2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Days Thirteen and Fourteen

WSOP Stud/8 Tournament
Originally uploaded by abostick59

It didn't work out that way. The line was long to get into satellites. I played a $325 satellite and was first to bust out — in an early hand I hadn't had a handle on how small the starting stack size was, and crippled myself by betting half the pot on a continuation bet when I should have just pushed in. After that it was a matter of time before I either doubled up or busted out, and I busted out.

I waited in the line again for another $325 satellite. This one worked out better. I held out for 9th place, after the fourth increase in blinds.

While in the satellite area I ran into Walter Browne, who props at the Oaks. I bought a piece of his WSOP tournament action, but he hasn't been doing so well this year. (Last year he cashed three times, including a second place). He tells me he's been doing great in satellites, however.

I'd had it with satellites, however, so I went across the hall to the Amazon Room to see what was going on in cash games.

There were no seats in the stud/8 game, but there were seats open in a 75-150 mixed game, with hold'em, Omaha/8, and stud/8 in the mix. I sat down and put money on the table. The lineup was one I could hold my own against in the Omaha rounds and do very well in the stud/8 and hold'em rounds; but I was eager to get to the stud/8 game. (Yuval Bronshtein was in the stud/8 game. At one point I went to him and told him, "I don't know how you are in flop games, but if you are any good, it's raining soup in this mix game." He didn't move over, though.) After about two hours I was called to the stud/8 game, having booked a modest win of three big bets in the mixed game.

The forced-move stud/8 game was a good one, and I did well in it. I had a good handle on who was trouble and who was soft. Eventually, though, I was moved to the main game, and that was no good at all: only one soft player and all the rest were the old familiar gang of local regulars. I didn't stay very long there. I quit at 1:00 AM, booking enough of a win to end the day as much ahead as the satellites had put me behind.

Thursday was the day of the $1500 stud/8 tournament, the second tournament that I had planned to play at the WSOP. I got yet another good night's sleep, and stayed in for the better part of the afternoon. I headed over at about 3:30 PM to buy my entry and hang out.

The best way to hang out, I thought, was to sit down in a game. I was tempted by a 50-100 limit hold'em, and found it to play just like mid-limit hold'em everywhere these days. I played until about 4:30, and booked a $22 win.

There was anticipation and excitement in the air, like there is before the start of just about every tournament. The race was about to be on! The halls were crowded with tournament entrants waiting for the chance to take their seats, talking with each other, wishing each other luck, sizing each other up.

And the tournament began. I got off to a good start, with rolled up nines in an early hand holding up to scoop and give me an early lead for the table. But in the second round I had the misfortune to run into five premium starting hands in a row — literally one after another — and was scooped by someone else. I turned 3500 in tournament chips into 470 in very short order. I was in desperate straights at the break, having to play the short-stack game. I'm good at the short-stack game, but I wish I didn't have to play it quite so often. And even if you're good, the odds are against you. I busted out shortly into the third round.

I went straight to cash games, and was seated right away in the stud/8 game. Maybe I was a little tilted, but I was unable to make more than a couple of hands hold up, against obviously weak competition. I toughed it out, knowing how streaky the game can be, waiting for a good streak to make up for my bad ones, but the good streak never came.

At length, down more than one and a half buy-ins for the game, I gave up. I had the notion that, in the time I'd been in Las Vegas, every time I'd sat down at a no-limit hold'em game I had doubled up my chips in short order before going a game I had wanted to play more. So why not play no-limit hold'em in earnest?

I put my name on some lists and was soon called over to a $5-and-$10-blind no-limit hold'em game. Sure enough, not long after I sat down, my pocket eights flopped a set and rivered a full house, and I stacked someone off for $900.

Despite that, this was kind of a tough table to play. About half the players were good, and all of the good ones and some of the bad ones were posting Mississippi straddles on the dealer button. This means that (in a 5-10 game) the button posts $20, and gets last action before the flop. The action begins with the player in the small blind (rather than the player in front of the big blind). It gives the button a huge advantage, and is absolutely terrible for the players in the blinds. I posted Mississippi straddles almost every time it was my button.

While waiting for hands I leaked chips pretty fast, because it was an action game; but my good hands were good indeed. I called a raise in the big blind in an unstraddled pot with A-8 suited in clubs, along with two other callers. The flop came K-8-7 with two spades. I checked; the raiser bet about half the pot and got a caller. That looked like a continuation bet to me, and I thought that my pair of eights just might be good. I decided to call and take a card off. The turn card was a red ace, giving me top and middle pair. I bet $200, about half the pot. The initial raiser said, "Spiked your ace, huh?" and mucked. The player after him raised four hundred more. I went into the tank for a little while. What hands beat me? Sets, and AK. AA and KK were very unlikely, given the action; that left 77 and 88. Meanwhile I currently beat everything else the guy could have. And given the flush draw on the board, if the villain held a set I would likely have heard more from him on the flop — if he was playing right. Oh, well... if he had a set, he had me. I pushed all my money into the middle. Now it was his turn to go into the tank — and, seeing that, I now knew my hand was good. Eventually he called, all-in. The river card was a blank. I showed my hand, and he mucked with a look of disgust on his face. Even though I had him covered, there was already enough in the pot from other players to have doubled me up.

That's what the game was like: leaking chips in the face of fast preflop action, and winning significant pots to keep me in profit. I looked up one player when he was bluffing. I stole a few pots shamelessly.

When the dust settled, I had won enough in the hold'em game to make up for the beating I had taken in the stud/8 game. I was down for the day, but only for my tournament buy-in.

Why haven't I been playing more no-limit hold'em? (The answer is that I don't think I'm very good at it. Clearly, I'm good enough for this crowd.)

The game got short, with only good players left, so I picked up with my win. I headed back to the stud/8 game, not to play but just to see what was up. Chris Grigorian, who seems to like me (the feeling is mutual) was very complimentary to me: "You were tilting, and you got up. That is the sign of a good player." Maybe. Better players don't tilt in the first place.

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 Five
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

Tags: poker wsop world series of poker las vegas trip report travelogue eight-or-better stud holdem no-limit holdem omaha tournament yuval bronshtein chris grigorian