WSOP Mega Satellite
Another purely poker blog where I'll be talking about all the hands I played too. Me and Chris from Arkansas moved our stuff from the Siena Suites to Treasure Island hotel on the Strip. After we got through doing that we went down to the Rio. As I came down there I saw they had a $1060 Mega Satellite to the main event which starts tomorrow that was beginning at 8pm. I put up the cash and bought straight in as I've never wanted to play in a tournament this badly.
I got seated at table 7 seat 6 and got off to a real good start. We started with 3000 chips and the blinds were 25/25 and went up every 40 minutes, a pretty good structure. I raised A-Q off early to 75, took it down on the flop with a continuation bet. Then on the fourth hand of the tournament, I pick up Q-Q. I take 75 to raise and as I threw it out there I see in the corner of my eye the guy on my left being about to raise, he notices that I'm raising and puts down his chips and counts out 300 instead for a re-raise. I hated this spot, I felt he was really strong but I decided to take a flop anyway and see if I hit a queen and see what he does on the flop. I called 225 more and the flop was 9-5-3. I check, he bets 500 and once again he just looked so incredibly confident that I just took my two queens, held 'em face-up and threw them in the muck. He said "Wow, that is a really good fold... most people would've gone broke..." and showed me K-K. I lost some chips but felt really good about my game at least.
A little later, I call after a bunch of people limp with 8-8 on the button. Flop is Q-10-8 with two clubs. Small blind leads out for 100, big blind calls, it folds to me and I raise it to 300. Both the blinds call. I wasn't worried about the small blind who led out as I put him on a queen or potentially flopping two pair. I didn't like the other blind calling cold behind as he can have absolutely anything in this spot. A four of diamonds peels off on the turn they check to me and I bet 750. The small blind calls again, and the big blind goes into the tank and finally folds. River is a 9 putting a dangerous bord of Q-10-8-4-9. I didn't put him on Q-J and when he instantly checked to me I thought I was good. I decided to make a semi-daring valuebet of 1150 only leaving myself very few chips but I thought I might be able to get a call from two pair. In retrospect I should've bet even smaller, he folds what he claims was a queen with a clubdraw. The big blind says he had a double belly-buster with A-J.
It gave me a nice little boost and I felt real good about things. Next hand I play is Q-Q again, I raise to 75 and I get one caller, flop A-K-10 I bet 125 he folds. Then I call a raise on the button, after the cutoff raises to 75 and I take a flop with him with 7h-5h. The flop is 7-5-2 rainbow, gin. He bets 100, I raise to 300, he reraises to 750 and I give him 88 through J-J here pretty much. I decide to call and for one make sure the board doesn't pair but two, get more money out of him since I'm in position on him. The turn is a 3, he bets 1000, I move in and he thinks for a little bit and folds. Off to a great start.
The blinds go up to 25/50 on level two and I limp under the gun with Ac Kc since this one guy who is on the button has shown a tendency to punish limpers and I was looking to put in a big limp-reraise on him incase he raises again. To my dismay, like four others limp behind.
The flop is Ax Qc Jc and it was a very nice flop for me, even though with a limped pot and so many in K-10 and QJ and AJ are all possible hands. I decide to check, everybody checks. Turn is the 10c giving me what might be the first royal fucking flush I've had playing live. I check, everybody checks. River is some blank and I bet 250 into the 250ish pot and everybody folds. I really felt like this was my tournament, I'm getting hands left and right and playing good. I'm winning a seat and then $10 million in the main event, no doubt.
I limp in another multi-way pot with As 5s on the button. Flop 8s-2s-2x and big blind leads out for 250. They all fold, and I call. It's a paired board but I didn't think he'd lead with a deuce. Turn is a 5, he bets 500 and I have quite a few chips so I gamble and call. River is not a spade but it's an ace, he checks I bet 700 and he folds. The level goes up to 50/100 and we go on a break. The next hand I play is right after the break, four people limp in and there's 550 in the pot and I got A8 in the cutoff. I make it 600 straight and everybody folds and I pick up some dead money.
Then comes what might be the craziest turn-out of a hand I've ever played in my poker career. A guy who loves to limp, limps in under the gun. I'm UTG+3 and I've got A-A. I raise to 450, a tightish older man a couple seats to my left pushes in for 2700 and I call of course. He's got Q-Q. I'm in good shape.
