A full report of my 2012 WSOP experience will follow here shortly, but in the meantime, here's a couple of trip reports from two of my online poker buddies. (For info on the PSP online poker league, called Flatline, click here.)
First up is Nick B. who represented Flatline in 2012 in WSOP event #27 - the $1500 H.O.R.S.E.!
Day 1
"Hey Everyone!
It's been an interesting day! I'm gonna give you a brief summary of what has happened. If you care about it, enjoy. If not, skip to the bottom where I'll tell you how to check updates on your stake in tomorrow's (today's) event.
I just want to say that I already feel a little lucky. Amber (my wife) and I had a relatively painless drive from Pasadena to Vegas. When we got to the Rio, where I'm staying, we were a little cranky and in need of a bathroom break, which is standard. We got in line to check in and waited for what must've been at least half an hour. I realize that's not long in the grand scheme of things, but when you're carrying a shopping bag of booze and soda, you need a restroom, and you've been on the road for 4 hours, it means something. We watched an angry man with a waist-length ponytail (I counted eight rubber bands in it) and criminally high jeans fussing at a desk agent, and several clueless-looking Europeans who jumped ahead in line to ask inane questions, oblivious to all the people waiting in line. I was starting to suspect that my luck was not so hot.
When we finally got to the front of the line, we checked in and the surprisingly bubbly agent asked if I preferred 2 queen beds (I had initially thought my wife couldn't go, but that I might be joined by my brother). I told her it didn't matter, though we'd prefer not to stay in the pet wing, where we stayed last time amidst the audible howling and pet smells. She chuckled with us and said something that we didn't really hear about giving us a free upgrade.
Well, whatever she said, it turned out to be kind of a big deal. We ended up in a top-floor suite that you need card access to enter from the elevator. It has multiple bathrooms, a full dining room table (which our home does not have), several flat screen TVs, a full living room, a jacuzzi big enough for four, and a huge view. I'm leaving out a lot of stuff, but what I mean to tell you is that I am staying in the nicest hotel room I've ever been in and I have NO idea what I did to get it.
So sadly, I won't be able to play for the team in the WSOP. I will be ordering room service at hourly intervals and getting wasted while taking jacuzzi baths and watching in room movies- all at the same time.
Psych. I'm just fucking with you. Although the room is deluxe, I am excited to be entering tomorrow's HORSE event (event #27, which starts at noon). I have already bought my entry, which is good because there were only 75 seats left at midnight when I bought it.
I've set up a twitter account to give updates, and I've downloaded an app on my phone to do it. I'm really unaccustomed to twitter. As you can see, I'm unused to summarizing my thoughts in a brief and engaging way, so this will be a real challenge for me. That said, I realize you need to know how your money is doing and that you don't want a zillion texts. So follow @FlatlineNick on twitter and I'll do my best to keep you abreast of what's happening.
In a moment of candor that I'll attribute to the single vodka/diet I had while I was playing slots earlier, I'll tell you that I want to crush this tournament so bad I can taste it. I'll do my best and hopefully we'll all make some cash."
Day 2
"Hey folks!
It was fun, but really tough.
The starting stack was 4500. My experience in HORSE tournaments is that for three or four levels everyone has more chips than they know what to do with. Then suddenly everyone has four bets until the situation corrects itself. This tournament had a lot more play to it than most that I've been in, though.
I started out by picking off a bluff about 20 min in, which is a dangerous thing to do in early levels of HORSE. But I knew he was bluffing (although way ahead of me), and so I kept firing until he folded.
Unfortunately, about ten minutes later in Stud I bet all the way across with QQ that improved on fourth to QQTT and on 7th to QQJJ, while another player had started with 88, improved on 5th to 8866, and caught another 8 on seventh to win the pot. That put me back around starting stack, and was a pretty good example of how things went for me all day- I'd take one step forward, and one to two steps back.
An hour or so later I was in a Stud8 pot with a great starting hand. It didn't improve to the low I was looking for, but I did hit aces and 8s, which ended up being good for losing a lot of money as my opponent had hit a flush in his first 5 cards (and a six low on 6th street).
Not long after that I started with 345 in razz and pumped it up. 4th st was a 2, so I was four to the nuts and continued pumping up the pot, which was multiway. I was way ahead, and then... a pair, a pair, and a queen. The best nine won that one, I believe.
After 2 hours I had less than half the original starting stack. The remaining 6 hours of the tournament I would continue to have a very short stack.
