I had dreamt of playing in the WSOP for over 10 years but work commitments and other issues had always prevented me from making it. But with a reduced work schedule and a boosted bankroll thanks to my win on PokerStars (read my blog about it) I gleefully decided 2006 would be the year. Unable to take sufficient time off to play the main event, I booked off 10 days during the earlier stages of the series and I timed the trip specifically around the $5,000 NLHE event on 4 July.
I arrived two days before, bought straight into the event, and relaxed, playing just a couple of hours a day while relaxing and adjusting to local time in the luxurious surroundings of the Wynn resort. I was joined in Vegas by my poker caddy, Siccy, my parents, my aunt Lissete from Paris and good friends Ben and Liz who journeyed over from New York. But despite the relaxing environment and the great company, when the day of the event arrived I was nervous as hell.
Having lost my appetite, I forcibly breakfasted on some fruit at the Wynn with the crew. Just before 11:30 I left them to finish their food while I went to prepare my things and journey over to the Rio. I arrived bang on the dot of 12 noon (when the event was due to start) and hurried over to my designated seat. As I received my stack and settled into seat two, I looked up to find 2004 World Champion Greg Raymer in seat eight and 1999 runner up (and WPT champion) Alan Goehring in the 10 seat. Rather than increasing my nerves, the presence of these legends of the game actually served to relax me. After all, this was what I had been waiting for all these years – a chance to sit down with the best in the world. As soon as the cards were in the air and the first hand was dealt the nerves fully dissipated and I settled into my rhythm.
Taking on Raymer
We soon discovered that the starting field was some 622 players and the first prize would be $820,000. But first, I had a World Champion to see off. The action started quick and Raymer got it all in as a massive underdog after a flop of J-10-5 with A-A against a guy holding 10-10 only to turn an Ace. A few hands later I raised up front with A-K, got called in one spot and then re-raised by Raymer. I correctly laid down to what turned out to be Q-Q for the first caller and A-A for Raymer. I managed to pick up a few small pots and about an hour in I was sitting with 6,000 chips (we started with 5,000) and our table was broken.
Hoping the move would bring me a slightly easier table, I would have no such luck. As I stacked my chips in seat five, Londoner and WPT winner Roland de Wolfe greeted me from seat nine. To his immediate left was top tournament pro Isabelle Mercier and two to my right was seven-times WSOP bracelet winner Eric Seidel. The table was ‘on the rail’ and due to the prevalence of big names surrounding me there was a big crowd of spectators watching us play. They were shortly joined by my cheering brigade who had just arrived fresh from seeing Italy beat Germany in the soccer World Cup semi-final and were happy to have a clear view of my progress.
And progress I did…I had built my stack up to over 9,000 when I was dealt 10-10 in middle position. With blinds at 100-200 I made it 700 to go. The opponent to my left sitting with 6,500 called and we saw a flop of A-A-10. I checked and he checked right behind me. The turn was a 7 and I bet out a weak-looking 500 which he quickly called. The manner of his call seemed to indicate that he was calling because he thought I was weak not because he had an Ace, so when the river came down another blank I checked, hoping to induce a bet. Sure enough he fired out 1,000, I check-raised him to 3,000 and he quickly passed. I passed my hand without showing and he looked decidedly annoyed.
I thought my 8s were good
Two hands later I made it 800 to go with 8-8 and the same opponent quickly pushed all-in for 4,100 total. I was pretty sure that he this was an ‘anger bet’ and an attempt at a re-steal on the assumption I had weak cards (as I was regularly raising pre-flop). I was pretty sure that my 8s were good and I still had a healthy stack of chips back even if my read was wrong so I wasted little time in calling. Sure enough he flipped over K-4. Isabelle Mercier immediately revealed that she had folded a King meaning that my opponent had only two outs. So you can imagine my annoyance when the flop bought one of the remaining two Kings in the deck…starkly contrasted by the feeling of joy when the river bought a beautiful eight. “There is justice after all,” I declared as I raked in a big pot which increased my stack up to over 16,000.
For the next couple of hours I played my best poker, feeling totally at ease in this table of stars as I built my stack. I busted a short-stacked Roland (when my A-8 got lucky against his 10-10) and two other players. I saw off Seidel and three-time WSOP bracelet winner Alan Cunningham (who briefly joined our table with a short stack). Seidel was replaced by recent bracelet winner Mark Vos. Shortly after Mark’s arrival, with blinds at 200-400, I had 21,000 chips and I made it 1,000 to go in first position with As-Ks. Sitting two to my left, Matt Hawrilenko (twice WSOP final tablist) pushed all-in for 6,000 total. He had been on the table throughout and had seen me raise with a variety of holdings.
Twice already he had re-raised me and gotten me to pass. Given this history, the big over-raise did not necessarily signal a monster hand and instinctively I put him on A-Q or A-J. I had mentally committed to calling when Mark Vos started to dwell up in the Big Blind. He also had about 6,000 chips in total and I noticed that he was focussing on me, trying to get a read on my hand. About 30 seconds later he called all-in. I thought he would have acted more decisively and been less concerned about my hand if he had held K-K or A-A and I think the risk was too great to push with A-K so I thought it most likely that he held Q-Q or J-J. I had a quick think and realised that if both my reads were correct I would be calling 5,000 with a 35-40% chance of winning an 18,000 chip pot. Furthermore, given the size of my stack I could certainly ‘afford’ to call and take my chances at knocking out two dangerous opponents. So I called and was happy to see Matt flip over A-Q and Mark flip over Q-Q (happy with my read and happy that I was in good shape with a 40% chance to win the pot). I was even more delighted when the flop delivered the crucial Ace catapulting me up to 32,000 chips.
