Greg Raymer 1999 Trip Report (very long)

[Royal Flush]

Amazing how far he has come and the game of poker in general. Look how they all fold for ages on a short stack! No pushbot action.

Starting stacks have come a long way since then aswell!



"# Orleans Open trip report, part I
Posted by: Greg Raymer (FossilMan)
Posted on: Monday, 9 August 1999, at 12:57 p.m.

It's taken me awhile to find the time, but here is my trip report. 5 nights and 5 days in LV for the last events of the Orleans Open.

Springtime

I'm planning on attending the last 4 events of the Orleans. I like the lineup of events, NL HE, PL Omaha, limit HE, and the NL HE main event. I have won quite a few K at Foxwoods since taking a job with Pfizer and moving to Connecticut. However, most of the money has been spent on our new house. I'm depending upon my big refund check to fund this trip.

The IRS is f***ing me. They've lost my refund check. I had arranged for it to be direct deposited, and my credit union has now informed me that I can't simply use the numbers on the bottom of my checks. So, call the IRS, and find out that they deposited the money, and don't know where it is. My wife had been talking to her best friend back in San Diego (where we moved from last November), who was going to come up with her family at the same time so they could visit. Now it looks like no one is going to LV.

Early July

It's way too late to make plans for Cheryl to visit her friend. However, the IRS has found the direct deposit, and has sent me a live check. I talk to Cheryl, and she agrees to let me go to LV on my own and make some money. Whooopee! Big bucks, here I come!

I still had my room reservation for the tournament rate at the Orleans. However, it is now short notice and I have no airline tickets. I call the travel agency that works for Pfizer, and the best rate is like 450. I go online, but don't like the way Priceline.com does business. No choice of flight times. I get a price of 390. from Travelocity.com. Better, but I want cheap. Finally, as the trip approaches, I try Priceline.com again. I put in a bid of 150. with a departure from Providence (I live near Foxwoods, so Providence and Hartford are each about 50 minutes away). No good. I try again at 200. with a departure from Prov or Hart. No good. I try again at 250. What the f**k!!! Priceline tells me that I can't do this. Because I've already tried with this itinerary, I can't try again. I have to either change the date, or the location. In other words, if your dates and locations are solid, you can only try Priceline once, so you'd better start out asking for the highest price you'll pay. That's bull. Why can't I move up incrementally and get the best deal possible? Because they'll make a lot more money selling you a ticket for 300. that you could have gotten for 200., that's why.

I swear off Priceline completely. Then, a couple days before the trip, I decide I'll give them one more try, but they'll have to save me at least 100. So I put in for a departure from Prov or Boston at 290. Delta accepts, and I'm stuck flying out of Boston.

July 21

Get up at my normal time, and pack my bags for tonight. Go to work and put in a three-quarters day. Actually get stuff done. Get out at about 3:15, get home by 3:45. To save money on parking, Cheryl decides to drive me up after work. My plane leaves at 8PM, and we leave Stonington before 4. Takes 3 full hours to get to the airport, as traffic is bad in Prov and worse in Boston. Everything goes smooth at the airport. It's hard to say goodbye to Cheryl and Sophie. Sophie is 2.5 yo, and cute as can be. She is sad to see me going. Get on the plan, a direct flight to LV, and it's 80% empty. This is the first flight to LV I've ever been on that hasn't been jammed full. I start chatting with the attendant, telling her how much I hate the way Priceline does business.

We get seated and pull away from the terminal. We then sit on the runway for an hour before taking off. Apparently there's a huge line of planes waiting their turn. Since it's such a long flight, they'll be showing 2 movies, EdTV and Shakespeare in Love. I decline to pay $5 for the headphones, but the attendant gives them to me, saying "because you had to buy through Priceline". The trip is just started and I'm ahead +2 movie units! EdTV is pretty stupid, and Shakespeare in Love needs to be seen somewhere else besides an airplane, I think. I can't find any real fault with it, yet still didn't enjoy watching it.

We land safely in LV. I have 2 carry-on bags, nothing else, so I'm out to the transportation area immediately. Pass by the Gray Line at 6.60 for the trip to Orleans. CLS is only 5.00. Unfortunately, I'm let out last, so it takes an hour from the time I walk off the airplane until I arrive at the Orleans.

By the time I arrive at the Orleans, check in, drop off stuff at my room, it's after 1:00. This is 4:00 AM east coast time, so I know I shouldn't be playing much poker tonight. I decide to go to the tournament area just to get acclimatized, and hopefully play one satellite before bed.

The room is big and busy. As you walk in, there are almost 40 tables to your left and 50 to your right. The 40 on the left are for live games, and 20-25 are in action. low limit up to 20-40 and PL games. Tournament area is to the right, with the remains of both events in their final stages. It appears to be one table left from the main event at noon, and 2 or 3 tables of the second chance tournament. Close to the entrance is the satellite area, where quite a few satellites are going on.

I've only brought a modest sum of money with me to play with. Specifically, 1200. Like I said, I've done well at Foxwoods, but all that money has gone into the downpayment on our house, or furniture. As it turns out, we really spent too much on our house, and my income doesn't generate much excess after all the bills are paid. Thus, my poker bankroll is seriously depleted, and my job won't regenerate it for me. This whole trip is really too big of a gamble for my bankroll, but if I lose here, I'll just be limited to 3-6 when I get home.

