I was happy with my table, and the day got off to a great start. I was one of the two biggest stacks, the other one of whom was a young Asian kid in yellow hoodie and designer sunglasses who looked like he could be good. He handled his chips well and raised in a lot of the right spots, but after watching him tank and agonize before calling a 3-bet shove with QTs getting better than 2:1, I decided he couldn’t be that great. He subsequently lost half of his stack with KK to AK, berated the other guy for 4-betting AK, and then tilted off the rest of his chips, so I didn’t have to worry about him.
I did more than my part to bust out the short stacks, waking up with AQ in my big blind when someone shoved KQ and then with QQ when an even shorter stack 3-bet shoved TT. I shot up from 50K to 90K and took the liberty of opening a few more pots. At 300/600/50, I opened to 1300 with T8s and the BB defended. He quickly bet out at an A94 flop, but I called him with nothing but my backdoor draw and he check-folded the turn. The next orbit I raised him again with QTs. He quickly shoved 6600, and I did some quick math to determine that it was close but I had enough chips to establish a “don’t shove on me” image. I called and was pleasantly surprised to see his Q3s, which did not get there.
The table got tougher as empty seats were filled by tough players with lots of chips. The only one I recognized was Matt “Ch0ppy” Kay, who I first met on Day 6 of this year’s WSOP main event, but I could tell the others were good because they all knew each other, and not just from playing locally. They would laugh and groan collectively as yet another sicko arrived carrying an armload of chips.
Among all these male hotshots came also Lacey Jones. I’ve perused her pictures and never thought she was all that special, but in person she was pretty captivating. On top of that she came across as really nice and humble, making her an all-around pleasure at the table. I was almost disappointed to bust her with 55 > 87s.
My biggest win of the day came against one of the tough new players, who was sitting two seats to my left. We were playing 400/800/50 , and I opened to 1600 with QJo on my button. He defended from the BB, and we both checked a J98r flop. He bet 2600 on a 6 turn, and I called. The river was another J, he checked, and I bet 6600.
Here’s where things got interesting. He quickly raised to 24,500, and my first instinct was to fold, because I only beat a bluff (actually he could be on JT for value but that didn’t occur to me at the time) and you don’t see a lot of river check-raise bluffs. This was a good player, though, and after a bit of thought I realized a few things. First, this is about the strongest hand I’ll ever have ever, since I’m not likely to check Jacks up or better on the flop. I suppose AJ or KJ would be slightly better bluff-catchers, since they beat a bit more of his value range (though I’m not confident he’d go for a check-raise with KJ anyway), but it’s not a big difference.
Second, he may not expect me to have trips in my range at all. If he assumes I’d always bet top pair, then he can really check-raise the river with impunity.
Finally, holding a J gives me a significant blocker to his value range. So I called, and he told me I was good. This was another of those spots where it was interesting to see how others at the table responded to the call. One guy seemed surprised that I had to think about it all, whereas another told me, “Nice call,” and seemed genuinely impressed.
One of the new whiz kids at the table was a 25-year old Vancouverite named Steve who made a compelling case that we’d played together at the NAPT Venetian a few years ago, though I had no recollection of this. He played very well and was opening pots at the appropriate times, so I started 3-betting him in position.
The first time was with A2o on my Button. He called, we both checked a K64 flop, and he check-folded a J turn.
The second time I had AJo. He opened to 3500, I made it 9000, and he called. We both checked a QJ4 flop, he bet 11K on a K turn, and I folded. My intention was to fold most turns, but that was a particularly bad one. Among other things, I think his range is mostly broadway cards and pocket pairs- I’m behind the former and I doubt he bets the latter. He was really insistent that we talk about this hand at the end of the day and told me he had QQ, which would explain why he was so eager to know what I had.
The third time I had JJ, and he pointed out what a fish he was for continuing to flat call me as he flat called my 9000 raise. We both checked an A76 flop. The turn was a 4, and I considered betting, but I’m actually not sure I’m ahead of his calling range plus there’s a chance he could check-raise bluff me, so I checked it back. The river was a 5, and he checked again. I thought for a long while and was near-certain I had the best hand but still wasn’t sure how often he could call with worse (only TT and 99 I think), so I checked. I was so sure I was good that I said, “I’m such a coward,” as I turned my cards over, but he thumped the table in frustration and showed me 88 for the rivered straight.
There was one other big pot that I played in here that I’m saving for a “What’s Your Play?“, so maybe I’ll edit this to add in the details after that’s over.
The next pot after that one was costly. Blinds were 600/1200/100, and I had KQo in the BB. A guy I’d chatted with during break, who’d made clear he was an amateur, raised to 3200 UTG+2 with about 18K behind. Against some people I’d just shove here, but I didn’t think he was opening all that wide, so I elected to call. If I really think his range is that tight, folding might actually be better.
The flop was 346. He counted out 3400 chips but pushed the 400 out first, so the dealer made him bet the minimum of 1200. I would have folded but elected to peal for such a small bet. The turn was a Q, I checked, and he shoved. Now again I maybe should have thought a bit more about what I really wanted to do here, since I even told him as I called that, “Your misclick might have just made you 17K” and sure enough he showed Aces.
That put a hurting on me. At my high point I’d had 150K, and now I was back to the 50K I’d started with. The one bit of a good news was that the broke our table, probably the toughest in the room, and I ended up at a softer one, though Steve was still with me and now seated a few seats to my left.
On my immediate left, however, was a hilarious Chinese guy named Riley. It’s very possible that his name was actually Rai Lee or something, since I never saw it in writing and Riley doesn’t sound too Chinese, but I’m going to spell it that way because it’s easier and I don’t know any better. Riley was far and away the funniest guy I’ve ever played with. Partially he just had a presence and charisma that put everyone in the mood to laugh, and partially I just think every joke is funnier when delivered with an accent.
My favorite exchange began when Steve mentioned Tiger Woods. Riley chimed in, “What’s a matter with him? He fock some ugly woman.”
“Yeah, his wife is a smokehouse though.”
“Ya so? If I am 1 billion dollar, all my woman is beautiful.”
Steve laughed. “At least he wasn’t paying for it.”
“When you that rich, you always paying for it. Every woman is professional.” Maybe you had to be there.
Anyway I chipped up a bit, but my comeback really began when the weakest player open limped his button for 2400. The SB completed, and I found AJo on my BB. I raised to 11K, though in retrospect I think just putting 10K on top and making it 12,400 is a little better. The BTN quickly called and the SB folded.
Despite my gutshot, the T87 flop was too good for his limping range, so I checked. He quickly checked behind, which I think screams weakness. The turn brought a K, giving me a double gut shot and a good bluff card, so I bet 15K. My opponent quickly raised to 30K, but I was sure he was weak. At best this was an information/freeze raise designed to find out if he was good and stop me from betting. Having a double gutter just sweetened the deal. I shipped it for 70K total and his cards hit the muck in seconds.
By the end of the day I’d chipped all the way up from 50K to 128K without ever seeing a showdown, and I’d had fun doing it.