Every poker player has a story every year from the $10,000 buy-in main event at the
World Series of Poker. This is my story from 2007.
As you know from previous columns, I entered the main event having cashed in my two previous
WSOP events, almost making the final table in one of them. I don't really believe in momentum in poker, but I felt good about my play. I took my seat for the main event ready to put in a long, long day of poker (we were scheduled for 15 grueling hours of play).
There is a school of thought that says a player shouldn't gamble much early in tournaments. I don't subscribe to this school of thought. As a result, I lost a good chunk of my stack in the first two levels. The player to my immediate left had played back at me a couple of times, so the third time, I decided to show a little resistance. After my opponent raised my flop bet, I reraised with nothing but a gutshot-straight draw. My opponent thought for a long time and called. The turn brought a possible flush, and I felt compelled to represent it. I fired another bet into the pot and my opponent immediately moved all in. I shook my head and folded. My opponent claimed that he had a set, and that the turn "saved me money." In fact, I bet the turn only because it was a scare card. Regardless, a third of my $20,000 starting stack was gone.
After losing a few more chips, I was all the way down to $7,150 during the $100-$200, $25 ante level. A loose-aggressive player opened for $800, three people called, and I moved in for $7,150 from the small blind with two fives. The original raiser called. The first caller folded, but then the second caller moved in! The other caller folded, and then the initial raiser folded! So, I was getting 2-1 on my money, but almost mortally certain that my opponent had an overpair. Sure enough, he turned over jacks. I didn't need to see the flop - as I only had to see my opponent jump out of his seat as the dealer revealed it. I'd hit a 5 (presto!), and miraculously tripled up.
A while later, I was saved again, but in a different way. The same loose-aggressive player opened for $800, another player called, and I called from the big blind. The flop came down 9-7-5 rainbow. I checked, the raiser checked, and the caller bet $1,500. I made it $3,000 with 8-7 offsuit. The initial raiser folded, and the bettor called. The turn brought an ace. Before I could act, my opponent bet $2,000 into the $8,000 pot out of turn, leaving himself with $8,000 behind. I checked and let him bet the $2,000, and then I called. The river paired the 9. I moved my opponent all in. He cursed and muttered, and eventually mucked his hand. I don't think I would have won this pot if my opponent hadn't acted out of turn and bet small when the ace hit. I ended day one with $49,000 in chips.
When day two started (for me, three days later), I picked up some hands. I flopped two pair and reraised all in. The raiser folded (showing the two kings with which he'd limped in). I turned a set and raised a preflop bettor, who folded. I flopped a set as the preflop raiser and made a normal continuation bet. Both opponents folded. The only mildly interesting way that I picked up chips came when I opened for $2,800 (blinds of $500-$1,000 and a $100 ante) from the hijack position (two to the right of the button) with A-J offsuit. The button called and the small blind folded, but then the big blind moved in for an additional $19,000. He'd moved in twice already, so I got the sense that he was a real poker player, and not one of the ultratight players who are common in the
WSOP main event. I isolated all in behind him, and the button folded. The big blind revealed K-10 suited and I won the showdown. After the first level of day two, I had $109,000 in chips.
I got back from the break and played the following crazy hand: I opened from under the gun for $3,400 (blinds of $600-$1,200 and a $200 ante) with A-J suited. The player three to my left - the same player who earlier had mucked the kings faceup - called. Everyone else folded. The flop came 8-7-7. Check, check. The turn brought a 9. I bet $6,000, and my opponent called. The river brought a 4. There was $22,400 in the pot and my opponent had $20,800 left. I threw out four $5,000 chips.
"Ten thousand," the dealer said.
"How much?" I asked.
"Oh, sorry, twenty thousand," he said.
I don't know if my opponent thought he picked up something from this, but he thought for a while and then decided to move in, raising me $800 more. I reluctantly called, getting 80-1, and he showed me A-Q! It took a ton of guts for him to call in that spot, and I give him full marks for bravery.
I recovered the chips from this hand pretty quickly. I picked up A-K suited and moved in over a raise and a reraise. They both folded. I then stole some blinds and got my chips to their high-water mark of $115,000. Here's how to go from $115,000 to broke in eight easy hands (my position is in parentheses):
Hand No. 1 (two behind the under-the-gun player): I open for $3,600 with Q-J offsuit. This is looser than my usual opening standards, but I like my table and I've been having success stealing. The player to my immediate left makes it $7,200. Having played with this guy for three hours, I'm 99.8 percent sure that he has aces or kings. Everyone else folds. He has $50,000 behind. I call, trying to bust him. The flop comes queen high. I check. He bets $5,000 into the $17,000 pot. I'm 99 percent sure that I'll get all of his chips if a jack comes, and 90 percent sure that I'll get them if a queen comes. I call, trying to bust him. The turn is a blank. I check. He bets $10,000. I no longer have the implied odds, and fold. He shows A-A.
Hand No. 2 (one behind the under-the-gun player): I open for $3,400 with 8-6 suited (the same looseness caveat as above). Everyone folds to the big blind, who calls. The flop comes A-9-6. He checks, I bet $6,000, and he calls. The turn and river are checked down. He wins with K-6 offsuit. I think he was mad at me because I'd earlier defended with 9-6 offsuit against his button raise and won, and therefore he decided to defend his blind a little loosely.
Hand No. 3 (under the gun): I open for $3,400 with A-K suited. Everyone folds to a middle-position player, who makes it $10,000, leaving himself with $29,000 behind. Everyone else folds back to me, and I move him in. He calls pretty quickly, and seems proud that he has J-J. I lose the showdown.
Hand No. 4 (big blind): The under-the-gun player limps in. Everyone folds around to a middle-position player, who makes it $4,000. There's one cold-caller, I call $2,800 more with 10-9 offsuit, and the under-the-gun player calls. We take the flop fourhanded. It comes K-Q-9 rainbow and gets checked around. The turn is a 4. It gets checked to the button, who bets $3,500 into the $18,600 pot. I'm very confident that he's weak, and make it $14,000. The under-the-gun player, the same player who showed the A-A earlier, instantly moves all in. The rest of us fold in a matter of seconds. The under-the-gun player shows K-Q offsuit.
Hand No. 5 (small blind): I fold this hand!
Hand No. 6 (button): I open for $4,200 with 10-8 offsuit. The small blind folds and the big blind calls. The flop is Q-10-X. Check, check. The turn is a blank. He checks, I bet $7,500, and he folds. At least I went 1-for-8.
Hand No. 7 (cutoff): I fold this hand!
Hand No. 8 (hijack): I open for $3,900 with 10-10. The cutoff calls. This is the very straightforward guy, and I'm sure that he has a pair lower than mine. The button, who is certainly a good aggressive player and has been calling my raises a fair amount, and also got caught making a big bluff earlier, makes it $11,500. Everyone folds to me. I move in for $34,000 more. The cutoff folds, saying, "I know my hand is going to flop." The button thinks for a while, and calls with two queens. I fail to improve, and am eliminated.
I believe I brought my A-game to Vegas this summer, but I had only three small cashes in 14 events to show for it. Oh well - we'll get 'em next year!
Matt Matros is the author of The Making of a Poker Player, which is available online at www.CardPlayer.com.
