MY FIRST WSOP - BY ROB YONG

[tikay]

That's Grandpa - the one in the home who dribbles. Surely some mistake......

Tell you what though. Thewy is the school bus driver.

[RED-DOG]

Okely Dokely!

[robyong]

The last time I saw Lawrence was at the 100 Nottingham re-buy, he had arrived at 9.03pm and had missed the 9.00pm deadline that Gala enforce. He had just driven 100mph for 90 miles from Leeds, and they still did not let him in. He was very polite, but firm about his views to the Gala staff, said his goodbyes, and left to return to home. Would they dare turn him away now.........I have just returned to my room after sharing a drink with the new $2000 NL WSOP Champion, Lawrence Gosney. We (Chuubs, , The Shrew) supported him all day in the final.

I especially wanted support him as Lawrence called me continually to get updates, when Nick "The Shrew"Whiten made his first major uk final at the Vic Club in March. Lawrence is a genuine guy, he travels the globe in search of respect in the poker world. He is mild mannered, but aggressive at the table. He is a prepared to gamble and revles in being the "table captain", he want to be the player who is making the action. I have played with him many times, and clashed with him on many occasions, but he is one of the real top blokes on the poker circuit. When and since Lawrence won today, he has accepted his prize modestly and graciously, showing little emotion, but I know HOW MUCH this actually means to him. Anyone that would travel to remote places to get a few extra European ranking points at obscure tournaments is saying, I want to be respected as one of the best poker players around. This is why I am so chuffed that he won, because I know he will be so proud of that bracelet, and the prize money, although nice, is only the icing on the cake.

I also loved the fact that when someone suggested to him that he should go and wear a certain web sites t-shirt for $10k, he said XXXX off. How refreshing in an environment when money is king and players are manipulated by a few quid (these sites only want to talk to them when they are in the final, not support them before they get there).

Lawrence's win today is the perfect example of what you need to win a tournament on one given day - you need to play exceptionally well according to your chip position and the players at your table, but you also cannot win a tournament without getting lucking at least once. When Lawrence moved in with 2c2d and the BB called with KhKs, Lawrence faced elimination in 4th place. However, he sat there, cool as a cucumber, while "Neverwin" (what a nickname!) got out of his seat and put his head in hands preying for his 90% favourite to hold up. I was sure he was going to outdraw him and this was not the end of his tournament. When the flop came 3 clubs, giving Lawrence 12 outs I was shocked a 2 hadn't come, however the hands became almost equal in win probability after the flop, and when that came on the turn Lawrence showed no emotion, jus collected the chips like he had won a pot in the 20 re-buy at Gala. This was the key hand of the final for him but I was so impressed by his composure. We bought the dealer who dealt the flush a couple of drinks afterwards and he said he also had a feeling that the KK was going to lose, we all did, it was weird, normally when your mate has his back against the wall, you think the worst, but for some strange reason, there was a feeling across the whole room that the 22 were going to win, even when the club came on the turn there was no gasp of surprise which you normally happens in these final occasions.

It's almost like it was destiny for Lawrence to win today, imagine if Carlo had incorrectly called the 3 way all-in with his QQ, this would have changed the whole game, and the 22 v KK would never have happened, as Carlo would have eliminated "Neverwin" and became chip leader himself. I just think today the Poker Gods said, Mr Gosney, you are an excellent player, you have paid your dues to poker, you've had enough near misses, its your day, son, enjoy it. That's the thing about poker, its unpredictable, and any player can win on a specific day, but Lawrence has worked hard for a win like this, its deserved, he played great poker.

It's the $3000 NL tomorrow, I asked Lawrence if he was playing and he replied immediately, no, then paused and said, $3000 no limit eh.maybe!

[RED-DOG]

Stop editing it Rob, its a great report as always

ps Tell Lawrence Im so pleased for him, he deserves it

[tikay]

Great review Rob. I was also present when they turned Lawrence away - correctly, it must be said - because he arrived late. Lawrence shrugged his shoulders & just walked away. A real man, a mans man.

An honest man, too. He bluffed away a huge stack at Blackpool in the Mick Fletcher comp, & I was gutted for him. He rung me while driving home & just said he'd made a complete pigs ear of the comp, & only had himself to blame. Total honesty.

Lord Lawrence of Leeds it is then.

[snoopy1239]

The thread was drifting. 

[tikay]

We are about due another episode from Rob. But Smithers Whiten is out there now, diverting Rob's attention from the serious matters in hand.

- sort him out!

[Simon Zach]

The diary makes fantastic reading Rob, keep it up (i mean the writing) and id like to add i am made up for Loso Goso i think hes a great player and a great personality (no i didnt say he had a personality i said he was one their s a difference) what a win well done mate !


See you tomorrow guys lets bring at least one more bracelet home.

[robyong]

DAY 18: Friday 1st July  Pocket Kings in the $3000 NL
I had some well known pros at my table including JC Tran (35 WSOP money finishes) and Paul Darden (2004 WPT Winner). With only 3000 chips and 60minute levels the field started to bust out pretty quickly as some players tried to double up early. I am still unsure what the correct strategy to deploy is:

Option 1  - Get busy early, see flops and gamble and try and mass chips
Option 2  - Play tight and start making moves when the blinds are worth stealing.

