FYI

You may have noticed that the World Series of Poker has started. You may or may not have noticed that I am not there. Let me explain. I’m getting married next weekend, and since I really can only do about half a WSOP without getting burnout anyway, I decided to only play the second half of the WSOP this year. Rest assured, once I’m there I’ll be updating routinely in this space, as well as (God help us all) twittering updates as I play.

In the meantime, when I’m not doing wedding prep I’ve been trying to brush up on some of the games I don’t know as well. If I can manage to get up to speed on those games before I get to Vegas, then here is my likely schedule of events (subject to change, of course):

6/19: $2,000 Limit Hold ‘Em – Event 38
6/20: $1,500 No Limit Hold ‘Em – Event 39
6/21: $2,500 Mixed Games – Event 42
6/22: $2,500 Razz – Event 44
6/24: $2,500 Mixed Hold ‘Em – Event 47
6/25: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha 8/b – Event 48
6/26: $1,500 Limit Hold ‘Em Shootout – Event 50
6/27: $1,500 No Limit Hold ‘Em – Event 51
6/28: $3,000 Triple Chance No Limit Hold ‘Em (whatever that means) – Event 52
6/29: $1,500 No Limit Hold ‘Em – Event 54
$10,000 No Limit Hold ‘Em Main Event – 57

If I’m running good I may also throw in the $5,000 6-max NLHE event, but I expect that to be a very tough field, and will probably skip it.  And of course, making a few Day Twos would cut down on the schedule somewhat. Just think, I could go 0-for-11 and still be $10,000 ahead of everyone who played Event 2 and didn’t cash!

Good luck to everyone already at the WSOP. Try to still have some money left when I get out there…

WSOP Main Event, Days Five and Six

After I’d had a roller coaster Day One, Days Two through Four were relatively smooth sailing, with nice upward trends throughout. Day Five was back to the roller coaster.

I got involved in a big pot early when an obviously knowledgable player opened on the button, and I reraised from the small blind with AJo. The big blind folded, but then the button moved all-in for about 300k more. I started thinking about it, but I was getting around 1.9-1 and “call” was the favorite from the beginning. I did end up calling, and my opponent said “good call” and tabled QJs. Someone at the table called this the “best call he’d ever seen,” but really it was a pretty standard call for me, and I routinely call for worse prices with less. Unfortunately my opponent hit a flush on the river and I got knocked down significantly from my starting stack of 1.126 million.

I was at about 700k or so going into the last hand before the first break. The “best call” guy opened from early position. He got one caller, and I called in the big blind closing the action with 75o. The flop came 752 rainbow. I checked and the raiser bet 50k. The other player folded, and I made it 160k. My opponent called, at which point I put him on a big overpair–one I didn’t think he would fold. The turn brought a six, two-suited to the board. I bet 250k, and my opponent announced “all-in” for 506k total. Obviously I was a little more worried at this point, but equally obviously I couldn’t fold getting 4.5-1 when I still thought there was a very good chance my opponent had aces or kings, so I called. Surprising pretty much everyone at the table, my opponent rolled over 87s (he hadn’t turned a flush draw). The river bricked out and I was suddenly back up to 1.468 million.

I got moved to a new table and got to tangle a little with an old buddy of mine–Phil Hellmuth. If you’ve never played with him, Phil is as big a pain to play against as you’d expect, and he’s doubly difficult once everyone is in the money (as we were), because at that point no one is allowed to wear headphones. Lord did I miss my headphones on Days Four-Six, but especially at this particular table against Phil. Phil got to the table and started shaking everyone’s hand. He got to my seat, and I was in the process of raising my button. “Play your hand, Matt,” he said. “Thanks Phil,” I said, almost inaudibly. I finished my blind steal, shook Phil’s hand, and then I don’t remember him being friendly to me again. I opened in early position with two sevens, and Phil called in middle position. The rest folded. The flop came 422 and I bet. “You know what I have, right?” Phil said. At that point, I pretty much knew he was folding. He showed two fives and laid it down. I showed him my hand, which might’ve been a mistake. A few hands later, Phil opened from the hijack on my big blind, the rest folded, and I reraised with ATo. He showed A8 and gave a long speech about how everyone always played back at him.  He then folded. I showed him an ace, which only convinced him that he’d laid down the best hand. A bit later, I raised in middle position with JJ, and only Phil called in the small blind. The flop came TT7 and Phil led out small–only about a quarter of the pot or so. I raised to about four times his bet. He said, “OK, I’m gonna try to blast you off those nines. Raise it up.” This was one of those spots where I could beat a bluff but not a value raise, and had almost no outs if I was behind. I was going to move-in or fold right then and there. I strongly felt that Phil had trips, and I’d been going with my reads for several weeks at that point. So I went with my read again and folded. Phil didn’t show his cards, but he did say, “I’m only 90 percent sure I had the best hand,” whatever that means. Soon our table broke, and I was thrilled. One of Phil’s greatest strengths is his pyschological warfare, and I didn’t think I’d handled it all that well. Live and learn.

