Ariston - New Orleans

Ok, if your expecting the usual diary like other players may write, saying “how well I played” and “I was just the unluckiest player ever” etc then look elsewhere.

This is going to describe my week in New Orleans from start to finish and some of the hands. I will not whine about bad beats you can look at the hands and make your own minds up.

I arrived on the Monday after an 18 hour trip (if you include the stop over in Chicago) and like most players, checked into the hotel then went across to the arena to get a feel for things and a bite to eat. I went to register for the main event so I could avoid the inevitable rush on the Tuesday and Wednesday only to be told to come back tomorrow. “Oh, and do you fancy playing the supersat that starts in five minutes”. As I was already entered in to the main event, I would be allowed to take the $10k seat price in cash if I happened to win it. Obviously after the journey I was really not in the mood to sit and play - yeah right, GIMME MY SEAT! I paid my $200 and took my seat. The game, teaxs Hold’em, starting blinds of 5/10 and unlimited re-buys for the first 2 levels (40 minute clock). I anted away to 130 before flopping 433 on the big blind with 44, obviously I check into the seven players and sure enough there is a bet and six callers (including me - why raise?). The turn brings a J and the field is down to 3 after another bet and an all in call from me. My 4s full outdraws Q6 off and AJ and I have a nice stack (the guy with the Q6 had 12 buy-ins in total). The next hand I flopped the nut flush from the SB and once again treble up. I take the add-on and have over 1,400 chips in front of me when we go on a break. I played just three hands in the first two levels!!!

After the break the whole table rocked up so I got busy and when we got to the last four tables I had over 4,000 chips in front of me when the flop came down T66 and I was faced with an over-bet from the rock on the table. I had called his pre-flop raise on the button with 66 – I’d hit quads! So I was really quite happy to call knowing he must have a big pair. The turn brought a 2 and he went all-in (he had me covered) and I quickly called and asked if he had aces or kings (ie. drawing dead) - he flipped over pocket 10’s ”Oh no, he has an out”. After the river and the groans of the other players and the usual nice hand comment from me I headed to the bar (whoever says it only happens on the internet has not spent the last 2 months playing in live games with me LOL).

As there was no safe in the hotel room I had my roll in my pocket which was dipped during the night (long story but not a good start to the week anyway). The credit card was going to take a battering this week (the card was in my bag in the hotel where I should have left the cash......doh!). Tuesday was mainly spent sulking about the loss of the dough. I wasn’t too unhappy about the quads v quads as at least I had got the bad one out of the way for the week. After a really nice dinner with one of the other players along with a nice bottle of red, I was ready for battle ahead.

Main event

I took my seat and looked around to see only one "superstar" on it, Dewy Tomko (2nd in 2 main events of the WSP and numerous tournament victories) was two to my left. This was good as he is notoriously tight and would be a soft blind for me. I drew the button and the first hand had six limpers so I limped also with QT of clubs. The flop came QT2 rainbow and the 2nd limper bet 100 which I re-raised to 300. There are a lot of drawing hands to this board obviously and a lot of scare cards could come to make me pass on the turn (out of the 47 unknown cards to me 20 of them put a straight possibility there. Think of this next time you flop the top two pairs and try to get tricky. My opponent called and we see a turn of 7 and he checked, I bet a further 500 and he called reluctantly. The river brought an ace and he bet 250 (a fraction of the pot). As I don’t know this player, he had to have made a bigger hand on the river so I do some advertising and pass my busted top 2 on their backs. He responds by showing me AQ off (nice start Russ).

Nothing much happened then until my BB when I flopped a set of sixes on a board of AQ6. I put a weak lead into 6 players – one of them must have an ace or something worth playing. All pass and I win a tiny pot. I raise with pocket 3s the next hand into 6 limpers and pick up that one uncontested (I was getting fed up with limping especially from Dewy). I stole the blinds from the button with trash and had won 3 pots in a row, was this the start of a rush? When everyone folded to me in the cut-off it would be rude not to raise and I did so blind (I did moody a flick of my cards). The big blind doubled my raise (he had been active in a lot of the pots and was definitely a "player"). I checked my cards to find T2 off and as Doyle Brunson was sat 2 tables to my right, the omens looked good (He won the WSOP with T2 on two occasions). Besides, I don’t raise to just fold without a fight, I was confident I could outplay him on the flop or turn anyway. The flop came AT4 and he checked as did I ( I was not going to fall for a check-raise bluff). The turn came a brick – check, check and the river also bricked off. He checked again and I did as well, knowing I had the best hand. He tossed his 95 off over and said “you win” and I had to show my monster. Now, many of you will find yourself in this position against me or other aggressive players and will bet the turn or the river. This is exactly what we want you to do so we can check-raise you and take the pot with a re-bluff or check-raise steal. If I had moved on this pot at any stage he would’ve definitely made a move on me, he was that type of player.