I really only made chips in this tournament through real aggression, which is contrary to my experience in most HORSE tournaments. Most often, I've found that people are just willing to call you down, so you need to have a hand. There were 5 people at my table who often backed down (although when they called, they obv had it, which also happened a lot). There was one guy, directly to my left, who called everything. That made it difficult to pick a spot preflop to make a move, since there was no telling when he'd call you or whether he'd have anything. It was a huge rollercoaster for him.
At one point, I won a huge pot and finally got over the starting stack (~5K) for the first time in several hours. Predictably, I don't remember the hand. I do remember how I lost nearly all of it, however. It was Omaha 8 and the douche in seat 1 raised. The nerd in seat 4 called. I had AAj3c and I reraised. They called, everyone else folded, and we went to the flop. The flop was 367 rainbow, which was obviously not a great one for me. Seat one, who was a shortstack, bet and we called. 4th was some junk. Seat 1 bet his last chips and we called. The river was still junk and we checked. Seat one had a straight and the nut low.
First hand back from dinner I had ten antes, and I got them all in in Razz with A39. I was probably a 55/45 dog to the 457 who called me, and it didn't pan out.
I had a great time, and I thank everyone for sending me. Maybe next year!"
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Up next... Flatline regular NBBill also went towards the tail end of the WSOP, I'd never met him in person so it was nice to put a name to a face - here's a tournament report from the event we played in together in the Golden Nugget's Grand Series.
"I decided to drive to Vegas from NorCal in order to see my daughter, drop off some goodies at Pepper Street and to see how my truck performed on a road trip. After spending the night in Reseda, I left for Vegas around 9:30 AM. 8 hours later, I get to my hotel. There was a chemical spill on I-15 near Primm that shut down 2 of the northbound lanes. I spent 3-4 hours stopped in traffic. Not a good way to start the trip but Satellite radio kept me entertained.
Tournament Details: We were staying at Elara (attached to Planet Hollywood). Since my wife likes to sleep in, I’d start each day at the 10 AM $65 donkament and then meet her at the pool. Well, I played this 4 times and never cashed. The fields were between 35 and 45 players and I could never get anything going. Best I could do was 9th. There were no horrible beats and nothing out of the ordinary, but after the 4th time I was wondering how the hell Chris enjoys these things. Playing for 2 hours and getting nothing out of it is extremely frustrating to me.
On Thursday, I entered the $135 NL Grand tournament at Golden Nugget. It was a deep stacked (12000 chips) event . Levels were 40 minutes with a 10 min break after every 3 levels. In my typical grinder fashion, I played about 4 hands during the first 3 levels. When I finally got a hand I could raise, everyone folded and commented that they didn’t even realize I was at the table.
The next 3 levels were completely different. I felt like Nick in Flatline knocking out people right and left. Hitting sets against high pockets, having my pockets hold and my favorite hand: I had A5h in the HJ. 2 people limp, I limp (still grinder style), 3 others call and the flop is T76h. So I flop the nuts and UTG bets half the pot. I think for a few seconds and call. Button pushes, UTG pushes and of course I do too. Now I assumed at least one of these guys had a set and the other a straight, but UTG had 76 and the button had KT. In typical un-Flatline_NBB fashion, I dodge a 7 and a 6 and triple up. I think I knocked out 4 people at my table during these levels.
At this point (level 6 I think), I had about 45K in chips. From then on it was bleed time. I tried to grow my stack or steal and was repeatedly shot down. By the time dinner break, I had an average chip stack and was back in grinder style.
By the time we were down to 2 tables (13 got paid), it was desperation time, but I didn’t need to do anything. The times I called a push or pushed myself I had AA, AK or QQ. I’d take someone’s stack then promptly pass it to the guy who’s BB I was trying to steal. Here’s an example. Level 11 (1K/2K/300) I’m in HJ with 33 and raise to 8K. BB calls. Flop is AKQ rainbow and I bet half the pot. BB calls. Turns comes 7 of crap and we both check. River is a T and he pushes. If I call, I’m done and I can only beat 22. I fold and he flips 22. I only blind steal once more and it worked and that left me with enough chips to get paid, but little else.
I made it to the final table and we drew for seats and I was to the left of a mid-stack and had the 3rd shortest stack. Of course I got the BB first with blinds/antes of 4K/8K/1K. Small stack pushed 3 straight times and got paid off twice and stole once. By the time no one pushed before me, I was down to 88K and wound up re-raising all in a 24K bet with AK. He actually thought for a couple minutes before calling with his JJ. I couldn’t catch and wound up 10th for $292. A whopping $160profit for 10 hours of poker. What a grind. No wonder I like playing cash games…That’s the next report."
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That's it for now. Stay tuned for my report on my adventures at the WSOP!
