Montreal and Triple Stud

I arrived in Montreal just before 1PM yesterday, eager, despite last year’s frustrations, to get started on my WCOOP grind.

This was my first time flying into Canada, having previously driven across the border. No exaggeration, there were easily 2000 people in line at passport control. This was a good opportunity to practice my patience, which will surely be tested in the coming weeks. I took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and surveyed my surroundings.

We were quite a diverse bunch. They probably just jumped out at me more, but it seemed like I saw a lot more Europeans, Africans, and people from the Caribbean than I did Americans. I suppose that isn’t so surprising, given how much French is spoken in those regions. There were very few Asians in line, which is quite different from what you’d see on the west coast of Canada.

When I finally got to the front of the line, I told the officer that I was here to play poker. He was unfazed, asking only if that was all I would do for three weeks. I smiled, because it probably was, but I told him, “Well I hope to see a bit of the city as well.”

He nodded and handed my passport back to me. “Enjoy your stay.”

Eight dollars bought me a ticket on an express bus from the airport to the UQAM (University of Quebec At Montreal – of course the official name is in French, but the acronym works out the same) Metro station plus a 24-hour public transportation pass. I was going to need that, because a train and another bus still stood between my apartment and me. But first: lunch.

The plaze where the bus dropped me off was crowded with students, businesspeople, and homeless who all seemed quite at ease with each other. An employee of a nearby company emerged from a backdoor to scold another man for urinating on the wall of the building. There were six of those life-sized chess sets, each being studied intently by two players and several more onlookers.

I found a quick-looking Thai place near the Metro station. A man in his mid-twenties stood idly behind the counter, but he adopted a deer-in-headlights look as I approached. A girl no older than 16 rushed over. “Bonjour, hello!” she chirped. She spoke English naturally and comfortably as she took my order, and I imagine she could have done much the same in French. She relayed the order in what I guess was Thai to her co-worker. Such comfort in so many different languages, which is of course common among the children of immigrants, never ceases to amaze me.

Sitting by myself at a table for four, I was hardly alone. Several older Québécois men sat near each other but at separate tables reading La Presse, one of the city’s largest French-language newspapers. Occasionally one would wander over to another’s table to exchange a thought with him, but mostly they read in silence. If I had to describe them in one word, it would be grizzled.

The Metro was crowded, but I was only going one stop. Announcing, “Excusez moi! Désolé!” I shoved my way onto and then back off the car. After a short bus ride, I was through the door a few minutes after four, with enough time to make coffee, set up my computer and external monitor, register for the $1050 NLHE WCOOP, and late register the $215 Triple Stud and the $109 Triple Stud Second Chance.

The one thing I didn’t have time for was grocery shopping, so I had to look up a place to get delivery. The woman who answered the phone spoke English, but the delivery guy didn’t (or wouldn’t, but he was Asian, so not likely to be a militant Québécois), so I had to deal with him in broken French while dashing back and forth between the door and my beeping computer.

Four hours in the $1K produced no hands of note, so here are a few from the Second Chance. I realize that many of you probably don’t play Razz, but it’s quite a simple game and these hands draw on hand reading concepts that are quite applicable in hold ’em, so I encourage you to try to follow along anyway.

Poker Stars $100+$9 Limit Razz Tournament – t120/t240 Limit + t24 – 7 players
Hand History Converter

Seat 2: t4726 M = 13.58
Seat 3: t5418 M = 15.57
Seat 4: t5028 M = 14.45
Seat 5: t4280 M = 12.30
Hero (): t4026 M = 11.57
Seat 7: t7956 M = 22.86
Seat 8: t4186 M = 12.03

3rd Street: (1.4 SB)
Seat 2: xx xx 6____Seat 2 folds
Seat 3: xx xx J____Seat 3 folds
Seat 4: xx xx 9____Seat 4 folds
Seat 5: xx xx 2____Seat 5 folds
Hero: K 3 T___Hero completes___Hero calls
Seat 7: xx xx Q____Seat 7 raises
Seat 8: xx xx K____Seat 8 brings in for $36____Seat 8 folds

4th Street: (5.7 SB) (2 players)
Hero: K 3 T 7___Hero checks___Hero calls
Seat 7: xx xx Q 7____Seat 7 bets

5th Street: (3.85 BB) (2 players)
Hero: K 3 T 7 A___Hero bets
Seat 7: xx xx Q 7 A____Seat 7 calls

6th Street: (5.85 BB) (2 players)
Hero: K 3 T 7 A 2___Hero bets
Seat 7: xx xx Q 7 A T____Seat 7 calls

7th Street: (7.85 BB) (2 players)
Hero: K 3 T 7 A 2 2___Hero checks___Hero calls
Seat 7: xx xx Q 7 A T xx____Seat 7 bets

Final Pot: 9.85 BB
Hero shows K 3 T 7 A 2 2 (Lo: T,7,3,2,A)
Seat 7 shows 7 Q Q 7 A T 5 (Lo: Q,T,7,5,A)
Hero wins 9.85 BB

In retrospect, it seems like Villain probably just got confused about which game we were playing. But I think, not knowing that, the hand is interesting from my perspective.

