AVP resident poker pro Benton Blakeman goes into hand-by-hand detail for every hand he plays in the 2013 WSOP main event. Part 2: Day 1 -- After Dinner Break

This article is a continuation of my last article, in which I reveal every hand that I voluntarily put money in the pot with after the diner break during day 1 of the WSOP 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 1 of the 2013 WSOP Main Event as I recap them and discuss 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!

Abbeviation 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.
Picking up from where article one ended with post dinner break play-

Level Four: 150-300 blinds with a 25 ante

42: In the cutoff with A-Q, I call a raise to 700 from the UTG player. Both blinds call. Flop 9-9-8 rainbow. Checks to me, I bet 1,700, BB calls. Check back 10x turn and 6x river. He shows 9c-4c.

43: I open to 700 with Q-J off-suit from hijack, cutoff makes it 1,800, I call. Flop K-Q-10 with two spades, and I check-call 1,950. Turn 3x, and I check-fold to 4,500. He shows Q-Q.
* I should have folded to his three-bet, as he hadn't been three-betting light, and my hand has terrible reverse-implied odds.

44: I open to 700 with A-10 off-suit from middle position, folds to SB, who shoves 4,275. I call. He has 9-9. Runout of K-10-3-9-8 and I lose.
* This was marginal, but I thought he was frustrated after losing several big pots and getting very short, so I figured it was possible that he was shoving hands like A-X suited and K-Q, as well as most pairs.

45: I open to 700 with 8d-7d from the cutoff, button and BB call. Flop K-8-6 rainbow. BB checks, I bet 1,200, button folds, BB makes it 2,900, I call. Turn 4x. CK, CK. River Qx. CK, CK, and he says 10 high. My pair of eights win.

46: I open to 700 with 4d-2d from the button, BB calls. Flop K-4-4 rainbow. He checks, I bet 900, he calls. Turn K. He CC 1,050. River 8x, and he leads for 2K. I fold.

47: UTG raises to 700, folds to me in SB, and I call with A-Q off-suit. Flop 7-6-4 rainbow, CK, CK. Turn Qx, I CK, he bets 800, I raise to 2,100, he calls. River 2x. I bet 2,800, and he folds.

48: I raise to 700 with black 10-10 from UTG, Joe Kuether calls from hijack, and BB calls. Flop 9s-8s-7s. BB checks, I bet 1,300, both call. Turn Kx, BB leads 1,600, I call, and Kuether calls. River is the beautiful 6s. BB leads 4,500, I raise to 12,200, Kuether folds, BB calls and shows A-3 off-suit with As, and my straight flush wins.
* Straight flushes usually win :-)

49: New player in middle-position raises to 600, I flat button with 10-7 off-suit. Heads up to flop of A-6-4 rainbow, CK, CK. Turn 3x, he CK, I bet 1,100, he calls. River 10x, he CK, I consider betting, but check back. He shows Ad-7d and wins.
*Like I said, I like defending my button. Plus, I wanted to get a feel of the new player early on so I'd have a clue how to react later versus him.

50: I open to 700 with 9d-7d from UTG+1 and take it.

51: I open to 700 with black 2-2 from UTG, called by cutoff. Flop Qh-9h-7h. I bet 1,100 and he calls. Turn 6h. I bet 1,800 he folds.

52: I open to 700 with K-K from middle position, button (with 16K stack) makes it 2,100, I jam, he tanks for 3 mins and folds.
* I spoke with him after the tourney ended. He had A-Q. He said he loved my play, because he totally discounted the top of my range because he assumed I would raise small with A-A and K-K to try to get action. I thought he was a good player and that he would think this way, so I shoved for these meta-game reasons.

53: Mid-position player opens to 700, I flat with Qc-10c from hijack, others fold. Flop 9-8-5 with two clubs. He CC 800. Turn 3s, and he check-folds to my 2,400 bet.

54: I open to 700 with K-10 off-suit from UTG, BB defends. Flop 10-5-3 with two hearts. (I have Kh.) He leads for 1,100, I call. Turn 7h. He leads 1,100, I call. River 4x. He leads 2,500 and I call. He has Ah-6x and wins with a straight.
* I thought he was full of bluffs here and was just content on letting him bluff off to me. It sucks he got there, but overall I like my line here.

55: Kuether opens to 700 from three off the button. Everyone folds to me in BB, and I complete with 10-7 off-suit. Flop K-10-5 with two hearts, and I CC 1,100. Turn 10, and I lead 2,200. He calls. River 3x, and we both check. I win.
* I should have bet 2,800 on the river for value against a likely king.

