blonde poker forum

Hi all, I am selling for the Main Event this year, at 1.2.

I will play Day 1A on Saturday 8th July, purely on the basis that Day 1A last year had me on a dream table. Almost definitely coincidence, but it's my best current measure of which starting day to choose.

Prices

I am selling up to 60%, and so the prices are as follows:

1%= $120
5%= $600
10%= $1200

and so on.

Of all the non-ideal ways to sort the exchange rate issue,  for anyone buying in ££ by bank transfer, I will set their £ to $ exchange rate on that day, and use it for any $ to £ back.

Main Event history

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=54053&_ga=2.236177095.732944285.1495628906-1651652208.1495628893

This will actually be my 11th consecutive year in Vegas. At a best guess from memory, I have played the main event 7 times  in 2008, 2009, and every year from 2012 . It took me a while to cash....

In 2014, I finished 59th for $124k, in what was the most fun tournament of my life, including being all in relatively short stacked on the pure bubble.

In 2015, I finished 544th for $19,500, actually with a far more steady  run than the previous year, but which ended abruptly with AK<AA in a massive blind on blind battle.

2016 was miserable. Day 1 had the best Main Event table I have ever had, but managed to never get above starting stack, and didn't quite cling on till day 2 dinner break.

I will send full reports at the end of each day, and chip counts whenever I can.

Cheers guys

2% please

in france till middle of next week will send as soon as i am back

Booked, thanks so much

5 please, glgl

Booked

Will divert some Sambuca funding to this... 1% please :)

Cash in Vegas.

1% booked, see you there Marky

Just don't steal my scooter this time :D

10 ball pls will give you cash in vegas

Cheers Middy, 10% booked

25% please will give cash there

Cheers Bram, 25% booked.

43% sold, 17% left

All

Sent message on FB earlier Stu. Let me know if confirmed. Sunny

You did get it in before the all, sorry for delay! So, 5% booked.

Thanks so much pleno, so all is 12% if that's ok?

Just to let you know about other Vegas plans, it's very much up in the air at the moment, depending on negotiations with a couple of potential buyers. If I am going solo, I will play a mix of $1500-$2500 mixed game and NLHE holdem events, which I will sell on here first.

So, as long as 12% is OK with pleno:

Bramm- 25%
Middy- 10%
Freerollin- 5%
DMorgan- 5%
bagel- 2%
Marky147- 1%
Pleno- 12%

sure

hi stu.  max that stars allowed me to send was $215 so have done that just now. will send remaining $25 by bank transfer in next day or two.

good luck out there, let me know the score on the mixed games when you can.

Hi bagel, that's great, thanks very much

Mixed game news coming soon

I had originally intended to play 1A, but have just decided to play 1C. Partly, Middy recommended it- I never got the chance to ask him why, but there must be a good reason. But mainly, it's been a rough NLHE week, so want to go in completely fresh after a few day's break.

nah molly said play 1c. im a huge 1a fan.

1a ftw

Just read apparently 1c is likely to be 10 seater and always is ?  Seems ridic, what are 1a and 1b ?

Todd, I can't find anything about the 10 seater. A difference in numbers at tables seems insane?! Wouldn't put it past them.

Will wait on that, but funnily enough, had heard fairly  strong opinions on A, B and C. So, after not sleeping great last night, was going to say, I'll wait to see which day I feel better on. But if 1C really is ten handed, then I'll put a big emphasis on playing tomorrow!

It is often the case that the last opening day (1C as it will be this year) plays 10 handed - this is due to the sheer numbers of players in that flight.

In 2016, for example;

Day 1a = 764

Day 1b = 1,733

Day 1c = 4,236

It simply is not physically possible to fit that many players into Day 1c 9 handed, & due to the low attrition rate, players listed as alternates might not get in for several levels.

Worth bearing in mind also that Day 1c players could be seated almost anywhere, including at the very top of the corridor, by the swimming pool entrance. That area gets used every year on the last opening day flight. 

