Poker News Video Interview

Poker News Hand Analysis

Let me explain for the record why I am wearing the ridiculous backwards hat in the video. I’d been wearing a hat all day, which I usually do when playing poker. They wanted me to take it off because the brim was casting a shadow over my face, but I had awful hat hair. So we compromised on a backwards hat.

There is always a modest amount of disappointment when it’s all over, but of course all in all I’m quite pleased with the result. I’m also very happy that for the first time ever I feel like I played through this whole tournament without making any big mistakes and with only a few small ones. That doesn’t mean that everything always went my way, but as they say you play the cards you’re dealt, and I believe that I would play most of them the same way if I had it to do all over again.

I was on the secondary feature table for the first few hours today, meaning both that I managed to secure an endorsement deal that brought me a little extra money and also that I’ll likely make an appearance on the ESPN broadcast of this tournament. One hand in particular is quite likely to be on there:

Gualtar Sallas raised in early position, David Baker called, I called with Ac Jc on the button, and the BB called. The flop brought Js 8c 6c, giving me top pair and the nut flush draw. The pre-flop raiser bet, Baker raised, and I moved all-in. Sallas folded after some thought, and it was about 600K more to Baker. It was also a very large pot, and he made a tough but probably correct call with QQ.

As the cameras swarmed, Sallas announced that he’d folded Kc Qc. Awesome. The turn was no help, but I binked the 5c on the river to win a 2.7 million chip pot.

This hand was actually misreported on the ESPN blog, where they write that, “Baker was able to get his opponent’s chips in the middle holding Q-Q to his opponent’s A-J on a jack-high board” but that “the turn and river would give Andrew Brokos the lucky runner-runner flush”. As I said, I actually had top pair and the nut flush draw on the flop, and absent the information that Sallas had folded the Kc Qc, I was in fact the (very slight) favorite.

I understand that there are a lot of hands to report and that mistakes will be made, but there have been complaints before that such mistakes are almost always made in favor of the more well-known player. In this example, the hand is reported in a way that makes it seem as though David Baker had somehow outplayed me (he “managed” to get my chips in) and that I got much luckier than I did to win the pot. This is a hand that was played at an ESPN feature table, was recorded by their cameras, and was witnessed by 9 players, several floorpeople, and multiple ESPN employees. It was a huge pot that took several minutes to play out on camera, and I have difficulty believing that any of them, if asked, would have misremembered such an important detail as whether I had a flush draw on the flop.

To be clear, I am not suggesting a deliberate misrepresentation of facts. I am suggesting sloppy reporting and an unconscious bias towards reconstructing details in favor of a more well-known player.

But never mind all that; I don’t want to end on a sour note. Today was an extremely difficult day at a table absolutely packed with very very strong players: Adam Levy, Eric Baldwin, David Baker, Peter Brian Jensen, Scott Clements, and a few others who I didn’t know by name but who weren’t making a lot of mistakes. To a man they were all consummate professionals, and no matter which way the pots went there was never any belly-aching, berating, cheering, or jeering. We all recognized how tough the table was, but we were always polite and friendly. I did have the good fortune to get moved away from that table eventually (leaving behind 2 million chips that had once been mine), and I meant what I said as I departed: “I am very glad not to be playing with any of you any more, and I wish you all the best.” I am certain that at least one if not more of the gentlemen I played with today will be among the November 9.

I know I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: I’m both very flattered and very grateful for the number of people, some of whom have no idea who I am, who have followed along and offered encouragement. Even when the other players at the table are friendly, it’s ultimately very lonely out there on the felt, and it’s great getting e-mails, comments, and text messages and just knowing that so many people are thinking of me. So thanks to all of you, and here’s to more stories to tell next year!

Sincerely,
Andrew

PS Also, here’s to Tony Dunst, who started the day with less than 400K and just finished with roughly 1.6 million. He actually inherited my seat at the Table of Death, and I’m glad to see that he survived it. Best of luck tomorrow, buddy!

