World Series of Poker Day Four

The one consolation of day four of the World Series of Poker main event was that my starting table was the ESPN featured table; otherwise, the day was a major struggle for me. No, I didn't have K-K vs. A-A (or vice versa) and lose a huge pot.
However, during one four- or five-hour stretch, I raised 20 pots and was reraised 19 times, and folded all 19 hands. Could I have moved all in and won a few of those hands? Yes, probably, but I also could have busted myself or hurt myself by making that move. In 20 raises, I didn't have a legitimate hand with which to move, and I felt a bit handcuffed. I had hands like A-J, K-J, K-Q, Q-10, and A-X suited, as well as bluffing hands. I didn't even have a pocket pair in any of those hands to see a flop!

Finally, I raised from late position with J-J, and the big blind reraised. I called, and the flop was K-Q-7. He bet, and I folded, throwing my pocket jacks faceup on the table. He said, "You would have gone broke had you moved in preflop." I believed him, but my frustration level grew! How could I fold all of these hands to a reraise, and then lose with pocket jacks - no matter how I played them? I had thoughts of, "How unlucky am I getting, and on such an important day?"

Then, this same player who reraised me from the big blind earlier called my raise preflop with Q-10, and everyone else folded. I had pocket eights. The flop was J 9 2, I bet out, he called, and the turn card was the 8. I checked, he bet a relatively small 35,000, and I somehow just called. On the river, the 4 hit, and now I bet out 60,000. My opponent raised it 95,000, and I quickly called. I believed I had to call on the end, as I had slow-played my hand on fourth street for two reasons. First, I wanted to make sure that all of the flush cards and straight cards missed on the end. Second, I wanted to appear weak to my opponent. I knew that no one would think that I would check-call with three eights on the turn, especially with all of the draws out there (two flush draws and some straight draws). Most people would make a big raise with three eights in this situation in order to protect their hand from losing to a flush or a straight. Thus, I knew that my opponent thought I was weak, so I was expecting him to try to bluff me on the river if he had nothing. Therefore, I bet out, and called his raise. Another reason for my call was that I could beat a lot of hands. I could beat a set of deuces and a set of fours, as well as all two-pair hands. Finally, I didn't think that anyone would call a raise preflop with Q-10!

All of that said, I did have some evidence that my opponent was very strong, thanks to Joe Navarro's book Read 'Em and Reap. There was something about the way he was moving and acting that seemed like he was very strong. Maybe I picked up on that tell on fourth street, and that's why I just called. Upon further review, as I looked back seconds later, I realized that my opponent had his hands in a steeple! (A "steeple" is when you hold your hands in front of you like you are praying, except that only your fingertips touch each other.) According to Navarro, the steeple is the one sure sign that your opponent is very strong, and I didn't pick up on it (sigh). Had I been paying closer attention, or slowed down for an extra 20 seconds before I made my bet, I could have saved at least 100,000! Had I noticed the steeple, I could have checked on the river, but I still would have called, because I could beat some hands with which he might steeple. The clues were there and I missed them! Navarro would be disappointed in me.

What saved me and kept me alive through several hard-luck hours and enabled me to make it to day five? Two things. First, I came to the table with a ton of chips to start the day. That relatively huge chip stack enabled me to stick it out through some tough situations and brutal dry spells. Second, the blinds were raised at the 2008 WSOP at the slowest pace in history! The extremely slow pace maximizes the skill factor by enabling the players to withstand runs that they couldn't otherwise withstand in any other poker tournament. Basically, the great players had a ton of time to play patiently, while weaker players played recklessly, or crumbled. I compliment the Players Council and Harrah's for the great structure in this year's main event. It's nice to have enough time to mow down all of the weaker players and the maniacs. In my next column, I'll discuss day five of the main event.