Posts Tagged ‘Omaha 8 or better’

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WSOP 2019: $2500 Omaha 8/Stud 8 Sweat Post

June 21, 2019

I actually didn’t know I was going to play this one, but after spending a week back in Washington and spending all my study time thinking about Stud 8 or Better, I saw this on the schedule and realized I could make a deep Day 2 run and still be able to play the Monster Stack if I so desired.

Plus, I wasn’t too fond of landing in Vegas at 12:30 am last night and having a 10 am start for the Monster Stack today. The O.E. tournament doesn’t start until 3 pm. It feels good to have slept in and still have three hours to energize myself.

Cards in the air at 3! I expect this to be a pretty star-studded field. Maybe I’ll finally get to play with a Negreanu, Hellmuth, or Ivey. Leggo.

I don’t recognize anyone at my starting table and that seems pretty fortunate for a $2500 buy in.

I’ll post stack updates on breaks. Starting stacks are 15k with 60 minute levels. Kind of surprised to see the betting limits starting at 200/400.

First Break

Wow. I have an amazing table. It’s 8-handed and I had determined that only one player at the table is tough. I’ve seen some absurd play in both variants from multiple players.

My key pot during the first two levels, I have Qd8d-4d and get the bring in with an otherwise super marginal holding. However, there are multiple limpers and someone with an ace up completes and only the 5d is dead, so I called the 200 extra at 300/600 betting limits.

On 4th street, I catch the Td and the ace pairs his door card. Meanwhile, I’ve seen 14 up cards and only one diamond that wasn’t in my hand. The ace leads out, I call and one other player does.

On 5th street I catch a low non-diamond and the aces catch a big card, and the other player has 9cKxAx showing. The aces lead, I call, and the other player raises! This is pretty shocking. Hard to figure what he has here. AcKc-9c makes some sense but the player with open aces has the ace of clubs showing m, so who knows. The aces just call and so do I.

I catch another low non-diamond on 6th and suddenly it looks like I have the only low draw and a super live flush draw. I check-call and we are still 3-handed to 7th.

I get the 6 of diamonds! That card pairs me so I don’t have a low, but that hardly matters. I lead, they both call and I scoop a nice pot.

A floor came over and high carded to move a player off our table and ended up taking the only good player and he immediately responded with “God-fucking-dammit” because he clearly felt the same way I do about our lineup.

Unfortunately, he was somehow replaced by Sandman. Wtf. Small world?

Still… we are on the far side of the room so hopefully the tables are breaking in the opposite direction because Sandman and I appear to be in a favorable situation.

21,200

Second Break

I have been absurdly card dead. That Stud 8 scooper is still the only real notable hand I’ve played. I’ve picked up some small pots here and there but otherwise I’ve been folding every single hand.

I got scooped by Sandman in a pot where I have AJ32 on K62hhhJh2 and Sandman has K62x, but it was a 6-way limped pot with only one bet on the flop and none on the turn, even though someone flopped the nut flush.

My table did add a poker legend in David Benyamine.

18,400

Third Break

Good couple of levels. No big scoopers but got half of some big multi-way pots. Finally a little momentum!

29,800

Fourth Break

We’re in this thing. One of the torchers at my table is betting out of turn on 7th with three pair in Stud 8 when my board is showing Ah9hQx4h… and the 235 in the hole! So huge scooper for me.

Also, Phil Ivey is sitting directly behind me.

Two more levels tonight.

52,200

Basically scrapped and clawed the last two levels. Dipped all the way down to 30k and rallied back in a big Stud 8 pot where I have a four flush on 4th, David “ODB” Baker is all in, and a third player is in there betting me on the side. I brick my flush, but river a pair of fives and that is somehow good for EVERYTHING. What a nice surprise.

So I busted ODB, which is cool, because he busted me in the 8-Game a couple years ago and I owed him one.

Somehow managed to bag near my peak.