Seat 1: David Baker (951000) NOT Bakes of FTOPS final table fame, I’m told
Seat 2: Andrew Brokos (1223000) table chipleader
Seat 3: Eric Baldwin (292000) Basebaldy online, 2009 Cardplayer player of the year, WSOP bracelet, UB sponsored player
Seat 4: Russell Rosenblum (152000) lawyer from Bethesda, MD; final tabled the main event in 2002
Seat 5: Brian Jensen (521000) 2007 PCA winner; played with him on Day 3
Seat 6: Rafael Sansrodrigo (440000) can’t find anything but chip counts
Seat 7: Breeze Zuckerman (738000) last woman remaining (I played with the second-to-last yesterday)
Seat 8: Paul Evans (305000) middle-aged guy, a lot of lifetime cashes, including two 2nd places in WSOP prelims
Seat 9: Adam Levy (1147000) Roothlus online, played with him deep in the 2008 WSOP, also UB-sponsored

Sure would be fun to bust both of UB’s horses today….

I call an early position raise with 22, and the SB calls also. Flop 7s 4c 2s. We all check- against better players I might bet here but right now I really felt like it was overwhelmingly likely these guys had nothing. Turn 3s. SB checks, other guy bets 26K, I make it 90K, SB folds, guy calls. River 3, guy bets 100K, I shove for like 300K more, he folds.

SB (TheOracleAA) open limps, and I check Q3s. Flop Q86, he checks, I bet 7K, he calls. Turn 3, he bets 16K, I make it 60K, he calls. River 3, he checks, I bet 200K, he calls and mucks.

I played another interesting pot with Oracle later in the day. He opened UTG, and I called UTG+1 with TT, everyone else folded. Flop 842, he checks, I bet 20K into 60K pot, he calls. Turn 3, he checks, I bet 75K, he calls. River 4, he checks, I bet 175K, he makes a crying call with JJ. That’s what I get for going for thin value in a tournament, but I dunno- we talked about the hand and he agreed he may well play 77 and 99 the same way. Honestly I thought even AK could be possible for him to call if he thought I was just barreling at it.

Much later in the day, the thin value betting worked out well for me in a weird way, though. Blinds 8K/16K, I opened to 42K with AKo on my button. SB folds, BB, this kid from Toronto who was acting like a huge douche, called. The flop came 3s 4s 6c. We both checked. Turn A, he checked, I bet 35K, he raised to 90K, I called. River 9s, he checked, and as I reached for chips, he told me not to go turning my hand into a bluff. I was pretty sure my hand was good and that he wasn’t putting me on a flush, since I hadn’t bet the flop, so I bet 200K. He instantly threw his hand away and started whining about how sick it was that I had gotten there and he shouldn’t have tried to get tricky on the flop, etc. That doesn’t sound like a hand that loses to AK….

So that was fun. Thanks for following along, and wish me luck tomorrow!

Seat 1: Vincent Chahley (167000) investment banker
Seat 2: Dorothy VonSachsen (112000) has final tabled WSOP prelims
Seat 3: Dimitri Rassam (529000) there’s an actor by this name, but he looks too young, as the poker player took second in a senior’s event at the Bellagio
Seat 4: Neil Tyler (220000) online player TheOracleAA
Seat 5: Andrew Brokos (487000) 4 for 5 in WSOP ME cashes
Seat 6: Steven Burkholder (356000) PiKappRaider online, won two FTOPS events, a WCOOP, and several Sunday majors, runner up in a $1500 PLO WSOP event
Seat 7: Gary Kostiuk (253000) no info
Seat 8: Lou Barlow (361000) not the musician. He won an online contest (not a satellite) to get his seat
Seat 9: Nikolay Losev (181000) a lot of deep cashes on the European poker circuit. I do like that his last name is “Lose EV” though.

