Intro | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6
Level 11: 800/1600/200 I have 65K
I began Day 3 with 65,000 chips, barely more than I had at the start of Day 2. My table was reasonably tough, but for once the most aggressive players weren’t on my immediate left. Of note were professional player Brandon Adams (wins_pot on 2+2), who was across the table from me, and a guy to his left named Mirza Nagji. Both were extremely aggressive, probably to a fault. Eventually I figured out how to deal with that, but initially they made the table very difficult because they were calling and reraising quite a lot. I broke even on the level only because I was able to move all in with KK after coming in for a raise, getting called, and getting re-raised by Brandon. He folded to my all in, allowing me to win a nice pot without showdown.
Level 12: 1000/2000/300 I have 65K
I got blinded down to about 60K before picking up a hand: Ace-King, in my small blind. Brandon came in for a raise to 6000, which left me in an awkward spot. I didn’t really have enough to make a smaller raise than all in, but a big all in would look a lot like AK and allow Brandon to play pretty much perfectly. I shoved anyway, and he called with JJ. My King hit and I doubled up, but it’s kind of eerie to think there was a slightly better than 50% chance that I would be going home right then and there.
A bit later, I raised with Ace-Jack and got called by Mirza in the big blind. The flop came JT9. On such a coordinated board, even top pair top kicker is a marginal hand. Knowing my opponent to be aggressive, I checked behind him on the flop rather than risk a very scary check-raise. The turn was a harmless 6, he bet, and I called. The river was another 6, which was nice, as I was now ahead of T9. He bet again, I called and flipped my hand immediately, suspecting it was best. He mucked, and I won the pot.
Eventually I did run into a spot of bad luck. A short stack moved all in for 12K, and I called him with Ace-Ten. He had Ace-8 but caught an 8 on the river to win the pot. As I passed him his 12K, I commented to the guy next to me, “If that’s the worst thing that happens to me in this tournament, I’ll be very lucky.”
The player on my right busted, and a young Asian guy took his seat. I didn’t have a chance to learn much about this new opponent though. In one of his first hands at the table, he raised to 6500 and I called with a pair of 9’s. The flop came J95, all spades. Even though a flush was possible, my trips made for a very strong but vulnerable hand. My opponent checked, and I bet 8500. Even though there was a decent chance he didn’t have anything, I couldn’t afford to let him see a fourth spade for free. To my delight, he raised me about 20K more. I moved all in, and he thought for a really long time. Finally, Brandon called the clock on him, and he folded, saving his last 70K. He later told me had Ace-Jack without a spade, which I believe. I can’t say I like the way he played it, though.
Near the end of the level, the same player just called in early position, and I looked down at a pair of Queens. I raised to 10K, and the action folded back to this kid, who re-raised me. By limp-re-raising, he was representing a pair of Kings or Aces. But honestly, I thought he was more likely to play a slightly weaker hand that way. Also, I knew he was still frustrated about losing that pot with AJ, and after all I did have the third best hand in poker. So I moved all in, he called with TT, and my hand held up to eliminate him.
In the last hand before break, I raised with Q9 in late position. The last hand is a good time to steal, because everyone is eager to get to the bathroom or the store or whatever and doesn’t want to cut into his break time playing a marginal hand. Unfortunately, a very good young player in the big blind called.
The flop came 984, giving me top pair. He checked, I bet 8000, and he raised to 20,000. Against some players, this would be a tough decision, but even without knowing exactly who this guy was, I gave him credit for recognizing that I could have almost anything here. My hand was much stronger than he expected it to be, and I had to go with it. I moved in, and he reluctantly called with A8. He was eliminated, but I think he played the hand fine; it was just an all-around rough spot for him.
As I was waiting for the guards to let us back into the Amazon Room after a break, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see 2+2’s SirWatts, whom I’d briefly met at the 2007 WSOP. We shook hands, and he asked how it was going. Apparently he was at the table just behind me. I told him I was in good shape, then he asked if MikeyMer was giving me any trouble. “Is he at the table?” I asked, thinking over which of my opponents he might be. “Oh!” I exclaimed in sudden realization. “I just busted him.”
