World Series of Poker-SB.com still has a horse in the race!

[Fish On]

Day 2A

Well the good news is that we survived Day 2 and we get to play again on Thursday on Day 3 when the entire remaining field will be combined into 1 for the first time!

The bad news is that the day was a real grind for me personally. I did not get many opportunities to accumulate chips and ended the day at $98,700 which was a slight increase from my starting total of $93,800, but a loss of ground to the field that remains. The average chip count that was $57,200 at the start of the day is now about $157,000. Unfortunately they have not published updated chip counts for everyone yet so I can't give exact number on where I stand. They must be waiting for the conclusion of Day 2B to publish a total list for all remaining players.

350 players remain out of the 1037 that started Day 2A. Day 2B, today, has slightly more starting players at 1303. If players drop at the same ration as Day 2A then Day 2B should produce about 440 additional players which would give us 790 players going into Day 3 out of the 6,358 that started the tournament. 621 make the money with 621st place paying $20,300.

The chip leader for Day 2A is at $570,000. My $98,700 will probably put me somewhere around 500th place when the day starts with the combined field. There will be a lot to think about as the money bubble approaches. There is a big difference between 622nd and 621st. That said, if the cards come and there are 650 players remaining rest assured my chips will be in the pot. These tournaments can change VERY QUICKLY. With just 2 double ups I could easily be among the chip leaders. The winner will receive $8,250,000 and be crowned World Champion.

Some details from day 2A:

We start a noon and each level lasts 2 hours. We are scheduled to play 10 ours today instead of the 12 we played on Day 1.

The blinds start at $1000 and $500 with a $100 ante. A half hour into the day a player lost most of his stack on a fairly bad move. He is left with about $10,000. On the very next hand he throws all of his chips in the pot and declares himself all in. Everyone folds around to me in the big blind and I have 77. This is a common situation and can mean 2 things: a) the player is on "tilt" (upset that he just lost most of his chips) and is just going all in with any 2 cards or b) he actually got dealt good cards and is faking tilt (I like to do this when I'm lucky enough to get a really good hand after a bad beat). I count the money in the pot and including my big blind there is $3400 in the pot already and it is $10,800 more to call or $10,800 to win $25,000. If I am up against 2 overcards then I am a slight favorite and this is the correct call. If he has a small pocket pair then I am a huge favorite and it's a great call. If he has an over pair (bigger than 77) then calling would be a huge mistake. I go with my gutt that he is on tilt and I make the call. He turns over 89 off suit. My feeling was right but unfortunately his 8 and 9 are bigger than my 7 and I am only a slight favorite. Well an 8 hits on the flop and I fail to improve and I am down to just over $80K and I'm hoping this is not a sign of things to come for the day.

A little later an early position player raises to $3K, the next player raises to $9K. I look down at Big Slick (AK) and after thinking about it I fold. The original raiser goes over the top "all in" and the reraiser folds. The original raiser shows AA. Phew. That would have been very bad for me.

At the first break I have $80,400.

Key hand in 2nd level. There are 3 limpers (just call the Big Blind of $1200). I am in the cutoff (seat before the dealer button) and I look down at AJ. Taking advantage of my tight image I raise to $9,000 and everyone folds and I pick up the pot.

At the end of the 2nd break I have $81,100.

Key hand in 3rd level: I have KQ off suit from middle position and noone has entered the pot so I raise first in. I get called by the small blind. The flop is all rags (3 low cards) and he checks to me. I be $7K with nothing and this guy check raises me to $18K. I considered pushing all in over the top and putting this guy to a decision. Unless he hit a set (3 of a kind) or has a big overpair which he would likely have reraised preflop he would have to put me on a big overpair and fold. Anyway I fold and he rakes the pot. I'm a bit steaming after this, but I get some revenge later.