56: UTG raises to 900, gets two calls, and I call from SB with 2-2. Flop K-J-3 with two hearts. All CK. Turn 10h, and I check-fold to the raiser’s delayed C-bet of 900.

Level Five: 200-400 blinds with a 50 ante

57: I open to 1K with 6d-5d from UTG+1, and BB calls. Flop 8-6-4 with one diamond, and he check-folds to my 1,400 C-bet.

58: UTG+1 makes it 900 and folds to me in BB. I complete with K-J off-suit. Flop J-10-9 with two clubs, and it goes CK, CK. Turn 3x, I lead 1,300, and he folds.

59: UTG+1 opens to 900, I call from hijack with 8-8, button calls. Flop A-10-5 rainbow. Raiser checks, I bet 1,400, button calls, raiser folds. Turn Jx. I check, button bets 1,800, I fold.

60: I open to 1K with J-J from UTG+3, folds to SB, who makes it 2,500. I call. Flop Q-8-7 with two hearts, CK, CK. Turn 10x, CK, CK. River 7h, he CK, I bet 2,400, and he folds.

61: Cutoff opens to 900, and I defend Ks-3s from BB. I check-fold 10-8-7 flop with two diamonds to his 1,100 C-bet.

62: Kuether opens to 1K from UTG+2, I make it 2,600 on button with 10-10, he jams 10,500, and I call off. He has A-K. Board runs A-J-7-A-8, and I lose.
* Saving my run-good in coin flips until I really need them!

63: I open to 1K with Jh-9h from hijack, and SB jams for 10K total. I fold.

64: UTG opens to 900, I make it 2,700 from UTG+1 with A-7 off-suit. Everyone folds.
* Very loose and non-standard, but I sensed huge weakness immediately, and my hand looks really strong when I three-bet a UTG opener from UTG+1. Plus, he had just won a sizeable pot, and I figured he didn't want to put those chips back into action immediately.

65: CO opens to 900, button flats, I complete from BB with K-8 off-suit. Flop 9-5-3 rainbow. I lead for 1,800. Raiser folds, button calls. Turn 10c, putting two clubs. I lead 3,500, and he folds.

66: Hijack opens to 900, I call from SB with K-10 off-suit, BB calls. Flop 9-6-2 with two hearts, and it checks around. Turn 7h. I check, BB bets 2,400, raiser calls, I fold.

67: Folds to me three from the button, and I raise to 800 with Q-J off-suit and win the blinds and antes.

68: CO opens to 900, I make it 2,800 from BB with 10c-3c, he folds.

69: Button limps, I make it 2K from SB with Qd-10d, big blind calls all in for 1,975, button folds, and I lose to A-10 off-suit on A-7-7-8-9.

70: I open to 900 from button with 8s-5s and fold to the SB shove for 4,300.

71: I open to 800 with J-10 off-suit from UTG and get called by the button and SB. Flop Q-10-9 rainbow, and it checks around. Turn 2x, and it checks around. River Qx. I bet 1,700 and get called by button. My hand is good.

72: I open to 900 with A-K from CO, button and BB call. Flop 6-4-4, BB checks, I bet 2,100, button calls, BB folds. Turn 8x, I check-fold to button’s 4K bet.

73: I open to 900 with Ad-10d from hijack, and BB calls. Flop 10x-8d-6d, and he CC 1,600. Turn 6x, he CK, I bet 2,800, he makes it 6,100, I call. River Jx. He checks, I CK, and he shows A-Q off-suit. I win.

74: I open to 900 with A-J off-suit from UTG+1. UTG+2 calls, and the BB call. Flop A-A-10 rainbow. BB checks, I bet 1,400, one fold, then BB calls. Turn 10x. CK, CK. River 9x. He CK, I bet 2,800, he folds.

75: UTG opens to 900, I flat from UTG+1 with As-7s. Others fold. Flop 8-5-4 rainbow. He CK, I bet 2K, he folds.

END OF DAY ONE

Chip count 57,950 going to 250-500 with a 50 ante on day 2

So there they are — all of my hands from day one of the WSOP Main Event! Kudos if you made it through both articles. I hope it was entertaining to see how I played, and maybe even helpful to your game to see how each hand unfolded. I think it's interesting to note that I voluntarily entered 75 pots out of an estimated 300 hands that were dealt. I guess that's pretty loose, but I felt justified in most of my plays. Now it's on to day 2!

If you have any comments or questions regarding the hands, please post them in the forum thread and reference the hand number so I can easily locate the hand to respond. Thanks for taking this journey with me. Good luck on the felt!

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