Rookie Blasts Main Event Day 1.

Dear readers, I regret to inform you that my run in the main event of the poker news cup has come to an end. The fat lady has sung. The Violin quartet is now playing. Liam has been gracious enough to take care of my blogging duties while Ive been living the poker pro life but now Im back, and have quite a story to tell…

[Image - Vos on left, Me in green, and Gunnner7 looks on wearing his Carbon Poker hat. Vos has raised 2500, I have reraised 5000]

The first place to begin seems the most prominent thought on my mind right now – @*(#^&(*$^!!!!!!~ why did I make that call! I can honestly say I made the wrong decision for the first time in the last few days of play. But more on that later…

Day 1, Flight 2. Sitting down at the felt with 239 fellow players I was to be frank a bit of a nervous wreck for the first several sessions. As I stated in my previous post on the satellite event, it was only my second live tournament and I was more than a little intimidated by all those with reping Polaroid sunnies, ear phones and grim looks of determination. After 10 hours of play yesterday my memory fails me for specifics but here’s the basics of the first few sessions.

My cards sucked. Big time. After loosing a few small pots early on and on substantial hand where I bet 3000 after the flop and again on the river only to have my KJ busted with AJ on a J high board. So im now down to around 12000 in chips. When the starting stack is 20,000 and everyone else at my table is sitting nicely. Things aren’t looking so good. For the next few hours my strategy is to play tight. Very tight, and pounce when the cards come. However I fold and fold and wait and wait, but still they dont come. Break time – 15 minutes to grab a snack, hit the toilet and compose myself for the next session. The satellite was child’s play compared to this. The next session arrives all to quickly and i resume my tight play. Once again the cards don’t come. I play one hand in the first hour and pick up a small pot, a few big blinds worth – almost a 2000 in chips. But after an hour of play constantly folding the big blind to raises, Im still sitting down from where I started. The seconds count down, the clock ticks over, ” NEXT HAND BLINDS ARE UP” the Pit Boss calls over the PA. Like the last, this hour brings no luck and no cards. This playing poker thing is really over rated. Its one thing to go out with guns blazing, but to be blinded to the felt cause of bad cards is just torture.

My hand selection strategy – I feel that my claim of bad cards needs a bit of explaining. After all im quite conscious of those players who complain of getting bad cars like whiny loser. Two considerations in my strategy; this is a tournament, I dont have to win the tournament, just make the money. I just have to last as long as possible. So naturally a tight strategy is in order nothing under A10 suited to call a raise. Picture pockets and any two royal suited cards are raises, anything less – J10, A10, Q10, suited are all calls, and A9,8, and similar are tentative calls depending on position. Now my bad cards are – 2,4 8 times in the hour. yes I kept count just for this. half a dozen 3/6 and 3/8, 72 a handful of times and nothing with two picture cards, a fair few k7, A3 and similar, but nothing to call the raises that were made almost every hand. So forgive me for sounding like a whiny loser, but I did have bad cards. So what do I do…the only thing I can – get bored and crack out the tunes.

Break time. 15 mins till I go back to blinding away. A snack to eat from one of the dozen or so over priced Indian eateries in this place (really theres like 5 Indian places in a row here!) and its time to return to the tables. Maybe I should perform some ritual to increase my luck or pray to who ever is it I believe in, though I dont think its gonna make a difference. First few hands in and my luck hasn’t changed. Honestly, this is depressing. Next hand AA. WOOOOOOHOOOOOO! Finally my luck has come. I forget the specifics of the hand but I win some chips. A decent amount and im now sitting back above 10,000 after having dipped dangerously low to 7500. Next hand comes and I sneak a look at QJ…its like Christmas but without any of that Christmas cheer and no big fat guy in a red jumpsuit. Another win, not as big this time, just a few stolen blinds with a raise from late position.