So, I sign up for the cheapest satellite. It's 35. to enter, NL HE. Winner gets 2 lammers of 100. (lammers are chips that have no cash value, and can only be used to enter a tournament) plus 20. cash. Second place gets 60. cash. We play 10-handed, with T300 to start, 15 minute limits, beginning with blinds of 10,20. Nothing much happens the first level, but I finish with T315. Second level (15,30) is good to me, and I double through plus to T720. I lose 2 key hands during the third level (25,50). I'm dealt JJ in the SB, play is 5-handed. One fold to cutoff seat (seat 1 spot right of the button), who raises to T100. Cutoff has more chips than me, so I just call, as I want to see the flop before committing my chips. BB then goes all-in for T175, cutoff calls, I call. Flop is KQ7, check, check. Turn is K, with 3 clubs now on board, check, check. River is 4, with 4 clubs now on board, check, check. Cutoff turns over Ah8h for nothing, but BB wins with QT, no clubs. Who didn't misplay their hand?

Next hand, I again get JJ on the button. Folded to me, I make it T150. SB goes all-in again for T525, BB folds, I call. Flop is all smaller cards, and I show my JJ. SB admits he's drawing thin, then says he got there when a 6 comes on the river. Pocket lucked out, and I'm down to 275. Play no more hands this level.

Blinds go up to 50,100, and I improve my stack to T625 during this level. I don't remember how. I believe we got down to 3 players during this limit. The final limit for this satellite is 100,200 (as it turns out). I win a couple of pots, busting a player out, and am up to about T1700. In heads-up play I improve my stack to the point where I've got my opponent T2200:T800. The final hand is weird. I raise my opponent's T200 blind on a steal with 34o. He calls the T800 bet all-in, and shows K4o. I turn over my 3, and say "this is my only live card." The dealer then immediately puts out a flop with two in it. The river is the last 3, and I win the satellite with quads.

I chat with some friends briefly, and go to bed.

July 22

Wake up earlier than I expected. Had breakfast at the coffee shop. OK.

Decided to play 1 satellite before the main event at noon. Another 35. buyin NL HE satellite. I got eliminated during the first level. I had bled my stack from T300 down to about T170. Got all-in preflop with presto, and lost to JJ. Don't understand how I could lose that one! However, I sold my fake diamond ring (super gawdy mans-style ring, with a 5ct cubic zirconia, a bunch of smaller CZs, and gold-plated) for $75, a profit of $50 on the ring, so I guess I really won $15 in this satellite.

Main event. NL HE. 100. + 20. buyin, with unlimited 100. rebuys. My limit-by-limit notes aren't available, so I don't know the exact details of the structure. I know I only lasted 2 hours, and that I did one rebuy and one add-on, for a total investment of 320. 2 hands in my notebook.

In a blind vs. blind confrontation, I raised from the SB with KcJc. Blinds were at 15,25, and I made it T65 to go. BB called. I think we both started with about T6-700. The flop was Tc3c2. I checked, and she bet T100. I check-raised to T300, and she went all-in for about T2-300 more. I called. Last 2 cards were a 9 and 6, no clubs, and she won with T3o. I may have misplayed my hand, but I know she misplayed hers.

My elimination hand was TT. One early limper, I limped in middle position when the blinds were 25,50, and I had about T800. The button limps behind me, the SB folds, and the BB checks. There is T225 in the pot. Flop is 663. 2 checks, and I bet T200, button folds, and BB raises all-in with a little more than I have. Early limper folds, and I have a decision to make. The BB is unknown to me, but has been playing very aggressively. He certainly doesn't need a 6 or 33 to make this play. I also feel that he doesn't have a big pair, as he would have most likely raised preflop with 3 limpers already in the pot. I finally decide that JJ is the only likely hand I should fear, and that 77-99 are more likely. I call, and am shown KK. No T comes to save me, and I am done. I'm still quite surprised by his hand. Again, I think I may have misplayed my hand, but I'm sure he misplayed his.

Afterwards I get into a 10-20 half-kill Omaha8 game, but it's not so good. I lose a little, and quickly move to a 6-12 half-kill HE game. It's pretty good, and I make a profit. I then get called for a satellite. Today the satellites are mostly PL Omaha (the next day's main event). The buyin is 60., with the winner getting 4 lammers of 100. plus 60. cash, and second place 70. cash. I pretty much rule this satellite. We start with T300, and I get that up to T580 during the 10,20 level. I then improve to T1190 during the 15,30 level, and to T2250 during the 25,50 level. A few hands into the 50,100 level it gets down to me and Bob Thompson. We play a few hands, and the chips are split T2050:T950 (my advantage). He asks for 1 lammer to give it up, and I agree. This means I get 3 lammers + 60., while he gets 1 lammer + 70. By my math, a fair deal would give him 1 lammer plus 93.50, so I don't mind taking the 22.50 he's giving me.

Dinner break. What did I do? I can't recall. Really need to work on this memory problem.