Level 13: 1200/2400/300 I have 500K
It felt great to go on such a massive rush, but I was very conscious of having nearly blown a similar boon yesterday. I resolved to slow down and not get overly aggressive. This urge was compounded by the presence of the very aggressive Brandon and Mirza, and by a new player who came to the table two seats to my right with 350K. Even with my big stack, I would have to be careful, as this new guy had the potential to cripple me.
At the same time, I couldn’t give the new guy dominance of the table. I had position and the bigger stack. So the first time he entered the pot, with a small raise of 6500, I made a play. He got called by a kind of weak player, and I came in for a big re-raise from the small blind. I happened to have K9, but I was going to make this play with almost anything (the only time I might not was if I got something like a smaller pocket pair where calling might be a better option). Both players folded, and I took down the pot and hopefully sent this new guy a message.
He stayed out of my way for a while, but eventually he made another of his small raises when I was in the big blind. Although I wasn’t eager to play out of position against him, I had a suited 7-5 and couldn’t say no to the pot odds. The flop was a favorable 865, giving me bottom pair and an open-ended straight draw. Still seeking to keep the pot small, though, I just checked and called his bet of about 10K.
The turn was a King, I checked, and he bet again. Technically, that K was a scary card, as my opponent could have had something like Ace-King. But I had just been discussing with some friends yesterday how smart tournament players actually tend not to have it when they bet in this spot. Because they know the K is a scary card, they often check when they hit it (rather than risk scaring off worse hands) and bluff it when it didn’t help them. So when my opponent bet 20K, I felt my bottom pair actually could be best, and besides, I always had the straight to fall back on.
The river brought a 4 to complete my straight. Even though I had a big hand, I elected to check again. It was a pretty obvious draw, so I wasn’t sure my opponent would pay me off if he did have a hand. And if he didn’t, I wanted to give him the chance to bluff again. He checked with a disgusted look on his face and showed me K8 for two pair. He had the rare hand that I actually would have expected him to bet for value on the turn. But luck was on my side, and I took down another nice pot.
As we left for dinner, I introduced myself to my “nemesis”, hoping that establishing some camaraderie would make him a little less likely to mess with me. Turns out he was a 2+2’er named MichaelB. We got to talking, and he invited me to join him and a few of his buddies for dinner, which I did.
Level 14: 1500/3000/400 I have 500K
We were now very close the bubble. Almost 7000 people began this tournament, and 666 were going to get paid about $22,000. With about 685 remaining, everyone was playing very tight. I made a few attempts to take advantage of this with some raises, but the aggressive players behind me were generally there to keep me in line. I did manage to win one nice pot when my 97 flopped J95. I had gotten two callers pre-flop, but they were the loose and aggressive duo of Brandon and Mirzi, so I just bet out anyway and won the pot.
Just a few hands later, I got Ace-Queen of diamonds first to act and came in for a raise to 9000. One of the weaker players at the table called from the small blind, and we saw a flop of Q75 with two diamonds. Top pair, top kicker and the nut flush draw: does life get any better than this? He checked, and since there wasn’t a single card in the deck I feared, I checked as well. Based on his pre-flop call out of position so close to the bubble, I put him on a pocket pair. There was a good chance he was going to fold to a bet here.
The turn brought another beautiful Queen, and my opponent was kind enough to bet 10K into me. Knowing he would never believe me, I raised to 30K, and he called quickly. The turn was something irrelevant, and he checked. This is a spot where a lot of live players make the mistake of betting small. They have a big hand, they know their opponent has something marginal, and they are worried about getting paid. But I had an aggressive image, and actually I felt my opponent was most likely to call if he thought I was bluffing. If I made a blatant value bet, he might actually realize that his pocket pair couldn’t possibly be good. By making a big bet, I was hoping he would convince himself I was bluffing and make a call.