Restart at 2 PM tomorrow. The only thing I know about my new table so far is that Phil Ivey won’t be on it (he’s still in though).

55,000

DAY 2

Here’s my starting table:

Probably not going to be many easy tables from here on it and this one certainly isn’t great. Alex Foxen is #1 in the GPI Rankings so he’s basically the top tournament player in the world right now. But he’s also a big bet specialist (and is double dipping here while carrying a big stack into Day 2 of the Monster Stack) and I’m not sure how adept he is at the mixed games. Chris Bell, Andrey Zaichenko, and Phillip Hui are all accomplished mixed games players though and Hui already has eight cashes and three (!) final tables in the 2019 World Series of Poker.

I’ll start the day 39th in chips with 128 players left and 61 of us cashing, so I’m in pretty decent shape to make the money right now but it would be really refreshing to get off to a fast start today and put this WSOP cold spell behind me.

Sandman is just behind me with 52.3k to start the day.

There are three other Washingtonians still alive and I’m familiar with Daniel Ratigan but don’t know him and Gregory Smith (Everett) and Kristy Means (Vancouver) I don’t know at all. I always like to see people from the PNW doing well here, so good luck to them also!

Ivey and Hellmuth still alive. Would be cool to play with either one of them at some point today.

Cards back in the air at 2 PM.

First Break

What a rollercoaster first two levels. I have a couple of really sick hands but not enough time to talk about them.

The good news is I am still in and I have more chips than I started with and around 40 players have busted already.

Actually… 80 left and I’m a little below average.

19 spots until the money.

60,800

Second Break

The streak is over! I cashed a WSOP event!

55 players are left.

Sandman still in also.

123,000

Dinner Break

Really don’t want to type about poker on my breaks, but the last two levels were really good to me, even though I made a mistake that led to a big loss on the last hand before break.

Real crazy pot with Andrey Zaichenko. He brings it in with 4d, I complete with Ac2c-4c, Chris Bell raises with a short stack, and Andrey raises when it gets back to him. I just call and Chris is all in. The pot is already massive.

On 4th, I get a 6x and Andrey leads with 48 showing. I love this spot, but I just call him with no immediate potential for high.

On 5th, I get the 5c and Andrey gets a jack, so I lead and he calls.

DK: Ac2c-4c6x5c

Andrey: XX-4d8xJ

Yum yum!

Meanwhile, Chris Bell’s board is bricking out. What a spot.

On 6th street, I make a wheel with a 3 and Andrey pairs his 8. I bet and he goes into a deep, deep tank.

Dear God. Is he actually going to pay this off? He does.

Huge scooper.

I think there’s about 37 left and average stack is around 162k.

206,000

Fourth Break

Still in. Didn’t bust like PokerNews said I did for a minute. 19 left. I have over 400k and average stack is 314k.

What a rush.

400k+

End of Day 2

I’m wiped. After peaking around 416k and being on a pretty good rush, things fell completely apart in level 19. I bricked some extremely strong hands and Shaun Deeb really put me in the fucking cage but wound up saving me because Danny Ratigan (Seattle!) ended up making a straight on 7th street. I won’t get into the details of that hand, but it was a brutal spot and Shaun got me to fold half of a very big pot and I would have got scooped.

I fell all the way down to about 130k but rallied back and ended up putting 387k in a bag.

There are 12 players left and I’m currently 8th in chips. Everyone is guaranteed $10k+ but there are big pay jumps starting at the final table and $213k and a bracelet at the top.

Let’s go get that tomorrow!

Day 3

Sorry… I barely had time to write yesterday and my wife is flying in today so I’m definitely not going to have time to write today. Best place to follow along will be on PokerNews or if someone here is updating progress on Facebook.

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$160 Omaha 8/B @ Chinook Winds in Lincoln City, Oregon (Stack Updates)

October 24, 2018

Cards will be in the air at noon. $160 gets you a 12k starting stack, with blinds starting at 25/50 and 30 minute levels. They are guaranteeing a $15,000 prize pool, so they need 94 entrants to avoid an overlay and this event has no re-entry. Looks like 100 have already registered though.

