2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Five

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I got up after 10;00 AM Tuesday morning after about four hours of sleep. That is less than ideal; but I wanted to get through my writing and blogging tasks before I headed in, and I had some hopes of being able to watch some of the $10K Limit Hold'em event final table, where Jerrod Ankenman would be playing. As it turned out, I wasn't able to get finished writing before 4:00 PM. At that point I suited up and headed for the Rio and the tournament areas. I got some food — prepackaged sushi from the "poker kitchen" in the tent just outside of the rear of the convention center. I wandered around for a bit, and I tried to psych myself up for this event, a huge one for me.

Play started on the dot of 5:00 PM. I didn't know anyone at my table. I got off to a bad start, having a bunch of strong starters die on fourth street. My starting stack of 10K dwindled to 9K and then lower.

Once again I was astonished by the low level of play at a WSOP stud/8 event. The signature trait that a stud/8 player uses to judge the looseness and profitability of a game is the degree to which players take off a card on fourth street when they catch bad. In high stud, fourth street is often just a stop on the way to see a fifth card; once you decide to play a hand, the next big decision is on fifth street when the bet doubles. But in stud/8, your fourth street card makes or breaks your hand. Players who don't jump ship when they catch bad on fourth are what makes the game good. Most of the players at the table, even the ones who clearly knew what they were doing, were peeling off another card on fourth when they caught bad, unless they faced a bet and a raise.

And the far end of the table was populated by people whom I didn't think really knew what they were doing — four loose callers in a row, always defending their bring-ins to a raise, usually peeling on fourth street. I had essentially no fold equity on third street. My bets and raises had to be for value.

Except, for the longest time, I wasn't getting any value: my hands died on fourth, or superb draws busted out. My stack was over 6K at the first break. In the next round it got as low as 2K, but then my luck finally changed. I was trapped into drawing to a flush in a multi-way pot, and it got there, giving me half of a substantial pot, bringing me back up to 6K. Pocket aces held up for high in a jammed multiway pot, busting the first player to leave our table. My half of the pot brought me back up above water.

Back in the hunt, I was able to work my stack up to 15K. Then, late in the fourth round, I was dealt rolled-up eights. The player to my left was the bring-in. One of the loose players at the other end of the table limped in. The player to my right completed the bet. His stack was fairly low at this point. I raised. The bring-in called, apparently having a strong low starter, Initial raiser put in a fourth bet, and I put in the final raise. The three of us saw fourth street, all of us catching good low cards. The player to my right was all-in on fourth street, and I bet fifth and sixth streets and checked the river. The player to my left had missed his low and his scoop draws, and my unimproved trip eights beat the other player's aces and jacks. I scooped a huge pot. My stack was now over 26K. That hand had lasted long enough to be the final one for the round at our table.

It was a whole new ballgame for me now, as one of the bigger stacks. New players were moving in, also with big stacks. The sense of the tournament was changing.

But I ran into yet another cold streak. Six strong starters in succession (with the usual many folds interspersed between) died on fourth street. The seventh broke the streak, but that left me with 16K. From that point on until the end of the eighth round I was hanging on waiting for the right spot that never came. The round finished with me having just under 12K. It was almost 3:00 AM, and I was knackered. I staggered back to my hotel, and fixed a meal of pasta and salad. Then to bed, before 4:00 AM.

Now it is time to go back into battle. Wish me luck.

2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Zero
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day One
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Two
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Three
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Four
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Six
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Seven
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Eight
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Days Nine and Ten
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Days Eleven and Twelve

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