Poker Strategy: Jeff Shulman -WPT Championship

I love reading blogs and figured it was time to give it a shot and write one from my eyes as a player. I play in championship events when I can, and I play in my fair share of no-limit hold'em events at Bellagio and the World Series of Poker. I have always prided myself on having a good understanding of no-limit hold'em tournaments, and have never had a problem sharing my thoughts. I have had some good results, but certainly not as many as I wish I had, but who has? Also, I make mistakes when I play, go on tilt at times (not often), and don't always focus and play my A-game. Like everyone else, I want to win tournaments and hope that writing this will make me play my best more often.

Let me start by saying that the World Poker Championship is my favorite tournament of the year because there are $50,000 in starting chips and a slow structure. Thus, in my opinion, it is the event that most rewards skill on the tour. I decided to play on day 1B because we had to play until only 9 p.m. (thank you, Bellagio), so I didn't think the day off was necessary for me. My starting table wasn't the hardest, nor the easiest. The known players at my table were Lee Markholt, John Phan, Bob Sleezak, and another guy whose name I couldn't remember but whose play I was familiar with. He is solid, but likes to make moves at pots. I didn't know the other players, but that doesn't mean anything these days because there are so many skilled Internet players.

Bob was directly to my right, and John, the solid player who makes moves, and Lee were all across the table from me.

$50-$100 blinds

Play started off fairly tight at my table and I didn't play a hand for the first 10 minutes. A player in middle position raised to $300, I called behind him with the A3, and John Phan called from the small blind. I am looking for a flush, not an ace. The flop was K76. The initial raiser checked, I checked, John bet $525, the initial raiser raised to $1,500, and I folded. John took a while and called. John takes his time when he plays hands, and is an extremely aggressive and tricky player. The turn card was the 4. John fired out $2,700 and was called. The river was the 5 and John bet out $4,000 and was called. John turned over 5-4 offsuit for two pair and his opponent mucked. The reason that this is important is that it set the tone of the table, and by John winning this pot, he was able to take control of the table, which is not good for me. I prefer to have control, but I would have to earn it with John. Regarding his river bet, it was a great value bet considering that there were four cards to a straight on the board.

About a half-hour later, there was a multiway limped pot and I played the J9 from middle position. I don't mind playing these hands when I have a lot of chips, but I need to play slower than usual if the flush comes, because I don't have the ace. The flop was Q74. John bet out $500 and everyone folded except me, and I called. Sometimes I raise here, but not against someone who is capable of reraising, like John. The turn was the A. John bet $1,200 and I called. It is almost impossible to put John on a hand, but a flush will solve that problem. The river was the A. John bet $3,000 and I folded. John flipped over the A4. I was lucky that I missed here, and this is the reason that I don't like to play these hands. I would certainly raise John if I hit, and would have lost more when he reraised. You have to pay off the John Phans of the world and I am glad that I wasn't forced to do so here.

$100-$200 blinds

I was down to $45,000 in chips, but was feeling good at this point because there was so much play. The key is to look at your chips versus the blinds, not the average, and I was in good shape. Bob raised from under the gun to $625, I called from second position with pocket nines, and a player who was clearly on tilt and down to $20,000 raised to $2,400. Bob and I both called. I love playing pairs in these slow structures, and I am always willing to play them cheaply to try to flop a set. The flop was 1082. Bob and I checked, and the tilter bet $6,000, Bob check-raised to $20,000, I folded, and the tilter folded. Bob must have flopped a set or had a hand like J-J or Q-Q. Meanwhile, I was down to $42,500.

A few minutes went by and I open-raised from late position to $600 with the KQ. The player to my left reraised to $1,500. I called. Why such a small reraise? Maybe he has a huge pair and I can outflop him. The flop was J1010. I bet $2,000 and he called. Looks like a big pair playing it cautiously. The turn was the 9. I bet $3,000 and he called. I wanted to keep the pot fairly small, and that is why my bet was small. The river was the A. I bet $6,000 and he raised to $20,000. Great, he may have pocket aces or flopped a full house. Either one makes sense. Is he making a play? It doesn't seem like it, and I can't pick up a tell confirming this. I folded, and was down to $29,000.

