Jack Ury

So I realize I never posted anything on the WSOP main event. I have some notes, so perhaps I will later.

For now, here's what I wrote on July 7th after busting late on Day 2:

About 15 min into level 6 at 200/400-50 I get into the hand with Jack Ury that is reported on Pokernews and should be on ESPN. I raise EP with 67hh to 1100. Jack doesn't really know what is going on- he can't seem to hear, he can't seem to see, and he can't follow the action. How he got to day 2 I don't know. After I raise he throws out 4 black chips, as if he is limping. The dealer informs him (several times) that the pots been raised and he can't limp. He then says "well, I just go all-in" Obviously he can't do that either, so he ends up calling.

Before the hand started I think he had about 8-9k and I was sitting around 27k or so. The flop comes 6-6-7 and now I have mixed feelings cause I'm gonna be the bad guy who busts the old man. Oh well, his chips will really look good in my stack. He fires out 1k, and then I say "Hey Jack- lets just go all in- you wanted to go all in before the flop right?" Now, I'm not sure how this really came off. I assume that if I did this to any of you that you would take it in stride and fold most holdings. I felt like I was really taking advantage of him. Not respecting my elders. So, I shove, and then he takes a few seconds and gets his chips together to call. As soon as I see he's actually committed I table my cards and the table gasps. Wow. Flopped the boat on the old dude- Seat nine looks at me and says "You had to be the one"

Now I'm not even paying attention to Jack's cards because as far as I'm concerned, I'm a total lock. But I hear him mutter under his 96 year old breath-- "I think your in trouble" as he table pocket 7's for a bigger boat. OMG. The table explodes and I just have to laugh to myself eventually because a spot this sick just doesn't come around very often. At least he didn't stack me!

$2.5K shorthanded

6 handed events are fun. You get to stretch out, and not get elbowed or kicked by the guy next to you. You also get to play way more hands and the intensity level is higher.

My table is good. I don't know anyone and 3 of them are probably internet kids. I make some light 3-bets early on and run my 7500 to about 9K. Near the end of the first level I call a raise in the BB with Q9s and flop top two pair, Qs-9h-6s. I bet, he raises, I push, he calls, and this time the villain doesn't have the set of 6's I fear, but he's got spades and whiffs. Now I have 16k or so and on top of the world. Finally- long ball pays off! Woot!

I hit some more hands- I have AQ, flop come A-A-4 and I get two streets of action. I have 89s, flop an open-ender and knock a guy out when he shoves two pair on the turn when my str8 card comes. Its all good. Today's the day I make the deep run.

Or so I think. I spew a little. Big stack- play more hands, make more raises. Get played back on some and chip down a bit. I call a raise with 86hh in the BB and flop a flush K-9-4 I think. I bet, and the villain shoves about 6500. I snap call and he shows the Ah4s. The board pairs the 4 on the turn. Not a good sign- this increases his outs by a whole bunch, although I should still be a 2-1 favorite. (This guy has already dodged his exit when his JJ beat AK on a A-7-4 flop and he turned a Jack.) If a comes on the river I'm gonna have over 22K I think and be near the chip lead. Boom- 5 of hearts and my knees feel cut off.

Its not that big a deal really- I still have a healthy stack and am playing pretty well. But I don't know if its the 5 days in a row or what, but I'm really tilted. I pick up 6c6d and raise to get 2 callers. Flop comes 3-4-5 all clubs. Its checked around. Turn is the 6s. I don't know if this is a good card or not. If the board pairs I'm good, but otherwise there's a 4 card str8 out there and 3 clubs. One of the blinds fires out 700 and two of us call. The river is the 8c. Not the gin card 7c mind you, but the 8c. The lead bettor fires 1800 or so and I get disgusted and muck. So gross. Got to be one of the prettiest second or third best hands you can have, but worthless at showdown in that spot. I get KK the next hand and raise with no callers. grrrr.

The guy to my left is very aggressive. He's three bet me several times, and at the first break he got 3 streets of value from a flopped set against a player with TPTK. I call a raise with KJ on the button, and he comes along in the SB. I flop top pair on a J-7-4 flop and he bets and I call. I call his escalating bets on the turn and river also and he shows me 44 for a flopped set and most of my chips. What the hell? This is exactly the kind of play that I'm expecting from donks in the main event. Except I'm the one with the flopped set and they call me down 3 times with top pair. Idiot.

