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rmdthis is the long and (if you're not into poker -- actually, maybe if you are, too) boring write-up of the tournament i was in.
So, this was WSOP event 26, the Ladies No Limit Hold'Em tournament. $1000 buy-in. no re-buys, no add-ons. there were 601 players, total. the top 54 women got paid.
the tournament structure. and if you're completely unclear about what i'm talking about here, check the about.com entry on texas hold'em poker.
i started off on table 10, with 1000 in chips. (one thing the wsop does that most tournaments don't do is that all events have a 1:1 match between the buy-in and the number of chips you get to start with.)
the rounds were 60 minutes each, so i had to force myself to be patient and wait for people to make mistakes.
my chipcount at the start of each round:
1. 1000
2. 1600
3. 1575
4. ~1800
5. 8300
6. 7475
7. 14850 (the userpic on this post is that chipstack)
8. 13400 (up from a low of about 2400 during round 7)
and i busted out on the last hand of round 8.
in the first couple of rounds, i was two seats to the left of a woman who didn't seem to meet a draw she didn't like and who made all of them. she busted several people, and accumulated a large chipstack. i didn't tangle with her for the most part until i had a very solid hand.
she was the chip leader at the break with something like 10K chips. i waited and eventually got some good hands that stood up and got some of her chips. i played fairly tight in the early rounds, but once the very loose players died off, i opened up and started stealing a lot of blinds.
i was stealing from all positions, including under the gun. sometimes a few times in one round and then sit out a round and then back to it.
i got a couple of really good hands around level 4, too, and took down several good pots which built my stack to 8K.
in round 6, i managed to keep stealing blinds faster than i was paying them (also, there were antes by then), and pushed a few times to take down some pots without having to show cards.
round 7, i was doing okay and then suffered a hellacious bad beat. i had a pair of kings and did my usual pre-flop raise to 3BB's. a player in mid-position reraised and i pushed. she thought for a long time (i was doing my usual "stare at a piece of lint on the table and think about something else" thing i do when waiting). she called. she had 99 but made a set (3 of a kind) when another 9 hit the board and she won the hand.
she did a bit of fist-pumping-in-the-air and i barely restrained myself from flinging my water bottle at the nearby wall.
i was down to less than 3000 chips, with a $50 ante and $200/400 blinds. so, nine-handed, i could stay in for barely 3 rounds. i knew nothing i did for several hands would get respect -- people would assume i was tilting.
so i waited for nearly a round till i picked up AA UTG and ended up doubling up to nearly 5K. then i stole a few blinds and picked up a couple of smaller pots. and then i made my biggest mistake -- i was in the small blind and picked up 5-3o. i thought it had been folded around, so i did a minimum raise, expecting the BB to fold and i'd pick up the pot. except she folded and then regis-the-oblivious noticed that there was someone else in the pot. oops.
i ended up betting and picking up the pot when i pushed at the end, having stumbled into 2 pair. sometimes the poker gods watch over fools.
i used a "stop and go" a few times to pick up pots, too. that's when you smooth-call pre-flop from early position and bet the flop hard, whatever it is.
in the middle of round 8, our table was broken and i was moved to the left of kathy liebert, two to the left of the monster chipstack on the table. later, jennifer tilly sat down to the right of the monster chipstack.
we went hand-for-hand at 55 players until we were out of the bubble and everyone left was in the money. there was a big round of applause for the lady who came in 55th (the last unpaid place). after that, i ended up losing some of my chips when i chased a flush draw (2 hearts on the flop) with suited overcards.
i stole kathy liebert's blinds at one point, but i was kind of dumb about it. my usual technique if i'm the first one to raise is to make my bet 3x the big blind, pretty much regardless of what i have -- if i have AA, i bet 3x the big blind; if i have 56o, i bet 3x the big blind. well, this time, i was under the gun and kathy was the big blind, immediately to my right. and i had something like KQ suited, so i figured i'd raise and try to steal the blinds. if someone played back at me (that is, reraised), i'd probably fold, and if they just called, i had a hand that might turn into something that could win. except i was stupid. we'd only recently gone up to 300/600 blinds and the fact that i was about to try to steal the blinds of someone who i've seen win a million dollars playing poker on tv... well... i had a moment of stupid. i fumbled with my chips, i got kind of scatterbrained and nervous and forgot how much the BB was and bet the appropriate amount for the previous (400BB) level, 1200. which looked like a minimum-raise. and, flustered, i said "1200, please".