Play some 10-20 Omaha8, lose 6. Play some 5,5,10 blind PL HE, lose 35. Get called for another satellite. PL Omaha again, but this time it's 100. buyin, with the winner getting 8 lammers + 120. We also start with T500 in chips instead of T300, but same structure, so you get a little longer to wait for a hand. I basically break even the first 2 levels, and then move up to T1200 during the 25,50 level. Move up a little more to T1550 during the 50,100 level. We are now 3-handed during the 100,200 level. The chip leader proposes a near-even split. Myself and the other guy get 3 lammers, and he gets 2 lammers + 120. cash. I have T1450, leader has T2200, and trailer has T1350. I have NO problem with this deal, as my EV at this point is only 266.80. Again, I'll take a gift of 33.20. Trailer also has no problem. I don't know why the chip leader offered such a good deal. Why open negotiations with anything less than a profitable deal? I briefly considered asking the trailer to give up some money so I could get a little more (I mean, I had more chips than him, and should get more than him, right?). However, since there was basically no margin between 300 and 320, what could I do, ask him to give me 5.? Didn't seem worth upsetting a deal that was making me 33.20.

Geez, 4 satellites, 3 profits. How long can this last? Hopefully forever.

Went back to the PL HE game for about 45 minutes, made some money, and got called for another satellite. Let's go!

This one is theoretically for the TOC. Buyin is 160., with the winner getting 15 lammers. Game is NL HE. Again start with T500. I break even the first level. Lose it all in 1 hand during the second level. Cutoff has limped first-in for T30. I raise to T100 on the button with AKo. Blinds fold, and cutoff goes all-in. Something tells me he doesn't have AA or KK, so I call. Sure enough, he doesn't. He has 66, but makes a straight to beat my K that paired the flop.

I then get into a 60. PL Omaha satellite. My stack goes from T300 to T60 the first level, and I then bust out a couple of hands into the second level. So much for my satellite rush. It's 1:00, and time for bed.

[Royal Flush]

July 23

Eat some breakfast, and get to the tournament area by 9. Immediately get in a 35. PL Omaha satellite. Lose out in about 40 minutes.

At this point, my bankroll hasn't improved all that much from it's 1200 starting point. I decide to forego the main event that day. It will be 200. + 20. PL Omaha, with 1 optional 200. rebuy. If I play this event and lose, it will leave me with just enough money to play the last 2 main events, but nothing else. Since the last 2 events are HE, at which I am much better than PL Omaha, I decide not to risk it. Instead I get into a 10-20 HE game.

During this game I meet Diane. Yes, the soon to be famous Diane from Green Bay who was filmed by the Discovery Channel. She has been in town a few days, but the film crew won't start up until tomorrow (is that right?). We have a pleasant chat, and then get more serious about the game. I ask her if she's seen Llew (Linda Lewis), who is supposed to meet me at some point and give me a ride to the Gambler's Book Store. Diane is kind (and smart) enough to call Llew's room, and comes back to inform me that Llew will be down in a little bit, and knows to look for me at table 3. When Llew shows up I say hi, and tell her I'll play around to my big blind (I was about to play my small blind, so it would be a little bit). I should have gotten up immediately, as I was something like 190. ahead when she showed up, and down 10. when I quit.

We go out to the valet and get her rental. We drive to GBS, getting lost a few times on the way. Both of us had been there before, and thought we knew where it was. But we had no map and no exact street address, and a vague memory is worse than no knowledge at all in this circumstance, as I imagine most of you know. I am excited about perusing the used poker book section, something that exists nowhere else in the world. Unfortunately, it doesn't exist here either. Llew and I cannot find the poker section in the used book room. I ask the guy behind the counter, and he informs us that they seldom get in any used poker books, and when they do, the books get bought immediately. This sucks. I finagled a ride out here for nothing. I can buy any book on the shelf off the internet (preferably from ConJelCo, hint, hint). We then swing by the Gambler's General Store, so I can buy some used decks of casino cards for a LV night party I'm having soon. We grab some burgers on the way back, and I'm ready for action.

I sign up for the second chance tournament at 7 tonight. The game is NL HE, 100. + 20. buyin with one optional 100. rebuy. There is a monster line at 5 when they start taking signups, and by 5:45 it is sold out. They are taking alternates to replace bustouts, and get up to something like 70 alternates before everyone gives up. At about 6, they call down a 160. NL HE satellite. I figure that this will be over about the time the tournament starts, give or take only a few minutes, so I buyin. I am told that I am the last one in. Then, a couple of players back out. One seat is sold immediately, but we then end up waiting over half an hour to sell the last seat. So, by the time we start, it's 6:37. Now I know I will miss the start of the tournament, unless, of course, I'm unlucky here. Is Hobson's Choice the appropriate term?

Again start with T500 in chips, 10-handed. Chris Bigler, 5th place finisher in this year's WSOP main event, is on my left. He is the first person to recognize me based upon my collection of fossils on the table, and introduces himself. Apparently he is a regular lurker on RGP. His game is unrelentingly aggressive. It is probably to his advantage that he is still pretty unknown, as his level of aggression is going to lead to his getting called down a lot once he is known. Of course, he's probably good enough to use that to his advantage when it starts to happen.

I largely coast through the first half-hour, winning a little the first level and losing it back the second. Then at the third level, 25,50 blinds, I run my stack from T465 to T2225. I am crushing the table at this point. An interesting hand came up during this level as well, before I went into crush mode. Chris is the chip leader, has raised the blinds from late position, and is called by the BB. When the hand is over, the BB is all-in, and has sucked out (modestly, he wasn't a huge dog) on Chris. Then, while still apparently fuming, Chris comes in for a raise first-in the very next hand. As Chris is grabbing his chips for a raise, he is fumbling with them. As he tries to grab the desired amount and fails a couple times, he says "damn, just bet it all". By doing this Chris has overbet the pot, raising all-in about T450 into the 25,50 blinds. The SB, the player who just doubled through Chris, thinks briefly and calls, the BB folds. When the cards are dealt out, Chris turns over AA and wins. Chris then turns to me and winks, saying "Nice steam-raise, huh?!"

