just played my game and kept getting short chip stacked.

I finally had to make a stand with 88. All folded to the cutoff, and he made a fishy raise… I say fishy because it was a big raise, as if he didn’t want to get called. I put him on a naked ace. I reraised all in, and all folded back to him. He thought for awhile, and finally called with TT. Oops, bad read, and now I’d be out of the tournament. He flopped a set, and just as I was saying “gg” I saw my 8 high flush draw come on the turn. It hit on the river and I doubled up. Oops, sorry buddy!

From there I coasted to the final two tables. The money started paying out at the final table, and I needed 7th place to make my investment back. I was a shorter stack, but was stoked when someone raised UTG and I had AA. I was planning on pushing all in, so imagine my delight when another person in front of me reraised. I pushed all in for a few more chips, and the UTG raiser reraised all in as well. The other player exclaimed his discontent in the chat box and finally called. Both players showed KK, so I tripled up and went from almost out to 3rd in chips. Sweet! I was also nice enough to point out to the second guy with kings that he didn’t lose anything once he reraised since his reraise almost covered me, and he chopped the rest. Brownie points for me!

I blinded down to 6th place or so, but then made a smart play and doubled through the chip leader, who was clearly not paying attention. I limped with QQ UTG, and the chipleader called from the SB, and BB checked. The flop came down ten high, and the SB bet out. BB folded, and I pushed. SB didn’t take long to call with his T3o, which was top pair, horrible kicker. No ten and no 3 and I doubled up and became the new chip leader.

Fast forward to the final table, where I was 4th or 5th in chips. I went on an amazing rush where I picked up pairs and aces over and over again, and I won like 6 hands in a row. On the 7th hand, I raised with AKs, and the guy to my left reraised all in. It didn’t take me long to call, and he showed AQo. No queen and I busted out another player.

The players kept dropping one by one until I was heads up with a player who I didn’t think was very skilled. It became quickly apparant that he wasn’t very good, and I had him all in with KJ against my AJ. Of course, a king popped and he doubled up. He was still short stacked though, and on the next hand he called my all in with K4s. Of course he did, they were suited! I had A7, and again he caught a king. Wow.

We fought back and forth for the chip lead. I remember a hand where I had the chip lead and called his raise with Kc Tc. The flop came ATx, and I check-called his bet. I knew he didn’t have the ace, so I figured to have the best hand. I checked on the turn when a blank hit and he bet again, but it was a very weak bet. I called again, hoping he’d continue his bluff. On the river, I checked again, and he checked through. He showed his QQ, and I had a half-right read… he didn’t have the ace, but he did have the winning hand.

Again the chip lead went back and forth. I called with 96o on the button, and my opponent checked in the BB. The flop came J96, and he bet out. I raised all in. He thought about it for awhile and finally called with Q9o. Not top pair, not second pair with an ace kicker, but Q9o. Of course you can guess how the story goes, and a queen fell on the turn to have me cussing out the empty house I was in.

I got back to a 2.5-1 chip lead, and we hit a break. I offered him a deal that gave him 2nd place prize money (~$600) plus $500 of the $1000 in travel expenses for 1st place. He was very hesitant, and after the flop hit on first hand after the break started, he explained that he didn’t trust transfers. OK, I told him, we’ll play on… good luck. Little did he know that he just limped in and let me flop a straight. I held 67, and the flop was 589. Thank god he didn’t agree to a deal. He bet out on the flop, and I raised all in. He called with KK, and was drawing dead on the turn. I won my seat.

So now I’m in a $2k WSOP event on Tuesday, June 28th, and I have $1k in spending money. I’ve won more in online tournaments before, but I’ve never gotten a 1st place finish, so I’m stoked. Thanks so much to GambleAB and FellKnight for telling me how to play all through the tournament. Oh wait, they were at the Rio playing the 7 card stud WSOP tournament, my bad!