Today was my starting day of the WSOP ME. David Sklansky tried to take the seat to my right, but quickly figured out he was in fact at the wrong table, and moved one table away. D'oh - though in hindsight, I guess not having a huge nit on my right is ok.
I would later witness Phil Hellmuth's grand entrance (including rose petals being strewn in front of him, and a parade of 100+ women in togas). I got to meet Dennis Phillips, and brushed shoulders with Scotty Nyugen and Andy Black. Dan Harrington and Mike Matusow were also somewhere around Day 1c.
I sat down and my table was primarily young guys, with sunglasses/ipods, etc.
There was one middle aged guy two seats to my left whom said he qualified through live play, and played like it. While a couple of the online pros were very likely 6-max players, they played a fairly TAG game.
I picked up a decent number of hands, but got very little action. My first decent pot I called a EP raise with JJ, called the flop on a dry undercard board, and the turn K. Villain had 88, dunno why he decided to turn it into a bluff on the turn. He would be the first to busto from my table.
I lost two sizable pots to vilains holding AQ. In one case villain called down with AQ high two streets before spiking a Q on the river vs my 99 on an undercard board... then he checks back the river obv.
Midway through the second level, I ended up turning a straight vs the Finnish kid directly on my left. Unfortunately the flush got there on the river which definitely cost me some value, but it ended up being a decent sized pot that I took down.
With a minute left in the third level, my stack was up to ~36k (starting stack of 30k), with blinds of 150/300. I had actually worked the stack up to ~37k earlier, before the two hands vs AQ had me down below the starting chips. After the straight hand vs the Fin and a few squeezes etc. I was back up near my high point.
So, last hand of the third level. Live player UTG limps. MP TAGgy guy raises to 4bb. I 3bet with KK to 14bb. Live player folds, TAGgy guy calls. Flop is 225. He checks, I bet 20bb. He thinks about it a lot and shoves. I call. He flips over AA. I run so good. Wish I could have gotten KK vs AA when the structure had my stack at 300bb so I could have folded somewhere.
So, I have like 4k chips left. 4th level, blinds 150/300 with a 25 ante. I pick up AQ in the CO, shove it in. Get called by AKs in the BB obv. I fail to spike, gg.
Loldonkaments.
Hopefully Cirque do Soleil tomorrow is enjoyable.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Vegas Update 3: Freerolls and Sinking Ships (Literally)
So it seems due to lower than usual WSOP ME turnout, they are only playing 4 blind levels on the Day 1s instead of the typical 5. This means I'll likely be in action tomorrow from about noon to 10:30 PM, rather than to midnight as would traditionally be the case. It also means people will be getting eliminated slower, and we'll likely have to wait until Day 4 to reach the money bubble.
On Saturday I played my Supernova 6 max live freeroll, which given the blind structure was essentially a sit and go tournament. We started with 50bbs. I ended up finishing 4th after A9 < A2 AIPF (2 on the river obv) and AT < KQ AIPF. What was neat about the experience (aside from the free $100 USD for sitting down and playing) was that the young guy who was sitting to my left asked early on if anyone at the table was 2p2. I said I was. He asked my screen name. I said Ronfar. Turned out he was booger369, whom I was very familiar with and had played quite a few hands with online. He's a megatabling 100nl and 200nl reg. It was fun talking with him, and he's also playing the ME tomorrow.
The girlfriend and I spent the better part of the rest of the day exploring the strip. We looked around many of the forum shops at Caesar's Palace, which was quite an experience. A pretty awesome toy store and a breathtaking art gallery of a big name photographer were the highlights. I briefly considered dropping a few dimes at the gallery, but thought better of it. We then took in the Sirens vs Pirates battle at Treasure Island, while chatting up an older couple from Vancouver Island. The ice breaker was when the gentleman mentioned Tim Horton's, I gave him a good stare and then remarked that he must be Canadian. The performance itself was pretty good, very close to what I was expecting. We also managed to pick up our Mystere Cirque du Soleil tickets while at TI, we will be seeing the show on Monday.
Tomorrow is the big day. I guess my goal is just to survive Day 1, but given the structure that might not be terribly hard. It's a start though. Run good one time!
On Saturday I played my Supernova 6 max live freeroll, which given the blind structure was essentially a sit and go tournament. We started with 50bbs. I ended up finishing 4th after A9 < A2 AIPF (2 on the river obv) and AT < KQ AIPF. What was neat about the experience (aside from the free $100 USD for sitting down and playing) was that the young guy who was sitting to my left asked early on if anyone at the table was 2p2. I said I was. He asked my screen name. I said Ronfar. Turned out he was booger369, whom I was very familiar with and had played quite a few hands with online. He's a megatabling 100nl and 200nl reg. It was fun talking with him, and he's also playing the ME tomorrow.