A few hands later the same player raises from early position and gets 1 caller. I am on the button (dealer) and will act last on all later rounds of betting. I have 77 and I call hoping to flop a set of sevens. The flop is Queen, 4, 3 of three different suits and they both check to me. I fire out $11,000 thinking I may have the best hand and can pick up this pot right here. But of course not, the original raiser calls and the other player folds. The turn card is a beautiful 7 of clubs which give me the set I was looking for and he checks to me. Now I should have checked here and given him a free card, but I think he has TT or JJ and I'm afraid to give him a free card that might give him a higher hand. This is wrong. Scared money is dead money and I should have checked here. Live and learn. He may have called my flop bet just to simply try to take the pot from me with a bluff on the river if I checked the turn. If I checked the turn he may have made a big bet into me on the river and I could have closed the noose. Anyway, chicken Keith bets $15,000 and the other guy starts thinking. He then asks how much I have left and he sees $35,000. He finally decides to fold. Ugh! I may have blown $20K or even more!

At the dinner break I have $91,900, almost what I started with.

I am now at a new table with my back to the rail and the crowd is deep. I don't like this because I'm trying to look at my cards and everyone is looking over our shoulders to try and see what we have. So picture me with my face pressed on the table lifting the corner of my cards ever so slightly with my hands covering everything. Momma mia! ESPN cameras are everywhere running between table as players go all in and are called. There are many distractions and the playing conditions are not ideal to say the least. People, I'm trying to focus here!

After a little while at this table, having raised once or twice preflop and received no callers I get dealt AA under the gun (first to act). I decide to limp in (just call the big blind and not raise) and try to go for a big pot. At most tables this is the worst position to get aces because when you raise everyone respects an under the gun raise, especially one with my table image, because you are acting first and out of position and need very good cards to make this bet. Any way there are 3 callers including the BB and 4 of us see a flop of 6,7,T with 2 hearts. I decide to check rather than bet out and the table checks around. I could easily be behind here already and I am out of positin against 2 of the other players. The turn card is an 8 and now anyone with a 9 has a straight. I check again and the dealer button bets $4,000, a very small and suspicious bet. Well Keith you've blown this hand and it's time to send those aces into the muck along with the $2000 that you called preflop. Noone else calls and the player never shows his cards. I can tell you that many players lose a lot of money or go broke in this situation falling in love with AA. Oh well, it's not going to happen to me. I'll wait for a better spot.

Key hand: A middle position player raises to $6K and gets one caller on the button. I am in the big blind and look down at 99. This is a risky play but the raiser is loose and so is the caller and my table image is quite tight. I raise to $26,000 and they both fold! I rake the pot.

Next break before last level of the evening. I have $87,300.

At the start of the next level they announce that they have 383 players remaining and will play down only to 350 whether the level complets or not. They cannot risk going lower than this before Day 2B plays because they must have more people than places paid when the field combines on Day 3 or kaos and lawsuits would follow.

During this level a new player with over $200K comes to our table. A few hands later he raises to $5,500 from early/middle position and it folds around to me. I have k6suited in hearts in the Big Blind. Now the old Keith would muck this hand and move on but going to the next level means playing these hands sometimes especially when the antes are significant which they are now at $300 which puts an additional $2700 in the pot. I make the call of $3100 to create a pot of $13,700. I'm getting over 3 to 1 odds on my money to see this flop. Typcial opening raises are $7,000 at this level. And he has priced me in to see the flop. The flop comes KQ4 and I check to him. He fires out $10,000 and I raise to $25,000 with my kings. My kicker is horrible and if he has AK or a KQ then I am dead, but I have to take a shot here. He thinks about it only for a second a mucks his hand and I rake the pot. Wahoo!

After not playing another hand in the level and being blinded off a bit I end the night at $98,700. Considering the day I had I am happy with this result.

When day 3 starts my M will be almost 16. This is a ratio of my chip stack to the amount of money that it costs to see one orbit of hands (1 trip around the table). 16 is not a desperate number at all. However, this level only has 37 minutes and 47 seconds remaining and then the blinds will make a big jump to $1,500/$3,000 with a $400 ante and suddenly my M will drop to just over 12 if I have the amse amount of money left. I'll get 2 hours at this level until it goes up again. I will have to play hands early and aggressively if I want to maintain a chip stack. The pressure will be on. Hopefully I get my money in with the best hand and my luck holds out.

Bye for now!

Keith

Here is a better site to get updates and see chip counts. I am in 72nd place out of 445, right above Barry Greenstein.

