Subject: WSOP $2000 NLHE (short, like the event for me) Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 16:22:09 -0700 From: Dave Orr Newsgroups: rec.gambling.poker So I decided to try and win a satellite to play in the $2000 NLHE event. The first one, I go out in third place. Ick. The second, I go out in third place. Ick. But this time, we did a save for the buyin amongst the last three players (I was the short stack), so I got my money back. The third one, I won. Woohoo! The next day, I sit down at my table. I'm in seat 5. In seat 6 is sitting Annie Duke. Seat 9 is Jon Bonetti, and seat 2 is Johnny Hale. Seat 3 is ap layer I don't recognize, but Annie, Jon and Johnny all know him by his first name, Barry. This is a tough table. Early on, I get a steal picked off, and lose a few chips. Then I take down a pot against the table fish by reraising with just top pair medium kicker, but I could tell he couldn't stand the heat. So I'm back up to nearly even, and mostly just sitting around. Some observations: Several of the good players, especially Annie, seem content to limp in lots, and any position except for opening late. I saw Annie limp in early with random suited connectors, for instance. This surprised me -- I didn't expect to see top players limping much. I tend to open pots for a raise, always. Maybe that's a mistake. Anyway, there were plenty of fireworks to keep us all entertained. Various people limp, and Johnny Hale limps in on the button. Barry calls from the small blind, big blind checks. Flop comes 522, two clubs. Someone makes a small bet, then Johnny moves in for *way* more than the pot. Pot is $500 or so, $250 bet to him, he puts in $1800. Barry calls with no hesitation, and flips over 42s for trips. Johnny had Ac6c for the nut flush draw. No help, and Mr. Hale goes home. Soon, we go to level 2. UTG limps, I fold, annie limps, bonetti limps, maybe one other limper. Flop comes 458. Barry bets $100 into a $225 pot, annie calls. Turn is another 4. Barry tosses out another black chip, annie calls. River is an offsuit T. Barry tosses in yet another black chip, annie raises $500. Barry moves all in. Annie thinks, and thinks some more, and thinks and thinks and thinks. She apologizes to the table for taking so long. Bonetti says something about how long she's taking, and she snaps at him: "I've already said I'm sorry. This is a sick, sick hand. If I fold, it's a sick laydown. If I call, it's a sick call." She eventually tosses it in, saying she had 67 for the flopped nut straight. Responses: Bonetti: "I know you did. And you were beat." Annie: "But I know I'm beat." TJ, from the next table: "Of course you were beat. Throw it away." Female player walking by, whom annie accosted about the hand: "I would have gone busted." Barry, apologetically: "I flopped two pair and filled up on the turn." Still at level two, Bonetti limps in in second position. Barry raises, everyone else folds. Bonetti reraises! (Big warning bells whenever someone limp-reraises in NL). Barry thinks for a bit and calls. Flop comes AQT, two hearts. Check, bet, raise all in, call. About that fast. Bonetti has TT, bottom set. Barry has QQ. See ya. Barry now has around $8600. He's got a *huge* stack. It's clear that he knows how to use it to push people around. Based on all that... Barry limps UTG. I have AhTh. I limp, annie limps, various other people limp. Flop comes KhTs3h. Barry checks, I bet $300 into a $500 pot. I have about $1500 left. Everyone folds to barry, who (check)raises me another $500. I think about it for about 5 seconds, and push all in. My thinking here is that he knows that I'm tight, that he has me covered, and that he could just be pushing me around with not much. He limped UTG, so I don't think he has a huge hand, though I guess he could have a set. But I'm way ahead if he has hearts, and he might lay down a K with a bad kicker. Anyway, he calls without thinking about it. Bad sign. Then he flips over AK. Drat. Didn't think he'd limp with AK utg. No hearts or Ts come (though an A does, so we both have two pair. Irrelevat, but there you go. So I go home at the second level, after a big bluff at a player who had picked one off before -- but he had a big hand then. Maybe I played that bad, not sure. I really thought I had a decent chance of being ahead. But it was an interesting table. It was also interesting to note that Barry did not make it into the money, which seems crazy to me. He could've made it to the final table by barely playing another hand. Ah well. It was fun, and I'll be back next week. - Dave