Posts Tagged ‘WSOP Europe’

If you’ve been enjoying my BCPC trip reports, be sure to check out my write-up from the WSOP Europe, now appearing in 2+2 Magazine:

Loose-aggressive play has become so common among the best players that many of them tend to assume that anyone who doesn’t open 50% of hands from the CO can’t be all that good. No American in the tournament is going to be bad, since we all had to travel quite a ways to play, but I think that playing the way I did gave the impression that I was merely competent and perhaps uncomfortable in deep-stacked spots. That’s a fine image to have as long as you know how to exploit it by stealing in spots they don’t expect.

As always, please let me know what you think!

Edit: Fixed the flop in the Vanessa Rousso hand, I didn´t river a full house obviously.

Busted third to last hand of the night, been going back and forth a lot for the last half hour about whether I like my call, but we´ll get to that in a second. Table draw was OK but my seat was rough, had the only two truly good players at the table both on my immediate left. One of them busted the other, which I was happy about until that seat was filled by Scott Seiver. Even in position, that guy is tough to play against.

I played what I think was a very good TAG game for most of the day and hovered between 90-120% of the average. With about half an hour to go, my table broke and I moved to a much softer table which unfortunately was next on the break order.

Third table was tougher than the second but softer than the first, though again my seat wasn´t great. To my left was a kid who exuded competence and was sitting on more than twice the average. I could tell from the way the table was responding to him and talking about him that he´d been very difficult to play against.  Read the complete post...

After all the hassle, the money did successfully make it to Cannes, so I am all bought in and ready to go! Play starts in a little over two hours, but I´m already having a great trip and have the beginnings of a trip report to share with you. I’m trying to set up Nico´s phone so that I can send occasional tweets, but since he´s in a different country it´s not cheap and I probably won´t be sending a lot of them. I’ll definitely update the blog at the end of the day though (and hopefully not before!) Until then, here’s what I’ve been up to so far (pictures forthcoming):

Our journey began at the tobacco shop, where naturally my continental companion needed to stock up on rolling papers, tobacco, and filters. Then we were on the road, zooming past revelers preparing to celebrate Fiesta Virgen del Pilar. The land surrounding Madrid is dry and brown, scorched by an eternal sun burning through a cloudless sky. Occasionally a crumbling stone cathedral set into the countryside would break up the monotony, but overall it was a dreary landscape, and I told Nico as much. He assured me it would get better.

It did. The brown hills turned green as we pressed northward. Mountains rose up out of the arid brush, and a dense fog clung to the horizon. We were in Basque Country.  Read the complete post...

Sorry I haven’t posted much this week, it’s been busy with moving from Canmore to Vancouver and sorting out logistics for the WSOP Europe. The good news is that I got to spend the night at the mansion occupied by fellow PokerStars Team Online member Kevin “Wizard of Ahhs” Thurman (pics forthcoming, this place is off the hook) and the people we’re renting from in Vancouver seem really friendly and accommodating.

Wiring money to the casino in Cannes was almost comically complicated and slow. The casino’s website listed an address to e-mail for more info, but I never got a response from them. I asked Jack Effel on Twitter and he gave me a different e-mail address which also went unanswered. Finally I found a third e-mail address buried in a 2+2 thread, and that person responded in broken English with some vague instructions that seemed to suggest I needed to e-mail a fourth person. I responded asking for clarification, concluding with “do I need to do X or do I need to do Y?” He wrote back a one-word answer: “Exactly”. I finally got the info I needed and submitted the wire transfer, but I haven’t gotten confirmation that it’s been received yet, so fingers crossed!  Read the complete post...

Edit: Corrected the prices below, forgot to update them when copy/pasting.

Almost immediately after moving to Vancouver, I’ll be heading to Cannes for the World Series of Poker Europe, most likely just the main event. Although I never considered this event worth traveling for in the past, I expect that the relocation to France is going to make it a very good tournament. I’m looking to sell up to 2/3 of my action at 150% markup. In other words, the buyin is 10K euros or about $13,563 US. With markup, shares will go for

1% = $203.45
5% = 1017.25
10% = 2034.50
67% = $13563

I’ve played nearly 1000 tournaments since January 1, 2008 with 149% ROI. Notable scores include 1st in an FTOPS $2K, 3rd in a WCOOP $500 1R1A, 5th in a SCOOP $300 4-Max, and five cashes in six years in the WSOP Main Event, including three finishes in the top 100.

Preferred methods of payment are PokerStars, Bank of America, ING, or Interac. If none of those are options for you, let me know and we’ll work something out.

Please e-mail me at andrew (at) thinkingpoker.net if you’re interested. Do NOT send money or assume that you have  a piece until I’ve written back to confirm, which may take a day or two.  Read the complete post...

I’m embarrassed to say that I’d never heard of Praz before I played with him during this year’s PCA, but I could tell immediately that he was a great player. He has this intense table presence that you rarely see, where you can tell he is studying everything that happens at the table, considering all of his options, and fighting for every pot he possibly can. Getting involved in a pot with him was intimidating, so it was no surprise how many blinds he was able to steal.

Like I say, I’m embarrassed I hadn’t heard of him, because it’s clear to me that he’s soon going to be recognized as a top-tier player. He final tabled the most recent WSOP Europe and now has won his second bracelet in a huge field $1500 NLHE tournament. I’m looking forward to seeing more of Praz, but hopefully not at my tables.