Flop comes down A-Q-6... turn 4.. river is the case Q giving him quads to beat my set of aces. The whole table erupted and people started coming over from surrounding tables to watch the crazy hand. If I had won that, I would've had somewhere around 10000 chips but instead I'm down to 5600. It was rough. I was still in with a decent stack but that would've been very nice to get as we were about to enter ante level and when I've got a lot of chips when antes come out, I can accumulate some serious chips. I took the beat fairly well and I never said anything about it, was smiling and laughing when they were talking about what a sick hand it was but about three hands after it I could tell I was starting to get frustrated so I took a walk and missed some hands and went to try to calm down and relax and tell myself I still have chips. I missed about ten hands, came back and sat down to play my best poker.
Another multiway pot, I'm 5th in the pot with 7s-5s and I'm in position. Flop As 3s 6h giving me a gutshot with a flushdraw, they all check to me but it was a limped pot and I had just lost a big pot so I didn't wanna try get aggressive so I check too. Turn is a 3 everybody checks again, river is the 10s and it checks to an older man who hadn't been making too many moves. He bets 400 into the 650 pot and I think for a while and decide to call. He had KQs for the nut flush.
Blinds go up to 75/150 and I don't play a single hand, and I only play one hand in the 100/200 level. That's 80 minutes of straight folding. The hand I won came on the the worst played A-K I've ever seen in my life. Everybody folds to the button, he limps in... I check my option with 3-5 offsuit. Flop A-J-10.. check check, turn 4, check check, river 2... I bet 400 and he calls and I tell him I've got a wheel and he shows A-K. Wow. Donkey?
The 100/200 with antes pass as well and I'm still folding, not picking up an ace, a decent king or even a pair I can open with and I find no opportunities to steal either so I'm just whittling away.
I'm down to 5800 when I open one off under the gun to 1200 with A-Q. It folds to the chipleader who has probably 38000 to 40000. He announces raise and raises to 3600. I really didn't like my hand and even though I leave myself with only 4600 I chose to fold. He shows the table Q-Q. The very next hand I pick up 99 and I make it 1200 again, super tight old man raises allin for 2025. I don't like it but I have to call the 825 more he shows me A-K and I manage to take it down. I'm then at about 7000 chips. I go on a card drought like no other. I fold through the entire rest of the 200/400 level and besides moving in with some rags in 300/600 I don't pick up a hand. I'm very short at this point and getting semi-desperate. Blinds go up to 400/800 with 100 ante and I am on a new table with lot of big stacks, it finally folds to me and I move in with Q-4 of hearts and everybody folds and I stay alive a little longer. Blinds kick up to 600/1200 and I've only got 5900 chips. It folds to me and I'm UTG+3 and move in with 7c-9c... everybody folds again and I pick 2800 just from blinds and antes. I'm now at 8400 and I feel like I got a shot.
We are now down to 106 players and 52 people will get a seat, so about half the field to go. Roughly 520 people started the tournament. I post my big blind and it folds to this very donkeyish old man who had a mountain of chips after making some ridiculous moves. He annouces raise and tosses in 2400. He then realizes his mistake as he meant to raise 3x the big blind but the dealer says his miniraise has to stand, he didn't know blinds went up from 400/800 to 600/1200. It folds to my big blind and I've got KQ of hearts. I would've folded this to a 3x raise as I'm a strong believer in pushing 9 high rather than calling K high. He liked to raise with ace-rag and even though I'm short I didn't love it. I look at my chips and I see that if I call I have exactly 6000 left and unless I flop open-ended, flushdraw or any pair I'll just lay it down. I decide to make the call as I need to double through and he's the guy to do it on. The flop is Q-9-8. I check, he says I'm all-in... I instantly call. He shows me A-K. Perfect. If I win this I'm up to about 18000 and I've got a super good shot to advance. I just need to dodge an.... burn and turn and there it is, the fat fucking ace of doom. River is a brick and I bust out and I'm sick at my stomach. If he doesn't fuck up and miniraise instead of 3x raise I never play the hand, if that flop doesn't come I don't put another chip in... just all these little things that lead up to such an unfortunate bust. Granted, if I had flopped a king instead of a queen I would've gotten it all in as well and lost. I just got the PERFECT situtation to get a ton of chips and I would've been in great great shape, but I just couldn't get lucky. It was very frustrating as I played for over 8 hours and this was what I believe is the very last live satellite they ran since the main event starts tomorrow.