By early the next level, I am heads-up with Howard Mann, who has the chip lead at about T3K to my T2K. We play a few hands, and I've got T1800. He offers a deal to give me 5 lammers and 50. cash. The math is easy at this point, just take my T1800 and divide by 10 and multiply by 3 to convert to cash value. 540. cash value, being offered 550., and he's too good a player to be likely to give me more, so I say yes. Nice profit of 380. Starting to like satellites again.

By the time this satellite is over, it's almost 8:00, and almost end of the rebuy period for the tournament. I've been blinded from T500 down to T360, and add-on for T500 more, just in time for the break, and play no hands. After the break they race off the T5 chips, and I go from T860 to T875. They are using the new format where each player can win only one chip during the race. Thus, if there are 3 T25 chips to be won, they will be won by 3 different players. Highest card gets a chip, then the next highest, etc., with the proviso that no one can win more than 1.

The 3rd level is 25,50 blinds, and I go from T875 to T1250. During this level I cripple Tom McEvoy. I am the SB, and Tom is 2 seats to my right. He raises to T175 first-in, button folds, and I go all-in for T625 with ATo. Tom calls with an underpair, and I flop a T to double up. I must say that I was very UNimpressed with Tom's play. Not on this or any other hand in particular, but his play in general. During the whole time he was there, Tom was reading this book. He only looked up when it was his turn to act. He only rarely slowed down the game, but I was surprised to see a player of his stature paying so little attention to the game. If this event is so small that it's not worth his full effort, then why play at all? I mean, even a great player needs to pay attention so he can get a line on his opponents, right? Nothing really happens during the 50,100 level, and I finish with T1300.

During the next level the big hand occurs. I am in middle position and get dealt AA. My stack is at T1200, and blinds are 100,200. UTG raises to T600, and I raise all-in. The chip leader at our table, a loose and weak player who is pretty much guaranteed not to win, thinks a long time and calls my raise. Bill Seymour is the BB, and has only T475 (T200 of which is in the blind). He clearly has a piece of cheese, because he takes a long time to decide what to do. Finally he says something about hoping we all have high cards, and calls all-in. The original raiser calls all-in for about T1000. Thus, 3 of the 4 players are all-in. The flop is 9h7c6c, turn is , and river is . I do NOT have the . Original raiser turns over 66 for a set, Bill Seymour turns over 85o for a straight on the flop, and the chip leader turns over TT including the . I've gone all-in with AA before the flop against 3 players and come in 4th place! Instead of winning a T4000 pot at a time when the average stack is less than T2000, I am busted. This one hurt a lot.

Played another 160. NL HE satellite. Got my stack up to T750 max. Lost going all-in preflop with AdKd vs. QQ. I was down to T450 at the 50,100 level, so not any room to maneuver. It's just wait for a hand and go all-in at that point.

I then got called for the PL half/half game. It is played with blinds of 5,10 during the Omaha hands, and 10,20 during the HE. I decided to take a shot here, as there were a couple of weak players who were gambling it up. I bought in for 500., the minimum, intending to try to double up and then probably quit. Unfortunately variance wasn't on my side, and I got busted. Decided that the other guy didn't have much on a flop of 9dTd3h, when I was holding QdJd. Heck, even if he had a big hand, I was a favorite. I bet out, he raised, and I reraised all-in. He called with 7d7s!!! And it held up. I was a huge favorite, with 20 cards to hit twice. Personally, I can't see how he can call here. It's too bad I wasn't properly financed for the game. If he kept that up, how could I help but make money?

Played a limit HE satellite for 100. Never got anywhere, although I lasted close to an hour. Then, I entered another one of the 160. NL HE satellites. Won a little, lost a little, doubled up the 3rd level, doubled up the 4th level. Got down to heads-up play during the 5th level with 100,200 blinds and T5000 in play. At one point I had the lead T3K:T2K. We're playing for 15 lammers. My opponent asks for a 8:7 split, with his associate (a guy sitting near him) saying that's a fair deal. I say the chips are 3:2, so 9:6 is a fair split. He counters that it will only take 1 hand for him to take a big lead, so the split should be closer to even. I say no thanks. He gets upset, making comments to his friend that I can't quite hear, but appear to be denigrating towards me. We play a few hands, and the chips are T2800:T2200 in my favor. He offers a save, where the winner will pay the loser 160. I think I should put the needle in him and get him on tilt by countering with a save of 220. for me and 160 for him, but decide that I'd rather have an opponent who will fold to my steals than one who will play aggressively, so I just accept. He then sucks out in a series of hands, and I get my money back. I'm very upset with myself for not doing better here, and decide to go to bed.