Two hands later, the under-the-gun player (the guy I knew, but didn't know his name) raised to $600, there were three calls before me, and I called with K Q from middle position. The flop was K63. The initial raiser bet $1,200, everyone folded, and I made it $3,700. He reraised $4,000 more and I called. I think this is a bad call, because I may be on slight tilt, but I do have position and this player seemed to be making a lot of plays. The turn was the 9. We both checked. The river was the 10. We both checked again. He instantly mucked, and I was now up to about $40,000 again. As I look back, I should have known by the river that I had the best hand. I didn't bet because I had a hand that could win in a showdown.

I raised a few more times during this level, and was either reraised preflop or raised when I made a continuation bet on the flop. I was down to $32,500 and told myself to slow down a bit, because my table image wasn't where I needed it to be.

$100-$200 with a $25 ante

I raised to $600 from early position with J-J, a player to my left called, and Lee Markholt raised to $2,300 from the small blind. We both called. The flop was Q-3-2 rainbow. We all checked. I didn't bet here because I thought Lee was setting up a check-raise, by his actions. I don't like the fact that I thought like that. It was extremely weak for me to check. The turn was a 7. Lee checked again, and I bet $5,000. They both folded. Lee said he had A-K. I bet the turn, knowing I was good, and now I was bothered that I had let Lee have a free card.

The rest of the round was uneventful, and I finished with $42,000.

$200-$400 with a $50 ante

I raised with A K from late position to $1,200, the player to my left reraised (the guy who made me fold the straight earlier) to $4,000, and I called. Typically, I would reraise here, but there is too much play in this event to risk it. The flop was Q 82. We both checked. The turn was the 2. We both checked again. He probably had a small pair or, more likely, a big ace. The river was the 3. I checked and he bet $3,000. Why such a small bet? Was he looking for a call? I would hate to call and have him turn over pocket fours. He looked nervous. I called, and he turned over K J and I took down the pot. I now had $53,000 and finally had more than the starting amount of chips. I could beat only a bluff and would have folded to a large bet. His small bet on this hand made me think that his large raise on the previous hand showed strength. However, it is hard to prove, and all we can learn about opponents is what we see and try to make educated decisions based on that. Creativity is key when you play multiple hands against the same opponent.

I raised from early position with pocket eights to $1,200. A player two seats to my left reraised to $3,000. I called. The flop was 4-2-2. Time for a check-raise. I checked, and he checked. Damn! The turn was a 9. I bet $5,000 and he raised me to $15,000. I folded. Maybe I got lucky by him checking the flop behind me. If he had pocket aces, a check is perfect on the flop. I folded because I should be beat, and I didn't know where I was at. If he had A-K or something along those lines, he made a good bluff.

I lost a few chips preflop without seeing flops, and was down to $39,200 going into the last round of the night. Play usually changes in the final round of the day. The short stacks seem to gamble more, the medium stacks usually try to remain at status quo, and the big stacks try to increase their position.

$300-$600 with a $75 ante

The guy I caught bluffing early (when I had K-Q) raised to $1,800, and I called from the big blind with J10. The flop was AJ5. I checked, he bet $3,000, and I called. I took one off here, and I am not sure that I needed to, except that I already had caught him bluffing once and he was likely to make a continuation bet once the ace came regardless of his hand. The turn was the Q. I checked and he bet $6,000. Now I had a pair, a flush draw, and a straight draw. I hated calling, but I had to. Or, I could make a play and hope that he didn't have a hand with which he could call. I called. The river was the 2. I checked, after thinking, and he checked. Again, I could have bet here. I flipped over my hand and it was good. Wow! This hand brought me back up, but again I lost a few small pots and the day ended.

I had $39,300 at the end of the day, and was relatively happy because the first day of this event is about survival, and I had survived. Sure, I wish I had more, but I didn't.

Tomorrow I will write about day two.

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