Monkeys in a tree! Lemurs in a field! Close but no cigar!

I won my table pretty decidedly in the first round of the 5k shootout yesterday, despite it actually being pretty tough with David Benyamine, Alex Kravchenko, and Quinn Do among the players there. I picked up a few hands, made a few hands, and was able to really not sweat my advancement too much at all. I eventually got heads up with Quinn with about a 3-1 chip lead. That was decimated quickly though as I was cold-decked a bit when Q picked up QQ vs. my JJ on a rag flop. Suddenly we were even, but I was lucky enough to be able to grind him down and take down the victory.

My second table, today, went completely the opposite however. It was a debacle for the door and I am pretty bummed about it. I was re-raised mercilessly and found my opening stack of 100k down to about 55k before I could even get comfortable. I caught a huge break though when my J10 flopped a straight against an opponent and I was able to double up, getting back into contention. The table was playing very fast though and there really wasn't much wiggle room if two players both picked up a hand, as we were playing 1k-2k with a 300 ante to start off. That means that a typical bring in is about 6k-7k, making a typical raise up to anywhere from 21k-32k, meaning that the next move would be all-in. It was a little sick for me as this took away my ability to actually play much. It was just pick up a hand and go with it somewhat. I got killed by that when I twice raised limps with KQ, only to see another opponent then re-pop me, basically forcing me to decide if I wanted to play for my tournament with that weak of a hand, which I did not. Poker News

My death hand occurred when I picked up Jacks in the blinds. Eugene Katchalov limped on the button and the small blind player made it 9k to go. It was a tough spot to be in, as the player hadn't shown me enough to make me think he was tight enough for a fold. I didn't want to just call there either though, so I eventually settled on a raise up to 34k. The raise would make me pot-committed, but my problem here was that my opponent just wasn't enough of an everyday player to understand that. I made a huge mistake by implying to him that he MAY be able to force me to fold, which he definitely couldn't. He moved in, and I called obviously. He then showed me his AQ, which really made me sick, as while he shoved there thinking I may fold, he would never have called my own all-in move before the flop with that...I wouldn't think at least.

I bricked out and that was that. See ya Seebs. It was nice to get off the schnide though and get a cash here, so hopefully that will start the ball rolling for the rest of the WSOP...I'd be lying though if I said I wasn't disappointed. The shootout event is a two-table event to the final table, so win your two tables and you make the final table. Close, baby, close...

peace,
J


Music for the last two days...

Donovan Frankenreiter
Dredg
Weezer
No Doubt