In one of my first hands at my new table, I got AA UTG, and was ecstatic when the guy to my immediate left put in a big reraise. I moved all-in when it got back to me, and he called like a shot with pocket queens. The board didn’t dare insult me, and I went to the dinner break with about 1.7 million in chips.

After dinner, the following things happened:
1) I played an unraised pot with 76s, flopped two pair and busted the guy who got it all-in with his flush draw.
2) I folded two pair–aces up–in a freakin blind-on-blind situation, after I bet the river and my opponent raised. The flush had come in, I viewed my opponent as very tight/solid, I could only beat a bluff, and I just didn’t think he had the “all-in bluff-raise against a guy who has me covered” in him. I still think I made a good fold, but if I had to pick one hand from my career where I could somehow magically find out what my opponent had, this would be the hand.
3) I got it all-in blind-on-blind with top pair-queen kicker vs. top pair-ace kicker, against a player who clearly could’ve had a hand worse than mine.
4) I raised from the hijack, and Ylon Schwartz moved in on the button for 389k total. I called getting about 1.9-1 with KQ, and Ylon showed AT. The ace on the flop made things not so interesting and Ylon doubled up. In case you haven’t noticed, Ylon has yet to bust from this event.

After that crazy last level, I still managed to have 766,000 going into Day Six. This was well below average, and represented a stack size of only about 25 blinds. But I still had a positive frame of mind, and thought I had a great chance to do some damage with only 79 players remaining.

It wasn’t meant to be. After blinding and anteing off a bunch of chips, I was down to only 20 blinds when a player opened for 100k on the hijack. This player and I had been talking about Australia, where he’s from, and stoxpoker.com, the site I coach for, as he was throwing in his raise.  It folded to me on the button with A7o, and I thought I had a wonderful restealing opportunity, and so I moved all-in. It folded back to the raiser who said, “I have a pair, do you have a pair?” I didn’t say anything (I never do) and he thought about it for a while before finally announcing, “call.” I said, “I guess I need to hit an ace.” But it turned out I needed to hit either an ace or a seven, as my opponent had made a gutsy call with pocket threes. After the hands got rolled over and we waited for the cameras, we resumed our conversation about Australia and Stox. Did I mention this was the same guy who slowrolled me on Day Four? I told you I didn’t hold a grudge. The flop paired high, and I had a whole bunch of outs going into the river. In fact someone said, “he has a whole bunch of outs.” The cameras were in my way and I couldn’t even see the river card, but I had a feeling it was bad when the same guy then said, “that’s not one of ‘em.” I looked over and confirmed that my fate had been sealed, shook my opponent’s hand, and headed for the payout room. Hours later I was on a plane back to New York.

I hope you all enjoyed reliving my WSOP run with me. Now it’s time to move back to the present. I’m playing the North American World Poker Tournament this weekend (assuming it hasn’t sold out or something), and will do my best to update my progress both here and on FTSweat. Best of luck to everyone playing poker this week.

WSOP Day Four

Day Four started with 474 players, which made the average chip count 288,776. Bearing that in mind, here’s the table I drew:

B01-1: Matt Matros – 822,500 
B01-2: Mitchell Smith – 332,500 
B01-3: Frank Chimienti – 175,000 
B01-4: Denny Lee – 162,000 
B01-5: Brian Hansen – 634,500 
B01-6: Helge Pedersen – 517,000 
B01-7: Eric Tom – 218,500 
B01-8: Alan Jaffray – 908,500 
B01-9: David Saab – 321,500 

Five of my eight opponents were above average, no one was short, and one of only 13 people in the tournament with more chips than I had been drawn to my table. That was bad, but it got much worse when the 2 and 3 seats busted and were replaced with David Benefield (on my immediate left) and James McManus (not the writer, a different guy), another tough player, both of whom had very large stacks. A reporter mumbled that our table had more chips than any other table in the tournament.

