Follow along with a fellow PFA member's low-roller WSOP adventure

[mdj1980]

Well the first tournament didn't go so well. I called a few bets in Stud 8 that I probably shouldn't have and that ended up costing me a lot. The roughest hand was the Stud 8 hand where I started with three kings, didn't improve and lost a huge pot that ended up going to the worst player at our table, who had started with something like 668 and ended up making a full house and a low.

I played the 15/30 limit O8 cash game for just a couple hours and walked away $75 ahead. That game was loose and a couple players were overly aggressive...you could take some pretty decent swings in that game but there would be some money to be won in the long run. I'm planning on going back to play that some more.

So tonight it's off to the Bellagio buffet, then maybe a cash game at the Rio. Gotta try and stay up late so I can sleep late / stay up late tomorrow.

[Daly]

Well the first tournament didn't go so well. I called a few bets in Stud 8 that I probably shouldn't have and that ended up costing me a lot. The roughest hand was the Stud 8 hand where I started with three kings, didn't improve and lost a huge pot that ended up going to the worst player at our table, who had started with something like 668 and ended up making a full house and a low.

I played the 15/30 limit O8 cash game for just a couple hours and walked away $75 ahead. That game was loose and a couple players were overly aggressive...you could take some pretty decent swings in that game but there would be some money to be won in the long run. I'm planning on going back to play that some more.

So tonight it's off to the Bellagio buffet, then maybe a cash game at the Rio. Gotta try and stay up late so I can sleep late / stay up late tomorrow.

In my experience over the past few years the cash games at the strip hotels are much better than the ones at the Rio by a fairly wide margin. If you like PLO the 1-2 and 2-5 at Aria and Wynn are top-top for action and comfort/service.

[Dan Druff]

Quality of WSOP cash games (at and away from Rio) is way overrated.

Action does not always = good game.

Best games are in LA because the good players are in Vegas.

[mdj1980]

I gave the 10/20 O8 game at the Rio a shot tonight...I played 4 or 5 orbits, got dealt no good hands and only two that were marginally playable. Luckily I got half of a decent pot with one of those.

The game was considerably tighter than the 15/30 at the Orleans. I figured since I had been up for about the last 21 hours it wasn't going to be much fun trying to grind out halves of pots against this group for the rest of the night, with most hands only getting three or four way action at the most.

I ended up leaving $15 ahead.

So after day one:
-$150 in tournaments
+$90 in cash games
+$78.50 of cashed out freeplay (was a credit card bonus)



I have now been up for 23 hours. I have more money than I arrived with. Of course, tomorrow is really the big day that will likely determine whether or not the trip is profitable...time to get some rest!

[Dan Druff]

So are we going to lunch or not?

[mdj1980]

So are we going to lunch or not?

Sure! I'll text the PFA line so you'll have the number, then just text me where and when and I'll meet you there.

[Daly]

Quality of WSOP cash games (at and away from Rio) is way overrated.

Action does not always = good game.

Best games are in LA because the good players are in Vegas.

Not always but I’d say there is a very good correlation.

[Sheesfaced]

Congrats on finding a bag. Now run that shit up all the way to the FT.

[mdj1980]

All the tweets with all the details are in the Event #4 thread in the WSOP forum, but to summarize...I got a very tight table to start with, aside from one woman who was overly aggressive, especially when she started losing....this was bad because there weren't any horrible players that were going to give away chips. But it was also good because the play was somewhat passive aside from that one woman, so I was never going to have to get in a lot of chips in a tough spot.

We had one super talkative guy that basically ran his mouth the entire time he was at the table, but generally in a funny way that kind of lightened the mood at the table. Brian from Brooklyn...he said he was a dealer in West Palm Beach. Eventually he would be eliminated, along with everyone from my starting table aside from me and one other guy.

The most interesting of the additions to the table was obviously Phil Hellmuth, who late registered after the NBA game ended. There was one pot where I got about 3-4k of his 10k stack by defending my big blind against his raise then hitting a higher two pair. He looked mad after that hand but didn't say anything. He was very quiet the entire time even though Brian from Brooklyn was trying to get him to talk. Eventually Phil busted in a pretty ordinary hand.