(to be continued)

[Royal Flush]

# Orleans Open trip report, part II
Posted by: Greg Raymer (FossilMan)
Posted on: Monday, 9 August 1999, at 12:58 p.m.

(continued from part I)

July 24

Wake up earlier than I expected, but I'm not tired. Grab some breakfast, and go to the tournament room to figure out what to do prior to the noon tournament. I get into a brand-new 10-20 �kill Omaha8 game. I'm in the 7 seat, and the guy in seat 6 is French, and doesn't speak much English. He draws the BB the first hand, myself and a bunch of others limp in (I don't recall what I had, and since I folded on the flop it doesn't matter much), and French Guy (FG) raises, we all call. Flop comes something like Ad5sTs. FG bets out, a few calls, late position raise, FG reraises, all call. Turn is , FG bets, same callers, same raiser, FG reraises again, all call again. River is , FG bets, I think 1 caller folds, and original raiser is openly whining about the 2, so you know he has 23 (and as it turns out 236), but he calls. FG turns over AAs3s4, for top set on the flop, nut flush draw, and 3rd nut low draw. He rivered the wheel to scoop a monster. However, despite the hand he showed, everyone at the table is convinced he's some super lucky fish, because he has had so much trouble communicating what he wants to do. For example, when he bet the river, he tried to put out about 80. in chips, and the dealer pushed back all but 20. Then, FG still tried to put out more chips, even before anyone had called. You would think he didn't understand limit poker at this time.

As we continued with the game, half the table was on tilt (non-mad tilt, but tilt) with this guy. He started to get the hang of limit bets, but the frequent half-kill to 15-30 kept confusing him. I took French in high school, so I still knew the French words for 10, 20, 15, 30. I kept telling him the amount, yet he still would frequently put out too much. After a while I realized that this guy was too good, and knew exactly what his actions were doing. He probably had a real problem like this before, and now acted it out everytime he was at a table of strangers, knowing that they would give him too much action. Of course, it didn't hurt that he was dealt a long string of premium hands right off the bat, and continued to hit the flop almost every time. He must have scooped or halved 7-8 of the first 10 hands. Of course, even knowing what was going on, I couldn't complete any of my draws, and lost about 150. in a little over an hour.

Tournament time, main event, 300. + 30. limit HE. We started with T700 and 15-30 betting limits. I had Robert Turner 2 seats to my right, and Melissa 2 seats to my left. Melissa is a very tall, very thin, very pretty redhead. I don't really know her, but remember seeing her at quite a few tournaments at the Commerce and Normandie when I lived in San Diego and would go up to LA for the majors. Is this Melissa Heyden (sp?) who played at BARGE with Scott Byron et al. in the team HORSE event?

Early on, I had determined to take notes of all my key hands. So, on the second hand, I limp UTG with 88, 4 players see the flop. Flop contains two , and early position bets, I raise as I don't put him on a 5, and I want to eliminate the overcards behind me. He reraises, and I call. He checks the turn, I bet, he check-raises, and I call. River he bets, I call. He has presto, and flopped quads. Oops, badly played hand, good thing it's the first limit, and I only lost T150.

On the next hand, no one raises my BB of Q6o. Flop comes Q high, early position limper bets, everyone else folds, I call. Turn doesn't make any draws, I bet, he calls. River is a 3, I check, he bets, I call. He has Q3o, I lose. -T90 that hand.

Three hands later, I'm first in from the cutoff seat and raise with Ah9h. BB calls, flop is 59J, no heart draw for me. BB checks, I bet, he check-raises, I 3-bet, he calls. Turn is Q, check, check. River is 8, check, check. BB wins with 85o. -T75.

Called a raise with 66 the next hand, as there was multiway action. 6 players saw the flop of 39T, on which I folded. -T30.

At this point I'm getting pretty dejected. I've lost half my stack, and the first orbit isn't even complete. I'm looking at my notes, and thinking that this is going to read like one long whine. My attitude at this point is not favorable.

Next hand, a couple of limpers including Robert Turner, I limp with As5s. Flop is AcQd8d. RT bets first, I raise, he 3-bets, I call. If you don't know RT, you're probably wondering why I'm being so aggressive. He doesn't need even a full 8 or 9 card draw to play a hand this fast. With this flop, KcJc, 9hJd, and the like will do. We continue betting aggressively through the turn, and then both check the river. He ties me with Ad5d, and was freerolling me. At least I made a little bit of profit.

Nothing much happens for awhile. Then in later position, I 3-bet after an early position raise with JJ. BB calls, raiser calls. Flop is 68K. They check, I bet, BB calls, raiser folds. 7 on the turn, both check (I'm concerned that he has a K with a weak kicker). River is T, BB bets, I call, and he wins with 7To. -T90.

This is my absolute low point. I'm down below T200 in chips, and it's still the first level. I've almost never done this poorly in a tournament before. In fact, I can't recall more than 1 time ever losing 500 in less than an hour of 15-30, even wild games with big pots where you pay a lot for your draws. Anyway, I mentally recoup and determine that I'm going to go out playing a good hand, if at all.

Also, I stop taking notes of anything other than really important hands, and even these weren't written down much anymore, as I got too involved with the game.

Next level is 25,50 bets. There's a raise, 2 cold calls, and I reraise with AA. The button kind of makes it 4 bets behind me. He puts out 4 chips, and as the blinds are folding, he grabs back one of his chips, saying he only meant to call. The original raiser puts out a third chip, limpers also call, and I say raise, putting out 5 chips. I want a ruling on the button's 4-bet. It is ruled that the button didn't raise, even though he put out 4 chips, and even though there was action behind him, as the dealer misdescribes the hand to the floor, saying the button pulled back his chip before the blinds acted. Final board is Q68-3-T, and my AA holds up all-in on the turn. As I'm being pushed the pot, the BB tells me that if the button hadn't 4-bet, he would have called with pocket and busted me. Which tells you that he folded before the button pulled back his chip. I guess I got lucky?

