Play the WSOP Main Event with me! Part 1 - AVP Strategy
AVP resident poker pro Benton Blakeman goes into hand-by-hand detail for every hand he plays in the 2013 WSOP main event. Part 1: Day 1 -- First Three Levels
I thought that I would do something I've never done before for this week’s article. In the past, I've highlighted a hand or two that I played in a cash game or in a tournament and talked in detail about the hand. Today, I present to you every hand that I voluntarily put chips into the pot with on day one of the most prestigious poker tournament of the year — the World Series of Poker Main Event! I took meticulous notes of every hand that I played, logging it all on my iPhone between hands, and I bring them to you here today. Relive the great flops and bad beats that I experienced first-hand on day one of the 2013 WSOP Main Event as I recap them and discuss my reasoning for why I chose the lines that I did. I'll be the first to admit that I definitely didn't play perfectly, but overall I think I played very well and controlled my table like a true pro. With that said, enjoy!
Abbreviation key:
SB — Small blind
BB — Big blind
Btn — Button
UTG — Under the gun (first to act after the big blind)
UTG+X — Player acting X places after the UTG player
HJ — Hijack (two spots before the button)
CO — Cutoff (one spot before the button)
CK — Shorthand for check
RS — Shorthand for raise
CC — Shorthand for a check and then a call after that check
C-bet — Shorthand for continuation-bet (when the preflop raiser makes a bet on the flop when first to act or when checked to)
* — Anything with a * before it constitutes my thoughts post-hand when I thought I needed to describe my thought process and elaborate on my line of play.
Important notes: If I don't say stack sizes, please assume its 100 or more big blinds deep. We start with 30,000 in chips and play two-hour levels.
Level One: 50-100 blinds
1: Raise to 250 from middle position with A-K off-suit and take it
2: In SB with 10-8 off-suit, BB hasn't arrived to the table and is being blinded off, the button raises to 200, I make it 625, he calls. The flop is 6-5-3 with two spades. I bet 700, he folds.
* This is mildly spewy this early, but I think that he is min-raising the button very wide with the big blind not present.
3: Raise to 250 from mid-position with A-K off-suit and take it
4: Raise to 250 with 2-2 from UTG+1, Joe Kuether calls from cutoff, flop 8-4-2 with two diamonds. I lead for 375, he makes it 950, I flat-call. Turn 9x. CK, CK. River 6x. I lead 1,250, he folds.
* Obviously this was very passive with a flopped set, but playing 300 big blinds deep and this early in the event, I didn't want to bloat the pot on such a wet board and commit myself to bottom set this early.
5: I’m in BB with Qd-5d. Kuether raises to 250 from mid-late position, guy behind calls, I call. I then check-fold a 10-6-2 rainbow flop after Kuether bets 375 and gets called.
6: I raise to 250 with Ah-Jh from UTG+2 get called by SB and BB. Flop 10h-6h-6x. They check, I bet 500, SB calls, BB folds. Turn Qx. SB check, I bet 1,200, he quickly folds.
* I think he's often floating this flop with over-cards, as well as small pocket pairs, and often will fold to my aggression on the turn.
7: In BB with A-10 off-suit. UTG+2 makes it 300, I defend. Flop 9-4-4 and I CC 300. Turn A, I CC 700. River Q, CK, CK. I win.
8: In SB. I call raise to 250 with Jh-9h after Kuether opens from mid and gets two calls. BB makes it 825. Kuether and one other call, so I call 575 more. Flop 6-5-5 rainbow and I check-fold to the three-bettor’s 2,100 flop bet.
9: UTG limps, I raise to 400 with black J-J from UTG+1. Cutoff, SB, and UTG limper call. Flop Ax-Ac-Kc, checks around. Turn 5c. Blind and limper check, I bet 800, cutoff folds, blind and limper call. River 9c, giving me second-nut flush. Blind checks, limper bets 1,800, I make a crying call, blind folds, limper has As-5s for boat. Down to 30,800.
10: UTG+2 makes it 300, gets two calls, I make it 1,700 from SB with K-K, UTG+2 four-bets to 3,900, the others fold, I call. Flop 10-4-2 rainbow. CK, CK. Turn 4x. I lead 3,700, he calls. River Qx, I lead 4,200, he calls and has A-A.