Still, it was the bubble, and I couldn’t bet his entire stack, because I didn’t think he’d risk losing $22,000 just to catch me in a bluff. So I bet $75K, nearly the size of the pot and a bit more than half his stack. He groaned audibly and stared me down. I “assumed the position” with hands covering my mouth and eyes fixed on a spot at the center of the table.
“You have Aces? Sitting there with Ace Queen? King Queen? Or missed your diamonds?” I remained stone-faced and didn’t answer. He grumbled again, shook his head, and sighed. This went on for several minutes, until Brandon called the clock on him.
“Floor to Orange Four!” called the dealer, and several camerapeople and reporters joined the floorperson to see what was up. “Clock called on Seat Four,” the dealer reported.
This wasn’t great for me. I was counting on my opponent making a heroic call, and I felt he’d be less likely to do that with the cameras around. It’s one thing to make a bad call and look dumb in front of a table of nine. But to do it on national TV was another thing altogether.
“You have one minute to act. When ten seconds are left, I’ll count backwards, and when I get to zero, your hand will be dead,” the floorperson explained.
My opponent nodded and kept staring at me. He asked if I had pocket tens, but again I didn’t answer. “Ten, nine, eight,” the floor began the countdown. My opponent picked up chips and looked at me for a reaction. My eyes stayed fixed on the table, but I tried to look subtly nervous and shifted in my seat a bit. He put the chips down and checked again for a reaction from me. “Four, three, two-”
“I call,” he suddenly declared, throwing 15 orange chips into the pot.
“Trips,” I told him, flipping my hand.
He cursed, but only at himself. Then he stood and shook my hand. “Nice hand. At least I’m still in it.”
When we approached the money, the tournament started going hand for hand. That means that we would play one hand, then wait for all 70+ tables to finish before playing the next hand. We played one hand every 15 minutes. I felt a little out of place reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X at the table (though I later learned that Malcolm was actually a decent poker player- he recounts a five card stud hand in some detail), I was mostly just glad I had a book with me.
The Asian player on my right had been replaced by a friendly guy from Tennessee named Mitch. Mitch used to live in the same neighborhood of Boston where I live now, so we had chatted a bit at the table. Still, there are no friends in poker. Mitch was a short stack, and with 668 players left in the tournament, only two away from the money, I was coming after him.
I raised to 9000 with 87 hearts first to act, and to my surprise, Mitch called out of his big blind. I figured he must have something decent to risk getting involved so close to the money. The flop was a very favorable Q87, giving me two pair. Despite my read that my opponent was strong, there was no getting away from this for me. He had only about three times the pot left in his stack. He led into me for 12K, and I moved all in. He quickly called.
“All in and call, Orange Four.” The dealer announced. Cameras and reporters swarmed. We waited to turn over our cards until everyone was in place. Mitch turned over pocket 7’s which had made trips on the flop.
I wanted to win this pot, of course, but Mitch was a nice guy and I knew I didn’t deserve it. I wasn’t particularly praying for a miracle, because I didn’t want to see him knocked out in such an awful way and at such an awful time.
The dealer turned up a harmless K. I was down to two outs with one card to come. Mitch was a 96% favorite. The dealer flipped up an 8 on the river, and even I grimaced. Mitch’s head sank into his arms. Shock rippled through the gathered crowd. I looked over at Mitch with a pained look on my face. “Sorry. I wish it hadn’t happened this way.”
He took it well, shaking my hand and telling me “Nice hand.” He was a class act to the end.
He started to leave, but I reminded him to stick around. In the unlikely event that two others were eliminated this hand at other tables, he’d be entitled to a share of the prize pool. The next few minutes were pretty awkward, as I stacked what should have been his chips and he stood there dejected and waiting. At last it was announced that the bubble had not burst, Mitch left empty handed, and we resumed played without him.
Level 15: 2000/4000/500 I have 750K
Even though I managed to lose nearly 200K, nothing of great interest happened. Unlike the night before, I don’t think I did anything excessively aggressive or spewy. I just got some hands pre-flop but couldn’t connect with flops. I finished the day very strong with 566K, 500K more than I had at the start of the day. This was enough to put me in 50th place out of nearly 500 players remaining.