Absolutely nothing good happens after that. I fold garbage constantly, building an image to reshove on someone and try to build my stack back. It just doesn't happen though. I misplay my last hand, raising Alan Gohring with KT, flopping K-9-x, and instead of shoving the flop I shove the turn when the 9 pairs. He has the nine, I have no more chips and I'm ready to walk home to Reno now. Just brutal. adsfh9eqwfh9qewu9wevni

Venetian $1K

Uh, I'm not sure how much I remember cause its all starting to blur, but yesterday I played for 11 hours and then ran a perfectly planned and executed stop and go right into aces. I had straight outs and in fact made a flush but he had the right suits. I had KK five or six times yesterday and I won pots with them without showdown each time.

Afterwards my new Canadian friends showed me a craps table that I could win at and that may have been the highlight of the trip!

Event #13 $2.5k NL

I draw a fantastic starting table. Half the table seems like they've never played before-- two of them actually ask the dealer if its OK if they take a bathroom break. Several of them make these insane beginner bet sizing errors that just waves a big flag screaming "I'm a donk- take my chips" Unfortunately, my spots are thin and while I do chip up somewhat, I don't get that big double up opportunity. I am being pretty good at not calling anything from the blinds though, and when I enter a pot out of position its for a raise. I'm just going to make this a policy.

I raise in MP with AJs and one of the bad players calls from the BB. Flop is T-T-4 and I have the flush draw. He checks, I bet 600 and he check-raises to 3000. Sheesh. He really shouldn't do this if he has a ten in his hand, but he is capable of anything. He also didn't really leave himself enough chips to fold, but I don't know if he knows this. If my overcards are good, I have between 14-15 outs if I shove. I really want to shove, but I also think that the definition of a semi-bluff is that I have some fold equity, I decide that I don't and I give it up. He shows me red 77 and I'm wondering if I left my balls in the hotel room.

I get up to 13K or so chips and raise in EP with 66. Only the BB calls and I cover. Flop is Q-T-9. Check-check. Turn is a 6 and I think I have gin. He bets 800, I make it 2000, he tanks and after a very long time he shoves another 2500. Damn- I wasn't expecting that. I call and he has 99 for a better set and I'm not happy.

I get moved to another table with Shaun Deeb, Brandan Shaffer, Svetlana something or other who won the ladies' event one year, and "The Boss" An Phan or something like that. I pick up KK and somehow get 3 streets of value and get my stack healthy again. Nothing remarkable happens and I go to dinner with about 12K- below average but playable. Back from dinner I pick up 99 in EP and raise, only to be called by An Phan in the BB. He's very aggressive and I was hoping he would raise so I could just ship it. Flop is T-high and I c-bet and he calls. No more money goes in the pot as the turn and river bring a queen and an ace and he tables AQ. Yikes and blech.

The player next to Phan is pretty short and has open shoved a couple times. He does so again, shoving 6500 at 200-400/50 and I have ATo in the SB. Not really what I'm after, but I only have about 8000 chips myself and I need chips. His range should be 22-JJ, Ax, and KJ+ I suppose, so I think I'm either in front of his bad ace or I'm flipping and that's OK. I call and he tables AQ and holds and I'm crippled. Deeb takes me out a couple hands later. Blech. Went out around 390/1088, paying 117. A little closer than yesterday, but not close enough!

Event #11 $2K NL

1646 runners, 6000 starting chips, 1 hour levels. Court Harrington is at my table and he's the only person I recognize. Table plays pretty tight, and I'm able to maintain my stack by the occasional 3-bet that gets respected. At one point I raise UTG with JJ to 300 and Court makes it 750. I call and we see a Q-8-5 flop. Check-check and he folds to me bet on the turn. I try to setmine and make things happen but my stack fluctuates from 5000-7000 for the first 3+ levels. At the end of level 4 with 5000 left I pick up AA and get all the chips of a guy with KK. I get to about 9K which is the high water mark. After the break I pick up JJ in MP and a girl to my right opens to 700- I make it 2000 and then this guy with a big stack shoves. F-word. Girl mucks, I muck, and just like that I go to having a stack around 25 big blinds. I pick up AQ the next hand, raise and fold and I must be getting a little tilty. So with about 6000 left at 100-200/25 I make this fantastic play: Asian kid raises to 650 and I call in position with 66. Flop comes T-9-4. He c-bets, and I call. I've decided that there is a very good chance he'll check the turn and I'm just floating the flop to take the pot. Good plan so far. Besides, I'm ahead a lot of the time here anyway. Turn is an Ace and he checks according to plan. Now I make the error. I only have about 4600 left. He has probably double that. My choices here are to shove now, or pick some bet that gives me a last barrel on the river if I need it. I also think that when you're this short, shoving often looks weaker than betting half your stack- so that's what I do. And it looks like he doesn't like the ace at all. He tanks a long time, then throws his 2K in. Damn. Now I'm fucked. The river is some kind of card that isn't a 6 and he checks again. I see no way I can win a showdown, and my only hope is that he can somehow decide he is beat and save the 2600 I toss in the pot. He doesn't put me on an ace though, and his pocket jacks are good and I'm done.

