Level 1: Blinds 50/100

My starting table was only so-so in terms of difficulty, but I had a great seat with the weakest player on my immediate right and my two toughest opponents to his right. The player two to my right wasn’t anyone I recognized, but from the first few hands I saw him play and his general demeanor, he had the potential to be quite good. I resolved to keep an eye on him in particular.

My respect for him diminished when he got involved in a little tiff with another young guy I was watching closely. There had been an early position raise and three calls, at which point the action was on the guy two to my right. Henceforth I’ll refer to him as Grumpy, because I never got his real name and because he was one of the most miserably tempered people I’ve ever had the displeasure of playing with. Grumpy re-raised and it folded back to the other young guy on the button, whom I’ll call Beardy because he had a beard. After counting out enough chips for a raise, Beardy folded. Grumpy snarled, “As if you’d ever raise there.”

“Do you know me?” Beardy shot back. “Because if you don’t know me, then you can’t say what I’m capable of.”

“I know what you’re capable of.”

“That’s right, man. This is my first tournament. I don’t know how to four-bet light. I don’t know how to recognize a squeeze play. I don’t know how to triple barrel. I just play every hand the same every time.
You don’t know me, so don’t tell me what I can do.”

“I think you desperately want me to believe you’re somebody worth knowing.”

“Well that’s all you can do is think, because you don’t know me.”

And just like that my respect for both players went out the window. Good players don’t go around bragging about all the fancy moves they know, and they have a lot more emotional control than Grumpy demonstrated. Just based on this one interaction, a pot that he ended up winning, Grumpy fostered an intense dislike for Beardy that bordered on the inappropriate. We’ll see more examples throughout the day.

The only significant pot that I played in this level involved calling a raise with 77 in the SB. Five of us saw a T 7 4 flop, and with so many in the pot I didn’t want to risk such a scary flop checking through, since about half the deck could complete a draw of some sort. I bet 850 into the pot of 1250, and got just one caller.

A 4d on the turn was one of the best possible cards for me. Not only did it give me a near-lock hand, but it also put another draw out there. No longer interested in pricing out draws, I bet just 1,650. My opponent called.

The river was the 9s, so all of the draws missed. I think this is close between betting again for value or going for a check-raise and hopefully inducing a busted draw to bluff. Our table wasn’t scheduled to break, so I decided in the first level to choose in favor of the line that would make me seem tricky and tough to play against. I checked, he checked behind, and I got a few raised eyebrows when I showed my full house.

Level 2:  Blinds 100/200

My hours of observation during Level 1 began paying off as I found opportunities to make plays at the guy on my right. I could tell just from the way he put chips into the pot whether or not he was strong when he raised pre-flop. When he was weak, he would toss his chips out there with a sort of “Why not?” demeanor.

The first time I acted on this, he opened to 525, I reraised to 1,350 with 5 3. He quickly called, and we got a K 2 2 flop, perfect for my purposes. He checked, I bet 1,600, and to my surprise he called.

The turn was an Ace, which might seem like a good bluffing card but actually I suspected he would often have peeled the flop with some random Ax hand, so I checked it back.

When he checked again on a King river, though, I believed it would be worth taking another small stab at it. I bet 2,800, a little less than half the pot and he folded.

The next orbit he opened with the same shrugging raise, and I made the same reraise to 1,350, this time holding T 4. Beardy cold-called out of his big blind and the weak player called as well.

Of course that wasn’t the result I was hoping for, but the flop of A 5 2 brought me a lot of hope as both a good one to represent a big hand and one on which I had a lot of equity. They both ended up check-folding to a bet of 2,200, which was fine by me.

Having three-bet with two very weak hands and won both without showdown, I was eager to three-bet with a legitimate hand. The next time I was dealt AK, though, the opportunity just wasn’t there.

Grumpy raised UTG to 400, my friend on my right reraised to 1,200, and I found myself sitting UTG+2 holding A K. This time my guy wasn’t giving off his weak vibes, and with so much action in early position, AKo didn’t seem strong enough to four-bet. I called, the action folded back to Grumpy, and he called as well.