Keith

http://www.pokernews.com/live-report...-holdem/day1a/

[Fish On]

World Series of Poker Main Event Day 1

Well we made it through! Day 2 is next on Tuesday!

Day 1 started with 1287 players. They've added an extra day 1 and a 2nd day 2. Estimates right now are that they'll be somewhere between 6 and 8 thousand entrants in the main event this year between the 4 starting day 1's. I believe they already have 2000 players registered for day 1B and day 1C. Of the 1287 players in Day 1 A, 450 players made it to Day 2. Players started with $20,000 in chips and the average chip count for Day 1A players that still remain is $57,200. My chip count is $93,800!

The day started at noon and we played 6 two hour levels, starting at $50/$100 blinds and ending at $400/$800 with a $100 ante. Including breaks, dinner, and the bagging of chips at the end of the night I did not leave the Rio until after 4 AM! This is the reason for the late update.

Interesting hands/tid bits.

Ray Romano is playing 2 tables directly in front of me and Brad Garret is playing 2 tables to my left. These are the Everybody Loves Raymond stars. The ESPN cameras are constantly at their tables and they are cracking jokes left and right. Brad Garret wins an "all-in" pot and starts kissing his very lovely dealer. Our table then notices that there are 10 massage girls surrounding his table. He bought his entire table a massage after winning the hand!

Early Hand: I open raised from middle position with 77. The player 2 to my left calls and it folds around. The flop has two kings and a 3 and we both check. The turn is another king giving me a full house and I bet and he calls. The river is a jack and I check and he turns over 99. Boo! I lost $2100 in this hand and now I'm in the red.

The guy on my right is a maniac! He is playing very loose and somewhat aggressive and bluffing a lot. I study this guys play and get an early read that when he bets the river somewhat small he is bluffing but when he bets big he has the goods. His whole strategy is to make the table think he is a donkey and then get paid off on big bets. This actually starts to work when the guy that had the 99 open raises and another player calls and the maniac go all in for about $11K. The original raiser goes into the tank and eventually he calls with JJ. Well the maniac turns over AA and doubles up!

Key Early hand: Two players limp and I also limp in with A spades, 9 clubs. The flop is 3 spades and it checks around. The turn is a club and the maniac to my right bets $400. I have the nut flush draw and there is another player in the pot so I call and so does the other player. The river is the 2 of spades. I now have the best hand possible and cannot lose. It checks to me and I bet $700, the next player calls (later we found out she had the K of spades) and the maniac tries to make a move. He raises to $2700 thinking that if I don't have the ace then I will fold and so will the other player because he figures since she didn't raise that she does not have the ace. Pretty logical play actually. Anyway, I raise to $6000 and both players fold. I considered just calling the bet to see if I could get the woman to call too, but I raised it and that was it. Nice pot and I'm back in the black!

2:15 PM first break and I have $25,100.

Hand: I get into a hand with the maniac and I have pocket 55. We both check the turn and when it gets to the river he bets about $600. Going with my earlier read I call and he mucks his hand. I didn't even have to show my 55 to win the pot!

2nd break and I have $28,000.

Key Hand: A "Rock" ( a player that typically plays only very good cards and doesn't make many moves/bluffs) raises from early position, the maniac calls and I look down at AA! I raise big. The original raiser then pushes his entire stack into the pot with very little hesitation and the maniac immediately folds. I immediately call his all in. I have him covered by a few thousand chips and the pot is about $50,000! I have A hearts, A spades and he has K hearts, K spades. The maniac then announces that he had an ace and so does another player, another player says he had a king. So there is one king left in the deck and his other possibility would be to make a straight. I have both his flushes covered with higher cards of the same suit. The board does nothing for him and he is out and I am in great shape!

The dinner break is at 7:15 PM and I have $50,600.

The very first hand after the dinner break I made a mistake. It folds around to me and I open raise from the cutoff (seat before the dealer button) with A9 suited, a good hand for this position. Two players fold and the big blind raises to $4000. He had played a few hands earlier and I thought he might be making a reraise steal which is a common move here when players raise from a steal position like the cutoff. I call the $4000 and the flop is 9 high. I have top pair and top kicker. The BB bets out $7000 which is almost the size of the pot and about two thirds of his stack. This is a very strong sign of strength but I didn't believe him and thought I could get him to lay it down by going all in. I go all in and he instantly calls. Oops! He shows KK. The turn card is the 10 of clubs which give me 14 outs for the river, 9 clubs, 2 nines, and 3 aces. Well the ace of spades falls on the river and I suck out with 2 pair. He is out and we shake hands. I am now up to $77,300.