Vincent Lodato 134,700 AMAZON/322/1
Andrew Brokos 503,300 AMAZON/322/2
Andrew Jeter 124,300 AMAZON/322/3
Simon Ravnsbaek 233,200 AMAZON/322/4 (couple of shallow cases on the circuit: WSOP, WPT, EPT, Aussie Millions)
Daan Slutter 172,900 AMAZON/322/5 (sponsored by Everest Poker, but only one live cash)
Spencer Hudson 167,600 AMAZON/322/6 (online player UHBigTex, won the Sunday Million, second in a WCOOP FLHE event, his P5’s profile lists JJProdigy as one of his favorite players WTF)
James Coca 121,000 AMAZON/322/7
William Schweinebraten 200,500 AMAZON/322/8 (5th in a WSOP circuit event, no other cashes)
Shane Rose 414,400 AMAZON/322/9 (LA live player, won the CA State Championships but no other notable cashes)

I stole more than my share of pots for a few hands, then made a questionable 4-bet shove with AKo. UTG+1 had raised to 2500, and I called with AKo next to his act. Then Brian Jensen re-raised to 8500, the raiser folded, and I shoved like 55K. He snap-called with KK, and then though I turned a flush draw, I couldn’t get there on the river. I probably should have just 3-bet the original raiser, and that would have had the added advantage of being able to get away if Brian cold 4-bet. Anyway, that didn’t help.

Not long after, I flatted a raise from a kind of active older Japanese guy with 99 on my BB. Flop was perfect: A92 with a flush draw. I check, he bets 4000, I raise to 14000, he calls. Turn A. I bet 30K, he puts me all in for like 75K total, I call and hold vs. his AQ.

I opened Qc8c UTG+1, and same guy called on his button. Flop Js9d4c. I bet 7K, he calls. Turn As, I bet 21K, he quickly calls. River 4s. He checked out of turn, and I was really tempted to fire at it, but this guy seemed loose and his quick turn call worried me. I checked and told him he was good. He indicated for me to show, so I did. He showed QT, and we chopped the pot. Guess I should have bluffed river, but what an awful turn call, especially since he wasn’t even going to represent the flush. Whatever, I was thrilled to get half back.

It was a while before I played another interesting hand. I pretty much ran my image into the ground. Vince Van Patten in particular was complaining about how I was fighting him for every pot. So I raised his BB with 75s, and he called. Flop came A52 with a flush draw. He checked, I bet 4400, he quickly raised to 20K, and I called. Turn 5, he checked, I bet 28K, he hemmed and hawed for a long time before folding. I showed him the 7c.

Image was still terrible a while later when I opened ATo UTG+1 to 5700 at 1000/2000/300. Kid who was kinda new to table and hadn’t done much (but had observed me being aggro) called. Flop AA9 with a flush draw. I bet 11K, he calls. Turn 4 makes a second flush draw possible. I check, he checks. River 9. I check again, expecting him to bluff counterfeited pairs and to value bet anything good enough to call a bet. He bets 15K, I raised to 60K, he tanks for a long time, calls, and mucks. I go to dinner with 300K.

After dinner, old Japanese guy had just gotten rivered and seemed tilted. Active guy raises to 3500 from early position, Asian guy shoves 35K, I call with AKo in my SB, first guy folds, I hold vs. A8.

Same active guy opens early position again, VVP calls, and I call 88 in SB. Flop T97 with a flush draw checks around. Turn offsuit 2, checks to VVP, he bets 20K, which is nearly pot. I call, other guy folds. River offsuit 9, I check, VVP quickly bets 35K. I think it’s very unlikely he slowplayed two pair or better on this flop and I can’t see him value betting a T here, so I called and won.

My next button I open to 4500 with K3o, Jensen calls in BB. Flop A42, we both check. Turn T, he bets 6000, I call. River blank, we both check, he announces J-high, I show and win.

Jensen raises early position, I flat AKo on my BB. Flop K62r, we check it through. Turn A, I’m thinking maybe I should have bet this but we checked it through again. River blank, I think about overbetting but settle on 15K, which is practically pot. He snaps and nods knowingly when I show the winner.

