Event 15

Another big showing. 2628 players.

I started at a pretty weak table. In the first hour I built my 3000 up to 5000 chips.

And then Harrahs/Rio/WSOP did something I found sort of strange. They broke my table and sent all 10 of us to other tables while simultaneously recreating my original table with alternates.

Normally the way alternates are brought into a tournament is to stick them into tables one by one as original players get eliminated. Someone gets knocked out. A seat becomes available. And an alternate goes and sits in it.

Instead Harrahs/Rio/WSOP tried to make things "fairer for the alternates" by allowing them to all start at the same table together. So that all the alternates would have an equal 3000 chips. The reasoning for this was that by starting together no alternate would have to sit with someone who already has a big stack.

This seems like a good idea. If you're an alternate.

But for people who bought into the tourney in advance this was a nightmare. I had to switch to a new table where I was suddenly seated with much larger stacks than my own. In other words, I had to experience the exact same disadvantage that Harrahs/Rio/WSOP was trying to have the alternates avoid experiencing.

Yes getting moved to a new table happens all the time in tournament poker. So I'm not complaining about that part. But what I am complaining about is Harrahs going out of their way to make life easier for the alternates at the expense of people* who went days earlier to the WSOP to sign up in advance. It's a disadvantage to have your table broken first. Thus it makes sense to me that the most fair thing is to first break up the tables of people who signed up later. Not earlier.

What I now know is I could have showed up at noon on the day of the tourney and bought in at the last second and this would have been an advantage. But I didn't. I took time out of my week to go stand in line. And rather than being rewarded for signing up early I got punished.

Who knew?

Are you sick of my whining yet?

As you might guess I'm complaining here because at my second table I just couldn't win a freaking pot. It didn't matter which side I was on.

If I had ace king the flop came 7,8,9.

When I had pocket 9's the flop came ace, king, queen.

And either way if I bet I got reraised.

It was just one of those days.

I was actually getting hands. (Ace king twice. 9's twice. Jack 10 suited. King queen suited) but nothing held it's own after the flop.

I bled and bled and bled away chips.

Meanwhile there was an aggressive player to my right who I was dying to get heads up with. He raised around 40% of the time. To his credit he was a pretty decent player post flop so he got away with playing so many hands.

With blinds at 100/200 he came in for his usual 600 raise.

I looked down and saw pocket jacks. Thank you.

Finally, my moment.

I push in for 1650. It gets folded back around to him. And we have the following conversation:

HIM: How much more? Around 1000?

ME: Yeah 1050.

HIM: I wish you had more chips so I could fold.

ME: I'm glad I don't have more chips because I want you to call.

HIM: I think I'm going to call.

ME: I want you to call.

HIM: You do?

ME: Yeah. We both know I have the better hand right now.

He had a huge stack so could afford to lose an all in to me.

He calls and turns over ace 10 suited. I was happy to see he only had one overcard. If I can just avoid an ace I should be good.

Flop is 3,6,8. None of his suit.

Turn is a 7.

River a 9.

Runner runner gutshot straight. Yep yep yep.

Not that it really makes a difference but why can't the universe just give him an ace and let him beat me with the higher pair?

Why make it a runner runner gutshot straight? Somehow that hurts more.

Now obviously this hand right here is the kind of hand that I need to win to go far in these things.

But I couldn't.

And that's that.

Not much else to say. I felt pretty good about my play. If I was a basketball team, I got good open shots. They just weren't falling.

* = myself