Main Event Madness

WSOP blog

by ‘Hollywood’ Dave Stann

Well, that’s all she wrote, people. Sure, over the next few days another cadre of poker superstars will begin to fill the litany of gambling lore as the WSOP Main Event comes closer and closer to its conclusion. This year, for the first time, there will be a 4 month break before the final table is played out while America (and the world) comes to know 9 new faces. But unfortunately, yours truly won’t be one of them. Time to pack up and go home — nothing to see here, people!

Oh, i tried. Valiantly. Day 1d was a slow but steady battle uphill, as i turned my 20,000 starting chips into 51,000 glorious shots at the title. But it was not to be, as the last level saw my 2 pairs of Jacks cracked (once by A5 and another improbably by a more than dominated J9 offsuit), as well as a badly timed AK and AQ go down in flames. I finished the day with 4150 chips — yes, you read that correctly. 8 big blinds going into the Day 2b 250/500 blind level. Fuck me.

The last 20 minutes of day 1 i tried like hell to find any ace, any pair, any 2 face cards to ship my money in on — i’d be damned if i had to wait 3 days to come back to 10 minutes of play on day 2. But it was not to be, and i found myself folding every variation of 96off i could find until play ended for the day and i found myself bagging my measly 7 chips — 4 1k chips, a $100, and 2 $25s. Sick.

Chip average going into Day 2b was about 44,000, so i knew i was a long shot at best. But lo and behold, fast forward 4 hours later, and yours truly is sitting on nearly 80,000 in chips!! Hell yeah, bitches! What can i say — KJ, 9T, and 33 were good to me (and what choice did i have — i only had AA twice in 2 days and got no action on both, and besides the 2 cracked Jacks, had NO other big pairs the entire tournament), providing key double/triple ups and the perfect moments. To be honest, i played some of my best poker that day, never once giving up or throwing my dwindling stack in with any two cards. This was the Main Event, baby, and true champions do not fucking give up!

That is, until my table starting filling up with a series of sick hyperaggressive European internet donks. Give me a break — these guys seemed so amazingly eager to get their entire stacks working with 5 high all too often. Despite doubling thru elkY several times, he eventually caught lightning in a bottle to take me out QQ over 99 in the last hour of play for the day. Yup, despite turning 4k into 80k, i was out at the hands of a guy who insisted on playing 86, 35, and the like to huge bets and raises preflop and even AFTER the flop despite completely MISSING the board and relying solely on sick turn/river raises and an arrogant belief that he could outplay the devil no matter what he held. The sad truth is, despite doubling me over over and over, it actually took him getting a real hand to take me out…

Another strange point to my Day 2b was that my longtime Girl Friday, Tiffany Michelle (of Pokernews fame) was moved to my table early on. Of all the gin joints, she got moved to my table! Strange to play against someone who knows every poker move you make, and whose very poker thoughts i can read as plain as day. We stayed away from each other for the most part (sorry i had to 3bet you with that AKsooooooted hunny) but hey, at the end of the day she was still there and i wasn’t. All i have to say is, now that she’s in the money — that 3% trade never looked so good! Goooooo HotChipz!

So, what now? Where to go from here? World Series Europe again? Back to Aruba? I guess. But I’d be lying if i didn’t say that this tournament — the main event — holds a special place in my heart, in the heart of all poker players who have played it. And despite making the top 20% of the field, i know that I’m just not gonna be happy til i have a really deep cash in this thing. All the other wins are nice, but this is really the one that counts. Ah shit, who am i kidding — i’m not gonna be able to rest til i’ve gone and won the whole damn thing. It’s true. Sure, its the sickest longshot under the sun, but you know what? I’m good enough….I’m smart enough…and dammit, people like me!

Rock on, bitches –

-hd.

badboy of blackjack online!

www.HollywoodDave.com