WSOP Circuit Tournament Summary & Harrah's Southern Indiana Cash Game Report

I may have the moves like Jagger, but I would rather have the run-good that Josie has in tournaments.

The Tournament

I wish I could say that I had a nice, deep run in my WSOP Circuit tournament last Wednesday, but that would be far from the truth. My 7,000 starting chip stack only got me about six levels of tournament play. Ugh.

Playing in a 50 and over tournament is actually a fun experience. Nobody feels like they have anything to prove, the play is usually solid and polite, and  the humor is of a different type. Where else could you hear comments like "At least we don't have to put up with any guys wearing a hoodie and sunglasses" and "One guy had an iPod too and couldn't even hear the dealer say anything."  He he. At my table, a guy in seat eight had trouble seeing the cards so our first dealer read him each flop.

My table did not have an auto shuffler and the first dealer was excruciatingly slow, so play was very slow. I got crappy cards and did not even see a flop (I was forced to fold my blinds) until the second thirty-minute level when I got pocket Kings in middle position. I made a healthy raise and was surprised to see that I got four callers, seeing as how I had not even played one hand yet. The flop contained three uncoordinated low cards, so I thought I was in fine shape. I made a big raise and only got one caller -- the eight seat who had checked the flop. The turn was a blank, eight seat checked, and I bet. He called. Hmmm. The river was another blank and this time the villain went all in. I'd now already lost almost half my stack. My gut was telling me that he hit a set on the flop. I either had to fold or risk my tournament that my pair of Kings was good. I folded, bringing a few gasps from the table. After about a minute the villain said "If you folded pocket Kings or Aces you made one hell of  a fold." Yes -- the gut was right, but now I was the table shorty.

I survived playing uber-tight and stealing a pot or two as the table got more aggressive, my crap cards continued, and eventually antes kicked in. I pushed with A-9 and was called by another shorty with 7-7. An Ace on the flop doubled me up and kept me in the game for a while. As my stack was getting very low I decided, after some thought, to call a shorty's push with A-9. He had A-10 and hit trips on the flop, so the drama and my tournament were both over. Talk about ugly -- only two good hands in about six levels of tournament play.

The Cash Games

Play at the this poker room was as I remembered from my last trip -- fun and beatable, although I was card dead my first session and lost a little bit.  The second session I was at a table where I believe that I was the only non-local. Now I have to tell you, the locals at this casino all seemed to be very friendly with each other and buddy-buddy with several of the dealers, which made things a tad uncomfortable. I was able to build a decent chip stack but got really pissed when one of the locals, a guy named Jamal, shot an angle. I was dealt pocket Queens and raised, only to be re-raised by Jamal. I remembered him from my last trip and my take on him was that he was pretty tight and a solid player. I was putting him on Big Slick. I called. The flop was King-rag-rag. I thought I was in big trouble. I checked and Jamal made a smallish raise and I insta-called. I checked the turn and he checked behind. Hmmm. The river was a blank and I threw out three redbirds to see what he would do. He then threw in three GREEN chips and said "Oops -- I threw in the wrong ones." Like I am some freaking moron. I looked at him and said "I don't believe you for one second" and angrily chucked my cards in the muck. A-hole.

Some wild players came to the table and were virtually giving away chips. Unfortunately, my wins were nullified when my pocket Aces were cracked twice -- to quad Kings and flopped two pair. Ugh.

Later toward the morning (my session went from about 7pm until 8:30am) some aggressive inexperienced players came to the table, but I was never able to get into their stacks. I left with a decent profit and decided to get some sleep.

I hoped to get in one last session, and what a beauty it was. The deck smacked me for a bit and I was able to take full advantage of it. I made a huge score when I flopped a set of 4's with an Ace on the flop. I thought I was ahead all the way and did not know if an Ace on the river might have screwed me. I re-raised the villain's final raise, and he tanked before calling, telling me that I won the big hand. I was shocked to see that he had flopped a straight and was ahead of me the whole time. Thank goodness for the river or I would have lost a buy-in.

Conclusion and the Future

As usual, a tournament was disappointing but the cash games were great. This does not surprise me as my history shows that I am much better at cash games then large tournaments. Smallish tournaments seem to work for me, but geez -- could I catch a break or two when I play  the big ones?

Next up -- the WSOP Circuit Event at my "home" poker room -- Harrah's Horseshoe Hammond. I plan on playing in the October 19 NL Hold 'em Stimulus tournament. It would be nice if thing went a little better at The Shoe.

Cheers!