This year I decided to play in a WSOP event. I have never played in a live tournament with more than 100 players, so I was mainly going for the experience. I didn't expect to make the money. I entered event #49, a $1500 No-Limit Holdem event. My friend Philip entered the same event.
The tournament started at noon on Saturday. Our flight landed late Friday night and Philip and I headed straight to the Rio to register. I think we got there around midnight. While Philip waited in line at a cash cage, I walked around the craps tables. The cheapest table they had was $25. I asked a dealer and he said that was pretty much the norm during the WSOP. I normally look for $5 craps tables. Since I had just arrived in Vegas, I was anxious to do something so I made one pass line bet. It lost immediately.
I went back to the cash cage to wait for Philip. As I was standing there I saw a man who was obviously drunk. He was staggering and acting really wierd. Twice I saw him take a drag on a cigarette and walk up to someone and blow the smoke right in their face. I was expecting a fight to break out. Then I saw another man run up to him and grab him and start walking him away from the area. It looked like a friend trying to get him under control.
Philip finished his business at the cage and we started walking towards the convention center to register for the WSOP event. We ended up a few paces behind the drunk guy and his friend. The friend was having a really hard time keeping the drunk walking and the drunk's pants kept falling down.
As we were walking down the long hallway to the convention center we started to see the poker celebrities. The first one we passed was Chad Brown. He was walking and talking with about 4 other people. Then we saw Allen Cunningham walking towards us. When other people recognized him they would point him out to their friends (just like Philip and I did). I wonder what it is like to walk down a crowded hallway knowing that everyone is looking at you.
Philip and I got in the event registration line. While standing there Dave "Devilfish" Ulliot stopped about 5 feet away and was talking to someone he passed. Then Greg Raymer passed by.
The registration line took about 30 minutes and then it was official. I was going to play in the WSOP. After that we went to our hotel, the Golden Nugget.
We returned the next morning at about 10:30 to walk around. In the Amazon room all the poker tables were empty except one. Phil Helmutt was playing Chinese Poker with two other people I didn't recognize. Phil was at one end of the table and his opponents were at the other end. There was a deep crowd around the table so I didn't get cloose enough to see any of the hands. We walked over to the ESPN stage and looked at the final table. It was sort of like a small portable arena inside of a huge convention room.
I needed to find an outlet to charge my phone, so we went out into the hallway and found a table near an outlet. While we were standing there Dan Shak came by talking to a tournament official. Then TJ Cloutier walked by.
That was the extent of my "celebrity" sightings. In the tournament I never saw anyone I recognized.
At about 11:45 Philip and I split up as we went to our seperate tables. They announced that there were over 3000 players and they were still accepting registrations. There was a long alternate list. I was glad that we registered the night before. When the tournament finally started I was pretty excited. I kept trying to force myself to calm down because I wanted to concentrate and last a long time. The rounds were one hour and we started with $3000 in chips. The other players at my table were quiet so I stayed quiet. The play was extremely tight. There was never a limped pot. The first several hands were won by the first person to raise. I kept track on my watch and it was 26 minutes before we saw a flop. Then it was another 10 minutes before we saw a turn and a showdown. I would guess that in the first round 80% of the hands were won before the flop and 15% were won on the flop. I played two hands in the first round. I raised with A-Q offsuit in early position. I was reraised so I folded. The other hand I had pocket 8s in late positions. I raised and was called by one of the blinds. There was an A and a K on the flop. The other player bet so I folded. I didn't loose much money in either hand, but I was starting to get worried that it was going to be a short frustrating tournament. At the end of the first round I only had about $1200 left in chips. I had only played two hands and the rest hand been lost in blinds. At the end of the first round they had seated 50 alternates so that means at least 50 people had been eliminated.
The second round started to get more interesting. I raised a hand in late position with pocket 6s and picked up the blinds. That was my first pot. I then started to get decent starting hands in late position. I raised a couple more times and won the blinds. Then on one hand I got a caller two seats to the right of me. I don't know his name, but lets call him Bob. On the flop Bob bet and I folded. He showed a 8-2 for a bluff. This hand was interesting in two ways. First, he called my initial raise with an 8-2 and two that he bet and showed a bluff. This was the first time someone showed or got caught in a bluff. This also started to loosen up the table. For over 90 minutes the table had been really quiet, but now people started chatting a little. A player two seats to the left of me was short stacked and he started to go all-in before the flop. I made sure that I only raised with hands I was prepared to call his all-in with. But it never came to that.
There were two more hands where Bob and I were involved and he showed bluffs after I bet. Then at the end of round 2 came my first critical hand. I had built my chips up to about $8000. I was feeling much more comfortable in the second round. I was on the big blind. It folded to Bob on the button and he raised a standard raise. I had A-2 of hearts. I decided to defend my blind. I paired my 2 on the flop. There was only one heart. I don't remember what the other two cards were but the were simething like a 5 and a 8. It wasn't a good flop for me so I checked. Bob immediately bet a small bet and I started thinking about the 3 bluffs he had shown me. The flop didn't look like something he would have paired either. I called hoping I would get lucky and win a big pot from Bob. The next card was also a miss, but was also not a big card. I checked and this time Bob checked. The river also didn't help in any way. I checked. Bob bet out a really small amount. I think it was something like $300 into a $4000 pot. It was such a small bet that I felt like I had to call. I also figured my pair of 2s was not a likely winner. So I called. Bob looked a little frustrated and he turned over a 2. I laughed and said "I bet I got you out kicked" and I turned over my A-2. He mucked his other card and I won the the pot. Then Bob in an angry tone started saying things like I should have never called the flop or the river bet. I reminded him that the last three pots he won against me he showed bluffs. He didn't say anything else. Another guy at the table called me "The Sherriff" because I wasn't going to let Bob steal any more.
I finished round 2 and went to the break with $13,000 in chips. I was feeling comfortable and having a great time. I had a lot more chips than when I started, but there were people at my table with even more.
After the break I got my first knockout. I had pocket 10s and raised from early position. One of the blinds called me. The flop was 6-6-5. The other player went all-in for about $2000 more. I figured she didn't have a bigger pocket pair or she would have re-raised me pre-flop. I didn't figure she had a 6 unless it was like an A-6 suited. And even if she had a 6 or pocket 5s she would have probably checked to get me to bet into her. It seemed like an easy call so I did. She turned over pocket 7s. The turn and the river didn't help her and I knocked her out. I was up to about $16,000 in chips, but that was the last pot I won.
Over the next hour and a half I was completely card dead. I think I tried to steal blinds twice and got re-raised and had to fold. Then came my last hand of my WSOP experience. I was in the big blind and Bob was on the button. He raised to $800. The small blind folded and I looked down to find pocket Qs. I decided to re-raise. I counted out the $800. I wanted to raise $2400 but I only had $2600 more so I went all-in. Bob immediately called and turned over pocket As. The better hand won and I was out of the WSOP before the 2nd break.
Philip outlasted me. He made it past the second break and I think he got bounced in the 8th round.
It was a really cool experience. I may never do it again, but at least now I can say that I did it once.
