September 26, 2009 at 12:59 pm · Filed under Life
During level 2, I increased my stack to 25k. Not much of an increase, but I will take an uptick any day over a decrease. This level ran much better for me—I won 3 of the 10 hands I played. I had one big blind special with K 3 off suit in big blind, it limped 5 way and it flopped K 3 2. I checked and it checked all the way around to the super loose, aggressive player in seat 1 (Turkish guy). He bets 1k and I raise to 3k (in case he has a K, I wanted to make him pay to try to hit his kicker. He could have any two cards and I don’t want to create value for the people behind me to call. I wanted more information in the hand and I was happy to take it down right there). He instantly folds and I pick up a nice pot.
The super loose, aggressive, Turkish player has played every single hand in 3 hours of play (except one). It’s sick because he is hitting everything and has knocked two players out. One of them where he had a straight draw and an under flush draw against an ace-high flush draw and he hit a straight on the turn and no flush came. The other was J 2 against A K and he limps for 200 with J2 and the small blind makes it 1100 with AK. The Turkish guy cold calls. The flop comes K 2 5. The A K leads out for 2500 and the J 2 player instantly calls the 2500 as if he knows what is coming on the turn. The turn is another 2 and the AK guy leads out with about 5k after which Turkish guy pushes all in with his trips. The other guy calls and blanks the river to be eliminated rather early on day 1. The AK is tough to get away from considering the particular opponent in the hand. However, the AK guy probably didn’t need to go broke there.
Anyhow, I am feeling good still and we are down to 7 players at my table. Just waiting for two new players to fill the newly-empty seats, however it probably won’t happen before we break. I will have another update after next level.
September 26, 2009 at 12:56 pm · Filed under Life
It was a very interesting 1st level here at the WSOP Europe in London. We started with 30k in chips. As for my table, there is a Swedish guy, Johanas, to my right. There is Tony Cousineau to my left, with whom I have quite a bit of experience playing—and he plays a solid game. Dan Shack (a businessman from the USA with whom I have played a bit) is two to my left. There is a man from Turkey in seat one (three to my right) who oddly enough has NOT FOLDED even one hand pre-flop! He has called re-raises with hands like 9 5 off and seems to be hitting everything. In the 9 5 hand, for example, he hit a flop with 9 5 and river 5 for a full house against a over-pair. Also, he called my re-raise pre-flop with a Q 5 spades against my A Q (I had the A of spades). The flop came with 3 spades and flops the flush on a board I can hardly get away from with the draw to the nut flush. So, I was 75% favorite pre-flop against Q 5 with my AQ and I couldn’t hold which pretty much epitomized the first level for me. Until about an hour and twenty minutes in, I had not won one single hand. I was playing pretty tight and playing only good cards pre-flop. I even missed 3 flush draws. I couldn’t seem to hit anything.
I was down to 20,000 in chips with 10 minutes to go in the level. I then hit pocket K’s under the gun and raised it up. Of course, the Turkish guy in seat 1 calls and the button calls. There are the 3 of us in it with 1100 in the pot. The flop was 3 babies of 9 2 3 with club flush draw. I had the K of clubs just in case I had to redraw if someone hit a flush on the turn (unless it was, of course, the nut flush). I bet 850. The button calls and the Turkish guy folds. I was excited that the Turkish guy folded because it was one of the only hands he had folded the entire time. He had won 95% of all the hands he played. As he folded, I thought I could finally win a hand and that would be a nice turn of events! The turn came and it was another red baby (5d). So unless the button had a A 4 or 4 6 (unlikely) and hit a straight on the turn, I should be ok. I bet another 1100 and the button calls. The river came and hit another 5, so there was a pair on the board. I bet 2500, he called (didn’t show) and I showed my Kings. I finally won a pot there and increased my stack up to 25,000.
After that hand, I missed another flush draw with 10, J clubs. I had a flush draw on the flop and I picked up a straight draw on the turn. I missed everything on the river. This brought me down to 22,500, which is where I sit right now going into the 2nd level.