Next break I am at $68,850.

Freakish hand:

It is exactly midnight and I am dealt 77. the maniac opens for $2000 and I call. A new player to the table that had not played a hand raises to $10,000 which is about half his stack. The maniac calls and there is no way I can call $8,000 more here when I am obviously behind so I fold. The flop is Q,8,7 and I would have had set of sevens. The maniac goes all in and the other player immediately calls. The maniac has 5, 6 of hearts for an open ended straight draw and the other player has AA. The turn is a 4 and the maniac hits his straight. The river is another Queen which would have given me a full house, cracked the maniac's straight and probably would have given me a coronary so it's probably a good thing I was not in the hand. This would have been a VERY interesting hand had I actually played it. If I had doubled through the maniac which would have been very likely I would have had over $160K and probably been the chip leader at the time. Oh well, if ifs and butts were candy and nuts we'd all have a merrier Xmas. The irony of this hand is that I was dealt 777 exactly at midnight on 7/7/07. Had I realized the symbolism of this hand I might have called the $8,000.

Our table finally breaks and I am moved into a table of smaller stacks and I am the chip boss at the table.

Hand: I have JJ from early position and I raise to $2000. It folds around and the Big blind calls. The flop is 3 very low cards and the BB bets out $3500. He is betting that I have 2 unpaired high cards and cannot call his bet. Too bad for him I have JJ and I raise to $9500. He thinks about it and decides it wasn't a good idea and he folds.

Key hand: A player from middle late position opens for $2,000. The button calls. I have AQ in the small blind which means I will be out of position of each betting round so I smooth call the $2,000 and do not raise. The flop is ace high and the original raise bets $7,000. the button folds and I ask the player how much money he has left. He has about $18,000 left and I go all in. He instantly calls so I'm thinking he probably has AK. I show AQ and he says "good hand". He has AJ and now only has 3 outs. The turn pairs the board which gives him 6 outs for a split pot. Nothing significant comes on the river and he is out and I am up to over $104,000.

2nd to last hand of the evening. I guy who was playing weird opens for double the big blind from early position. This is called a "min raise". I look down at AK and after deciding that I don't want to play a huge pot so late and that this guy might have a monster I just call the $1600. The player to my left also calls as does one other and the flop is ace high. The original raiser checks and I bet $4,500 with top pair top kicker. The player to my left smooth calls and everyone else folds. The turn is the K of hearts giving me 2 pair but putting 3 hearts on the board. Scared of a flush draw I check and the player to my left bets $9,000! Now he could be stealing or he could actually have the flush or he could be protecting 3 of a kind from a fourth heart. After thinking about it I call the $9,000. The river is a Queen (would have been awesome if it was an ace or a king) and I check. This guy now bets $20,000 and I go into the tank). I think about this for more than 8 minutes and NOONE CALLS A CLOCK. Everyone wants the night to be over including me and they are all letting me take as much time as I want. I finally decide that this guy hit his flush on the turn and I fold my hand face up. Two guys comment that it was a very good fold and that he definitely had the flush. We'll never know for sure because the guy wouldn't show and wouldn't say a word. I'm pretty sure he had it and didn't want to give me the satisfaction of telling me I made a good fold.

Well I lost about $15,000 in that last hand and finished the night at $93,800. Not a bad first day.

There are 3 more day ones and I don't play again now until Tuesday. There are no chip counts posted on worldseriesofpoker.com just yet but they should be up soon. They may not put all players counts up so don't be concerned if you don't see me. They have only been putting up the recognizable names and the really, really big stacks in the other tournaments. This is the main event though so they may put up all the counts.

Some notable players that busted out on Day 1A: Marco Traniello, Eli Elezra, Josh Arieh, Dewey Tomko, John D'Agostino, Marcel Luske, Amarillo Slim, Mel Judah, Doyle Brunson, and Johnny Chan.

Bye for now!

Keith