Day 2 recap

For most of the first level I had no cards at all and just hung on by stealing the blinds when I could. But I won two pretty nice pots on the last two hands of the first level. On the first one I opened to 1500 with the blinds at 250/500/50 with A8dd from the cutoff and both blinds called. The flop was KhTh6c and they both checked to me. Sometimes I would just give up on a flop like that, but I decided to bet because I wasnt the least bit concerned about the big blind. He didnt seem the least bit tricky and was def the type to lead at that flop if he had a hand instead of going for a check-raise. So I bet 3500, the small blind called and the big blind folded. The turn was the 6 of diamonds, and the small blind checked to me. I bet again because the small blind was a very loose passive player who was calling me on the flop with any pair and any draw. The 6d totally missed all the draws, so I figured this guy would fold any missed draw and any pair that wasnt a pair of kings or better. So I bet 6000 and he folded.

On the very next hand I opened with 77 and the button (the small blind from last hand) called me. The flop came Kh7d4h and I bet 2000 and the button raised me to 5000. Given how passive he was I figured he had to have at least a king to raise me, so I raised him to 15,000 total and he called quickly. The turn was the 6d and I shoved for my last 23,000. He thought for a long time but eventually folded. So I went into break with 56,000 feeling good.

In the second level I got off to a good start, winning the first hand I played. With 300/600 blinds I raised to 1800 in middle position with T9hh and Steve Wong called me from the big blind. The flop was Kh6c5c, he checked and I bet 2500. He called and I was probably just going to give up, but the turn was the Ad, a perfect card to bluff at. He checked again, I bet 6000 and he insta-folded. That was about it for me in that level though. By the end of the level I was down to 45,000. It wasnt anything too interesting, I would just raise preflop and get called, miss the flop, make a c-bet, and either get called or raised. There weren't really any good spots to make big bluffs so I tried to stay patient.

In the third level I was still pretty deep-stacked with 45,000 and 400/800 blinds with a 100 ante. At the start of the level I stole the blinds and antes a couple times and 3-bet a guy with QQ, so I was up to 50,000 quickly. But it all went downhill very quickly. The first hand I lost a tight player on my right raised to 2400 UTG and I flatted with TT UTG+1. Another player in mid-position also called and the flop came 432 rainbow. The initial raiser then shoved for his last 47,000 (lol). I thought for a bit but figured I was either against AK or AQ where I'm only 60% to win or I'm against a bigger overpair and am only 10%, so I folded.

So next orbit that same guy opens to 2400 again, this time in middle position. I have 33 and figure its a great spot to set-mine since theres a good chance the guy will just open-shove the flop again. So I call, everyone else folds, and the flop comes J64 with 2 diamonds. He bets, but instead of his kamikaze shove this time he just bets 3000. This bet was less than half the pot and seemed kinda weak to me, so I decided to bluff-raise to 9000. Before my chips even hit the felt he shoved on me, so I had to fold. In retrospect I really think I should have just folded, trying to get a wackjob like this to lay down a hand was probably a mistake. So now I'm down to about 35k.

A few hands later, a maniac with a lot of chips raises to 2200 in middle position. I'm in the big blind with 99 and it folds to me. I thought for a while about raising here, but I thought he would shove over my raise or call me in position a high percentage of the time and put me in a really tough spot, so I decided just to call. The flop came T62 rainbow, I checked and he checked behind me. When he checked behind me I thought he was pretty weak as I expected him to bet a strong hand. The turn was the 8c, putting two clubs on the board. I bet out 2500 for value and he raised me to 7500. Now I have a big decision, because this guy was bluffing postflop constantly, and he didnt give up after firing one barrel, he consistently fired 2 or 3 barrels and had gotten caught a couple times. So I knew if I called here I would have to call any river. I thought for a long time, but between his flop check and history of bluffing I decided to call him down. So I called the 5000 more and the river was the 3c, making the board Tx8c6c3c2x. I checked to him and he bet 15,000. That wasnt a good card since it completed a possible flush, but this guys range was huge so I called him. He turned over 54 of spades for a rivered straight. So sick, he only had 4 outs and I'm positive he fires another barrel on all 44 possible river cards. So I was down to about 10,000.

Next hand it folded to me in the small blind and I shoved with J9o (def a profitable shove with the big antes) and the big blind folded. So now I'm up to about 12,000. Next hand a tough loose-aggressive player opens to 2400 in early position, and I look down at AK. This is an awesome spot to pick up a big hand since a shove will really make it look like I'm tilting so I'll get called by a wide range. It folds to me, I shove and the initial raiser quickly calls me and shows 22. So as you can see he didnt give my shove much respect. On the flop there was a king in the window, but a 2 was right below it and I was out.

It really sucks to bust out of the main event. Soon I'm sure I'll be able to look back at the experience more fondly, but right now I'm really disappointed. Wait til next year I guess...

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone out there for the support.

George