Except I'm not really done. I go to the Venetian to play 2-5 and run good and people throw their money at me and I'm up close to $1800 pretty quickly. I give most of it back in two hands: First one I raise to $25 with QJs. I get called by a youngster in position. Flop comes Q-J-T, two spades and I fire $60. He calls. Turn is a 7 and I bet out $120 or so. He raises me $250 more. Hmmm. I call. River is a 6 and I bet $400. He tanks a very long time, finally calls and says "I got very lucky" and shows me pocket 6's??? WTF? Guy is some kind of witch I guess. Either that or he doesn't like money. Table lets out a collective groan. Then, I call a raise in the SB with 56o and flop 5-5-6. Now, I'm supposed to win this hand everytime. I check, MP bets $45, LP who raised pre-flop calls, and I call. Turn is nothing and it get checked around. River is a Jack and I bet $80 for value. MP folds, but the LP player raises to $600. Again, I ask- WTF?? I just look at him and point out that I only bet $80. So now I have to figure out what percentage of the time he has pocket Jacks and how often this is some insane donkey play to get the pot, especially since I've been playing like a lagtard and have a big stack. Somehow I decide its the second, I'm wrong, and that's the last hand I play tonight. I end up even and grumpy.

Its WSOP time!

Get to the Rio today and I pick up my preregistration. For the main event I'm on table blue 3 I think. I don't know if that means it breaks first or last, but its probably one or the other and I will definitely find out! Any plans for dinner fall through so i decide to play the nightly to check things out. Its $340, 30 minute levels, 5000 starting chips. First hand as I'm still getting my stuff together at the table I find A6s and I'm the second limper. The button makes it 200, two people call so I come along. Flop is A-6-5 all spades and there is a bet, a call, and then I make it 1050 and take it down. Too bad it was a monotone flop because one of the villains surely had a big ace and I would have had more. Anyway, its a nice first hand for the 09 WSOP!

I play very tight, and I'm surprised how active the table is. There is a an old guy a couple seats to my left who plays every hand. Three people get all in on a J-9-5 flop and sure enough all have flopped sets and the Jacks hold up. At 50-100 I'm the third limper in late position with QJo. Flop comes J-J-3, two spades. Yippie. The SB leads out for 400 and then this older woman to my right makes it 1400. Uh oh. Not good. I have her covered, but what on earth can she have that I'm ahead of? The only hand I can come up with is JT, and I think that's definitely a big part of her limping range. I don't think she has AJ, but she might have KJ. Pocket 3's are also a distinct possibility and what I'm really worried about. Any decent player also has a flush draw sometimes here. I feel like I should muck, but damn it I just flopped trips! I decide, screw it, I call, and I'll just ship the turn. SB folds. Turn is an offsuit 8 and she ships it. I tank. Now I narrow her range to one hand: 33. Thing is, I'm getting almost 2-1 on the call, I kind of want to know if my read is right, even if I'm not good, and even so I still have 7 outs. Somehow, against my better judgment I find a call and sure enough she tables pocket 3's. Case Jack comes on the river and I find myself berating my bad call as I stack the chips. Trust your reads son, trust your reads.

A good player makes an open-button raise to 450 and I 3-bet from the SB to 1250 with T8s. He calls. Flop is A-7-7, check-check. Turn is a 6 and I fire 1300. Its about half his stack and he tanks and folds.