Frustration and more frustration, it just isn't meant to be and I've now spent close to $5000 trying to qualify for this event with no luck. The one thing I can say though is that I've never played a tournament before where I didn't feel I made a single mistake at any point in the tournament. There's nothing I regret from start to finish and ultimately, I guess that is all I can do. The rest is in the hands of the poker gods.
Fuck the poker gods.
I got seated at table 7 seat 6 and got off to a real good start. We started with 3000 chips and the blinds were 25/25 and went up every 40 minutes, a pretty good structure. I raised A-Q off early to 75, took it down on the flop with a continuation bet. Then on the fourth hand of the tournament, I pick up Q-Q. I take 75 to raise and as I threw it out there I see in the corner of my eye the guy on my left being about to raise, he notices that I'm raising and puts down his chips and counts out 300 instead for a re-raise. I hated this spot, I felt he was really strong but I decided to take a flop anyway and see if I hit a queen and see what he does on the flop. I called 225 more and the flop was 9-5-3. I check, he bets 500 and once again he just looked so incredibly confident that I just took my two queens, held 'em face-up and threw them in the muck. He said "Wow, that is a really good fold... most people would've gone broke..." and showed me K-K. I lost some chips but felt really good about my game at least.
A little later, I call after a bunch of people limp with 8-8 on the button. Flop is Q-10-8 with two clubs. Small blind leads out for 100, big blind calls, it folds to me and I raise it to 300. Both the blinds call. I wasn't worried about the small blind who led out as I put him on a queen or potentially flopping two pair. I didn't like the other blind calling cold behind as he can have absolutely anything in this spot. A four of diamonds peels off on the turn they check to me and I bet 750. The small blind calls again, and the big blind goes into the tank and finally folds. River is a 9 putting a dangerous bord of Q-10-8-4-9. I didn't put him on Q-J and when he instantly checked to me I thought I was good. I decided to make a semi-daring valuebet of 1150 only leaving myself very few chips but I thought I might be able to get a call from two pair. In retrospect I should've bet even smaller, he folds what he claims was a queen with a clubdraw. The big blind says he had a double belly-buster with A-J.
It gave me a nice little boost and I felt real good about things. Next hand I play is Q-Q again, I raise to 75 and I get one caller, flop A-K-10 I bet 125 he folds. Then I call a raise on the button, after the cutoff raises to 75 and I take a flop with him with 7h-5h. The flop is 7-5-2 rainbow, gin. He bets 100, I raise to 300, he reraises to 750 and I give him 88 through J-J here pretty much. I decide to call and for one make sure the board doesn't pair but two, get more money out of him since I'm in position on him. The turn is a 3, he bets 1000, I move in and he thinks for a little bit and folds. Off to a great start.
The blinds go up to 25/50 on level two and I limp under the gun with Ac Kc since this one guy who is on the button has shown a tendency to punish limpers and I was looking to put in a big limp-reraise on him incase he raises again. To my dismay, like four others limp behind.
The flop is Ax Qc Jc and it was a very nice flop for me, even though with a limped pot and so many in K-10 and QJ and AJ are all possible hands. I decide to check, everybody checks. Turn is the 10c giving me what might be the first royal fucking flush I've had playing live. I check, everybody checks. River is some blank and I bet 250 into the 250ish pot and everybody folds. I really felt like this was my tournament, I'm getting hands left and right and playing good. I'm winning a seat and then $10 million in the main event, no doubt.
I limp in another multi-way pot with As 5s on the button. Flop 8s-2s-2x and big blind leads out for 250. They all fold, and I call. It's a paired board but I didn't think he'd lead with a deuce. Turn is a 5, he bets 500 and I have quite a few chips so I gamble and call. River is not a spade but it's an ace, he checks I bet 700 and he folds. The level goes up to 50/100 and we go on a break. The next hand I play is right after the break, four people limp in and there's 550 in the pot and I got A8 in the cutoff. I make it 600 straight and everybody folds and I pick up some dead money.
Then comes what might be the craziest turn-out of a hand I've ever played in my poker career. A guy who loves to limp, limps in under the gun. I'm UTG+3 and I've got A-A. I raise to 450, a tightish older man a couple seats to my left pushes in for 2700 and I call of course. He's got Q-Q. I'm in good shape.
Flop comes down A-Q-6... turn 4.. river is the case Q giving him quads to beat my set of aces. The whole table erupted and people started coming over from surrounding tables to watch the crazy hand. If I had won that, I would've had somewhere around 10000 chips but instead I'm down to 5600. It was rough. I was still in with a decent stack but that would've been very nice to get as we were about to enter ante level and when I've got a lot of chips when antes come out, I can accumulate some serious chips. I took the beat fairly well and I never said anything about it, was smiling and laughing when they were talking about what a sick hand it was but about three hands after it I could tell I was starting to get frustrated so I took a walk and missed some hands and went to try to calm down and relax and tell myself I still have chips. I missed about ten hands, came back and sat down to play my best poker.