Tikay, thanks so much for this info.

Day 1B begins to look more likely.

Haha

never listen to molly

Good luck later Stu.

All the best today Stu

So, woke up feeling good, so decided to play 1B. Table looked ok, but from seat 9, saw a ginger haired fella in the 1 seat. I thought I had read on facebook that he had played yesterday, so I briefly thought "you're not the real Firaldo," but sadly I was wrong. Since then, we have had the wrong end of seat changes, and have added Wesiner and Barbero.

Hands to follow at dinner break but currently. 38k

Last day is by far the best for my money.

All the needy and desperate scrape togther enough stakers and loans to get in. Plus a huge number of satty winners.

Easy choice for me.

35k end of level two

End of level 3 (dinner break)

Wifi has been bad on my phone, sorry.

28,100. Ah. Lost almost every pot I've played, a ton of small-medium ones

At 75-150

1) Third hand of the day, SB limps to my BB. I raise to 450 with  7d 5d, flop is  Qd 4d 2h, he checks, I bet 450, he calls. Turn is Qd 4d 2h 3d to make me a flush. He checks, I bet 1,000 into 1,800. He check-raises to 3k. He is a youngish guy who looks good, but I have never seen him before. I call. River is Qd 4d 2h 3d Jc. He bets 4,800 into 7,800. I can surely only beat a bluff. I fold. He has played well since, but there has been nothing to suggest this was a bluff. It still may have been, but especially early on, with limited info, it felt like a fold

At 150-300

2) There is one rec at the table (it has remained a tough table). I raise  Ahrt Qs MP on his big blind to 750. Just he calls. Flop is  Ac 8d 2s. I check behind to induce bluffs and to allow him to hit, as it's arguably not 3 streets of value. Turn is  Ac 8d 2s 9h. He bets 1k, I call. River is Ac 8d 2s 9h Jh. He bets 2k, I call, he has hit the river with  Aspades Js.

At 150-300 (25) (level 3)

3) Firaldo opens UTG to 800, oldish guy who has played tight passive calls hijack from 20k, Weisner calls SB, I have Ad Qd in the big blind. I make it 3,200, Firaldo folds, oldish guy makes it 9,600 from his 20k stack. Didn't feel like a trap as it came to me before I 3bet, but easy fold.

Going back to 200-400 (25), two two hour levels to go

200-400(50)
.
Raise to 1k UTG, I peel small blind with 7s 7c, firaldo peels big

Ks Kc 6s Qc checked twice, river is Ks Kc 6s Qc Kh, I value bet 1700, original raiser calls and has 88. Surprising flop check
25,200

200-400(50)

Raise  Ac Tc lojack to 900, solid pro peels button, semi rec in bb calls

Flop Ts 6c 3h, I bet 1,700 into 3,350. Both call. Pot a big 8,450.  22.4k behind

Turn Ts 6c 3h 5d. Rec leads 5,100. It's a fold. Sigh

22;400

200-400(50)

Rec player throws in a 1k chip Lojack. He has plenty of black 100 chips. Weisner throws in a 1k chip on my right. I have Qs Qh

I'm 99% sure that

A) he meant to raise
B) it will be ruled as a call, and
C) weisner thought she was calling 1k

I make it 1,800 from 20.5k stack. Both call

Flop  Ac Js 4d. Checked round. Turn is Ac Js 4d 7c. Rec bets 5,100, weisner calls, easy fold.

River is a queen. Rec has AK. Ouch, would have been so sweet to get it in pre

18,200, there must have been 14 circa 2-3k losses

I have 18,200 at 200-400(25)

UTG raises to 1000, weisner calls button. I have Ak in the small blind. 45 bigs. Really did think about shipping and taking the 3k, but 3bet to 3.6k

Flop QT3 rainbow. Definitely thought about it, as I can bluff small, but AQ most likely hand for both. Its close. I check. Both check after tanks.