The worst addition to our table was Ian Johns. He was a very nice guy, but he is also a very good player. He really seemed to have complete control at our table, both playing well and running well, and eventually he ran up a stack of over 50k.

I was up close to 38k at one point then the last two hours was pretty card dead and my stack gradually dwindled to 25,400 by the end of day one. That puts me 141/371 coming back for day two this afternoon.

[donkdowndonedied]

Well the first tournament didn't go so well. I called a few bets in Stud 8 that I probably shouldn't have and that ended up costing me a lot. The roughest hand was the Stud 8 hand where I started with three kings, didn't improve and lost a huge pot that ended up going to the worst player at our table, who had started with something like 668 and ended up making a full house and a low.

I played the 15/30 limit O8 cash game for just a couple hours and walked away $75 ahead. That game was loose and a couple players were overly aggressive...you could take some pretty decent swings in that game but there would be some money to be won in the long run. I'm planning on going back to play that some more.

So tonight it's off to the Bellagio buffet, then maybe a cash game at the Rio. Gotta try and stay up late so I can sleep late / stay up late tomorrow.

You are pretty out of your league when stuff like this happens " 668 and ended up making a full house and a low. "

nice TR though. I like this stuff.

[Dan Druff]

He's about 70 away from the money right now, and tweeting actively.

You can see it all here: https://pokerfraudalert.com/forum/sh...9-3-00pm/page4

Good luck!

Everyone else I know from PFA is out of the event.

[mdj1980]

So yesterday went pretty well I'd say! I was able to make it to the money pretty easily without having to ever go all in. The tweets in the other thread have all the details...now that I think of it I think I was down to like 16k when we were playing 1200/2400, so I was starting to get short...but then just a few minutes later I scooped a pot to get back into a more comfortable position.

I got to play some with Jeff Madsen and David Benyamine as far as the big names go. And Andrew Barber. There was a little political discussion but since they were all on the same side it was very friendly. I wonder how Druff would have handled that...

After making the money I kept chipping up and at one point reached a high of 198k when there were around 60 players left. But one misplayed hand cost me a good chunk of that stack, then some blinds and missed flops later and I was down to my day ending stack of 102000 with 46 players left. We return to bet levels of 10k/20k today.

Anyone have advice on how to play such a short stack in O8?

For example, if I get something like A257 in late position and someone raises in front of me, do I re-raise to try and get it heads up, or with such a short stack is it better to save that bet while maybe letting the blinds come in? Does that answer change if you think the initial raiser will 4-bet, or if your hand is suited or double suited?

What about defending the big blind when you have 10k out there, there's a raise and you now only have 90k behind? I'm thinking that there is still room to be selective, at least for the first couple rounds of blinds. After all, the chip leader right now has 475k which can be reached in just a few hands when the bets are 10 and 20k. If there are multiple callers in front of you are you more likely to widen that range? Seems like the obvious answer is yes but I thought I saw an O8 video on YouTube where Bart Hanson actually said something to the contrary.

We start at 2 pm pacific today...hopefully I can catch a hand early and get right back in it! Follow along with the @mdjpoker Twitter account or the event 4 thread in the WSOP forum.

[mdj1980]

Well the first tournament didn't go so well. I called a few bets in Stud 8 that I probably shouldn't have and that ended up costing me a lot. The roughest hand was the Stud 8 hand where I started with three kings, didn't improve and lost a huge pot that ended up going to the worst player at our table, who had started with something like 668 and ended up making a full house and a low.

I played the 15/30 limit O8 cash game for just a couple hours and walked away $75 ahead. That game was loose and a couple players were overly aggressive...you could take some pretty decent swings in that game but there would be some money to be won in the long run. I'm planning on going back to play that some more.

So tonight it's off to the Bellagio buffet, then maybe a cash game at the Rio. Gotta try and stay up late so I can sleep late / stay up late tomorrow.