* I discussed this hand at length with a lot of good players. They are all fine with it. I personally think the river is so bad because his range is pretty much Q-Q+ and A-K. I think I should check-fold the river, but as played I lost nearly half my stack and had to regroup both physically (chips) and mentally.
11: I open to 250 with 4-4 from UTG+2. Get three calls: guy to my left, button, and small blind. Flop 6-5-5. Small blind checks, I bet 650, guy to my left flats, button folds, SB flats. Turn 10, I check-fold (guy had 5-5).
12: Folds to button who makes it 250, SB calls, I complete call from BB with Jc-2c. Flop 9-4-2 one club. Small blind checks, I lead 400, button makes it 1,000, SB calls. I peel because of SB’s call. Turn Qc. I CK, button bets 2,000, SB folds, I call. River 7x, CK, CK, he has K-9 off-suit and wins. I have 15,000 now.
13: I open-raise cutoff to 250 with Ac-9c and am called by big blind. Flop 7-6-5 with two clubs. He CK, I bet 400, he calls. Turn K. He checks, I bet 1,100, he folds.
14: I open 250 with 10d-8d three from button, Kuether calls in BB. Flop K-Q-J, and he check-folds to my 300 bet.
Level Two: 100-200 blinds
15: I open K-J off-suit to 500 from UTG, hijack flats, CO makes 1,600 I fold.
* Easy fold due to bad reverse-implied odds
16: I have 4h-3h in BB. UTG+2 makes it 500 and gets two calls, and I call for 300 more. Flop Jh-3x-2h. I check, UTG+2 C-bets 1,200, fold, fold, I check-raise to 2,800, he calls. Turn 5x, I lead 3,800, he calls. River 8h, I bet 5,500 he snap folds.
* I befriended this player, and we spoke post-tournament. He had a lone jack with a mediocre kicker, but he correctly read my hand as a flush draw. He did say that if I made trips or a straight he would have paid off the river, but the heart allowed him to fold. This hand was crucial, because had I not hit my hand on the river, I was going to check and give up, but I would have been below 8K in chips. As it happened, this hand propelled me back to about 22K and gave me much-needed confidence to play great from here on out.
17: I open K-5 off-suit to 500 from button, both blinds call, flop K-K-6 rainbow, they check, I bet 750, they fold.
18: I open 6s-5s from hijack for 500, called by button only. I bet 800 on 8x-7s-4s flop. He makes 1,600, I make 4,400, he calls. Check down 7x, Qx. He shows Ks-8s.
* This was a tight player, and I really thought his flop raise included a lot of sets. The board pairing on the turn gave me pause. I didn't want to bet and face a raise with an open-ended straight flush draw and made straight. When he checked back, I think full houses are less likely and weight his hand more toward draws. The river blanks out, and I probably should have led here to get value from Qs-Xs if he just made top pair, but I wimped out and checked planning, on calling if they made a river bet.
19: I open 10c-8c UTG+1 to 500 and all fold.
20: UTG+1 opens 450, I flat A-Q off-suit from cutoff, button and BB come along. Flop 5c-2c-2x, BB checks, UTG+1 bets 1,100, I fold.
21: Player in mid-position raises to 500, I call from BB with K-Q off-suit. Flop 6c-5c-5x. CK, CK. Turn 7, I bet 700, he calls. River 9, I bet 900, he folds.
22: Player in mid-position opens to 500. I three-bet A-A to 1,700 from button, he flats. Flop A-9-3 rainbow, and he check-folds to my 2K C-bet.
23: I raise black 9-9 to 500 from UTG+2, button three-bets to 1,400, I call. Q-7-6 flop with two diamonds, and I check-call 1,500. Turn 10d, CK, CK. River 10h, CK, CK, I show first and win.
24: Hijack raises to 500 and small blind calls. I defend with K-10 off-suit from BB. Flop 6-3-2 with two clubs, and I check-fold to hijack’s 900 C-bet.
25: I open to 500 with Qc-10c from UTG+2 as clock is expiring to go on break. I am called by Kuether on button. Flop Q-8-3, I lead 800, he calls. Turn 5x, I check, he checks. River 10x, I lead 1,600, and he calls. I show and win.