Although I have not had any luck this level, I am not frustrated. I am very optimistic, especially when someone is playing every single hand. I should be able to extract value from him in the long run and so I will continue to focus on the bright side. I am feeling good and I will give you another update after level 2.
September 13, 2009 at 10:16 pm · Filed under Life
That’s it for the 5k championship at the Beau Rivage. Went out in 25th, which really sucks because 18 pay. I got it in with pocket sevens against Ace-Queen suited. Cleared the flop, cleared the turn, then he made a flush on the river (runner-runner). He had 14 outs, so was 28% on the turn. I’m still a pretty big favorite when I make it that far. 72% favorite to hold on the turn, but he rivered a flush. That’s OK. It wasn’t meant to be this time around.
Feeling good about the rest of the WCOOP’s this week and the championship next weekend.
Until next time,
Vanessa J
September 13, 2009 at 7:48 pm · Filed under Poker Strategy, Life
27,000. Really rough two levels. Couldn’t catch a hand, couldn’t catch a flop. Finally after being super-tight and building up what I thought was a tight enough image that people would fold to a re-raise, I had Kings and I re-raised. The blinds were 1,000/2,000 and my re-raise was 18,000 pre-flop, so there was about 40,000 in the middle. The initial raiser calls me and the flop came Ace-Jack-baby with no flush draw.
He checked, I checked, because I was almost positive he had an Ace based on things he said before he called pre-flop. Turn was a Ten and he shoved. I folded. He showed Aces and Tens. That was a pretty sick beat.
Luckily I still have enough that I can survive at this point. I’m going to have to get some cards here soon, but we just re-drew tables, so hopefully that will work in my favor.
We’re down to 27 players and 18 pay. See if I can get the job done!
Vanessa J
September 13, 2009 at 6:10 pm · Filed under Poker Strategy, Life
Good news is I have more chips than I had in the last update. Bad news is I don’t have that many more chips. I started off and I lost the first 12 hands I played this level, just all small pots, called raises or raised, totally missed the flop and there was significant action to take it down. That took me from 55,000 down to about 38,000.
Then I made a good call. I had 7h6h in the big blind. Tyler Smith was in middle position and he’s been pretty active at the table. I’ve played with him a lot. I was actually at the final table with him at the Beau Rivage in January. He made a small raise and I called from the big blind. There was about 6,000 in the pot and the flop came K 6 3. I checked and he continuation-bet just slightly more than his pre-flop raise. I know that he’s capable of shoving on me there if I raise it and it’s a risky call, but I decided to just call with my pair. I was pretty sure I had the best hand at that point.
The turn paired the board (3) and made a flush possible with three diamonds. Of course I don’t have a diamond in my hand, I have hearts. If my call was right on the flop it was still right on the turn. I checked and he made a half-pot bet. I think and I think and I call. I was a little nervous about a diamond coming on the river, but lucky for me it didn’t. It was a 7, giving me two pair. I decided to check, giving him the opportunity to bluff or minimize damage if he actually had a flush or boat at that point. I checked and he took a stab at it, betting about 8,000. I called, thinking I had the best hand. He had Queen-Ten off (diamond outs on the turn along with a Queen or Ten) and ended up with air. My hand held up and my read was right.
I should have raised earlier on in the hand, in retrospect, but that hand built me up to about 63,000. After going through the blinds a couple of times I’m back down to about 56,000. I’m feeling very comfortable with my table and my image and feeling good. We’re down to 38 players now and I can smell the final table!
V J
September 13, 2009 at 3:05 pm · Filed under Life
I ended day one close to average with 55,500 chips. That put me in 20th place out of the 50 players remaining. The average is 57,200. Play will start at 2pm here in Mississippi.
Wish me luck!
Vanessa J
September 13, 2009 at 2:51 am · Filed under Poker Strategy, Life
After level seven we’re doing a color-up and I’ve finally got some good news! I started the level with a little over 20,000, chipped up slowly to about 25,000. In a couple of different hands, just made good value bets and good bluffs in positions when other people missed flops and were tight players, when I had a good read that I could take down a pot with a stab on the turn. Did that a couple of times with air and it worked!