Stacks of chips
I had been waiting months to play in this specific event and throughout that time I had dreamt about locking horns with the best in the world and coming out top, sitting behind a stack of chips so big I could barely see over them. Now it was coming true. Also, the atmosphere at the Rio was beyond my dreams. Sitting on a table by the rail being watched on by hundreds of ‘poker fans’ made me feel like some kind of pro sportsman. I was totally relaxed enjoying the chance to joke and banter with Isabelle Mercier and other players I had long admired. As I soaked all of this in, the next two hours were an incredible high.
I continued to play aggressively looking for spots to build my stack and feeling totally at ease at the table. Approaching the dinner break I lost a small pot but I still had over 33,000 chips. The field had been reduced down to 190 making the average stack just over 16,000. As 7pm drew close the tournament director called last hand before dinner. In second position I looked down at 7c-5c. With blinds 300-600 (and a running 75 ante), I decided to make it 1,600 to go. With the rest of the table already standing getting ready for a well-earned break it seemed a good time to steal. Everyone passed round to the button who announced raise and but didn’t say the amount. He tossed in a bunch of chips but seemingly made a mistake as they only added up to 2,500. The dealer enforced a minimum raise. The raiser had been at the table for about an hour and had shown himself to be an extremely aggressive player. He was not someone I wanted to tangle with, especially as the signs were that he held a strong hand (maybe even A-A) but I felt compelled to call because of the size of the raise.
The flop came down Kc-4c-3s giving me a flush draw and a gutshot straight draw. I checked with the initial intention to check-raise. He led out for 3,100 and here is where it all went wrong. For the first time in the tournament I felt totally undecided on what move to make. He had another 13,000 back but I felt if I re-raised all-in he was likely to have a hand to call me with and he was not the type of player to put a big hand down. On the other hand I didn’t think I could pass with such strong drawing potential and somehow I convinced myself that a call was the best option of the three (despite in reality being the worst). Worse still throughout this thought process, I lost my composure, looking anguished and giving off all kinds of tells that I had a flush draw.
Passively checking
The turn was the 5h and I passively checked again. My opponent led out for 9,000 (leaving himself just 3,500 more). It was clear that he read me for a flush draw and was protecting his hand which I was now pretty sure was either A-K or A-A. The problem was that I didn’t just have a flush draw, I also had a straight draw and a pair meaning that I had 17 outs (almost a 40% chance of rivering the winning card). Having mulled it over I knew I would be calling 9,000 to win over 22,000 meaning I was getting very healthy pot odds. Much as I didn’t like risking such a large percentage of my hard-earned stack I decided to call. The river blanked, I checked and my opponent pushed in his last 3,500. Again holding just a pair of 5s, with it being such a large pot I felt obliged to call just in case my opponent was holding something like Ac-Qc. He flipped over 9-9 and I got up for the dinner break feeling physically sick.
While my entourage tried to calm me down over dinner, I was inconsolable. I have never been one to dwell on bad beats as I understand that they are a part of the game. By contrast I find it very hard to get over mistakes because they are in my control. I still had around 15,000 chips, not far off the average and I should have been focusing on how to recover the lost ground but all I could think about was how badly I played the hand. I misplayed it on every street! It was the biggest tournament of my life and I had played perfect poker to build up a big stack until the very hand before dinner when I had succeeded in ‘donking off’ over 50% of my stack with 7-5!
The wrong mindset
I came back from dinner with the wrong mindset. Card dead and at an aggressive table (made all the more active by the arrival 1998 World Champion Scotty Nguyen), I started getting blinded down. With blinds at 400-800 and a running 100 ante, it was costing 2,200 a round. Down to just under 12,000, I found Kc-9c in the cut-off and decided to bring it in for 2,500. The opponent to my immediate left dwelled up for a while and seemed on the brink of passing when instead he decided to call. Instinctively I put him on a weak Ace and hoped that no further Aces would come out of the flop. The flop was Ac-10d-4c. I was unhappy to see the ace but I had still flopped the nut flush draw. Despite my fear he held an ace, the memories of the 7-5 hand and how my weakness had cost me, led me to announce “All-in” as I pushed my remaining 9,000 chips into the 7,000 chip pot. My opponent instantly called and flipped up A-4 (two pair). No club came and I was out.
I gathered my things and wished Isabelle good luck. I couldn’t quite believe it was over. In 30 minutes either side of the dinner break I had gone from Hero to Zero, from a top 10 chip position to elimination. I had only been all-in once in the entire seven hours of play and it had cost me my tournament life. From the high of bossing a world class table under the gaze of hundreds of rail-birds I was now back on the outside, just another onlooker.
The emotional swing was hard to take and for about 90 minutes I couldn’t talk. Siccy, Ben and Liz then did the honourable thing and got me so drunk that I almost forgot about the pain. The long and lengthy road to recovery had begun. After a few days the pain started to subside and I realised that some valuable experience had been gained. But I continued to anguish over the mistakes made on a regular basis.
I have since realised that full recovery will only be achieved when I ‘put it right’ by which I mean building up a big stack at a major event and instead of blowing it, going on to convert it into a big result.
Until next time…
David aka The Judge
20 July 2006
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