Turn QT35 . Three tank checks.

River QT356. Two checks. Weisner bets 5.4k into about 11.5k. Really thought about calling. It somehow felt like it, but realistically she can have not much more than aj and kj as bluffs, may value bet down to 99, and there is the small chance of an overcall from the third player.

Preflop: There was a good reason to think about the 45 big shove even though its small blind vs UTG. He had raised 4 of the last 6 pots, and after looking at his cards UTG, had that slightly exhausted "well I guess I've got to raise this one as well" look, which I thought may well cap his strength to TT/AQ (and most likely be those hands or slightly inferior .

14,200 going into last level.of day.

Cannot win one. Raise QQ hijack, solid player on button calls. Flop

 Aspades Jc 3s. I check, he bets 1.3k into 2.3k, call.

Turn is Aspades Jc 3s 7c. Check, check

River is Aspades Jc 3s 7c Tc. I check, he bets 3k. I fold.

Its not a definite fold but it is a fold. He hasn't been caught bluffing all day

They keep coming.

Limp 7s 4s SB vs firaldo BB. Flop  Aspades Qs 3s. Bet 1k into 1400, he calls.

Turn  Aspades Qs 3s 6s. Ouch. I check,  he bets 2.5k of my 11k. Its definitely close but I fold, will write more on it later

11k

Boom, lets go

Raise Ac Ts to 1.1k from 10k, hijack and button call. Checked all the way to the button on river on

Ks 8s 5c 2s 9h

Button bets 5.2k into 4.8k(!)

I called with AT high, he has Qs Tc

On one hand it's kind of easy- he can literally have almost nothing, but where it would leave with. 4k, and there is some small fear of AJ/AQ or a random 44 or something, it felt good to make

18k

OUT

Took one more raising KQ and cbetting J42, up to 20k

And then, six hands after the AT call to get back into it, the deck made it simple by just coolering me out of it.

Raise  Jh  Jd at 250-500 (75) from hijack to 1,200. Firaldo three-bets to 3,350. I had actually been working out what I wanted to do about the circumstance of a 40BB 4bet jam range in this kind of spot vs Firaldo; there was a possibility of a light 4 bet all-in- it definitely felt it would be plus chip EV with a lot of hands, given that he could use the factor of not wanting to shove 40bb light against me.

 But JJ was a no brainer part of the range. He had 3bet me twice off 40bb in the previous level, and had three bet a lot vs Weisner's deeper stack to my direct right. I'm not sure if he would 3bet-calloff tens, but he definitely had enough 3bet-folds to make it a no brainer with JJ.

He had  Kh Kc. Board  3s 8d Td 7c  Qd

Really gutted, feels a bit more brutal after making the right decision with AT to get back into it. Hit only two hands all day- the early flush, which as the day passed seems even more of a lock decision to fold the river, and the small flush vs Firaldo, where the 4th spade hit the turn. That would be my one question mark. His turn sizing could carry some small pairs turned into a bluff. But really, the gutting thing was that there was not much to think about really all day.

Thanks so much for the staking guys, sorry it's not better news.

Unlucky. Didnt stake, but have enjoyed silent reading your reports (the holdem ones mainly).  You have a great knack for including detail without too much waffle.

GG Stu. Thanks for the updates, very well written, would invest again!

tough luck stu

thanks for the excellent updates, same again next year pls..

ul Stu, gg

Gg Stu, fantastic updates throughout.

Thanks so much guys.

Unlucky mate, but echo what everyone else has said.

Great updates, and always a very interesting read.

Even the games I don't play, you explain things clearly enough that I can understand what is going on :D

Heater up in 2018!

Cheers everyone, it means a lot. Marky are you still in town, drinks soon?

I'm here until Friday, and no plans beyond maybe donating a bit at cash.

I'm at Cosmo now, so definitely up for a couple cheeky ones.

Ah sorry I missed this today, will be in touch asap