So I was at about 25,000 and I picked up Queens. Someone raised in front of me and I re-raised. They folded and I picked up a little pot there. I was sitting at about 30,000 with pocket Tens in the small blind. The player three off the button, a relative beginner, limped for 600. The player next to him looked like he wanted to raise, thinks about it, and looked confused. His expression clearly indicated he wanted to raise, but he opted to call. I put him on a pair of some sort, or maybe Ace-Queen. He called, the button called 600, and it comes to me in the small blind with my pocket Tens. I want to take it down right there, there’s plenty in the pot, so I pop it up to 4,000, a pretty big raise. The last time the table saw me do that I had Queens, so I thought I would get credit for it. Much to my surprise, the initial limper quick-called the 4,000. He only had about 20,000, so to call one-fifth of his stack without even thinking about it, I put him on Ace-Queen or eights or better. The second limper thinks and thinks and thinks and thinks and shoved all-in for 17 or 20,000, something like that. I ended up thinking about it and went with my initial read. I don’t think he flat-called pre-flop with Jacks or better, so I don’t think I’m dominated. Worst-case scenario I’m in a coin-flip and I think the other player probably has some of his outs if he did indeed have Ace-Queen. I thought I actually had a strong chance of having him dominated. I knew that it looked like what I did was a squeeze play, when in reality I had a hand. So, I ended up calling. The caller folded and I turned over my Tens. The guy who shoved had nines. For once, my four-to-one favorite held up, which is a new thing for me in the last couple of weeks. That was great and now I’m up around 60k and above average for once, which is awesome!
With about half the field left, 40,000 is average and I’m cruising. We have one more level to go tonight.
Vanessa 
September 13, 2009 at 1:56 am · Filed under Poker Strategy, Life
Well, theme of the day is that once I get my chip stack above the starting stack of 20,000, it won’t last longer than one round of play before I get some chips in, lose a pot as a big favorite, then have to build my stack back up. This has happened about 15 times today! I might be exaggerating a little bit, but it has definitely happened a ton.
Last update, I had about 26,000 chips after making a good call with Kings against the guy who bluffed into me with eights. Shortly thereafter I ended up in a monster pot. I was down to about 24,000 from the blinds and antes, and limped second position with nines. The small blind, who was a new player at the table, shoved all-in for 4,000. I was in for 300 only (150/300 blinds) and I called. I had a read that this particular player would do it with any Ace and the way he did it, I didn’t think he had a pair bigger than mine. I figured worst-case scenario, I’m in a coin-flip and I may actually be dominating him if he had a smaller pair or a weak Ace. Turns out he had Ace-deuce, so I’m in a 10,000 pot with a 75% chance to win. He flopped an Ace, so I lost that pot. I was down to 19,000 after that hand.
Then I flopped a set with pocket sevens in a four-way pot. The flop came A 7 4 with three hearts. The original raiser made a small continuation bet on the flop which I just called because of the three hearts. The big blind called too, so three of us saw the turn, which was a black Jack. The big blind checked, the original raiser bet slightly more than he bet on the flop. I figured I was beat at this point, but I had outs, so I called the 3,600 bet. The big blind called and then on the river, the big blind checked, the raiser shoved all-in, and I folded. The big blind called with just Ace-King. The raiser had King-Queen of hearts for the nut flush . That one sucked. I was down to about 13,000 after that hand.
I picked up a big pot with a nut flush draw. On a flop of 9c3h2h, I had Ah5h. There was a bet and a raise in front of me and I three-bet to 10,000. They both folded and I took down the 5,000 pot at that point. After that, I took advantage of some steal situations and built my stack back up to about 20,000.