Even on the A K 8 flop, I wasn’t quite fist-pumping with my top two pair. Grumpy checked, the three-better bet 1,800, and I just called. I put him on a very narrow three-betting range pre-flop. With Aces of Kings he had me beat, with Queens or Jacks he wasn’t going to play a big pot, with AK he’d chop the pot… my only hope was that I could string him along with AQ or AJ, if he’d three-bet those.

The turn was the 4. He bet 4,000, and I called.

He checked a 5 river and here’s where I may have made a mistake. It seemed to me so obvious that AQ would be beat here that I didn’t believe I could extract a big bet. I bet just 6,500, but he called so quickly that it seemed I could have gotten twice that out of him. Later in the day I got to talking with the player on my left who told me he also believed I left a lot of money on the table there. Never underestimate a random main event player’s inability to fold top pair.

The level ended with another development in the Beardy/Grumpy feud. A hand arose where Beardy went to showdown against the weak player on my right. The board read AJ8TJ, and Beardy showed AT.

The weak player was about to throw his hand away without showing when Grumpy interrupted. “You don’t have an Ace?” he asked, presumably thinking the player may have missed the fact any Ace would be worth half the pot since the Ten in Beardy’s hand didn’t play.

The guy shook his head and mucked anyway, but Beardy lost it. “Whoa, man. Whoa. That was dirty. That was one of the most low-down things I’ve ever seen at the poker table. I feel dirty just sitting across from you.” He grabbed the gold cross hanging around his neck and used it to make the sign of the cross on himself. “Keep your bad juju away from me,” he instructed Grumpy.

Level 3: Blinds 150/300

An active player in late position raised to 700, the button called, my guy called in the SB, and I came along with 9 3 in my BB getting 6:1. We all checked around a K K Q flop.

The SB bet 900 on the J turn, an amount that told me he almost certainly did not have a full house or even a better flush. I raised to 2,700, the others folded, and he looked unhappy but called. He also checked and called 6,600 on a blank river, flashing a Queen angrily as I raked the pot.

I generally had cards when I played pots with others at the table, but knowing that they’d probably seen me bullying the guy on my right, I forewent pot control and bet even my medium-strength hands aggressively. This resulted in an even more aggressive image, as those pots tended to end without showdown.

For example, I raised KK UTG+1 and got called by Grumpy in the BB. I bet a J74 flop and a 6 turn, planning to fire most rivers as well, but he gave it up right there. I also got two bets in against Beardy with KQ on a Q85KJ board before he folded suspiciously to a big river bet.

My biggest pot to date began with a Hawaiian player limping into the pot from early position. He’d been kind enough to introduce himself earlier in the day and tell me that he enjoyed my writing, so that told me a little something about him. Four others limped in as well, and I found A K in my BB. I raised to 1,800, the Hawaiian quickly called, and Beardy called as well.

I elected to check an A J 9 flop, which I think warrants some discussion. Although I’ve obviously flopped very well, it’s not a hand I’m eager to play a big pot with yet. Top pair top kicker isn’t a hand I’m looking to get all-in with nor one that I believe I can generally bet three times for value on this board.

That doesn’t mean that I would fold it in a large pot – the redraw to the nut flush adds a lot of value – but it does mean that I’d rather not build a pot that large in the first place. If I make the nuts, then I’ll worry about building the pot, but until then I’m looking to play a medium-sized pot. Since there are very few bad turn cards for me, I think checking the flop intending to bet the turn and river is the way to go.

The flop checked around, and the Q on the turn gave me not quite the nuts (that would be Td 8d) but quite a good hand. I bet 4,000, the Hawaiian called, and Beardy folded.

The Q on the river was not so good for me. I didn’t think it was likely that my opponent had checked two-pair or a set on the flop, so I bet 8,000 for value. He ended up calling with 99 for 9s full of Qs, and on further reflection I’m not wild about my bet. Although I thought they were unlikely, I certainly couldn’t rule out full houses entirely, and there are only so many second-best hands that will call another bet here. This guy hadn’t been limping often, and he called quickly preflop, which suggests a pocket pair. That could mean TT with a diamond, but it could also mean 99.