it folded around to liebert, who said "what, you want me to give you 1200?" "well, sure. although it's only 600 since you've got that out there. i mean, if you wanted to give me 1200 more that would be cool. although i bet i'd have to show cards for that." and she folded. i think i was annoying. :-)
i expect i ended up looking like someone who suddenly had AA or some other monster hand.
the monster stack was playing a great big stack bully, betting hard and making sure everyone had to pay to see the end of the hand. i reraised pre-flop with all my chips with AK but she had AA and i was out in 49th place.
and then round 8 was over, and everyone wandered off for the break.
my dad (who had been watching for a while) found me. i got paid, left a tip for the dealers, and headed back to harrah's for a well-earned late night snack.
So, this was WSOP event 26, the Ladies No Limit Hold'Em tournament. $1000 buy-in. no re-buys, no add-ons. there were 601 players, total. the top 54 women got paid.
the tournament structure. and if you're completely unclear about what i'm talking about here, check the about.com entry on texas hold'em poker.
i started off on table 10, with 1000 in chips. (one thing the wsop does that most tournaments don't do is that all events have a 1:1 match between the buy-in and the number of chips you get to start with.)
the rounds were 60 minutes each, so i had to force myself to be patient and wait for people to make mistakes.
my chipcount at the start of each round:
1. 1000
2. 1600
3. 1575
4. ~1800
5. 8300
6. 7475
7. 14850 (the userpic on this post is that chipstack)
8. 13400 (up from a low of about 2400 during round 7)
and i busted out on the last hand of round 8.
in the first couple of rounds, i was two seats to the left of a woman who didn't seem to meet a draw she didn't like and who made all of them. she busted several people, and accumulated a large chipstack. i didn't tangle with her for the most part until i had a very solid hand.
she was the chip leader at the break with something like 10K chips. i waited and eventually got some good hands that stood up and got some of her chips. i played fairly tight in the early rounds, but once the very loose players died off, i opened up and started stealing a lot of blinds.
i was stealing from all positions, including under the gun. sometimes a few times in one round and then sit out a round and then back to it.
i got a couple of really good hands around level 4, too, and took down several good pots which built my stack to 8K.
in round 6, i managed to keep stealing blinds faster than i was paying them (also, there were antes by then), and pushed a few times to take down some pots without having to show cards.
round 7, i was doing okay and then suffered a hellacious bad beat. i had a pair of kings and did my usual pre-flop raise to 3BB's. a player in mid-position reraised and i pushed. she thought for a long time (i was doing my usual "stare at a piece of lint on the table and think about something else" thing i do when waiting). she called. she had 99 but made a set (3 of a kind) when another 9 hit the board and she won the hand.
she did a bit of fist-pumping-in-the-air and i barely restrained myself from flinging my water bottle at the nearby wall.
i was down to less than 3000 chips, with a $50 ante and $200/400 blinds. so, nine-handed, i could stay in for barely 3 rounds. i knew nothing i did for several hands would get respect -- people would assume i was tilting.
so i waited for nearly a round till i picked up AA UTG and ended up doubling up to nearly 5K. then i stole a few blinds and picked up a couple of smaller pots. and then i made my biggest mistake -- i was in the small blind and picked up 5-3o. i thought it had been folded around, so i did a minimum raise, expecting the BB to fold and i'd pick up the pot. except she folded and then regis-the-oblivious noticed that there was someone else in the pot. oops.
i ended up betting and picking up the pot when i pushed at the end, having stumbled into 2 pair. sometimes the poker gods watch over fools.
i used a "stop and go" a few times to pick up pots, too. that's when you smooth-call pre-flop from early position and bet the flop hard, whatever it is.
in the middle of round 8, our table was broken and i was moved to the left of kathy liebert, two to the left of the monster chipstack on the table. later, jennifer tilly sat down to the right of the monster chipstack.
we went hand-for-hand at 55 players until we were out of the bubble and everyone left was in the money. there was a big round of applause for the lady who came in 55th (the last unpaid place). after that, i ended up losing some of my chips when i chased a flush draw (2 hearts on the flop) with suited overcards.