Overall, at the WSOP, nearly all the top players try to get chips early or bust out, so that can control their tables. Maybe this is reflective of their poker bankrolls, or their sponsorship deals. Consequently, Option 1 must be the optimal choice of strategy?

I was doing pretty well after 2 hours play, I had increased my stack to 6000, but played few pots. This was not intentional, just that I had 3 aggressive players to my right so when I was in late position, the pot had already been raised. These were players that would always bet the flop whether they missed or not, and put in a second bullet on the turn for good measure, so calling raises with marginal hands was not profitable. Ie. If you don't hit the flop big, the aggressive player bets you out of it even though you may be ahead with bottom pair. One interesting pot I played and should have got paid more on was:

Hand 1 - QJs in the BB
Blinds 50-100. Daniel Alayie raised my BB, this guy is super aggressive and has a great playing style. He rarely enters a pot without raising or re-raising and will try and outplay you on the flop. He is also a player than can lay down a hand as well. This is the second time I have played against him in the WSOP. Anyway, back to the hand, everyone folds to me on the BB and I look down to see QhJh, a nice hand to see a flop with, and a hand you can still get away from if you hit only a Q or a J. I call his raise of 300 and there is 650 in the pot. The flop comes KdTs6c, I have an up and down straight draw. I don't really betting draws out of position because if you miss, you feel obliged to bet the turn and river aswell! So I decide to check call, as Daniel will bet the flop whatever is on there. He bets out 500, I call, and the turn comes an As, giving me the NUTS. I am in a perfect situation, I am in pot with an aggressive player betting into me on a rainbow board with the NUTS. I check, and Daniel bets out 1000, now I need to decide whether to slow play, or try and get the chips in now. On a board of KT6A it is very possible he has 2 pair, in which case he will call an all-in now, but if a scare card like a J,Q comes  on the river, or the board pairs up, he may not pay me off. I decide to move-in for 4000 chips, on the basis that calling 1000 (25% of my stack) would actually represent more strength than moving all-in, to a top player. He gives me the staredown, I try to look like I do not want a call, whatever this expression looks like, he counts and re-counts his chips, I am thinking, Call, please call, 10,000 pot coming my way.., and then to my dismay he MUCKS his hand in disgust and gives me a knowing look. I shrugged my shoulders, but inside I was disappointed, he made a good laydown.

JC Tran was getting on my nerves, everytime he raised he put at least 10X the BB, until the hand when he knocked me out.

Hand 2 - Pocket Kings on the Button
With the blinds 50-100, I have 6000 chips. JC Tran raised incorrectly 150, now we had been playing this level for 50 minutes and it was an obviously a moody. He had a big hand and was trying it on. I put him on QQ minimum, some of these guys will pull any stroke in the book to get an advantage. The dealer makes him raise 200 (the minimum) and he starts to moan than he only wants to call now, but the raise stands. Everyone passes to me on the button, I look down to see the cowboys, KK. However, because of Tran's moody, I am worried he has AA. I decide to put in a disproportionate raise, and if he moves-all in I will pass, yes, pass KK pre-flop!!!. This may seem strange, as KK is the second best hand in the pack, but his moody made it so obvious that he was holding a big pair. I have seen him play AK, he raises 15 x the BB!! So, I re-raise 1200, 6 times his raise. This raise is saying to him, I have a very big hand, and if you have AA there is no need to slow play it, as I will put all of my chips in with you pre-flop now (for me, its actually saying the opposite, as I have already agreed to pass if he moves all-in with AA). But this raise seems to slow him down, he thinks for a minute and then just flat calls, and I realistically discount AA as a possible hand for him. The flop comes Q 6 4 rainbow, he checks, I bet without thinking 1500, leaving me only 3000 chips (I think I spent so much time analysing pre-flop, that I felt my KK was good, and had lost my inhibitions). He calls the 1500, which is alarm bells for me, 2 hands I am losing to, QQ or AA. I just know he had QQ now, so when he checks the harmless on the turn, I check as well. Top players never let you off the hook, and he bets $3000 on the river when another rag falls. The way my thought process have gone, how can I be winning in this hand, He has done a massive pre-flop moody, then called a pre-flop raise of 6 times his original raise, he has check called me for 1500 on the flop, but how can I pass KK on this board? I can't pass, I am not good enough to lay down this hand, I call like any lemon does, and he shows one queens, pauses and casually flips over the second queen. I don't feel bad as I expected it, I knew the only hand he could call such a big pre-flop raise with, but did not dare go all-in with was QQ. This is how Trans thought processes went:

Do a moody and attract someone holding an AQ type of hand to re-raise him.
I tell him that I have KK or AA with my huge pre-flop raise.
He knows he needs to hit a set on the flop, 10-1 shot, but if he does, he gets all my chips.
He makes an implied odds call to win all of my chips + the pot which (total of $6300).
But Tran is a gambler, happy to put up $1000 in to win $6300, a 6-1 hot, on a 10-1 shot.
Also, if he doubles up he has the opportunity to dominate the table.