Next hand, and Ive caught another break. Not as good as last, J10, but still decent. A call of the blind, and a reraise. I think ill sit this one out and not tempt fate. Its a good thing too…

On my right side theres a big reraise. Im sitting on the button and the SB makes the call. The flop comes 9910. The right side bets big and hard. The SB makes the call. Next card – 7. No flush options. Right side again with the raise and SB again with the call. The pot is quite big now, SB has a mountain of chips and the other guy is sitting rather plump as well. The river – a 3. Im sure it doesn’t help. The right side moves all in after deliberating for a long while the SB makes the call. He shows 810 off suit. A pair of 10s and the 9′s on the board. It looks strong but what do looks really account for when they are up against AA. The table goes kinda wild. Not with a party like atmosphere that I had secretly been hoping for; these players are seriously uptight. But with table talk and confusion. The topic…who on earth calls such massive raises, particularly preflop with 108 off suit. The dealer calls for calm and play resumes.

I pick up QQ and KK and JJ in very short succession of each other. I move all in once, unfortunately for me the call is not made and the hand is laid down. I needed the call as I was 100% I had the best hand. KK on a board of J ,crap, crap, semi crap and really crap was pretty good. Either way my chips are back up now to over the starting stack.

A few hands pass and the field is now down to around 190. The earlier caller – the one with 810 who got busted big, lets call him Mr Red. Please excuse my lack of descriptors but I didnt like the attitude this guy had and wasnt he was definitely not on my make friends with list. So anyways, the point was that Mr Red is now firmly on tilt. Not just your average tilt too. But a raging ridiculous tilt. If you picture a tilt as big as the tsunami that rocked Asia in 06 then your getting close. Early on he was looking like an extremely dangerous player, now like a chip factory. Either way I don’t get the chance to cash in on the action as he is busted in short order. A few players have left the table, all of them far better players than I consider myself, so im not doing too bad.

Later on in the evening – around just after returning from dinner break Mr Blue is busted from the table, (I smile, I didnt really like him either), and Mr Vos is sat down. Everyone at the table nods in welcome, their hearts gripped in cold fear! A few players from the table know the man, as they obviously spend far to much time bleeding chips to him at these tables. Either way play is resumed on and several hands later we have some action.

Liam has already given you an account of this from his point of view. So I wont bore you with details, needless to say I can now claim I played against the best and won. Go me.

This brings me to the next point I learned through this experience – the value of table image. Vos naturally as a recognised pro has a good table image, people were wary of him, and played cautiously. As a result he probably picked some pots that I would not have won in his position with the same cards and same motions of play.

By now my drinking buddy – Gunnner7 had joined the table with a nice stack. It made for a much more enjoyable experience, as we could chat freely and knew we both had a friend at the table. A note on Gunnner, he travelled over 40 hours to be here, including a nice little 24hour delay at LAX after his plane lost a wing. Crazy right. A whole friggin wing! So his kind sir father managed to race him through the city and get him here with only a few minutes to spare.

Theres about 20 minutes until the next break and its the final one of the night. Im still sitting below average chipstack, but well in it with 30,000 odd piled in different colours in front of me. Cards are flicked out by the dealer with clinical precision. I hold my stylish Carbon Poker card guard so he can fire them right in and have it fall on top. He sinks them in perfectly and I stiffle a laugh in appreciation of his skill. I peer down at…K….K. Look up, check the button positon – Im mid position. I make the call when the action is folded to me. A substantial raise 4X the big blind. I dont recall chip amounts for bets, its not how I think. For me its always the increment of the big blind. Though once again thats besides the point. Theres one caller, though its not a call, its an all in. I check his chip stack Ive got him covered with a bit to spare. Not much, but a bit. I deliberate by shuffling my cards around. Screw it, I call.

AK vs KK.

Im ahead. At this point. Though the odds are not far off even.
The flop…
Nothing.
Nothing.
Ace.
Dammit! its now AA vs KK
My outs dont come and Im down to 6000 or so in chips.

The break comes and Gunnner and I head for the bar after checking in on old mate 2fast443allin. His still well in it with a decent stack.

Thats all for now. The story continues tomorrow with the rest of day 1 and day 2′s adventures.
Note: Vos is actually a very nice gentleman and was far more enjoyable to play against than 90% of the players I met at the main event. Though it was satisfying beating him.