Twinkie drove down here with me, so he’s playing this event today. I’m sure there will be a couple others I recognize.

I was welcomed by a sore throat this morning so looks like I’m developing a cold just in time for me to kick off this series.

👍🏻

I will be posting stack updates here and maybe some hands here and there if they are interesting enough.

Leggo.

12:02 PM: First hand is notable because on a final board of Q6294 and four hearts on the board, a player check-raises the river with a naked two pair. Uh. He got scooped. I’m honestly not sure if he did it on purpose or not. TBD…

12:16 PM: Solomon Grundy sighting!

Oh man. Guy on my right is a motormouth. He hasn’t stopped talking for 20 straight minutes and he keeps looking at me for interaction. He’s a nice, happy dude just trying to have fun playing the great game of poker, but… I can’t handle all that.

Headphones going in.

Just saw QQxx vs 88xx on Q98Q8 and the river only went two bets. What in the world?

And now that I have my headphones in dude on my right is touching me when he’s talking.

Please make it stop.

12:32 PM: This is brutal. This guy literally just introduced himself, mentioned my headphones and basically said, as politely and non-passive aggressively as possible, that he “talks a lot” and that my headphones aren’t going to save me.

12:45 PM: And now he found a commonality. He asked where I’m from and I said Bremerton and then he asked me about Chips Casino, which is basically where I started my path toward playing poker full-time. Then he mentions Palace in Lakewood and that he helped run it in 2012, and that Big Daddy used to work for him, and that he’s responsible for getting Freddie’s closed and starting High Hands in Pierce County.

So now we actually have something to talk about.

Wonderful.

Gosh dammit.

12:53 PM: Things have been going well so far, so I have little to complain about, but here’s my first annoying runout:

I raise a bunch of limpers with A42x with a suited ace (haven’t looked at my last card) on the button and bet the Q87ss flop when I flop the nut flush draw and nut low draw with backup. I get three callers on the flop.

The turn is a jack and I decide to keep firing because I don’t think I’m likely to get check-raised and I don’t mind continuing to build the pot with my draw. Plus, I might have a pair! I only get one caller now.

River is an offsuit king and I can tell he’s prepared to call the river, so I look down hoping to see a ten, as any one pair hand is probably too weak to value bet here, but I have a 7 and check back.

He wins with KK96ss.

Looks like a pretty good flop for his hand, yeah? How about no?

1:14 PM: Radio Mike just messaged me saying he hopes the guy on my right and I both make deep runs to the final table “connected at the hip like Siamese twins.”

What a jerk.

1:31 PM: First Break:

Dark Knight 12.2k

Twinkie 12.275k

1:53 PM: Here’s a spot that I think should be standard but I’m sure a lot of people routinely botch:

There are some limpers and I check Q977 in the big blind.

Flop is 762 with two clubs. I have top set. The small blind checks, I check, and it checks around.

The turn is the 8 of clubs. The small blind bets and I fold.

Good riddance.

2:05 PM: Guy on my right is embarrassing me now. There’s a discussion going on with the dealer about poker players being optimistic.

Dealer: Of course poker players are optimistic; you all think you are going to win this tournament.

Guy on my right: None of us think we are going to win this tournament.

Guy on my right: You know who’s going to win this tournament? This guy (points to me). He’s the best player at this table and I could tell that after 45 seconds.

Me: Uhhh….

Guy on my right: I’ll tell you this much: I’d swap 10% of me for 5% of you (and he has more chips). That’s how confident I am about that.

Me: Uhm.

I mean, that’s nice of him and all, but it is embarrassing. I don’t want that kind of attention and it’s a little disrespectful to the other players at the table.

3:18 PM: No super interesting hands these last three levels but I suppose it was slightly profitable for me.

