$10000 dealers choice Well, well, well.
Most importantly, the support means everything. I have quite literally done nothing but play poker and sleep since I got here last Friday, which means that it helps even more.
Well, it should be tough to get very lucky and have alot of fun for three and bit days, finish second and yet feel gutted. This is a poker forum, however, so I guess that's not news to anyone. I came nine days ago, dreaming not of money, but of the bracelet. I came close enough that it was placed next to me, and I walked away without it. I know I'll feel better soon.
I definitely ran bad heads up. Were it as complete and pure as that, I would feel no disappointment at all. Its ridiculous to feel down on your luck Heads up, when it has overall been very much on your side.
The only regrets would ever come if feel I should have done something differently. And I'm not sure. Maybe one stud hilo regular pot. But maybe that changes everything. Oh, to be able to go again, and limp rather than raise that QJ8 hand, against Adam's Queen of spades door card.
The other big decision was the game choice. I had thought about it alot the previous three days, but still one thing hadn't occured to me. I felt like I wanted to play Holdem against Adam, but not to push tiny edges shoving and reshoving. And then it occurred to me, the forgotten game, Pot limit holdem! It's the only pointless, unused game in a brilliant mix, but it made perfect sense Heads up.
We played two hands, but by the time it came back to my choice, something else was in the air. Adam had suggested that we both pick randomly every time. That suggestion was both alot of fun, and a very serious choice for me to get right. I felt he had an edge over me specifically in heads up Stud, but hadn't realised it yet. If I had an edge, it would be in Holdem, but it wasn't sizeable. I agreed to random picks.
Our random picks led to draw games, and I lost 4 unavoidable hands. All good. I then doubled with the high only
in PLO8, but half of my stack suffered an A5 vs AK limit holdem cooler, before I folded the turn. Stud hilo came next, and queens up won it for Adam, a fun and massively deserving winner.
The WSOP is wonderful in alot of ways, but not least that it always brings the next chance. We go again. Thanks so much guys.
The fun moments An early bluff I bluffed Adam in the early 27 NL hand. I drew two, he drew one, and I made a pair of fives. It's tough to bluff when you are two vs me, but I got the feeling that he may specifically bet small if he himself needed to bluff. So, I checked, planning to fold to a big bet, and check-raise bluff a small bet.
It's your choice, Sir (Sorry I had created confusion with my 'thrown out' phrase!)
There had been history. Adam is a great guy, but a feisty character, who commentates his thoughts, on his own and other's poker. So, he had expressed some dissatisfaction yesterday, with the Russian's speed of choice, and actual choice. When Makarov was short, his stress levels were not.
He deliberated for a while, and threw out a plaque. Stud hilo regular. He then went into a mini panic, grabbed it back and deliberated again. Cue Adam. Stress level high. I wasn't the slightest bit bothered, all part of the fun. The Russian throws a different plaque... No he doesn't, its the same one. Stud hilo regular. The dealer states the antes. Makarov panics again. He seizes them back. In my mind, this is both ridiculous, and doesn't matter at all. In Adam's mind, this is ridiculous and matters alot. Sparks fly. Makarov throws out PLO. Adam says 'ok, let's go.' But no, he takes them back again! With Adam in pieces, he soon throws out a 2-7 triple draw pot limit plaque. We play 2-7 pot limit triple draw. Makarov busts first hand.
Bruh, the dealer from New York Poor Bruh the dealer. He's a good dealer. You can tell. It was Bruh who yesterday managed to make three mistakes in the same Badugi pot, which the Russian won against me. Whilst I am completely ambivalent to the fact that moments like that change the deck because its all part of the randomness, there was some irony in the fact that in a pot that Makarov won, the latter errors were almost definitively caused by his massive over reaction to the first. I think Bruh knew that his mistakes had changed it, and I wanted him to know that it really didn't matter; a butterfly flapping it's wings somewhere had changed everything too.
Bruh was back today, and you could tell had even more determination in his professional attitude. But, poor Bruh maybe was too determined, he fumbled my last card in 2-7 no limit. If you're a dealer, you always want a card that you fumble to be bad. Poor Bruh fumbled the deuce of spades. That should have been bad for me, but actually was the best news. I already had a deuce in my T632. My replacement card was a 7, to make a big hand. We got all in, and I doubled through Makarov. He deserves no anti-karma, he was alot of fun and did apologise yesterday. But I hope Bruh saw what had happened, and that it had all evened out in the end.