I make a terrible mistake later after I get moved to another table. Easily the worst hand I've played in sometime. I raise in MP with AJo to 550 at 100-200, and get called by a big stack. Flop comes J-9-8, two spades and I bet 650. Villain makes it 2500 and I'm pretty sure he is just messing around trying to take the pot after the automatic c-bet that he expects from me. I should just ship it here but I call. Turn pairs the 9 and I bet 3000. He tanks and calls. Hmmm. Who is floating who here? River is a very ugly Qh and since the one card I put him on when he raised the flop was a Ten, I'm now pretty worried he made a straight. Besides, the board is so ugly my top pair shouldn't be good given the action. Meh. I check-fold and someone at the table says "show the bluff" and the villain turns up one card-- the 6d. wtf? I give up half my stack on just a miserably played hand and I remind myself that this is a hard game and every single hand is the one that can make or break you.

I chip up a bit more and then find AA in late position and raise three limpers to 1000. I get two callers, including the older guy from the first table who plays every hand. Flop comes 9-5-4 rainbow and old guy bets 1500 and I ship, he calls with K9o and I know the King is coming when he turns his hand over.

First bracelet event tomorrow...

Running Good!

Just took down a $55 Stars tourney for $3300 or so. Sweet. Had one donk play early on where I shoved 88 into KK on an underboard and rivered a set. Other than that, got it in good and held.

Yesterday won my WSOP seat on the Stars $650 qualifier. 1100 entries or so, 55 seats. The bubble was insanely brutal. For the most part people played well. I got pretty short, hovering around 54 out of 60 or so for awhile. One hand its folded to the button who has 22900 at 2000-4000 blinds. I have about 34000. He shoves, its folded to me holding AKs and I tank and muck. I'd call with Aces, but that's about it I think. If a math geek looks at it I'm pretty sure a fold is correct there. My big hand was when I as down to 17K with blinds at 2500-5000 and its folded to me in the SB and I shove 62o. I get called (?) by Q9o and I catch a 6 to double up and get to a safe spot from there. Why the BB, who barely had me covered, would call with Q9 there is bizarre.

So I'm excited to play the Main Event, as I haven't played since 2006. Pokerstars has rooms for its qualifiers at the Palms and I've never stayed there so that's cool also. And for the next two months I'm going to dream of going deep and then do this doctor thing as a hobby or missionary work.

Yet another Poker Post! whoot!

No happy ending for those of you who want to skip to the end....

So I play the $200+$30 NL at the Hilton, eh, Grand Sierra again. 6000 starting chips. Here's a few hands:

Early on 25-50 I get QQ and raise, to be called by the BB. Flop J-9-4 and I must be good. He checks, I bet 2/3 pot. Turn is a little rainbow card and he check-calls 3/4 pot this time. River is another brick and he checks again. Now what? I tell myself he's got AJ or KJ and I must be good, but I ate a big bowl of "Nitties" for breakfast so I check behind. He tables JT and I steam a bit for not getting another 1200 out of him.

I get QThh in the CO and raise, the BB calls. Flop comes Kh-Qs-Jh. Wow. OK, count at home with me-

Ah/2h/3h/4h/5h/6h/7h/8h/9h/9d/9c/9s/Ts/Tc/Td/Qc/Qd/As/Ac/Ad

yep, 20 outs. Especially good to know when the BB check-raises me all-in with K6o. Turn 4c. River 9d and I'm a winna.

I move tables and my unfortunate tendency to raise at will causes my opponents to 3-bet me often. Since I don't have much in the way of cards, this blows.

Then I play a hand very badly. Like KK vs Aaron Kantor badly. I have T7hh in mid-position and limp after a couple limpers. The button has a monster stack and he comes along. Flop is T-9-9 with one heart. I bet when it gets to me and I'm headsup with the bigstack. Now here's the weird part. I'm thinking to myself "I need an 8-- an 8 would give me an OESD- that would be good" So the turn is another heart, giving me the flush draw as well as top pair. I check, button bets, I call. I have about 15K left at this point. He has a zillion chips. The river is the 8c. I check, he bets 2000. Now this is the part where I have to do a piss test or something. See, my brain is still on the turn. I'm still thinking "I need an 8 (or a heart" In fact, I'm pretty sure that I have a straight at this point. I snap-raise to 5K. He shoves. Holy crap. That was unexpected. F word. Well, my straight is hidden and might be good. Let me think about this. OK, whats the board? T-9-9-4-8. What's my hand again? T7. 7-8-9-T-- oh shit. Well kiss my gritz if I didn't just turn my hand into a bluff without even knowing it! I fold. Please to be taking 1/3 of my stack Mr. Don't-need-anymore-chips-from-me.