When we’re talking about a big bet on Day 1 of the WSOP main event, I think it makes sense to be conservative. If it’s close between betting or check-folding, which I believe it was, then it’s probably better to take the low variance line and check-fold rather than risk the loss of 8,000 chips.

Level 4: Blinds 150/300/25

The player to Grumpy’s right, whom I’d initially pegged as way too loose, won a few big pots and started playing a lot better. He was still playing too many hands, but now he was raising and playing them aggressively. He rarely folded to three-bets, either, which made him a lot tougher to play against.

Grumpy, on the other had, had lost a few pots and was down to 12K. The wild guy opened with a raise to 700, Grumpy made it 1,700, and I once again found myself holding AK in relatively early position with two raises in front of me. This time they were two of the most active players, and one of them was short-stacked. I made it 3,700, the original raiser folded, and Grumpy shoved JJ and won the flip. Even more than the chips, I lamented the lost opportunity to eliminate one of my most dangerous and least pleasant opponents.

I raised to 800 with QQ UTG. Hawaii called, as did another player in late position, and we all saw an AA7 rainbow flop. That checked around, and I decided to check a J turn as well, which may have been a mistake.

I was intending to call a bet, but when Hawaii bet 2,500 into the 2,625 pot and the other folded, I went into the tank. This bet was uncharacteristically large for him, and it seemed needlessly so unless he had an Ace. If he was bluffing, he wouldn’t need to risk so much because it looked like neither of us had much of anything. Likewise if he was value betting/protecting a Jack. He’d want to get called by worse hands, which means he wouldn’t bet so much. I went for the soul read and just threw my Queens into the muck.

Despite my early winnings, these recent losses had ground me back down to more or less the 30,000 chips with which I started. I believe in avoiding big confrontations so early in the tournament when possible, but when your opponents are tough, you can’t afford to play scared. You have to be willing to take the appropriate risks. I was, and it ultimately paid off, but I had a few heart-stopping moments along the way.

The first was against my Hawaiian friend. I open raised to 750 holding KQo in the CO, and he reraised from the SB to 2,550. Generally I would consider that a large re-raise and he’d mostly been avoiding confrontation with me, so my first instinct was to fold. However, there was something suspicious about the size of his bet. In the past, his re-raises had been even larger, often as much as 3,000 over a similarly sized raise. I took it as a sign of weakness that he’d chosen to risk less this time.

I also noted that the tightest player at the table was in the big blind, making it easy for Hawaii to think I was stealing, since she never put up much of a fight. Had he not told me that he read my blog, I might not have given him credit for such sophisticated thinking, but now I knew that he wouldn’t be inclined to believe my raise.

The final straw was that, as I contemplated my options, he looked uncomfortable. I decided to put him to the test and raised him back to 5,050. He quickly called, which was actually a good sign. I would have preferred a fold, but with a really strong hand, I’m pretty sure he would have gone all-in, so there was still hope even though my first bluff didn’t succeed.

The flop came 832, about as innocuous as could be. He checked, I bet 6,000, and he quickly called. Crap. It was still a good sign that he wasn’t raising, but all this bluffing was getting expensive.

An Ace on the turn brought a ray of hope, since I didn’t think Hawaii would have called the flop with too many hands containing an Ace. The good news was that I had a new bluffing opportunity. The bad news was that it was going to cost me quite a lot of chips to act on it. He checked, and I checked as well. That’s what I would do if I’d actually hit the Ace, and I figured it would give me a chance to collect a bit more information before pulling the trigger on my bluff. I expected him to bet the river with his best hands, including if he had hit the Ace, so a check should give me a green light to bluff.

He checked to me again on the river, and I pushed 9,000 chips, about half of my remaining stack, into the pot. This was actually a small bet relative to the pot, but Hawaii had even fewer chips than I did, so it still represented a big threat to him. My heart was pounding as I made the bluff, but sometimes you have to look past your own fear to see that your opponent is scared too. He made me sweat for a long time, but finally he shook his head and threw his hand away.

