first main event experience (part 3 of3)
Day off before going back and decide to stay away from cash and play a couple of deep stack tournaments to work on some weaknesses. Play the $200 afternoon tourney at the Aria and go into complete agro mode. Have about my starting stack and I've raising raising about 50% of hands pre when I pick up aa. Raise and get two callers then the button pops it big. I smooth call it, other caller comes along, flop comes down 10-5-2, I check, other guy checks and button bets big, I check raise all in and other guy snap calls and button calls also. I'm up against 10-2, button squeeze and 22. Oops, bad play me. Where did that friggin 2 come from. Then play the evening one that starts at 7pm, go deep and it's 2am with 11 left. At this point I'm more worried about getting to bed, button raises and I jam with 66. Snap call from button and i lose to qq, good enough, wanted to get to bed anyway. My buddy has some kind of sleeping pill to make sure I get some sleep before the big day and I'm out cold until 10am. I didn't want to go to bed before 2am anyway, it made no sense to me to sleep from say midnight to 8am and then have a 12 hr day starting at noon.
Get to Rio around 11:15 feeling 100% alert and totally pumped and ready to go. I've done some research and the only player with significant results is Taylor Caby who is 2 to my right. Looks like my blinds will be getting picked on but nice to have him to my right anyway. Cards are in the air and guy to my immediate right raises and i have ako, blinds are 250-500 and pop it from $1200 to $3400. He's the only caller and the flop comes down 10jq. Woohoo, my first str8 of main event, he checks and I make a 60% pot bet at it and he says "that's no flop for pocket 9's" and folds. I don't like checking there and hope he's got a good piece of it so i think you have to c-bet there. Great start.
Comes around to my button and utg brings it in for $1200, gets two callers and i pop it to $3800 with kk. For the first time during the main event i can feel myself getting nervous, I'm sure it showed. I get called by the original raiser and another guy comes along. Flop comes down qcjc8x. i don't like this flop at all but at least no ace, it's checked to me and I bet $7k, utg calls and lose the other one. Turn is a red 5 or 6, it's checked to me again and I'm worried I'm getting trapped, decide to check behind and see what the river brings. River is qs, hate this card, utg checks again and I check it real quick, kk is good and i'm up to about 75ish. Gave up a free card and i hate the way i chickened out there but i've chipped up. Vow to put that behind me and step up the aggression.
Goes around the table a few more times without any hands of note and I pick up kk with position again. Early position raises to about $1800 and guy to my right calls, i hit it to $5150, i announce, but i slid out a pink (5k), two greens, and a purple (meant to be a black $100). Dealer points out ive put out $5550 but the $5150 is the amount. I don't think i've ever done this in my life and I'm full out rattled now. Both guys call and the flop comes j106. Gets checked to me and I bet out 7k, way way too small at this point. Original bettor folds and guy to my right calls. Turn is a 5 and it's checked to me again, I have him on a set, kq or aj. i think he would come out with j10 already, I chicken out again and check it. River comes q, he leads out for 12k, think about it for awhile and I'm still ahead of two of the hands i have him on and still behind the set obv. I decide to call and he shows 89, really didn't see that one coming. Really disappointed in myself for playing so passively and that I let myself get rattled. Ok time to refocus, still sitting around 45-48k and in this thing.
Great player raises from early and i'm the only caller on the big with 66. Flop comes k86, finally. I check to him and he checks behind, turn is a brick and i lead out and he instamucks. No doubt about it, he has a dead on read on me and my nerves are costing me. At this point I knew it and should have changed things up, have a couple of beers, something to get me more relaxed. I wouldn't normally dream of drinking during the main event but realistically what i was doing def wasn't working so I should have done what i could to adjust.
A little later I'm on the small with 1010 and Taylor Caby raises from the cutoff, I decide to smooth call the raise being out of position against a great player. Flop is k73 with two hearts, I check and call and if it's baby plan on leading out on the turn. Turn is a king so I'm pretty sure I have the best hand and I'm ok with giving a free card here. He checks behind and the river is a 10. i probably should have checked and given him a chance to bluff but decide to lead out and he mucks. Again, not crazy about how a I played the hand.
Comes around again and I raise with a2 hearts utg, get called by guy that has the read on me. Flop 2310, I check it to him and he bets the flop. I call and consider what turns before going forward, turn is a k, I lead out at the pot, he thinkgs for awhile and calls. River is a brick and I bet 6k at it, he calls me with q10. Did you really just fire a two shell bluff at a guy that you know was a great read on you? yes i did. Down to about 35k.
Folded around to me and for the first time in the tournament I pick up aa, raise it up and get called on the big from great read guy. Flop comes j83 rainbow and he checks, i make a solid bet at it, he calls. turn is a 3, i'm thinking he has a j or an 8 and when he checks I check behind him. I'm no longer worried about him catching up with me and I'm hoping this will give him a chance to bet the river. River comes 3, he leads out, and i think with the turn check he'll have a hard time getting away from a jack here so i pop it to 14 i believe. He thinks for awhile then moves all in. Oh boy, does he really have the case 3 here? Flop a set? I have less than 20k and call with a really bad feeling which i ignore. He gives me the sorry man and shows a3d. The only way i go broke is if it goes 33. Anyway, ladies and gentleman, that is how you go through 75k in about 2 hrs with blinds 300/600.
In the end i was very disappointed with how the nerves got to me and my poor decisions. My only other experiences with big time situations like this would be hockey games with a full arena. I prepared for it the same way, completely pumped up and wound, I really should have been the opposite. I needed to be relaxed and focused.