Level Three: 150-300 blinds
26: UTG+3 opens to 700, I flat with Ac-7c on the button, flop 5h-3h-2h, CK, CK. Turn 9h, she checks, I bet 1,100 she calls, river pairs 3, she checks, I check, and she shows red A-A for nut flush.
27: UTG+2 opens to 700, Kuether makes it 1,800 from behind him, I fold 10-10 from BB for fear of early player four-betting, but that player folds.
28: Button open-limps, I complete SB with 7-4 off-suit, BB checks. Flop 5-4-2 with two diamonds. I lead 550 and they both fold.
29: UTG makes it 700 and gets flatted by UTG+1. I fold K-J off-suit on button. Hate folding buttons, but the reverse-implied odd are so bad when 100+ BBs deep.
30: I open to 700 with 4-4 from hijack, Kuether defends BB. Flop J-3-2 with two spades. CK, CK. Turn Qs, he leads 900 and I fold.
* I'd normally C-bet this, but I expect him, as a good player, to just check-call and then lead a lot of turns and rivers, which puts me in a tough spot.
31: I open to 700 with Jd-8d from UTG+3. Kuether calls on button, BB three-bets to 2,400 I fold.
32: Player in mid-position opens 700, I flat K-K from BB heads up. Flop 9-6-4, CK, CK. Turn J, I lead for 900, he folds.
* I hadn't been three-betting a lot, so I decided since I was defending the blind light a lot that I had to play K-K the same way.
33: Cutoff opens to 600, and I flat with 10-6 off-suit on button. BB calls, as well. Flop Q-7-2 with two diamonds. They both check, I bet 1,100, and they fold.
* What can I say, I like my button!
34: I open to 700 with A-A from UTG+1 and get called by UTG+2. Flop K-9-3 with two diamonds, I bet 900, and he folds.
35: I open to 700 with Q-Q from UTG the very next hand, only SB calls. Flop A-10-3 with two spades, CK, CK. Turn 6x, he leads for 1,200, and I call. River 9x, he bets 1,500, and I fold.
36: Hijack opens to 700, I three-bet to 2K with K-10 off-suit from button and win.
37: I open to 700 with black Q-J from cutoff and BB defends. Flop 9d-6d-5d. He check-calls my 800 C-bet. We CK, CK the 5x, 9x runout, and he shows 7-6 off-suit with 7d and wins.
38: Kuether opens to 700 from UTG+3, button flats, I complete with As-2s. Flop 8-5-2 with two hearts and a spade, and I lead 1,100. Kuether folds, button calls. Turn 9d, I check-fold to his 1,600 bet.
39: UTG+3 opens to 700, I flat with 8c-7c, BB makes it 2,300, UTG+3 four-bets to 5,100, I fold.
40: I open-raise 6c-4c from UTG+3 and everyone folds.
41: UTG+1 makes it 800, I flat from hijack with 7c-6c and 100+ BBs effective. Heads up, 7x-7h-6h flop. She leads 1,400, I raise to 3,400, and she calls. Turn Qh, and it goes CK, CK. River 3h, she checks, I bet 5,800 she tanks for 3 mins then folds.
* I should have bet the turn to get value from big pairs with and without a heart.
90 minute dinner break with 38,600 chips
Since this is longer than I anticipated, I will be breaking day one into two articles, with the second one being the last two levels after dinner break.
If you have any comments on the hands or questions please post them in the forum thread and reference the hand number so I can easily locate the hand and answer any questions. Thanks for taking this journey with me. Good luck on the felt.
This discussion continues in our AVP Forum. Please click HERE to join in and read more!
This is great! Thanks.
Approximately how many hands were dealt per level? I am trying to get a sense of how active you were in each level.
Awesome! Can't wait for the next parts!
They say there's no substitute for experience - and they're absolutely right - but seeing how a pro thinks about each hand, and the way the table dynamics evolve over time, is probably as close as it gets.
Thank you for posting this, Benton!
@timpramas
Live games are normally around 30 hands/hour, each WSOP level is 2 hours, so I'd guess about 60 hands/level - meaning he likely played about a quarter of the hands. Since that averages 2-3 per orbit, the positions he played from are probably almost enough to reconstruct hand numbers...
@KingOfWrong
OK, so I went and did this for Level 1...