The next hand I recorded is at the 100,200 bet level. By this time I have a healthy stack, and am playing aggressively and slightly more loosely than my normal ring game. People are folding to me unless they make a good hand, for the most part, and I'm determined to take advantage of it. I raise early with AhQd, and Men "The Master" Nguyen calls, with all others folding. I'm surprised he called me, because he's in middle position, and only had T300 to start the hand. In his spot, any hand I'm calling with I'm raising with to ensure that the pot is heads-up, to maximize my chances of winning. I bet blind, because I want Men to be pretty sure I've got a premium pair. If he's confident in this (incorrect) read, he might fold a small pocket pair that misses the flop. The flop is 93J, all hearts, and Men calls. I don't mind, as I have the nut flush draw and 2 overcards. Men turns over Qh8h, for a made flush. I have 7 outs, and catch one of them, the , on the turn. Thus, the on the river is meaningless (except that Men didn't complete his 1-outer straight flush draw), and I've busted out a tough competitor.

This next hand is at the 500, 1K level. We're getting pretty close to the money. I'm at a new table with Max Stern 2 seats to my right. On this hand I'm the BB, and MS is the button. UTG raises, this maniac calls (don't know how he made it this far, must be running EXTREMELY good), MS calls, SB folds, I call with 9c5c (not a great hand, but I'll play it in this spot). Flop is Jd9h2c. Not great, but not awful. I have 2nd pair and a backdoor flush draw. I hope no one bets the flop. Yes, it's checked around. I think the maniac must have brain-lock (for him, his normal routine would be to bet any flop checked to him). Turn card is , and I have picked up the flush draw. I check, UTG checks, and the maniac wakes up and bets. MS calls, and I raise. At this point, I know no one has an overpair, and I think that there is a pretty good chance that no one has a J or pocket TT. If I'm wrong and I'm not in the lead, I've got probably 9-14 outs to win. Plus, if I am ahead, I want to get rid of UTG, who I read for AK or AQ, so that I can eliminate 6 outs against me. UTG does fold, and the others call. River is , and I check, as I don't think a worse hand will call my bet, I don't think a better hand will fold, and I might induce a bluff. Sure enough, the maniac bets, MS calls, and because of his call, I'm not sure that I want to call. Finally, I decide that the pot is too big to give up, especially the way the hand has been played. Plus, I've still got a good stack if I'm wrong. Maniac shows A2 for bottom pair, MS has presto (55), and I win with my pair of , a pot of about 11K. Since the average stack at the final table will be about 32K, this is a big pot with 4 or 5 tables to go. In fact, this pot represents about double the average stack.

After the hand, MS is talking to a guy sweating him, and is clearly on tilt. He is very upset with himself for not raising me off my hand on the river. I can certainly see his point, but to do that would have taken most of his remaining chips. I mean, when he called that last big bet, his stack had less than 2 big bets remaining. Thus, if he raises, he is opening himself to a reraise that would put him all-in. He would have to be very certain he's ahead of the maniac, and pretty sure he can make me fold (or beat me) to make that raise.

Nearing the end of this level, and Scotty Nguyen, 1998 World Champion, is moved to my table. He is dressed a lot like a pimp, as some people have noted in prior posts. However, he seems quite pleasant and I certainly have no complaints about him or his attitude. While I'll never be accused of dressing like a pimp, I certainly will be (and have been) accused of dressing poorly.

Next level, bets are 1K, 2K. We are down to 31 players, with 30 being paid. The play is VERY tight, and I have the biggest stack in the tournament. I am stealing a lot, because they are letting me. I don't blame them. When the chip leader does this, and is making it clear that he'll bet all the way, you are facing elimination if you play with him. Even if you have AK, you are taking a big risk, because AK isn't a huge favorite (don't get me wrong, it's a favorite, just not huge) over any 2 undercards.

Anyway, on the hand under discussion, I am first in from late position, with Scotty Nguyen in the BB. He is a slightly below average stack with 6K. I raise with Qh9h, and SN calls. The flop is KJx, SN checks, I bet, he calls. Turn is another little card, SN checks, I bet, he folds. He is now down to 3K. I think he must have misplayed his hand. I will seldom call a bet from the BB in a situation like this unless I'm willing to go all-in. Maybe SN thought he'd call and determine what to do by "reading" me. If so, he read must have been wrong. If not, then I think he probably shouldn't have called in the first place.

Next hand, everyone folds to me again, and I steal again by raising with QsTs. SN appears a little on tilt, and after 10 seconds of thought, reraises all-in from the SB. BB folds, I call. I tell him he's ahead, and table my hand. Board comes T32-Q-9. SN mucks his hand unseen, and we're all in the money. I think we've been guaranteed around 600-700. I don't pay that much attention, because my goal is to continue growing my stack with an eye towards 1st place. However, I do slow down on my stealing, especially from early or middle position, as I know that the shorter stacks who have locked up a profit will now be much more willing to take some risks.