At the end of the day, he told me he had Q8s, which I believe.

Level 5: 200/400/50

The last level of the day also brought the final episode in the spate between Grumpy and Beardy. Beardy played a big pot with another player at the table and both ended up showing down the nut straight with KQ. As the dealer was dividing the pot, Grumpy exclaimed, “What’s it going to take for you to lose a pot?!” Once again I was astounded by Grumpy’s ability to hold a grudge so long and irrationally, to the point where he was visibly angry about a pot in which he was not involved and that his nemesis did not even win but simply did not lose!

Anyway, as I’ve said, I prefer to avoid big confrontations on Day 1. Ideally, I can win chips just by stealing blinds and antes pre-flop or by raising, getting called by one player, and then making some small bluffs after the flop. Unfortunately, the two tough players on my right (the weak guy had busted, so now it was Grumpy and the Table Captain) were making that impossible. I had no choice but to take some big risks against them.

The first time occurred when the Table Captain raised to 800 in the CO, which I think he would have done with almost any two cards. I was in the SB with AKo, and while I really really really wanted to avoid playing out of position against this guy, my hand was simply too good to fold. I made it 3,200, and he e called, which was sort of good news because I was sure I had the best hand, but was also bad news because there was a lot more poker to play and he wasn’t going to give up easily.

The flop came down 973, all clubs. I held the King of clubs in my hand, so I had a good flush draw but no pair. There was about 7,000 in the pot and 50,000 in my stack, and my opponent had more than twice that in his. I knew that even if he missed the flop he wasn’t going to give up, so I mentally prepared myself to put it all on the line. If he’d gotten lucky enough to flop a big hand, this could be the end for me, but my draw was simply too good to fold to this maniac.

I bet 4,000, fully expecting him to raise. In fact I tried to choose a continuation bet size that would give him to make the largest bluff-raise possible. He obliged, making it 9,000. I shoved all of my chips into the pot, risking elimination for the first time, something I’ve often been able to avoid on Day 1 in past years. Thankfully he didn’t make me sweat and folded quickly, increasing my stack by about 25%.

Our next confrontation came at the very end of the night. With ten minutes to go in the day, they stop the clock and randomly determine how many more hands to play. This is to prevent players from stalling to avoid paying the blind and/or to win the bragging rights of surviving the day, not that there’s any prize for that except the necessity of booking a few more nights in the fabulous Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino.

Anyway, we knew that there were just three more hands to play before we finished for the night. I was comfortable with the size of my stack and was anticipating a softer table on Day 2, so I was all in favor of staying out of trouble for a few more minutes and then calling it a night. Also I have a history of making big mistakes and losing big pots late in the night.

The same Table Captain made his same old raise to 800, and with the little old lady in the big blind, I think he was literally making that play no matter what his cards were. Grumpy was unfortunately still at our table and was doing his best to make the Captain’s life difficult from his perch to his immediate left. He re-raised to 2,100, but given that he knew everything I knew about the guy, I didn’t give his re-raise too much credit.

Generally with a raise and a re-raise in front of me I don’t think much of ATs, but when I looked down at it here, it felt like a huge hand. Both of these guys could be playing so much garbage that I had no choice but to raise it. I pushed 5,300 chips into the pot, and the action folded back to the original raiser. Without hesitation he raised to 10,800, and believe it or not I stilldidn’t think he had it. I hated him for forcing me to play such a big pot when all I wanted was to go to sleep, but I wasn’t about to fold the best hand to him. If I’d had a slightly smaller stack I’d have gone all-in right there, but that was a little too much to risk, so I called.

The flop came AJ8, all diamonds, and he bet 10,000. It was another brutal spot for me. Without a diamond in my hand, I was very vulnerable to a flush. The pot was getting huge, so I was again tempted to go all-in, but this time I knew that if he called, I would be dead meat. I just didn’t want to take such a big risk so early in the tournament, so I ended up calling.