Another multiway pot, I'm 5th in the pot with 7s-5s and I'm in position. Flop As 3s 6h giving me a gutshot with a flushdraw, they all check to me but it was a limped pot and I had just lost a big pot so I didn't wanna try get aggressive so I check too. Turn is a 3 everybody checks again, river is the 10s and it checks to an older man who hadn't been making too many moves. He bets 400 into the 650 pot and I think for a while and decide to call. He had KQs for the nut flush.
Blinds go up to 75/150 and I don't play a single hand, and I only play one hand in the 100/200 level. That's 80 minutes of straight folding. The hand I won came on the the worst played A-K I've ever seen in my life. Everybody folds to the button, he limps in... I check my option with 3-5 offsuit. Flop A-J-10.. check check, turn 4, check check, river 2... I bet 400 and he calls and I tell him I've got a wheel and he shows A-K. Wow. Donkey?
The 100/200 with antes pass as well and I'm still folding, not picking up an ace, a decent king or even a pair I can open with and I find no opportunities to steal either so I'm just whittling away.
I'm down to 5800 when I open one off under the gun to 1200 with A-Q. It folds to the chipleader who has probably 38000 to 40000. He announces raise and raises to 3600. I really didn't like my hand and even though I leave myself with only 4600 I chose to fold. He shows the table Q-Q. The very next hand I pick up 99 and I make it 1200 again, super tight old man raises allin for 2025. I don't like it but I have to call the 825 more he shows me A-K and I manage to take it down. I'm then at about 7000 chips. I go on a card drought like no other. I fold through the entire rest of the 200/400 level and besides moving in with some rags in 300/600 I don't pick up a hand. I'm very short at this point and getting semi-desperate. Blinds go up to 400/800 with 100 ante and I am on a new table with lot of big stacks, it finally folds to me and I move in with Q-4 of hearts and everybody folds and I stay alive a little longer. Blinds kick up to 600/1200 and I've only got 5900 chips. It folds to me and I'm UTG+3 and move in with 7c-9c... everybody folds again and I pick 2800 just from blinds and antes. I'm now at 8400 and I feel like I got a shot.
We are now down to 106 players and 52 people will get a seat, so about half the field to go. Roughly 520 people started the tournament. I post my big blind and it folds to this very donkeyish old man who had a mountain of chips after making some ridiculous moves. He annouces raise and tosses in 2400. He then realizes his mistake as he meant to raise 3x the big blind but the dealer says his miniraise has to stand, he didn't know blinds went up from 400/800 to 600/1200. It folds to my big blind and I've got KQ of hearts. I would've folded this to a 3x raise as I'm a strong believer in pushing 9 high rather than calling K high. He liked to raise with ace-rag and even though I'm short I didn't love it. I look at my chips and I see that if I call I have exactly 6000 left and unless I flop open-ended, flushdraw or any pair I'll just lay it down. I decide to make the call as I need to double through and he's the guy to do it on. The flop is Q-9-8. I check, he says I'm all-in... I instantly call. He shows me A-K. Perfect. If I win this I'm up to about 18000 and I've got a super good shot to advance. I just need to dodge an.... burn and turn and there it is, the fat fucking ace of doom. River is a brick and I bust out and I'm sick at my stomach. If he doesn't fuck up and miniraise instead of 3x raise I never play the hand, if that flop doesn't come I don't put another chip in... just all these little things that lead up to such an unfortunate bust. Granted, if I had flopped a king instead of a queen I would've gotten it all in as well and lost. I just got the PERFECT situtation to get a ton of chips and I would've been in great great shape, but I just couldn't get lucky. It was very frustrating as I played for over 8 hours and this was what I believe is the very last live satellite they ran since the main event starts tomorrow.
Frustration and more frustration, it just isn't meant to be and I've now spent close to $5000 trying to qualify for this event with no luck. The one thing I can say though is that I've never played a tournament before where I didn't feel I made a single mistake at any point in the tournament. There's nothing I regret from start to finish and ultimately, I guess that is all I can do. The rest is in the hands of the poker gods.
Fuck the poker gods.
posted by Swede at 4:33 AM
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