My next button I raise to 4500 with AKo on my button and Jensen calls. Flop AhTh5s. He checks and calls 7K. Turn Jh, he checks and calls 17K. River blank, we both check and again I show the winner.

Going into tomorrow with 503,300. Average is like 180K. Feeling good.

Danny Dam 198,000 AMAZON / 264 / 1 No info
Vincent Van Patten 174,200 AMAZON / 264 / 2 Celeb/Pro [wpt color commentator]
Thong Tran 57,100 AMAZON / 264 / 3 Vegas Pro w/ 3 cashes this WSOP
Cristian Busi 151,400 AMAZON / 264 / 4 No Info
Andrew Brokos 110,400 AMAZON / 264 / 5 philosopher
Michael Bunin 26,200 AMAZON / 264 / 6 no info [actor on TBS sitcom “My Boys”]
Brian Jensen 55,000 AMAZON / 264 / 7 pro from Denmark [won 07 PCA]
Vincent Elkael 25,000 AMAZON / 264 / 8 cashed Venetian deep stack 09 and 10
Dan White 56,900 AMAZON / 264 / 9 few small cashes 2009, non WSOP [active online player]

Play starts at noon PST with occasional updates on twitter.com/thinkingpoker…

Early on I doubled up with Q’s vs. 9’s on a 4h 4s 3h 2h board. We both had a heart, so he was in real bad shape there.

Then after getting a kind of aggro image I opened to 1100 with Ad 9s UTG+1 at 200/400/25. Two loose guys on my left call and decent tourney player on button makes it 4400. I 4-bet him to 12K, and he called quite quickly. I was ready to be done with the hand, but I flopped Qd 6d 5d, so I had to go with it. I get 16K, and he quickly called again. The turn was 4s, and at this point even if I knew he had a pair I was basically committed to the pot, so I shoved my last 25K. He tanked for a long time and made what I think was a good call with JJ no diamond. Unfortunately for him I drilled the Jd on the river to double up again.

Not much for a while, table got a little tougher, eventually an aggro French guy opened to 1900 on the CO at 400/800/75. I called ATo in the SB. Flop JJ6, I check-called 2400. Turn T, I check-called 4900. River 6, I checked, he bet 9000. The small size worried me a little, but eventually I decided he probably wasn’t three-barreling less than a J for a value, and he probably wasn’t betting that small with a J on the river, plus I was getting big odds. I called and he mucked.

That was really about it for interesting hands. I was card dead most of the day but I had cards when it counted.

Finished the day with 110K. Not sure the average will be but that should have me in very solid shape. I play again on Monday and hopefully every day thereafter. Have a good weekend!

Ralph Blanco 47,175 AMAZON / 353 / 1 no info
Andrew Fegan 49,325 AMAZON / 353 / 2 played some prelim events in past WSOP’s but no significant cashes
Brad Jarrett 99,000 AMAZON / 353 / 3 satellite qualifier who’s been running hot
Anthony Scherer 39,000 AMAZON / 353 / 4 16th the year that I finished 35th
Mark Marcellus 11,050 AMAZON / 353 / 5 won a live satellite two years in a row, 118th last year
Martin Perez 16,000 AMAZON / 353 / 6 cashed in a few prelim events over the course of several years
Andrew Brokos 26,500 AMAZON / 353 / 7 fish
Csaba Knokoly 54,100 AMAZON / 353 / 8 no info
Jay Keeler 29,950 AMAZON / 353 / 9 no info

If you recognize any of these names, by all means let me know! I’m really bad at matching names/faces with screennames that I probably know well and have played with many times. It’s just one of the disadvantages of being an internet donk at a live tournament.

Overall seems like it could be a pretty decent starting table. Not a lot of chips, so we’ll probably lose some people early on. Hopefully I’ll be on the receiving end of those chips, and then we’ll see who shows up next. I’ll be back on Twitter of course, sans “a” key (if you see it occasionally, by the way, it’s because my phone auto-completes words and sometimes I get lucky and it does that with an “a” word.)

There will most certainly be WSOP hands and a trip report, hopefully in quite a few installments!