The turn brought a Jack, which wasn’t a diamond but did create a new potential threat as my opponent could now have trip Jacks. Thankfully he checked, and as much as it pained me to give him a free shot at making a flush on the river, I believed that I had to check behind. The river was the 7 of spades. He checked again, and I was glad for the opportunity to showdown my hand.

He had to show first, and he showed A8 of hearts. I was right all along that he was full of it when he made that fifth bet pre-flop. After a lot of stress, I ended up winning one of my largest pots of the day and finished up with a very respectable 83,900 chips.

August 02 2012, Rich Ryan

On Tuesday, after months of negotiations with the United States Department of Justice, the poker world rejoiced as PokerStars acquired Full Tilt Poker’s assets. In 90 days, PokerStars will make available all outstanding balances – totaling $184 million – owed to the “rest of world” players who had money frozen on Full Tilt. American players – who are owed about $150 million – will be refunded separately. No timeline or payout process has been determined for the latter.

Prior to the acquisition being completed however, PokerStars will have to pay the DOJ $225 million before Monday, and founder Isai Scheinberg must step down from his role within the next 45 days.

Additionally, the settlements made by Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars do not constitute admissions of any wrongdoing, culpability, liability, or guilt by any parties. Thus, once online poker is legalized in the United States, PokerStars will have an opportunity to apply for a license and reenter the market.

1. PokerStars saves the day

Two years ago, if you told me that PokerStars was going to buy Full Tilt Poker, I would have laughed in your face. It what universe would the New York Yankees buy the Boston Red Sox? Why would Manchester United purchase Arsenal? Well, today it’s a reality, and it’s all thanks to the people at PokerStars.

Clearly the acquisition is a concentrated business move by PokerStars to solidify its customer base and make good with the DOJ, but it also shows how invested PokerStars is in the players. Scheinberg and the crew understand that legitimacy is paramount when it comes to online poker. If customers don’t feel safe playing on your site, then your traffic will always be limited. If customers trust you and remain loyal however, then the word will spread, your traffic will boom, and your income will be plentiful.

Ray Bitar and his cronies didn’t understand this concept, and they tried to maximize profits right before the ship went down. Before Black Friday, Full Tilt introduced multi-entry tournaments, which created massive field sizes, and after Black Friday, Full Tilt continued to rake the ROW players without the proper funds to pay them. Thankfully, the DOJ barred Bitar, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Rafe Furst, and Nelson Burtnick from working for PokerStars.

PokerStars plans to keep the Full Tilt Poker brand alive however, but Head of Home Games at PokerStars Lee Jones says that the company is not planning to seek licenses to operate in France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Belgium, and Estonia.

Hundreds of players took to Twitter to react to the news. Here are some of my favorite Tweets:

Hopefully, once the repayment process for Americans is released, there will be further celebration. We’ll just have to wait, and thankfully I don’t think we’re in store for another 15-month nightmare.

2. Raymer ships HPT event

On Monday, the Heartland Poker Tour filmed it’s 200th episode at the Route 66 Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Greg Raymer entered the final table as the chip leader and eventually won, defeating Robert Crawford heads up to earn the title, $71,875, and 50 points in the HPT Player of the Year race. Raymer is currently tied for sixth in the race with Phil Collins, Will Failla and five others. The 2012 HPT POY will earn six HPT Main Event buy-ins and hotel accommodations for the 2013 season. According to the HPT’s recap of the event, Raymer’s opponents were delighted to play against the former world champion, and Raymer was equally excited to win.

Raymer won the Main Event eight years too soon. Coming off of the heels of Moneymaker, Raymer’s impact on the game was limited when he won in 2004. Any American-born player could’ve filled Raymer’s shoes and nothing would’ve changed, unless that player was non-white or female. Even then it’s hard to predict how different things would be had David Williams defeated Raymer heads up or a female was able to take it down. Raymer’s impact on the game came way after he had won, and it was self–imposed. He worked hard to create his image, whether it be with PokerStars or the Poker Player’s Alliance, and continues to carry the torch as an ambassador despite not having a sponsorship deal.