I did not record any more of my hands. I was too busy paying attention to every hand and every player at this point. Next time I'll get Tom Sims to sit behind me an record everything so I can get a complete record of how well (poorly) I played. I do recall a hand when we were at 2 tables. Everyone had about 1,000. locked up, and 10th only paid about 800. more, so there was more incentive to win chips and shoot for a high paying spot than there was to rock up. I'm in the SB, everyone folds, and I steal-raise with 45s. The BB is at least a decent player (didn't know him, but he made no obvious errors while we were at the same table), and called my raise. His stack did not consist of more than 6 small bets, so I immediately gave him credit for a good hand when he called. The flop was K55. Well, who cares how good his hand is now, I'm going to do whatever it takes to get him all-in, win or lose. I check, he bets, I call. I don't raise here because if he's bluffing, he'll be able to let go of his hand. Turn is a Q, I check, he bets, I now raise him all-in. I raised here because again, if he's bluffing, he might have picked up a draw or have a live A. If I wait and bet the river he'll give up his draw, whereas right now he'll have to call for the size of the pot if he thinks his draw can win. River is an unneeded 4, and I bust another player. I've been busting many of them, and my stack has been growing almost constantly.

By the time we get to the final table, I have about T81K. The average stack is about 32K. After subtracting my chips, my average opponent has about 27K. We lose a player pretty quick, and then don't lose the 9th place for a long time. At one point early in final table play, I'm up to about 120K, and no one had more than half this many. Unfortunately, from this point on I do not win a single hand, except for 2 blind steals, once with AA. Every other time, I am raising preflop with good, even very good hands, am getting called much more often than I should, and am losing to worse hands. Examples include things like raising first in from late position with AT, getting called by the BB with Q9, and losing when the flop is 9JK, while they're calling my bets on the flop and turn. Mike Paulle told me I was playing too many hands, but I was continually dealt good cards. I just couldn't avoid getting outflopped. The 2 guys from Costa Rica who finished 1st and 2nd were amazingly lucky, especially the 2nd place finisher. I thought the eventual winner played very well, and only got lucky when he got into spots that really couldn't be avoided. The 2nd place guy played some hands that he should never have played, and got away with it every time. I think he must have survived between 5 and 10 all-ins at the final table. Heck, his presto flopped quads against me. This was one of my worst preflop matchups the entire final table, 2 overcards vs. an underpair. Most of the hands where cards were shown, I was a solid (at least 3:2) favorite preflop. Oh well, not much you can do about that.

Mike suggested that when I got to 100K, I should have pretty much shut down, and only played premium cards. With this strategy, I could have almost guaranteed survival to the last 3 spots, and then made a deal for 20K or so. While I won't say he's wrong, I don't think this strategy maximizes EV. If my luck had broken even at the final table, I would have had well over half the chips when we got down to 3-handed, and made a deal for 15-20K more than Mike's strategy. If my luck had been better than average, I would have had virtually no incentive to make any deal, as I would have held 75% of the chips at that point.

Oh well, a 4K profit isn't all that bad, let's just hope for more next time.

[Royal Flush]

July 25

I have entered the final event, the 500. + 40. NL HE. I am really jazzed to do even better than yesterday. Unfortunately, the format is pretty fast. It only takes a raise preflop, and a bet and a raise on the flop to get someone all-in, even during the first level. I bleed away a little. I raise preflop with AKs, flop comes small with 2 of my suit. I check and raise all-in, but lose to the bettor who flopped a set with 44. I don't see how I could get away from that hand without being psychic. This guy had been playing pretty loose and aggressive, so how do you intelligently fold on this flop? Maybe Scott Byron can tell me how I should have played it.

I get into a 20-40 HE game, and lose a good bit. I then get called for the PL HE game (5,5,10 blinds), and win most of it back. It's now time for the last tournament, the second chance Omaha8 event.

I am at the same table as Oklahoma Johnny Hale, and saw him go all-in with A222. He was in late position, there were 3 limpers ahead of him, and he had slightly less than 2 small bets. I think it was a mistake.

I start with T500, lose T10 the first level, win T20 the second level, add-on T500 more, lose T10 in the chip race, break dead even the third level, so I'm still at T1K. I lose a series of hands during level 4, and am busted, without ever doing much of anything at all. My bustout hand was one I saw for free from the big blind. Flop was JJ3, and I had JA45. Other guy had J3, and I never caught a better full.

Back to 20-40 HE, lose a bit more. Then to PL HE, 5,5,10 again, and win it back and then some. This game was played with Patri of the purple hair. I enjoyed playing with him quite a bit. He has energy and style (not just his hair). I was neutral in my opinion of him before (because I pretty much ignore what anyone says about anyone on the internet, including themselves), and now consider him to be at least a pretty good player (I'll need to see more of him before I can rate him higher). Patri moves on to a stud 8 or better game, and this game dwindles away and breaks. Back to 20-40 HE, where I win again.