First, map position names to seats relative to the button: SB(1), BB(2), UTG(3), UTG+1(4), UTG+2(5), Mid(6-7?), HJ(8), CO(9), Button(10/0).
Next, use these with the hands Benton played to get seats relative to button: 1->6/7, 2->1, 3->6/7, 4->4, 5->2, 6->5, 7->2, 8->1, 9->4, 10->1, 11->5, 12->2, 13->9, 14->10.
Then arrange these into descending groups - we always move closer to the button - (6/7,1) (6/7, 4, 2) (5, 2, 1) (4, 1) (5, 2) (9) (10).
Since there are seven of those, seven different orbits are needed at a minimum, which sounds plausible, though the first/last may be incomplete. We don't know where the button started, but since Benton played his first hand of Level 2 from UTG, it's probably 7 hands after his last hand of Level 1 at ~opposite ends of the same orbit, for around 70 hands in Level 1.
@KingOfWrong
OK, so I went and did this for Level 1...
First, map position names to seats relative to the button: SB(1), BB(2), UTG(3), UTG+1(4), UTG+2(5), Mid(6-7?), HJ(8), CO(9), Button(10/0).
Next, use these with the hands Benton played to get seats relative to button: 1->6/7, 2->1, 3->6/7, 4->4, 5->2, 6->5, 7->2, 8->1, 9->4, 10->1, 11->5, 12->2, 13->9, 14->10.
Then arrange these into descending groups - we always move closer to the button - (6/7,1) (6/7, 4, 2) (5, 2, 1) (4, 1) (5, 2) (9) (10).
Since there are seven of those, seven different orbits are needed at a minimum, which sounds plausible, though the first/last may be incomplete. We don't know where the button started, but since Benton played his first hand of Level 2 from UTG, it's probably 7 hands after his last hand of Level 1 at ~opposite ends of the same orbit, for around 70 hands in Level 1.[/quote]
Man, dedication right here ^^^
Wow, sick statistical analysis. I love it! Hope you all enjoy it.
This is extremely helpful and obviously took a lot of time to put together, so many thanks. Generally, how were you able to take such good notes at the table without missing action/other information?
Also, since the new opening raise trend is minraising or something close to it, what are your general feelings on defending from SB and/or BB? This summer I found myself getting priced in a lot from the BB with one other caller, especially when antes kick in, but check-folding most of the time when my trash hands airballed.
Hand 10: did you consider 5-betting to 8,500-9,000 since you're so deep and original raiser could be putting you on a squeeze? If he calls or jams, you can comfortably fold knowing he has AA or is just a psycho that you don't need to tangle with on Day 1. I feel like flat calling just sets you up to lose even more chips on later streets if a K doesn't come, which is likely.
Great question VegasBabyVegas. I took these notes about my hands in very shorthand, almost abbreviations between hands normally while the dealer was shuffling. I went back on break and after the day and cleaned them up, making abbreviations whole and adding my post hand analysis. If I thought this would take away my ability to pay attention to hands that I wasn't involved in I never would have done this. After playing professionally for 9 years I feel confident that I can make small notes between hands and then remember the action later when I read my notes.
Hand 10- I think that by five betting KK and then folding would have let me know he had AA I don't like that line for a couple of reasons. First we allow him to correctly fold his underpairs like QQ and JJ. Second, we turn our hand essentially in to a bluff by taking this value hand and them folding to a six bet. Third, I am nearly 100% positive that if we five bet he will always flat us to keep his range wide and not allow us to correctly narrow him down to AA only. Last, if he has AA like we suspect the value of calling and flopping a set gives us huge implied odds to stack him if we do.
Keep in mind- I chastised myself for losing too much in this hand. Everyone I spoke to liked my line but I still think I can check fold the river. Based on this, with stacks this deep I had no plan on ever getting trapped here and stacked. I was well aware AA was a big part of his range.
Great questions! Keep em coming!
That KK hand is tough. Just calling his 4bet a d pot controlling is def best. I agree you can check fold river but in game that's a tough thinking spot. You did well to minimize damage.
Only thing I see is I'm never opening KJ off UTG. It plays so bad against everything when called. I'd rather have 98s or stuff like that. My UTG range is pretty tight.
I love buttons too!!!