Stacks at second break:

Dark Knight 14.5k

Twinkie 15.9k

Solomon Grundy 7.5k

Also, there has been a Flexxx sighting, I don’t know his stack size.

3:28 PM: Cool thing about playing in Lincoln City is that this is what your breaks can look like:

3:48 PM: What the hell is going on here?

Two limps, I complete with K652 double suited from the small, big blind checks.

Flop is K63 all hearts, I check, the other blind bets, and the limpers both call. My hand looks like it has potential, but all of it is super marginal and the pot is pretty small, so I fold.

Turn pairs the 6 and now I’m wishing I had my hand back. The big blind still bets, which is kind of weird, there’s a call and the next player raises. Now the big blind 3-bets, the middle player calls, and the other guy is all in for just under three big bets.

I have no clue what’s going on.

River is a queen and it goes bet and call.

Before the big blind turns over his hand, I say, “wow, I had K6 here.”

Big blind rolls 33xx, next guy rolls Q6xx, and the last guy has KKxx.

Holy shit! What a sick connection. And how credible does my hand sound after everyone shows? Lol.

4:14 PM: Open cutoff with AKJT double suited, hoping to just steal the blinds. The small blind calls and the big blind 3-bets, leaving himself with one small bet behind. No sense in 4-betting it since the small is clearly not folding, so I call and then the small blind 4-bets! Well, this got ugly real fast. Now the big is all in and I’ve been stair-stepped into a 4-bet pot with a hand that is barely worth one bet. I call again.

Flop is 533 with two clubs. Small blind leads out, the big is already all in and neither of my suits are clubs, so I just fold?

Sigh.

The small blind ends up showing 6432 which is a little weird and the big blind was on a total punt with KQJ4. Turn is a 6 and that ends the hand but it does cost me 2400 in chips in rather bizarre fashion.

4:21 PM: Mercy! My table broke and I no longer have the chatterbox on my direct right. I can now listen to music in peace and mind my own business.

I do have Flexxx at my new table though.

4:43 PM: 3-bets four ways before the flop and I have A862 with a suited ace and I get a pretty good flop for the situation with the board coming J86 rainbow, giving me the but low draw, bottom two, and the backdoor nut flush draw. The big blind donks, the original PFR folds, I raise, the small blind calls two bets cold, and the big flats.

Turn is a queen and they both check to me. I have less than two big bets left and I’m not sure I have the best high hand here, so I check back.

River comes a fucking ace. So now my low is nonexistent, plus clubs backdoored (not my suit). The small blind leads out, the big folds, and it feels like a pretty easy fold, but I start looking at the size of the pot and reluctantly toss out the call. He has A632 and my high is good.

Sigh. Seems like a good result but I lost half the pot on the river.

Then a series of suited A2xx and A34x hands got scooped and I was left with crumbs.

I make it 1600 from the small after one limp with AAQT, leaving myself with 75 behind. The big blind and limper both call.

The flop is an absolutely beautiful AJJ but the limper goes runner runner for a low with QJ32 and I have to settle for half of the main pot.

That leaves me with 2500 on third break and I will be coming back to a stack of 2.5 big blinds on the button.

5:11 PM:

Dark Knight 2500

Twinkie 24.8k

Flexxx 30k+

Solomon Grundy 15k

I will be all in sometime this next orbit.

5:45 PM: And I’m out. My all in gets scooped because someone had to limp the J532 from middle position and got the A33 flop.

Looks like 152 entered and I managed to bust in the first 33% so pretty good read from that dude calling my shot to win the tournament.

My health is less than 80% and likely to get worse, so I’m going to head back to my AirBnB and watch the World Series (and probably fall asleep) for a little bit. Maybe I’ll go play some live later if I’m feeling better.

Twinkie is still in with 21.4k. I’ll post his status if he sends me updates.

Solomon Grundy busted just before me and Flexxx was healthy at my table when I left.

6:50 PM: Twinkie sitting on 38k at dinner Break with less than 80 players left.

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