better wynn than never
 
I know it’s a little belated, but here is how my Wynn. Classic went down. Day 1 – I decided to play pretty tight for the first part of the day and see how everyone was playing. My table was the following: Seat 1 - Harry Demetriou Seat 2 – Unknown Seat 3 – Unkown Seat 4 – Unknown Seat 5 – Me Seat 6 – John Juanda Seat 7 – Toto Leonidas Seat 8 – John Phan Seat 9 – Unknown With this seat I didn’t want to be in many pots out of position against some tough, aggressive opponents. We started with 20,000 in chips and my first notable hand was the following: Blinds at 100/200 Juanda limps under the gun. Phan limps, Demetriou limps, and the button makes it $1,000 (he had been raising limpers frequently when in the cutoff or button). I made it $3,200 in the big blind with A, A and it folded back around to the cutoff. He made it $7,500 more and I went all-in for $7,800 more. He called and flipped over J, J. I was at $35,000 after this pot and feeling pretty good. Shortly after, I called an under the gun raise to $600 with 5,5, as did the button and the big blind. The flop came 5c, 4, 2c. Everyone checked to me and I bet $1,200. Button called, as did UTG. The turn brought a beautiful 4 and UTG checked. I decided to check to the button, putting him on a middle pair that would certainly have to bet to protect his hand. He ended up betting $3,000 and UTG called. I made it $11,000 after a long think and the button folded. To my surprise, UTG called. At this point I have him on either an overpair or Ac, Xc. The river was an 8 and I bet $8,000 after he checked and he called. Later he said he had K,K and made a bad call on the turn. Blinds at 100/200 with a 25 ante After the dinner break, I had $62,000 with the average only at around $30,000. The first hand, I was in the big blind with 6, 5 and decided to flat call the small blind’s min raise. The flop came 8, 6, 5 and I bet $500 after he checked. He called and the turn brought a 2h putting a couple of hearts on board. I bet $1,500 after he checked and he made it $5,000. I called and the river brought a Kh. He bet $3,000 and I reluctantly called. He flopped the nut straight and played the hand very well in my opinion. Blinds at 200/400 with a 25 ante I limp under the gun with Jc, 8c and Juanda limps behind me. Fourth position makes it $2,000 and I’m the only caller. The flop was a dreamy Qc, Tc, 7. I checked with the intention of check-raising all-in, but he checked. The turn brought a rag and I again decided to check. I thought he either had an A, K / A, J type hand and might make the mistake of betting the turn and if not, then I could steal it if the river bricked. I also thought he might have a J, J, 9, 9, or some other piece that was afraid of being check-raised on the flop but would mistakenly protect his hand on the turn. He bet $3,000 which was perfect, I went all-in for $9,000 more, but he insta-called with a set of tens to my disbelief. No help on the river and I took another huge hit to the stack. Later, it folds to the button who limps, I limp in the small blind with K, T and Juanda checks. The flop came Kh, 9s, 2h. It checked around. Turn was an As and I checked again. Juanda bet $1,200 and the button called. I thought for a while and decided I had the best hand because I didn’t think either player would play the hand as they did with an ace, so I made it $4,000. Juanda called and the button folded. At this point I thought John either had a flush draw or a 9. The river was another ace. I checked to him and he immediately put me all-in for $17,000. I thought for a bit and decided to stick with my read and call all-in for my tournament life. “Nice call,” he said, as I began counting down my chips. I raised to $1,200 under the gun with A, Q and Juanda made it $4,000 right behind me. I decided to gamble, given my new found wealth and put him all-in for 11,000 more. I thought I had some fold equity and even if he did call I’d still have 30%+ to win the hand. He ended up calling with A, K and doubled through me. I ended the day stealing some pots and bringing my stack back up to $60,000 somehow. I’m not really sure how to be honest. Day 2 – I drew a table with a lot of names, but I liked my spot for the most part. My plan was to feel out how people were playing and adjust accordingly. Seat 1 – Me Seat 2 – Scott Fishman Seat 3 – Ben Lamm (sp?) Seat 4 – Mike Carson Seat 5 – Unknown Seat 6 – Gavin Griffin Seat 7 – Unknown Seat 8 – Rhett Butler Seat 9 – Ted Lawson After a round of folding I raised to $2,500 with A, 5 suited in second position. Fishman called, as did the button. Flop was A, Kh, 2h and everyone checked. Turn was a 7 and I bet $2,500 and both players folded. Literally the next hand I picked up A, Q suited and raised to $2,500 again. Mike Carson gives me “the look.” The look that says, “Who do you think you are? This is my table, and you need to settle down.” He makes it $7,000 and I call after a long think. We are the two chip leaders at the table, and have some history that ensures the hand will be entertaining to anyone watching. I’ll get into that later, for now I’ll say how the hand went. Flop came Ah, Kd, Qh and I check-called his $10,000 bet. The turn brought an offsuit 4 and he quickly went all-in after I checked. The bet was around $45,000 into the pot of just under $40,000. I ended up calling and he showed J, T for the nuts and just like that – 5 minutes into day two – I was out. There were many factors that led to my decisions throughout the hand. I was happy with how I played it and put it in the unlucky column. In the LAPC I had played a few hours with Mike, and he seemed like a very dangerous player who definitely knew what he was doing, but also quite reckless. In LA, I saw him call half his stack preflop to a third raise with pocket threes, and re-re-raise UTG raises and second position re-raises continuously. I was pretty sure that I had the best hand preflop, but we were pretty deep stacked and I didn’t want to lose too many chips that early. I was afraid that if I raised he would call and I’d be in a large pot out of position against a good maniac. The hardest part of the decisions to make is ascertaining his range of hands. My physical read was that he was not bluffing, which is never a good sign. However, there are many hands that he might either think are good or have many outs. For instance, he could have K, Q, Kh, Jh, Kh, Th, A, J, A, T. There was also a possibility that he had a middle pair and knew that I couldn’t call all-in without a huge hand and it was unlikely that I would slowplay a huge hand on the flop out of position. I ruled out A, K because I thought he’d raise bigger preflop with that hand, trying to pick up the pot right then and there. A, A and Q, Q are possible, but very unlikely considering my holdings. Therefore, the hands that I’m most worried about are K, K and J, T, both of which are definitely in his range and both would play the hand exactly the same way. At this point I’m about 50/50 as to whether to call or fold. Ultimately what made my decision to call was the fact that if I gave him this pot I felt as though he’d keep coming over the top of me all day and put me in some very difficult spots. Keep in mind that he did raise my UTG (the strongest spot on the table) and consecutive (always the sign of a huge hand) raise with a J, T offsuit! A, Q was literally the worst hand I could have had in that spot. What’s tough to think about is exactly what had to happen for that pot to go down the way it did – truly an aligning of the stars. First off, I had to pick up an A, Q suited after having just raised (usually I like to fold after raising). Then I had to raise the hand, thus pissing off the maniac. I think had I limped he might have called and we could either played a smaller pot or I could have gotten away from the hand at some point. He also might have just folded his hand had I not raised. Then he had to have Fishman fold. Had Fishman called or re-raised he would probably have just folded and let someone else be the sheriff. Then he had to re-raise me with a J, T and have no one else pick up a hand behind him and re-raise both of us off our hands. Then he had to have me have exactly what I had. If I had an A, K, A, A, K, K, etc. I would have re-raised him huge. Had I had an A, J or worse I most likely would have just folded. Then the perfect flop had to come where I hit a hand against a maniac with a gigantic range. Then the turn had to be a perfect brick so he could make a bet without as much worry of losing me. Then the river had to keep his hand best. Truly amazing to think about, but I guess that’s what most tournaments are all about. The Butterfly Effect is something that has always interested me although I didn’t feel like working out any equations as I headed to the rail.
paul wasicka’s blog
Monday, March 19, 2007