I then get called for the big game, PL half-HE half Omaha high, with blinds of 10,25. I probably shouldn't play in this game given my bankroll. One bad beat can cost you everything. I buy in for only a little more than the minimum, and don't plan on rebuying, no matter how good the game is. I do OK for a good while, and even get up a few hundred, mostly in the HE rounds. Then, I overplay one hand (maybe, you judge for yourself) and go bust. I am dealt QdQ6d8d in second to last position. There are 2 limpers, and I also limp for 25. The button raises to 75., SB folds, BB calls, limpers call, I call. Also, everyone has more money than me. The button appears to be a solid player who is not likely to be playing garbage, or even a marginal hand. He has AA suited, maybe a big wrap-type hand (e.g., 9TJQ), something where he wants to build a pot preflop. He could have raised to 150. to go, and his not doing so indicates he's glad to have company. Flop is 5d7hKh. I've flopped a straight draw, but there's a flush draw out there also. My Queens don't look to be of much use, except for the third nut backdoor flush draw (which doesn't mean much). We all check to the raiser, who bets 150., which is called by a limper, and then me. I'm looking for one of my 6 nut outs, for which I'm getting immediate odds of almost 5:1, plus significant implied odds. The only concern here is whether the limper is on the same draw plus redraws, as I don't put the raiser on any hand with a 68 (unless he's got AA68 suited). The turn is a Q, not the heart. I've got to like this card. Right now, the only better hand is KK. I feel that he's much more likely to have AA with a flush draw than KK or anything else I should worry about. There is over 800. in the pot, and I have 1125. in my stack. My main concern is the flush draw, and I don't want to give him pot odds to draw for it. I bet 500. which does not give him odds for a 9-card draw, and hopefully is just as threatening as betting the pot, since I can obviously go all-in on the river. He apparently isn't concerned about that, as he raises me all-in. Now I've got to think. I feel that there is now a high chance that he has KK, a hand I did not give him credit for until now. However, he might only have AA, or he might be drawing to a hand like 4567 or 5678 which has given him 2-pair as well. I'm basically getting 4:1 in a spot where I might be ahead, and if behind, I have at least 6 outs. Overall, I can't fold here, and don't know that I should. I call, he has KKxx, and I don't improve.

In retrospect, my biggest mistake wasn't the call. I had 9 outs (1 Q, 4 fours, 4 nines), so was actually getting an overlay. My mistake was not trying to reduce variance. We showed our hands after I called. I should have asked him for a deal where we would put out 2 or 3 river cards, and have each card play for a share of the pot. He probably would have agreed, and I would have had a much better chance of not going bust. Of course, this deal, which is quite common in some PL and NL games, actually favors the person in the lead (and therefore disfavors me), but it's so effective at reducing variance that it's worth the slight loss in EV.

That was all for me. I chatted with a few friends, and went to bed. It was after 3 in the morning, and I had a plane at 11. Woke up in the morning, got cleaned up, checked out safely, took a cab, caught my plane, and flew to Utah. That was expected, as my connection started there. Everything was smooth, caught my plane to Boston, and met my wife and daughter at the gate. It was great to see them again.

Overall, I made a couple K on this trip, after expenses. Which is nice. I didn't make the big haul, and came so close I could taste it. Which sucks. One thing I did learn is that I really don't want to be a full-time pro. This is the first time I've gone to a major tournament to play in many of the events. All my previous experiences have been 1-day trips to LA when I lived in San Diego, or the Foxwoods tournaments, where I'm a local and go home. BARGE is more comparable, but it's primarily a social event, and doesn't involve playing for tens of thousands of dollars. Anyway, after 5 days of this, I realized that I wouldn't want to do this all year long. It would get old before the first year was over with, and I'd end up like Tom McEvoy, reading a book of fiction during a tournament, because I'm just so tired of the whole thing, that it can't keep my attention.

If anyone would like to comment on any of the hands described herein, please do so. However, because of the length of my report, you should probably do a cut-and-paste and start a new thread with it. I won't mind.

I didn't mention most of the people I met or saw again here, as I'm so bad with names, I knew that I would fail to mention some good folks by accident. So, don't think I didn't enjoy meeting and chatting with all of you. I didn't "meet" any jerjs this trip, as the jerjs were all folks I avoided meeting entirely.

I hope to see many of you at FARGO in November (is that the right time?), at Foxwood's World Poker Finals in December, or at the WSOP next spring. I plan on attending all of them (and winning quite a few of them as well). Good luck to all.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)"

[sofa----king]

GOOD POST,,,so he really was skint at one point ? hes a really nice guy you know,,,the last few main event winners are nice guys ,,,not fussy on moneymaker he looks a big head on them adverts when he goes back to play his home games with his buddies,,,.

[matt674]

surprised he found the time to play any poker if every daily diary post was the size of a blockbuster novel!!

[Sark79]

Yea, he seems a very nice guy and so does Joe Hatchem. I read an interview once with Hatchem in a poker mag, very down to earth guy. 

[Royal Flush]

I should this is from the 2+2 archives.

[bhoywonder]

great post


been reading this whilst playing the 5k rebuy


done my game wonders


then stop reading and run into AA the very next hand........lol

[Royal Flush]

It's a long read but i think it gives hope! He is scrapping about trying to get $50 of his flight, won't pay $5 for some headphones, says he will never play full time.

Funny how things change!

[JungleCat03]

One day your name too could appear on hendon mob top trumps!

[Royal Flush]

One day your name too could appear on hendon mob top trumps!

If only.


You chirping again cat? You think you beat be in 1 game and suddenly you can play it? I PWN you, dominion and all that stuff.

[JungleCat03]

One day your name too could appear on hendon mob top trumps!

If only.


You chirping again cat? You think you beat be in 1 game and suddenly you can play it? I PWN you, dominion and all that stuff.

The days where you run your matusow tilt into my tony G tilt are over son OVER!

[Royal Flush]

One day your name too could appear on hendon mob top trumps!

If only.


You chirping again cat? You think you beat be in 1 game and suddenly you can play it? I PWN you, dominion and all that stuff.

The days where you run your matusow tilt into my tony G tilt are over son OVER!

Until you learn to turn El Blondie's tilt into a winning attribute you will never be the player i am