As you might imagine, (K3)T is a pretty junky Razz hand. But a K and Q showing behind me, it’s an auto-raise because I have the lowest card showing. In other words, I fold (T3)K.

Villain and I had tangled a bit before and he’d showed some awareness of steal dynamics and a willingness to re-raise lighter against late position opens. When he raised I assumed he had two good cards in the hole, something like (23)Q, and knew how wide my range is. Even so, I think a call is better than a raise for him.

If he has that kind of hand, I’m a dog, but I call anyway because, with a Q in the door, his hand is going to be really difficult to play. This is like a float: I’m calling to represent better hole cards than I have, expecting many good opportunities to steal on a later street.

I start betting into him as we both catch well, hoping that he paired – the A in particular is likely to pair him given the hole cards he’d need to raise me legitimately. By 6th street I’m ahead unless he has exactly 23 in the hole, in which case we’re chopping.

That makes the river an easy check-call, since he won’t call with much worse but could bluff a busted draw. Or, he could have misread the game this entire time! Oh well, I’ll take it.

Poker Stars $100+$9 Limit Razz Tournament – t120/t240 Limit + t24 – 7 players
Hand History Converter

Seat 2: t4642 M = 13.34
Seat 3: t5370 M = 15.43
Seat 4: t4980 M = 14.31
Seat 5: t4232 M = 12.16
Hero (): t5466 M = 15.71
Seat 7: t6828 M = 19.62
Seat 8: t4102 M = 11.79

3rd Street: (1.4 SB)
Seat 2: xx xx A____Seat 2 calls
Seat 3: xx xx 6____Seat 3 folds
Seat 4: xx xx 6____Seat 4 folds
Seat 5: xx xx 2____Seat 5 folds
Hero: 5 A 7___Hero brings in for $36
Seat 7: xx xx 3____Seat 7 folds
Seat 8: xx xx 4____Seat 8 folds

4th Street: (2 SB) (2 players)
Seat 2: xx xx A T____Seat 2 bets
Hero: 5 A 7 J___Hero calls

5th Street: (2 BB) (2 players)
Seat 2: xx xx A T 9____Seat 2 bets____Seat 2 calls
Hero: 5 A 7 J 8___Hero raises

6th Street: (6 BB) (2 players)
Seat 2: xx xx A T 9 3____Seat 2 checks
Hero: 5 A 7 J 8 9___Hero checks

7th Street: (6 BB) (2 players)
Seat 2: xx xx A T 9 3 xx____Seat 2 bets
Hero: 5 A 7 J 8 9 5___Hero calls

Final Pot: 8 BB
Seat 2 shows 7 A A T 9 3 K (Lo: T,9,7,3,A)
Hero shows 5 A 7 J 8 9 5 (Lo: 9,8,7,5,A)
Hero wins 8 BB

The fact that Villain open limps third street rather than completing the bet suggests that he has a brick (or at least a semi-brick like a T or 9) in the hole. So even though I catch worse than he does on fourth, I could easily be ahead and if not I still have a decent draw.

Sticking with that read, I raise him on fifth even though his board is stronger than mine. He actually typed something like, “LOL what are you doing” before calling, which suggests that he thought I wasn’t “supposed” to raise showing a J. Note, however, that even he is “supposed” to be ahead, he doesn’t 3-bet me. Even if he does have a made T9, I’m drawing live.

When he catches good on sixth, I’m happy to check behind.

I was probably calling seventh anyway, but he bet so quickly that it was an easy decision. My check on sixth suggests that I’m still trying to improve my hand, so there’s not a lot of reason for him to value bet me thinly. Most likely I’ll either miss and fold or hit and be ahead, so it’s probably better for him to check and call with a smooth 9, which is the best hand he can have if I’m right about his limp. At the very least, he’d have to think about whether to bet it. The quick bet was a dead giveaway that he was bluffing. He made sure to tell me how badly I played it.