You are pretty out of your league when stuff like this happens " 668 and ended up making a full house and a low. "

nice TR though. I like this stuff.

LOL. Oops...just realized my error there. I think it was because she said she had a low or was going for one, and I didn't even think anything of it as I was mad about my three kings not improving. No doubt though, I am not an experienced stud or stud8 player.

[mdj1980]

Good news and bad news...bad news is I was knocked out in 33rd place when Jeff Madsen's flush rivered my flopped broadway. Had I won that I would have been up to a more reasonable yet still short stack of around 135k, playing 12k/24k limits.

Good news, we didn't have to play in a warehouse.

The best story of the week had nothing to do with poker. Thursday morning I went downtown to look around, and I took one of those coupon books with all the free match play offers. Then as I walked around I played them off and ended up winning like $70...

But I'm getting off track. The funny thing happened when I went to the Main St. Station buffet for a half off breakfast (it actually was pretty good, especially for the price). I went up to the register to pay. There was one couple in front of me and one guy behind me. The restaurant appeared to be like half full...plenty of seating available. The guy behind me speaks up and says "are you just by yourself?" Then to the staff he says "if there are only two tops available I don't mind sharing."

What the?! Clearly there was plenty of seating available and that was not going to be necessary. It was so weird. Luckily they called me over and got me (my own) table and I just ignored him. But I wonder what his thinking was. In Vegas in a casino I could imagine someone who might be trying to sell something or get me to loan him money or something like that. Or maybe just a really lonely person?

So here I am typing this, waiting just a few more minutes before heading to the airport. I had booked my flight home for tonight and I have never missed a flight before. But I was really hoping that tonight would be the first time, and I'd just get one for tomorrow once I made the dinner break tonight. But that's ok...just gives me more motivation to come back next year.

[mdj1980]

Forgot one last thing...I am a man of my word...so right now, as mentioned in the first post in this thread, I am going to ship Druff $59.63 as a donation for the next freeroll. $50 because I cashed and $9.63 because Druff slept through lunch, and this is what I ended up getting.

To make it more interesting let's say $50 to the main pot and $9.63 as a bounty on me. I don't play much because they are very late for me on east coast time. But I will set an alarm or whatever I need to do to get in the next one. Fair warning though, if I'm too tired I might just shove with any two cards and try to lose so I can get back to sleep...maybe not though...

[GambleBotsChafedPenis]

shit sorry I didn't see this earlier...im no O8 tourney expert, but ive played more O8 than I care to admit...

with a short stack I would be looking to iso with hands with high card/high pair strength and at least some sootedness...AK28ss, AQ45ss, KK34, AA78 type shit...those hands can actually show down a scooper HU based on high card/high pair strength...

Id be looking to go multiway with wheely aces that are nut or double sooted...A752ds, etc...these hands don't have high card strength to showdown HU against guys who aren't total fucking droolers and benefit from worse lows and FDs in there...

maybe im wrong on this in tourneys, but I play a lotta short stack NLO8 and that's all about hot-cold equities and showdownable hands...you just gotta know what can showdown winners against multiple opponents vs. a single opponent when you are a shorty...

[wrenchjockey]

TAKE IT DOWN

[Dan Druff]

shit sorry I didn't see this earlier...im no O8 tourney expert, but ive played more O8 than I care to admit...

with a short stack I would be looking to iso with hands with high card/high pair strength and at least some sootedness...AK28ss, AQ45ss, KK34, AA78 type shit...those hands can actually show down a scooper HU based on high card/high pair strength...

Id be looking to go multiway with wheely aces that are nut or double sooted...A752ds, etc...these hands don't have high card strength to showdown HU against guys who aren't total fucking droolers and benefit from worse lows and FDs in there...

maybe im wrong on this in tourneys, but I play a lotta short stack NLO8 and that's all about hot-cold equities and showdownable hands...you just gotta know what can showdown winners against multiple opponents vs. a single opponent when you are a shorty...

You're correct. Trap hands like AAxx and KKxx, which tend to be crap in O8 cash games (and tournaments when not short stacked), are actually good when you are short and just are going to have the board run out.