The girlfriend and I spent the better part of the rest of the day exploring the strip. We looked around many of the forum shops at Caesar's Palace, which was quite an experience. A pretty awesome toy store and a breathtaking art gallery of a big name photographer were the highlights. I briefly considered dropping a few dimes at the gallery, but thought better of it. We then took in the Sirens vs Pirates battle at Treasure Island, while chatting up an older couple from Vancouver Island. The ice breaker was when the gentleman mentioned Tim Horton's, I gave him a good stare and then remarked that he must be Canadian. The performance itself was pretty good, very close to what I was expecting. We also managed to pick up our Mystere Cirque du Soleil tickets while at TI, we will be seeing the show on Monday.
Tomorrow is the big day. I guess my goal is just to survive Day 1, but given the structure that might not be terribly hard. It's a start though. Run good one time!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Vegas Update 2: That's A Lot Of Free Clothing
Today I registered for the WSOP ME. It was an interesting trial, which played out as below:
(1) Took the shuttle bus from the Palms to the Rio.
(2) Stood in line at a WSOP desk, explained situation, got sent to WSOP cage.
(3) Stood in line at WSOP cage, they confirmed the money I wired was there and waiting, but couldn't register me because I didn't have a player's card, which I needed to get from the desk I went to in (2).
(4) Returned to WSOP desk in (2). No line this time, yay. Unfortunately, they are lame and won't give me a player's card without a passport, which I left in my room. Canadian driver's license no good.
(5) Took the shuttle bus from the Rio to the Palms.
(6) Hungry, so we got a pizza and some chicken.
(7) Retrieved passport from the room at Palms place.
(8) Took shuttle bus back to the Rio.
(9) Went to WSOP Desk and obtained a player's card.
(10) Went to WSOP Cage and registered.
(11) Took shuttle bus back to the Palms.
(12) Went to Pokerstars office and with proof of registration, received a bag full of lots of free gear (additional stuff was also given free to my girlfriend). Met Supernova host and got booked for 2 tickets to Mystere on Monday. Signed up for special freeroll for tomorrow (Saturday) at 2:00.
After that ordeal, we took a cab and picked up some groceries for the week. Finally, we spent an enjoyable two and a half hours watching the new Transformers movie. Who knew the Palms had a full blown megaplex theatre? More seats there than in the entire Chinook theatre back home.
(1) Took the shuttle bus from the Palms to the Rio.
(2) Stood in line at a WSOP desk, explained situation, got sent to WSOP cage.
(3) Stood in line at WSOP cage, they confirmed the money I wired was there and waiting, but couldn't register me because I didn't have a player's card, which I needed to get from the desk I went to in (2).
(4) Returned to WSOP desk in (2). No line this time, yay. Unfortunately, they are lame and won't give me a player's card without a passport, which I left in my room. Canadian driver's license no good.
(5) Took the shuttle bus from the Rio to the Palms.
(6) Hungry, so we got a pizza and some chicken.
(7) Retrieved passport from the room at Palms place.
(8) Took shuttle bus back to the Rio.
(9) Went to WSOP Desk and obtained a player's card.
(10) Went to WSOP Cage and registered.
(11) Took shuttle bus back to the Palms.
(12) Went to Pokerstars office and with proof of registration, received a bag full of lots of free gear (additional stuff was also given free to my girlfriend). Met Supernova host and got booked for 2 tickets to Mystere on Monday. Signed up for special freeroll for tomorrow (Saturday) at 2:00.
After that ordeal, we took a cab and picked up some groceries for the week. Finally, we spent an enjoyable two and a half hours watching the new Transformers movie. Who knew the Palms had a full blown megaplex theatre? More seats there than in the entire Chinook theatre back home.
Vegas Update 1: Arrival
We got into Vegas a few hours ago. The suite at Palms Place is very nice, the upgrade from the Palms hotel to a suite at Palms Place due to my Supernova status appears to be a big difference maker. You can check out our room here:
http://www.palmsplace.com/accommodations/studio.php.
The real thing looks exactly like the pictures online. We are on the top floor of non-penthouse suites, the 36th.
Tomorrow I'll be registering at the Rio, and hopefully we'll pick up some groceries and such. It's nice having a kitchen available.
We enjoyed a late dinner at Simon, one of two venues located in Palm's Place. There are many more restaurants at the generic Palms, but Simon had a sushi bar that was very, very high quality. Pricing was ok.
On the flight over I finished Crimson Gem Saga for the PSP. I expected a lot more than it delivered. A very pretty game with some decent gameplay elements, but not much else. I started up Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor for the DS. It looks like it's going to be very good, and contain much of the appeal of the Persona titles which also fall under the Shin Megami Tensei series.
http://www.palmsplace.com/accommodations/studio.php.
The real thing looks exactly like the pictures online. We are on the top floor of non-penthouse suites, the 36th.
Tomorrow I'll be registering at the Rio, and hopefully we'll pick up some groceries and such. It's nice having a kitchen available.
We enjoyed a late dinner at Simon, one of two venues located in Palm's Place. There are many more restaurants at the generic Palms, but Simon had a sushi bar that was very, very high quality. Pricing was ok.
On the flight over I finished Crimson Gem Saga for the PSP. I expected a lot more than it delivered. A very pretty game with some decent gameplay elements, but not much else. I started up Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor for the DS. It looks like it's going to be very good, and contain much of the appeal of the Persona titles which also fall under the Shin Megami Tensei series.
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