I have no problem with how he played the hand, okay he got lucky to hit the set, but if I truly had faith in my analysis, I must put him on QQ and should pass my KK. Interesting hand though.


I saw Simon Nowab in the smoking area 5 minutes afterwards, he rushed back to his table to find KK in the BB. A raise, then a re-raise, he moves all-in, AQ calls him and the flop comes QQ2, game over. Pocket King's no good today!!!!!

Nick The Shrew Whiten played the $3000.  He is nicknamed The Shrew due to his very tight play, because Phil Helmuth calls a tight player a Mouse in his latest book, therefore a Shrew must be even tighter!). He moved-all in for $7000 chips on an up and down straight draw which is well outside of his normal style of play, must be the jetlag or personal problems!!!!!

In an effort to get my $3000 buy-in back I have had a bet with Simon Chubby Nowab. On September 31st 2005, is he weights less than 11st10 (my weight) I will pay him $6000, if he weighs more, he pays me $3000. He is currently 14st and wants to shed the Chubby nickname and replace it with The Love Machine (which is the nickname he gives himself). I still think my $3000 a banker though, and we've agreed to use my scales!

[Robert HM]

 I am in a perfect situation, I am in pot with an aggressive player betting into me on a rainbow board with the NUTS.

... and in a WSOP event...... isn't that of what dreams are made!

Thanks again for the insight.

[Malc-M]

Excellent analysis again Rob--Thank you-- Just making me more and more jealous! Still off to play the 100 at Nottingham tonight-- Not quite the same as WSOP tho!
Malc-M

[robyong]

We're starting to talk strategies about the main event now. There are now 4600 confirmed entries. There are 3 days of heats where 2200 people will play down to 500 on each day. $10,000 chips with 2-hour levels with blinds starting at 25-50. Nick and I are playing on Day 2, Friday 8th July. If we get through Day 1, we will resume on Day 4, Monday 10th, with 1500 runners and the top 660 will get paid.. Day 4 and 5 and 6 will play 5 levels per day, and day 7 will play down to 36 players. The action will then move the Horseshoe on Day 8, playing down to the final table of 9 players. An interesting fact is that out of 6,600 starting runners, 30 players will be dealt AA on the first hand, if they manage to get the pot heads-up and get all of their chips in against their opponent, 6 people will be elimatated with AA and have only played 1 hand in the WSOP main event! Everyone is saying how tight they intend to play and they SHOULD get through the first day, however, 4100 won't, no matter how conservative their approach is.

Today, we went to the Bellagio and had dinner in a restaurant called Noodles, it's excellent. We then took a look in the Poker room, its full, or course. Chip Reece and Doyle were in their private office, chatting away to their fellow players, pausing to look at their cards, and flicking a few $25,000 chips in the pot carelessly. This room is a dangerous place, its where the up and coming players who have recent big win get invited to come and play with Chip and Doyle, and donate their recently won tournament prize to the pot. People come and go in this game, but the same old faces survive. According to a dealer at the Rio, Gus Hansen lost $6m in one session two weeks ago in the big cash game, the only event in the WSOP that Gus has played is the $10k Omaha yesterday, and the dealer told us that he is on the felt (Vegas terms for broke). Every time I come to Vegas I hear that Gus Hansen is broke, yet he still manages to lose a few million the next time he plays! Another story the dealer told me was that when Phil Ivey won a tournament this year for $1m, the casino kept the whole lot, as he had $1m marker with them for Blackjack losses! There is something special about the players at this game, they are at the pinnacle of the poker world, they are the top predators in the food chain of poker. The money pours into the game through tournaments and the $1-$2 games, moves up to the $5-10, eventually ending up at the Biggest Cash Game in Vegas, less the casino's rake. Every cash game player starting out dreaming of growing their modest bankroll big enough to have a crack at the big one at the Bellagio, very few make it, and only the mercurial Phil Ivey has survived it.

The Blondites arrive in this fantastic 24 hour city today, each with their own ambitions of leaving with gold on the plane home. Good luck to them all. Unless I do well in the big one, I'll be leaving with empty pockets and a few stories..

[Robert HM]

The Blondites arrive in this fantastic 24 hour city today, each with their own ambitions of leaving with gold on the plane home. Good luck to them all. Unless I do well in the big one, I'll be leaving with empty pockets and a few stories..

..... to remember for ages to come. Like Max Boyce you can say "..... and *I* was there"

Good luck and thanks again for the report.

[Karabiner]

Every time I read one of your reports Rob, my patience wears thinner.

I can almost taste the atmosphere, and I know that I am one of the very lucky ones.

Yes I am dreaming as we all are that are lucky enough to be "in the hat".

Thanks so much for sharing everything with us all.

See you guys Tuesday.

Ralph

[jbsc7769]

My Math is not the best but I think that should that be 30 players will get AA first hand??? 6,600 runners, 1 in 220 chance of getting it. Could be wrong though....
Great read again Rob. Seriously, it is getting me so excited about the start of the WSOP. I think some of the TV channels should run it live, maybe two or three TV tables with a 15 minutes delay or something. Surely it would get great numbers?