The problem with them when you're betting on every street is that you can rarely be confident that those hands are good, and when you get action, you're often beat (or at least going to chop).

[mdj1980]

shit sorry I didn't see this earlier...im no O8 tourney expert, but ive played more O8 than I care to admit...

with a short stack I would be looking to iso with hands with high card/high pair strength and at least some sootedness...AK28ss, AQ45ss, KK34, AA78 type shit...those hands can actually show down a scooper HU based on high card/high pair strength...

Id be looking to go multiway with wheely aces that are nut or double sooted...A752ds, etc...these hands don't have high card strength to showdown HU against guys who aren't total fucking droolers and benefit from worse lows and FDs in there...

maybe im wrong on this in tourneys, but I play a lotta short stack NLO8 and that's all about hot-cold equities and showdownable hands...you just gotta know what can showdown winners against multiple opponents vs. a single opponent when you are a shorty...

You're correct. Trap hands like AAxx and KKxx, which tend to be crap in O8 cash games (and tournaments when not short stacked), are actually good when you are short and just are going to have the board run out.

The problem with them when you're betting on every street is that you can rarely be confident that those hands are good, and when you get action, you're often beat (or at least going to chop).

The longest I took to make a decision that tournament was when I had 23k left with 10k of that sitting in the big blind, and about 40 players left. I believe my hand was QcQsJh4h. "Uncle Johnny" Esposito (who went on to take third) was in the small blind and it folded around to him. After giving me a walk the last time this happened, this time he says "I gotta try to get rid of you" and raises. I really didn't want to put my tournament life on the line with that hand...my thinking was if everyone folded around there were likely many small cards left in the deck, he probably had at least two himself so he's going to make some sort of low and I'll have to hope the queens hold up just to get the high half. But at the same time I didn't want to move on to the next hand with just 13k, 5 of it going to the small blind.

So I called, he caught middle pair on the flop, and I had to fade a bunch of outs to survive. He ended up making an emergency low and my queens took the high. A lot of the players said that they were surprised I hesitated to call with the queens and such a short stack.

Watching the final table, Ben Yu folded something like 10JKA six or seven handed under the gun when he was very short stacked. I was surprised to see that, although at that point there was another short stack and like a $10k pay jump, so maybe that was part of his thinking there.

[GambleBotsChafedPenis]

You're correct. Trap hands like AAxx and KKxx, which tend to be crap in O8 cash games (and tournaments when not short stacked), are actually good when you are short and just are going to have the board run out.

The problem with them when you're betting on every street is that you can rarely be confident that those hands are good, and when you get action, you're often beat (or at least going to chop).

The longest I took to make a decision that tournament was when I had 23k left with 10k of that sitting in the big blind, and about 40 players left. I believe my hand was QcQsJh4h. "Uncle Johnny" Esposito (who went on to take third) was in the small blind and it folded around to him. After giving me a walk the last time this happened, this time he says "I gotta try to get rid of you" and raises. I really didn't want to put my tournament life on the line with that hand...my thinking was if everyone folded around there were likely many small cards left in the deck, he probably had at least two himself so he's going to make some sort of low and I'll have to hope the queens hold up just to get the high half. But at the same time I didn't want to move on to the next hand with just 13k, 5 of it going to the small blind.

So I called, he caught middle pair on the flop, and I had to fade a bunch of outs to survive. He ended up making an emergency low and my queens took the high. A lot of the players said that they were surprised I hesitated to call with the queens and such a short stack.

Watching the final table, Ben Yu folded something like 10JKA six or seven handed under the gun when he was very short stacked. I was surprised to see that, although at that point there was another short stack and like a $10k pay jump, so maybe that was part of his thinking there.

man that's a really shitty tough one in your spot...it helps that you at least have some sootedness...with 2 big bets left I guess you probably have to go with it and pray...

ben's fold is pretty standard there...not having that low equity is so huge in hot/cold spots if you are just running out the cards...UTG having to fade 6 other hands, you're better off just waiting for the blinds to pass and look to attack from LP...