At one point my BB of 300 is raised by the CO to 1200. He has another 3500 behind, and I'm sitting with about 10-11K. I have ATs. So I ponder my options here. I could just push, or I could wait for the flop and then push. I tank awhile so he must know I have a hand. Its sort of strange, because I know all my chips are getting in the middle, but for the life of me I can't decide if it should be now or later. I call. Flop Q-T-5. Before I can act, the CO shoves. Dude, your stop-and-go is all backasswards here. So he pulls his stack back. Now I ask the dealer, just to make it clear, that if I shove he can still fold. She agrees. I say "OK, I'll give you another chance, I'm all in" Snap-call with the mighty Q4 off suit.

I drift below average. At 400-800 a short stack shoves for 2450. The Q4 guy calls. Another shorty goes all in. Action to me. I look down at AA. Got to get the rest of Q4's money in, so I make a neon-sign blasting raise to 5000. Q4 either can't see the danger, or is overcome with the pot odds and calls. Flop 6-2-2. Q4 shoves with 77. I snap and hold, knocking out the two shorties and putting Q4 on life support. Above average at this point.

After this I suppose the best description is that I failed to change gears. I went from 35K in chips down to 17,100 at the dinner break, with blinds at 800-1600/300. I did this not with any big hands, but by raising and then getting re-popped, or having my C-bets raised or just plain old playing shitty. With a low M after dinner I really just wanted a double up opportunity. There were 37 left, paying 18. We re-drew at 3 tables and one of the guys from the previous table who knows I'm somewhat maniacal is in the SB. I have him covered by 5500 chips. (How do I know this you ask? Silly rabbit...) At 1000-2000/400 its folded to me in the CO with AQo. I consider shoving, but I make it 6000. The SB shoves and there is really no way I can fold this spot so I call. He has 66 and turns a set and rivers a boat and I bust out 25th.

Playing the charity kidney jen harmon tourney on wednesday, the 3K on thursday, and I'm holding my decision on the 5K after that.

Quads is good.

So it seems there are at least two people out there who look at this blog from time to time and say "hey- haven't been playing cards lately?"

Been playing a lot actually, just not writing about it. I've been playing online once or twice a week. This consists of logging on sometime between 6 and 7 PST and playing all of the FTP tourneys between then and the Turbo Fifty at 10 PM. Sometimes later. If you look at the OPR site, you'll see that I've run pretty good for the most part, although there have been stretches that I would like to forget. And I have more evidence for the ultimate doomswitch-- I'm 8 tabling FTP tournies the other night with decent stacks in most of them and getting close to the bubble when I get in good on each table and lose to a 2-6 outer or runner runner about 6 times in a row over a 5-8 minute span. BAM! No soup for you!

Whatever.

So I'm at the Hilton (Grand Sierra) and I donk out of the Omaha tourney fairly early and decide to sit in the 3-5 NL game with $1500. The game is really good. There's an old guy in seat 3 who comes in for $20-$30 every single hand. Awesome. The guy directly to my right seems OK, but he's one level behind me I figure, as he'll fire out the flop but give up to my float steal on the turn. The people to my left are all stacked and solid, and for now I think that if they are repopping I can get out of the way. So I'm at this game for about an hour and I realize that its a school night and I better be getting home. Just stupid to even sit down really. I call up for some chinese take out, so I'm on my last orbit. On my 2nd to last hand, I get 44 in EP and raise to $15. I get 4 callers. I flop 4-4-7. Fun fun. I check. Guy with a $500 stack to my left bets $60, and then the kid to my right calls. Oh my. I hope one of them flopped a boat. I call. Turn is not a 7. I check. Old guy fires $200. Kid folds. "How much you got left?"-- "OK, I'm all in" He calls but I never get to see his hand.

So its pretty cool when they are betting into you when you flop quads. Even nicer when the card room has a bonus for a high hand. And it just depends when it hits. So quad 5's for instance was worth about $45. Quad 8's must have just been hit, cause it was only $30. Quad 4's though, were worth over $375. Very sweet.