I thought it would be tough sledding, and I was right. The entire table, it seemed, was tough and aggressive. I played a bunch of difficult hands, but two were especially memorable. With blinds of 2500-5000 and a 500 ante, I opened for 15k with AJo in the hijack. Only the big blind, an aggressive player I’d played with a little on an earlier day, called. The flop came J86 rainbow. My opponent checked and I bet 21,000. He check-raised to 58,000. I had a pretty big hand for the situation, so I called, planning to call again on the turn and possibly the river. The turn was a deuce, bringing a backdoor flush draw, and my opponent surprised me by checking. I thought my opponent would’ve check-raised the flop for value with many worse hands than mine (worse jacks, middle pairs, etc.) and that he was probably planning to call a turn bet with them. I bet 85,000 for value. My opponent check-raised 105,000 more to a total of 190,000. Now I was in a very odd spot. I don’t like to value bet and then fold to a raise, but I’ll certainly do it with the worst hands in my value betting range. But something about the big blind’s story didn’t completely add up. Obviously I didn’t give him an overpair without a preflop reraise. He could’ve flopped two pair, but it would be strange for him to check the turn with such a vulnerable hand, and stranger still to make the small check-raise. I thought he either had a set or was bluffing/semi-bluffing. With this read, and knowing my opponent was aggressive, and getting 4-1 on my money, I decided I couldn’t justify a fold. I called, waiting to see what he did on the river. The river brought a five, and my opponent bet 210,000 into the 530,000 pot. I hated the river card. I thought my opponent’s most likely semibluffing hand was a straight draw, and 79 got there on the river. To be fair, 9T was still no good, and the backdoor flush draw hadn’t got there. I was now getting about 3.5-1 on my money, but of course my opponent’s most likely hand, based on the action, was a set. I took a long time and was legitimately on the fence about this river decision. When I’m that close on a decision, I usually go with my instincts. My instincts at the table, at that moment, were that my hand was good often enough to justify a call. I didn’t care about “maintaining my chip position,” or about “losing a big pot with one pair,” or anything else. I only cared about making the most positive-EV decision I could with the information I had. I called. My opponent said, “good call” and rolled over ATo for a complete bluff. I have to credit him with a hell of play that really almost worked. After the hand, I had about 1.2 million in chips.

The second memorable hand was a button vs. small blind confrontation. With blinds of 3000-6000 and a 1k ante, the button opened for 18k. I made it 60k in the small blind with pocket threes. The big blind folded and the button called. The flop came A54 with two diamonds. I bet 85,000, my opponent called. I thought his most likely hands were a medium ace or a flush draw. The turn brought an offsuit six. Picking up the open-ender, I decided to fire another semibluff. I bet 175,000, and my opponent called again. At this point I no longer gave him a flush draw, and thought it unlikely that he had even a medium ace. Now I had him on AK or AQ. The river paired the six. I thought this was a bad card to try to bet. If he had what I thought he had, he would be unlikely to fold after the board paired and none of the draws came in. I checked, giving up. My opponent thought for a while, and eventually checked behind me. “You must win,” I said. “No,” he said, “you win.” I rolled over my hand. Let me repeat that. I ROLLED OVER MY HAND. He said, “that wins.” I looked over at David Benefield (we’d sort of become friends over the past few hours) in shock. But then my opponent said, “oh wait, do I win?” At that point I knew I’d been slowrolled. He turned over 8d5d. He’d flopped a pair and a flush draw, turned a gutshot to go with it, and somewhere along the way forgot that a pair of fives beat a pair of threes. I never get upset at anybody, but when he tried to explain what he’d done I said, “just shut up and take the pot.” A few minutes later he tried again and I said, “dude, I don’t want to talk to you anymore.” At that moment I thought I’d be mad at the guy forever (as you’ll see in a future update, it turns out I didn’t stay mad at him). I was down to 800k again.

How did I work my stack back up? No really, I don’t remember, how did I do it? Reading over old updates…ah yes, “Aces Again for Matros.” They don’t mention that I probably played them like an idiot. With blinds of 5k-10k with a 1k ante, the button (yes, same guy) opened for 30k and I made it 90k from the small blind. David Benefield called everything cold from the big blind. The button folded. The flop came J75 with two hearts. I bet 130,000. David called again. The turn brought an offsuit deuce. I checked, intending to induce a bluff. (I don’t remember if I was planning on check-calling or check-raising, sorry.) David checked right behind me. The river brought the eight of hearts. The flush draw and several straight draws came in, not to mention that 88 just made a set. I’d had David on queens or jacks preflop, and I still thought both those hands possible. Of course, I only beat one of them. If I bet and got raised, I would be in a very tough spot against a very tough player. And if I bet, would David even call with two queens? Probably, but possibly not. I didn’t think he’d call with tens or nines. And he was certainly tricky enough to have the nut flush (I had black aces) or even T9 or 69 for a straight. I decided to check and call. David checked right behind me again. My aces were good. We’ll never know how many bets I missed. 

At that point I had about 1.1 million, and our table broke. I did mental cartwheels. Unfortunately I got moved to the slowest table in poker history. It took us about 20 minutes to play the final hand of the night. I’m not kidding. And the guy who had the “huge decision” was getting some enormous price and he had an overpair. I’m not kidding. I ended Day Four with 1,126,000.