Four pots on the trot and now I pick up QQ to an early position raise, I re-raise for information purposes. At this stage I would have laid down the ladies to a re-raise as I don’t like big early confrontations but I got called and saw a flop of QJ5 rainbow. He bet at me and I again re-raised only to be called very quickly. The turn brought a ten and he bet a fraction of the pot (this was the same player who had hit an ace on the first hand) - I was certain he had AK but I had the correct odds to call to fill up. The river brought a king, he bet a little more and I folded my set. A lot of the chips I had won in the last 4 hands had just been lost in one big hand! Give me rags any-day, I can play them but give me big hands and I get crucified. All my hands were coming around the button or the blinds which is the best position to be playing from, so I was not getting the marginal hands out of position.

On my next big blind, the tight UTG player raised and was called in five slots and I took the flop with 66 (trying my best to not think about the satellite on the Monday). The flop came down K86 with 2 clubs and I checked planning to check-raise. The man UTG bet 500 and was called then re-raised to 2,500 (by the same man who had just beaten my set of queens), the 2,500 was then called by a man playing his first pot. After a 5 minute thought and torturing myself routine, I fold my set and they are heads up. The turn brings a club and the man who called the 2,500 won with his nut flush vs set of 8s. This may seem a routine pass given the betting pattern but it took me a while to convince myself that my set was behind, not just up against a big draw or 2! I wouldn’t have been willing to commit a large percentage of my stack against a flush draw anyway but I was happy with my read. The next 40 minutes was mainly me getting "creative" against the tighter players with no hands or dancing around a few pots as I prefer to call it. I had got my stack to 17k with 3 minutes to go to the break and was feeling good when I look down UTG at a pair of black aces. I put in a feeble raise that was absolutely begging to be re-raised and it is folded to the BB who finally re-raises me! I pump it again and he gets stubborn and calls. We see a flop of 89T with 2 clubs. He checks after thinking about a bet and I check back. The turn brings a red 7 and he checks quickly as do I. The river pairs the 7 and he now bets out. I think for a couple of minutes and decide I have to call and he shows me A7 to win with trip 7s.

I played this hand so bad I cannot believe it. The board was very scary for aces on the flop and even worse on the turn – and yet I still played him on the river!

I put in a crying call, hoping he had KK or AJ/AT on the river when really I knew I was beat. If I had been the aggressor on the flop or the turn I would’ve taken the pot down anyway. Once again, give me rags and I can play like a genius, give me a big hand and I will find a way to misplay it.

The next hand is dealt and the break starts in less than one minute and I look down at a pair of fours. UTG again raises and we have 4 callers so I decide to try and flop another set. The flop shows a 943 rainbow. I check and UTG bets 500 (please have an over pair!), this was then called by my nemesis from the whole of the first level. I announce raise and say “I’m not sure how much yet”, I throw in the 500 followed by 2375 (I like to vary my bets so not to be too predictable). UTG passes and nemesis man announces all-in just as the break is called. Nobody leaves the table as this is our first all-in on here. There is the possibility of course he could have 99 here but the way he played the set of 8s earlier tell me that’s highly doubtful. Whenever faced by a big call to make though I like to be absolutely certain so I say "I have already passed 2 sets to you and I don’t think I can pass another" to which he looks horrified. I call and he flips over 77. Turn 5, river 6!!! It only happens on the internet right? I tell the dealer to pay the man and go for some much needed nicotine.

I return to a stack of less than 3,000 having had 17,000 two hands before the break. Now many people will criticise the play he made with 77 but I can see his thinking and will give credit for this play. He knew I was a player and he had just seen me get aces cracked. I was likely to be making a play at a decent pot with a draw or maybe no hand at all. I was the BB and would need a monster to call his all-in. It’s not his fault that I had a monster and it’s nobodies fault that the runner-runner came. He made his own luck and I have no problem with that. I hung around for 20 minutes or so and eventually re-raised all-in with AK clubs after an early position raise with 3 callers. Unfortunately for me, Dewy had limped with aces knowing he was likely to get a raiser from somewhere. I have played some events where I have played for 8 or 10 levels (maybe 15 hours play) without connecting with half as many flops. Today it was not meant to be, simple as that. I would love to say I played great poker and got unlucky but that’s simply not the case. I didn’t get the chance to play good poker. The cards slapped me in the face before bending me over and greasing me up. I could almost hear the duelling banjos from deliverance as I left the arena. David Williams took my seat and continued to be dealt good cards (his very first hand was aces) and he hit set after set. Inside an hour he had over 80k in front of him and was the chip leader.

New Orleans was a great place to visit and I actually did some tourist things for once. I made some new friends over there from the American circuit and it was good to watch both Buzzer and RayVon go close (at least Buzzer cashed in). It was also good to have a few friends from the European circuit over and the week would have been unbearable without them. I have never felt so deflated after an event as I really didn’t get a chance to play. I am not used to going out early in any event I play as I have the ability to pass big hands and usually just refuse to go out early. I am also used to losing my chips making a move or having a re-steal go wrong. Getting outdrawn to lose most of my chips is an unusual experience for me! I am not used to being in front when I call, I am usually the raiser.

It’s now time to regroup before the WSOP main event where I’m positive that I will cash I’ve had four of these big buy-in events in the last 6 months without a big payday and its time to put the record straight.

Till next time.

Ariston