A short-stack got moved to our table. I flopped a set against him and slow-played it, made a couple thousand, up to about 24,000. Then an interesting hand happened. Middle position limped, I limped on the button with Queen-Ten off, both blinds came in and the flop was QhTh8c. The small blind, who I had only seen play two hands in two levels, but who had about 60,000 chips in front of him, led for almost a pot-sized bet of 1,500. Fold, fold, comes to me. I know he doesn’t have a set at this point. I’m nervous he might have Jack-nine for the made straight, but I know it’s also possible he has Queens and eights. Eights and Tens is also possible, or a flush draw, or a flush and straight combo draw. I made a mistake here and I should have just flat-called clear to the turn and then bet bigger, but I min-raised to 3,000. Without hesitating, he shoved all-in, having me covered. I had 20,000 behind and decided to fold. I showed him my Queen-Ten and he showed me 9h7h for the open-ended straight-draw and flush-draw. I ran the Card Player odds on it and we were 50/50 on the flop. Considering my table, I’m glad I didn’t stick my 20,000 stack, which is definitely still really playable, all-in in a 50/50 spot. I think I can probably get it in a little better than that. It was a tough laydown, but that’s the way it goes. I made a mistake — I should’ve just called the flop.
I’m at about 21,000 at this point, going into level seven. I think we’re playing eight tonight. Hopefully I’ll make day two with a good stack.
Vanessa J
September 12, 2009 at 10:26 pm · Filed under Poker Strategy, Life
We just finished level 4 after the dinner break. I started the level with 16,000, and then ran Tens into Aces on an 8-high flop. Lost the very minimum because he bet into me 2,000, a pot-sized bet on the flop. I min-raised to 4,000, knowing I was going to check behind if he called. I had a bad feeling that he had a big hand. A Queen came on the turn putting three diamonds on the board (I held the Ten of diamonds). He checked and I checked behind, to see if I could hit a diamond or a Ten. I missed the river, he checked, I checked, he showed Aces.
I was down to 10,000 after that hand, but waited patiently until I picked up two Kings on the button. There was a middle position raise to 800 (blinds were 100/200 with 25 ante) and one caller. I raised to 2,000. The original raiser called and the other guy folded. The flop came A A 4. Not my dream flop with two Kings! He actually led into me, which was very strange. I think he bet 2,600. I found it hard to believe that he would lead into me with trip Aces. I decided at this point that I was committing myself to the hand and called. The turn brought another 4, so if he had an Ace, he now had Aces-full. I felt strongly that he didn’t have an Ace and my read on the flop was that he just wouldn’t lead into me with trip Aces. He bet into me, 3,600 this time, and I call. I’ve got about 6,000 left behind. River was a 3. He bet another 3,600 and a call would leave me with only about 2,200 if I called and I was wrong. I think about it and it was a painful call, but I went with my read and I called. He had two eights and was bluffing. I sort of got lucky there but my read was right. Now I’m up to 26,000 after that hand and finally over the starting stack of 20,000!
More on the next break,
Vanessa
September 12, 2009 at 9:22 pm · Filed under Poker Strategy, Life
Just back from having a nice steak dinner. I actually had stone crab, not steak. Chad had the steak. Clonie Gowen joined us for dinner, also. We had some great conversation. It turned out that Chad and I are both sitting on the same chip stack, 16,000. Chad got Aces cracked and missed two flush draws. I actually missed two top-pair/flush-draw/straight-draw-on-the-turn hands to overpairs. It was odd to have two of that exact same sort of hands that ended up panning out like that, but that’s the way it was – I missed both.
I think I lost the minimum there and after those hands I was all the way down to 10,000. I built my chip stack back up 17,000 after playing some hands creatively. I limped with Jacks in late position when it folded to me, knowing that there was an aggressive player behind me that would put in a raise. He did – he popped it to 1,000 and I re-popped it to 3,000. He folded so I picked up 1,600 for my stack there, which was pretty cool.
One hand before the break with 17,000 chips, I had Ace-King in the small blind and had to call a 1,000 raise. I missed the flop and couldn’t call the continuation bet which was pretty significant. There were two other opponents in the hand, so I let it go.
Turns out I’ve got 16,000 heading back from dinner to finish level four.
Until next time,
Vanessa J
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