i stole kathy liebert's blinds at one point, but i was kind of dumb about it. my usual technique if i'm the first one to raise is to make my bet 3x the big blind, pretty much regardless of what i have -- if i have AA, i bet 3x the big blind; if i have 56o, i bet 3x the big blind. well, this time, i was under the gun and kathy was the big blind, immediately to my right. and i had something like KQ suited, so i figured i'd raise and try to steal the blinds. if someone played back at me (that is, reraised), i'd probably fold, and if they just called, i had a hand that might turn into something that could win. except i was stupid. we'd only recently gone up to 300/600 blinds and the fact that i was about to try to steal the blinds of someone who i've seen win a million dollars playing poker on tv... well... i had a moment of stupid. i fumbled with my chips, i got kind of scatterbrained and nervous and forgot how much the BB was and bet the appropriate amount for the previous (400BB) level, 1200. which looked like a minimum-raise. and, flustered, i said "1200, please".
it folded around to liebert, who said "what, you want me to give you 1200?" "well, sure. although it's only 600 since you've got that out there. i mean, if you wanted to give me 1200 more that would be cool. although i bet i'd have to show cards for that." and she folded. i think i was annoying. :-)
i expect i ended up looking like someone who suddenly had AA or some other monster hand.
the monster stack was playing a great big stack bully, betting hard and making sure everyone had to pay to see the end of the hand. i reraised pre-flop with all my chips with AK but she had AA and i was out in 49th place.
and then round 8 was over, and everyone wandered off for the break.
my dad (who had been watching for a while) found me. i got paid, left a tip for the dealers, and headed back to harrah's for a well-earned late night snack.
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much wanking
Date: 2005-07-19 08:43 pm (UTC)Do you think, in retrospect, that going all-in with AK was the right thing to do? Betting that sort of hand hard seems to be the sort of thing you'd pursue in an effort to keep the field down, making anyone still in the game pay to see the flop. Doing that against the stack leader seems a bit dubious, as does doing it without a made hand. What am I missing? Is this just an example of late-round fast-n-loose-to-survive tournament play?
I'm also curious whether the even blinds (25/25) in the first level made any real difference in play. Presumably you had more SBs staying in, but did it really matter?
Re: much wanking
Date: 2005-07-20 01:19 pm (UTC)Do you think, in retrospect, that going all-in with AK was the right thing to do? Betting that sort of hand hard seems to be the sort of thing you'd pursue in an effort to keep the field down, making anyone still in the game pay to see the flop. Doing that against the stack leader seems a bit dubious, as does doing it without a made hand. What am I missing? Is this just an example of late-round fast-n-loose-to-survive tournament play?
well, the field was already down -- the monster stack had already raised. she'd been doing a great job of playing big-stack-bully and was aggressively raising when she was in a hand and generally leaning on the smaller stacks. i didn't see enough actual cards from her to know if she was getting hit hard by the deck and really had solid hands every time or if she was just putting the pressure on because she had the chips to do so. if i was going to play back and not get chipped away, i figured i had to play hard.
i was short-stacked enough (either the smallest or the next-to-smallest at the table) that if i was going to be playing that hand, i was going to end up with all of my chips in the middle anyways. there's a great deal of strategic advantage to the aggression of making a bet rather than calling a bet. also, i was nearly to the point where in an unraised pot it's strategically appropriate to push with almost any two cards, and i would be in that situation in the next hand dealt since the blinds were going to go up.
so i pushed.
i wanted to either win a bunch of chips by getting called by a weaker hand and doubling up (which would give me a big enough working stack that i could possible survive longer to get a good hand or at least keep my stack big enough that i could continue to successfully steal blinds and stay alive), *or* win the pot right there, which would give me enough chips to be able to stay afloat for at least a round of blinds and antes at the new level. if i'm alive, then i've got a better chance of being able to stick around to get a big hand that will give me a much better shot at bigger money. AK was the best hand i'd seen since i'd been moved to that table, so if i was going to make a move to start gaining chips again, it was a reasonable time to make it -- particularly with the blinds about to go up.
if this were early in a tournament and i had a reasonable stack (10x the big blind or larger), i wouldn't have pushed. although in any situation -- any stage of a tournament or in a ring game -- i'm probably going to lose money with AK against AA when i make a pair of kings on the flop.
I'm also curious whether the even blinds (25/25) in the first level made any real difference in play. Presumably you had more SBs staying in, but did it really matter?
i'm not sure there was that much difference between 1st round (25/25) and 2nd round (25/50) play. there was a fair bit of limping in pre-flop, and a lot of exceedingly loose play with multi-way action in both rounds.
Re: much wanking
Date: 2005-07-21 03:38 am (UTC)Re: much wanking
Date: 2005-07-21 01:20 pm (UTC)