WSOP Tunica Event #4

After picking up a nice profit in the cash games Thursday night I decided to give Event #4 a try at noon on Friday. There were 469 players that put up the $550 for the event. My style of play at the beginning of the tournament was significantly tighter than the previous tourney. Mostly because I didn't have even a remotely playable hand. No suited connectors, no small pair, nada! The tournament has a slow early structure so this wasn't really a big problem. Just before the 1st level was complete a familiar face sat down at the empty seat of my table. It was the guy who finished 6th in the tournament I finished 4th in last year. He remembered me and the race he lost to me with AJ against my 66. We remeinisced for awhile which passed the time nicely as the table was rather quiet and I was card dead. He had just come off an 11th place finish in Event #3 so it was clear he was on his game. We pretty much avoided each other at the table, but I don't think it was intentional. Anyway, the boredom finally got to me and I decided to call with Q♣9♣ from late position after a raise to 350 and 3 callers. The flop came out K65 with (2) spades. Everyone checked to me and I decided to try and steal the pot. I bet 1100 and only a small girl called from the big blind. She had literally been winning every pot so I was a little worried. The turn missed the flush draw and she checked to me. I had a feeling she was on a flush draw. I decided to check and if the river bricked and she checked I would bet 2100. The river was a non spade 7 and she checked it to me. I fired out the 2100 bet and she went into the tank. This scared the crap out of me. What could she be thinking about she has a busted flush draw right? LOL. After about about 30 seconds I realized my line was a little suspect. She called after about a minute of thinking with T♠7♠. UGH. Nice call. My plan would have worked with no T, 7 or spade on the river. That happens about 2/3 of the time. A triple barrel bluff would have probably got it done, but I would have had to commit a significant chunk on the turn and river to get it done. Ohh well I still had over 6k or so.

I was talking a lot at the table, but playing tight. I don't really know what my image was, but after that clear bluff it couldn't have been good. With the blinds still at 50/100 I raised to 400 from the 2 hole with KK. Only the big blind called and we saw a flop. It was a gross 8 A 3 flop. He checked, I checked behind. The turn was an 8. Check, Check. The river was a beautiful King. He quickly checked and I started counting out some chips. While I was doing this he started grabbing his chips looking ready to call just about any bet. I picked up on this immediately, and decided to count out some more chips. I decided to pick a ridiculous number for the 900 pot. The same bet as the bluff earlier 2100. So sexy. He pretty much insta called the 2100 and flipped over his crappy Ace with authority. I guess he thought I was bluffing. I quickly showed my Kings full and the dealer said, "Holy crap." I guess everyone thought I was bluffing. LOL.

This was the last highlight I would have for awhile as my chips started blinding off. Beginning of Level 3: 8600, Level 4: 7450, Level 5: 6850, Level 6: 5000, Level 7: 5350. Finally late in Level 7 (50/300/600) I doubled up and then some to 13,800 with QQ against AJ and had some breathing room. Shortly after this double up I got moved to another table. I immediately smelled some wicked B.O. It was the guy to my direct left. Brutal. Then I noticed the clear table captain. A tiny Asian guy that was flipping chips around like a ninja. I had position on him, and had a feeling we were going to tangle soon. Still in Level 7 I raised it from the 2 hole to 1800 with 66. Not a normal play for me, but the limping police were clearly out at this table, and the tiny Asian guy was in the big blind. The action folded quickly to him in the big blind and he flatted after some hesitation. The flop was a relatively nice 5 4 2 rainbow. He checked and I bet 5000. He thought for a long time, asked for a count from me and raised it to 10,000. It was 5k more for me to call, but that wasn't an option. I shipped my chips in and he quickly called the 3k or 4k extra I had. The hands were turned over and I had him in really bad shape as he showed AK. I'm sure he was thinking he had 4 more outs with the 3, but those were dead tough guy. I was about 75% to win here, and somehow my hand held up. LOL. Too much internet poker. After this pot I was up to about 30k and ready to go on a run.

After picking up some nice steals I won a race for about a 25k pot with my JJ holding up against a short stacks KQ. Winning races against short stacks is an absolute key to winning no limit holdem tournaments. Losing them doesn't hurt a ton, but winning them gives you a momentum that is just unexplainable. I was cranked up to about 70k when a short stack pushed for about 18k from early position. It was the last hand of the 800 and 1600 blinds with a 200 ante. It folded to me in the big blind and I made the relatively easy call with AQ. He showed 99. Time to win another race with a short stack right? Wrong! The 9's held up and my momentum was completely squashed. Instead of having 92k I was sitting at 52k. Boo!!! Man I could have really done some things with 92k!!

We went on dinner break at this point of the tournament. I had an hour to stuff my face with some crap Harrah's food and return to the tournament. While on dinner break I noticed the upcoming levels were getting brutal. Level 11: 300/1000/2000 (6000 pot) Level 12: 400/1500/3000 (8500 pot). Even though I had more than the chip average of 39k (120 players left) I still had less than 10 orbits before I was broke. I was going to have to pick up some hands or start taking some risks or I was going to get blinded off from this tournament. Taking risks seemed kind of stupid when I noticed the payout structure scrolling on the big screen. The top 45 got paid, and 45th place was $2200. 9th place was only about $3000. This was the flattest payout structure I had ever seen. It put an absolute premium on just cashing, which affected my play significantly.

The first hand off the deck from the break the action folded to me in the hijack and I looked down at 88. I made it 6k to go. The small blind raised it to 15k with about 10k left behind. Normally my chips would be in the middle so fast it would make the small blind's head spin, but my remaining 46k in chips were glued to the felt. I felt 88 played well against his range, but I didn't want to take a race at this juncture. If I lost I'd only have about 27k and be in big trouble. If I won I would have 77k and not be all that dominant. I showed him the 8's and he showed AQ. This hand was a sign of things to come.

I went completely card dead at this point. I think I only played one real hand after this. There was a raise from early position and I flatted with 99. Normally I'm all in over the top with 10 big blinds in this spot, but again the payout structure. My read on him was that he was strong, but was it AK strong or QQ? Let's call and see a flop. The big blind called and the flop came Jack high. The BB checked and he bet pretty big and I folded. I just felt he had QQ for some reason, but I may have had the best of it. I decided to play small ball and try to get a read on the flop. Probably just a stupid play in the long run. Trying to play small ball late in high ante structure no limit holdem tournaments with a short stack is a recipe for disaster. Every book says you need to press the action or fold. Well every book isn't dealing with the flattest payout structure in the history of tournament poker!!!

Somehow I survived until there were only 55 players left. Only 10 left to go until the money and a juicy 1600 profit. The blinds were at 500/2k/4k and I only had about 30k left. A player in middle position raised to 12k and shipped it all in with AK for my last 30k. The action folded to the big blind (a small Asian lady) who re-raised to like 70k. The initial raiser folded and I flipped up my AK. She looked at my hand, paused for a few seconds, stood up and slow rolled the hell outta two freaking Aces!!!!! Wow I have incredible luck. I was 8% to survive the hand. Lovely. I was dead after the turn hit the board and that was that. 10 hours of poker with nothing to show for it but a story of how bad I played at the end of the tournament. After this I vowed to never let a payout structure dictate my play again! I decided to skip the cash games for the night, and get some rest for Event #5.