Being a Main Event champion is a lot like being a quarterback in the National Football League. You’re expected to lead, you’re expected to win, you’re expected to be motivated, and fans, writers and fellow players will magnify all of your mistakes, faults and shortcomings. Unlike the NFL however, there are no teams in poker – you represent yourself. There are sponsorship deals available, and most Main Event champions pursue deals, but they aren’t mandatory, and wearing a hat or a patch doesn’t make you an ambassador of the game. It just makes you money.

Main Event champions Jamie Gold and Jerry Yang were never great ambassadors. Neither Gold or Yang wanted to be a full-time representative for poker, but they risked money to play in the Main Event, they won, and like it or not, to the victor go the spoils. They have every right to do whatever they want with their money, and if that includes playing less than 10 poker tournaments a year, then so be it.

If a Greg Raymer somehow won the 2012 Main Event however, then his impact would be immediate. Just imagine if a 48-year-old, well-spoken, intelligent, skilled player, who’s also a strong advocate for legalized and regulated online poker was able to defeat a 20-something-year-old wizard heads up. Isn’t that a dream come true?

Even if Darvin Moon was able to defeat Joe Cada we could’ve benefited because the 25 to 54 demographic is so important. On average, 25 to 54-year-old males make more money than 18 to 24-year-old males. However, one can assume that 25 to 54-year-old males tend to be more worried about the shadiness of online poker, and may be unwilling to deposit their money, even when it becomes legalized and regulated.

Raymer is great for the game, and his support is nothing less than admirable. I only wish more professional players shared his passion for the industry and focused more on fostering, growing, and protecting the game of poker.

3. Bring on more Russians!

After 10 days of low-stakes raging on PokerStars, MicroMillions II came to a close last week. The winner of the Main Event was Argentinean “SoyDelGlobo,” however, even with his $157,218.68 cash, Argentina only netted $230,700.44 during the series. The country with the most money won was Russia with $1,119,518.12, followed by Germany ($1,009,509.88), the United Kingdom ($696,038.10), and Canada ($605,856.05). Russia also led the world in cashes by country with 24,046 (4,357 more than second-place Germany), final tables per country with 130 (30 more than second-place Germany), entrants by country with 211,968 (57,009 more then second-place Germany), and events won by country with 18 (five more than second-place Germany).

I want to believe that there’s a poker training facility in the heart of Russia that’s looping the Ivan Drogo/Rocky Balboa training montage from Rocky IV, while great poker players are being handcrafted by Alexander Kravchenko, Vladimir Shchlemev, and Vitaly Lunkin, but that’s just a little bit too far-fetched. Most of Russia’s success has to do with the size of its population, which is nearly double Germany’s population, but there’s still something to be said about the quality of the players. Brazil has 50 million more people than Russia, yet only two Brazilians won MicroMillions bracelets, and Brazil ranked sixth in money won by country.

Along with Kravchenko, Shchlemev, and Lunkin, the successes of Andrey Zaichenko, Alexander Kostritsyn, Ivan Demidov, Max Lykov, Kirill Gerasimov, Andrey Pateychuk, Leonid Bilokur and more have helped bolster the game in Russia. According to Hendon Mob, there are 19 players with over $1 million in career tournament earnings and 163 players with at least six figures. Only one Brazilian player, one Indian player, and two Chinese players have over $1 million in career tournament earnings.

The rise of Russian poker players is sure to continue over the next few years, and it will be interesting to see if one player in particular can step out and assume the role as a leader or an ambassador.

4. Ryan Young killed in car accident

Professional poker player and 2007 WSOP bracelet winner Ryan Young died in a car accident on Monday, according to numerous tweets from his friends and fellow professionals. The first player to mention the tragedy with Jared “TheWacoKidd” Hamby, and he was followed by a plethora of others:

Rest in peace, Mr. Young. My prayers are with you and your family.

5. Ronnie Bardah Seat Open Part II

Check out part two of our feature interview with 2012 WSOP bracelet winner Ronnie Bardah.

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