Certainly I ran into a couple of really tough river cards that set me back but that doesn't bother me like the nerves/passiveness that i displayed. I think it got real when I had chipped up a bit early and had a fairly weak table outside of a couple of guys. Started thinking if I could have another decent day, and there was no reason why I couldn't, I would be one day away from the money.
I learned a lot and had the time of my life, not going to dwell on the negatives too much as when I played aggressively and well I chipped up effectively without risking much. Hurts to walk away knowing that i did it to myself, played passively/scared and that's what cost me.
Tried to be as honest as a could here and hopefully you guys can take that away. Trust your reads and be fearless, if I was able to do that I think it would have been a much different day. I will say it's not as easy as looks on tv.
Feel free to call me a donkey from the hands i listed as i absolutely 100% deserve it. Nothing I would love more than to give it another shot so already looking forward to next year!
Best of luck all and thanks for the feedback.
Thanks so much for sharing. It's a great read, albeit a bit sad. On the bright side, you outlasted a lot of people and got a heck of a story for your buy-in.
@bucktooth1
You aren't a donkey but I think we both/all know that the jitters from playing in the main event got to you. I'd make some of the same mistakes and then kick myself an hour later.
@bucktooth1
There are a number of hands I would have played differently (and you too I suspect), but this is the only hand I really think you played poorly.
Pre-flop and flop are pretty standard. In a cash game or if you're playing with the same crowd you always play, I can see checking the flop to balance the times you check behind with nothing. He's unlikely to catch up on the turn. (Yes in the actual hand he hit his two-outer, but in this hand betting the flop didn't prevent that either.)
I like checking behind on the turn. Small hand, small pot. The other guy is solid and you're unlikely to extract value on the turn and river both. T9 is the only draw.
River: The river is gross (as it turns out). If the case ace comes instead of the case 3, you might double up. I hate the raise. He'll bet a lot of hands you beat. But hands that will call that you beat are KK, QQ, AJ, KJ. I think QJ, JT have to know they're at best chopping and throw it away. His passive play of call PF, check-call flop, check turn doesn't mesh with KK or QQ. So you're hoping the guy who has a dead read on you makes a crying call with AJ or KJ which are bluff catchers. Put yourself in his shoes -- would you call a river raise with AJ? And he'll shove with the hands that beat you. Just call and move on. When you raise and he shoves, you're good 0-5% of the time. Easy fold. Sorry, tough hand.
Thanks for the feedback. I think we approach the game in similar ways, not looking to get too carried away with one pair. I'm ok with the way I played it up to the river. I like the turn check as he can obviously improve but most of time you get outdrawn you are getting "two paired" which is no longer a concern. The only problem with smooth calling the river is that it makes it next to impossible to ever bluff the river. If your only calling with aa on a j8333 board, what could i ever be raising with?
If I had to do it again I would bump his bet on the river to say 10k (he bet 4k). He would have a hard time folding any jack to a sweetener like that and if he comes over the top I know I'm done. Realistically I should have folded regardless of what i had left, when your beat your beat.
Very nice take. Being as I too am "middle aged" at 43 I found that live poker, and tournaments especially, have taught me a great amount of patience. One of the biggest lessons I've learned since I started playing live poker 2.5 years ago is to try not to wear my emotions on my sleeve, which is hard when you're as emotional a person as I am.
That being said, the best advice I've ever been given and have given is that when you know you are rattled and any given player has a read on you, it's best to get up and take a break for a few minutes. You're not going to miss anything if you do and you will likely save yourself money/tournament chips. I think you're being a bit hard on yourself, all that being said. For a first go, you did really well.
I don't know if you've ever read any poker books, but two I found that helped me a lot are Gus Hansen's book about when he won the Aussie Millions in '07. Every Hand Revealed. He gives a detailed account of most of the hands he played and shares his strategies. The other one is Mike Caro's "Book on Tells". This was really helpful to me and really made me aware of not only what I was doing while playing but what others do when they play. It made it easier for me to pick up tells from opponents and in doing so helped me to focus more on the game. I also purchased a book on calculating odds but haven't had the time to read that yet.
In any event, I thoroughly enjoyed your trip report.
Jess
hey jkinsey, thanks for the reply, i'll merge them both into one post here. I live in New Brunswick and play at a casino in Moncton occasionally. Where do you usually play?
I haven't read hansen's book but i have read caro's. i read it about 10 years ago though so i could probably use a refresher. my problem was my breathing, i should have walked away but didn't adjust quick enough.
Having played the qualifier this year it's my opinion that they are the best value. If your goal is to play in the main event I would focus on building your bankroll enough so that when you go down shortly before the main event you have enough to at least play a couple of them. That's my plan for this year. I will say it's totally worth. The most exciting awesome thing to be a part of that I will always have and take with me. Def. item #1 checked off the bucket list. After going through it i would encourage anybody that loves poker to try and be a part of it.
I play in Niagara Falls, NY. I live just outside the City of Buffalo and that is the closest casino. We get a lot of aggressive Canadians over here so it can be a bit more challenging at times. But when I get to play with a group of locals it's more fun and profitable.
Yeah, that's definitely my plan as well. It's actually been my plan for several years. It just hasn't come to fruition yet. It will though. I keep hoping my hubby will get tired of me talking about it and will just give me the entry money, but that's not likely to happen.
Definitely a bucket list item for sure though. I remember when my Mom and I went down a couple of years ago during the start of the WSOP and I walked into the main room I was pretty awe struck. It was incredible to see that many poker tables and that many poker players in one spot. I took pictures of it, but no picture can do that justice ya know?
Thanks for writing reports, I enjoyed reading them. I always wondered what it was like dealing for WSOP. In some of the hands you describe I would have been more aggressive and bet to protect my hand but easier said than done in a high buy in tournment. Good luck in next years WSOP.