This thing took longer than I thought it would to write, so Days Five and Six will have to wait for another post.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: The Run Ends

Well, I’m finally out in 78th place on Day Six of the main event. I made every play I saw. I went with my read every time, whether it meant calling, raising, or folding. I focused every day. I left it all on the felt. (And yes, I got good cards. You have to, to make it that far.)

I’m heading home now. Thanks to everyone who’s been sweating me the past few days. In case you’re interested, the people to root for (assuming they’re still in) are right coasters Paul Snead and Victor Ramdin, and Stoxpoker guest coach Garrett Beckman. Good luck, boys. Wish I was still out there with you.

I promise some longer posts soon.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: Another Main Event Update

I had a bad last level today, highlighted by a 1 million chip loss in a blind-on-blind pot with top pair vs. better top pair, and augmented by an 800k coin flip defeat. Also today, I lost a million chip pot as a 2.5-1 favorite, and a half million chip pot with 77 vs. 44 vs. 22. Despite all this, I also busted two different players, both times by flopping two small pair, and I was fortunate enough to get AA vs. QQ, so I’m still in this thing. I’m down to 766k, which is the smallest stack relative to the blinds that I’ve had in the entire event. That said, I still have 25 blinds, which at this stage of almost any other tournament would make me an average or even above stack. Besides, I’m better with a  smaller stack anyway. Today wasn’t so good, but I’m thrilled to be in a position to have a shot. Tomorrow is a brand new day at the office. Wish me luck.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: Main Event Update

They finally gave us some downtime in this tournament, so I’ll post a quick update here. As most everyone reading this probably knows, I’ve made it to Day Five. There are 189 people left, average stack is around 725,000, and I have 1,126,000. I’m pleased with my position, but there are a ton of great players left in the field, and I have very far to go before I can even sniff the big money. I’ve run really good so far. I can’t believe the number of times I’ve been dealt aces or kings in my last two tournaments.

A few corrections for those who read about some hands in the updates. As far as I know, they wrote about three hands that I played, so it’s about right that I need to correct the write-ups for two of them.

On the AJ hand where I called 210k on the river, my opponent did not have A8 for second pair. He had AT for ace-high.

On the 33 hand, it didn’t “appear” that my opponent slowrolled. He slowrolled. I turned over my hand, he said, “that wins” and then said a few seconds later said, “oh wait.” That’s the definition of slowrolling. I never get pissed at anyone at a poker table, but when you slowroll me in a 650k pot in the main event of the WSOP, you go on my permanent shit list.

Anyway, it’s back to work tomorrow. My Day Four opponents were, by miles, the toughest opponents I’ve faced so far. I only expect it to get worse from here. Wish me luck.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: Touching Base

I’m sorry I’ve been silent in this space since my final table. To be perfectly honest, I’ve never been more exhausted in my entire life than I was after those six straight days of long hours of poker that culminated with my sixth-place finish in event 51. I rested for two days before I had to play the main event, but I hadn’t totally recovered and felt feverish and dead-tired through most of Day 1C.

The good news is I’ve had three days off since then, and I’ve been sleeping a ton, and I finally feel great. I go into Day 2B today with 66,475 in chips, safely above average, for now. That could, of course, change in an instant.

I’ll be updating my chip stacks on FTSweat, and I promise a long WSOP post when I eventually get finished out here. For now, I’m just trying to focus on my routine, and my game. Wish me luck.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: A Big Thank You

Thanks to everyone who rooted me on and sweated me at my final table. I’ll write more later, but I’m extremely pleased with the way I focused throughout this tournament, with the way I went through each decision carefully, and with how I wasn’t bothered by any of the final table microphone and camera nonsense. Obviously I was hoping for a better result, but I really think I did my job as best I could.

Let’s hope I’ve got one more deep run left in me, and let’s hope it starts this weekend (Saturday, to be precise).

Matt Blogs the WSOP: $1500 NLHE Updated Update

Yeah, I made the final table. You might be able to watch on ESPN360 tomorrow. I’m going to sleep now for a bit.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: Out of $1500 NL

I got it to 160k after only a few hands today, but unfortunately that was the highest my stack ever got.

With five or six tables left I doubled through Men Nguyen by running JT through his AK, but he eventually got more than even for that suckout. With four tables left, Men moved in for three blinds and got called. I isolated with AQs and the caller folded. Men had A9o and won. A few hands later, Men moved in on my big blind for 104k (ten blinds) and I called with 55. Men had T4s and won. Down to less than two blinds, I got it all-in blind-on-blind on the next hand with 75o vs. 74o. I lost.

Though the end was pretty disappointing, I’m glad I made another run and gave myself another chance. Also, I almost got even for WSOP events with this mini-score. Almost. Also, I’m almost talking myself into playing more of the tournament circuit again after this month out here. Almost.

Tomorrow: Limit Hold ‘Em Shootout