The conclusion of my 2011 WSOP main event trip report is now appearing in the October issue of 2+2 Magazine. We’re down to Day 6, and needless to say, things are starting to get tense:
“The last hand before a break, especially a dinner break, always means fireworks. Some people are eager to fold and get out of the room, which makes other people more inclined to steal, which makes other people more inclined to resteal. Ranges get wider and sometimes it just turns into a pissing match.
I was dealt 9’s in the CO, which are exactly the sort of medium-strength hand that can be tough to play with that sort of dynamic. The action folded to me, and I opened to 60K. Marc called on the Button, and the blinds folded.
We got a J62 flop with two hearts. I bet 85K, about half the pot, and he raised to 225K.”
Read on to find out how I navigated this and other dicey spots on my final two days in the tournament!
Must read… work firewall… how I hate thy!
“Whoah!” John shouted. “Now we’re playing poker!” He extended his fist, and while I’m not generally inclined to celebrate, I do respect my elders, so I gave him a bump.
After reading this I was saying “no!” in my head, and “don’t make concessions as a writer” etc and was inclined to write a polemic philosophical tract as to why we shouldn’t respect our elders by default. Then I read the next sentence. Set me up and knock me down hahaha. good stuff
Heh, thanks. I don’t actually respect my elders anyway 🙂
Great read!
You talk about making a mistake in not calling with AQ.
Obviously cards face up its a mistake.
I am curious what you think your mistake was in actually making the decision?
Like looking back what you would have done differently.
You say you didn’t include hands like what he had J10 in his bluffing range.
Sure it was a mistake not to include J10 since that’s what he had, but given your limited sample size can you really say based on what you knew about him that it was a mistake not to include hands like that ( at least in making a logical analyses about his hand range I don’t think you can say that was a mistake, maybe you disagree)?
but if that wasn’t the mistake what else could you have done differently?
I clearly made a mistake in analyzing his range. Whether I actually had the information I needed to avoid that mistake is harder to say. Bah, a J was probably coming on the turn anyway.
Yeah my firewall at work is blocking it too. Can you post the whole thing here!?
Sorry, 2+2 gets exclusive rights to the articles for three months. I’m only allowed to post an excerpt.
Hey andrew,
Congrats again on the great run. I like the 99 hand. I also like how villain probably has a ton of FE on the turn if he raises since I can’t see you having much of a donk/calling range here – as I’d expect you to play AJ+ differently (either by checking to induce turn, or 3-betting flop small).
Though I could be wrong 🙂
I was snap-calling a turn shove, in fact my bet was to induce. I don’t think a check induces a bluff very well at all. Not sure what my bet-folding range would be, actually, maybe a much weaker pocket pair or something? I might not have one- as I said I thought he would check turn almost always, so not a lot of reason for me to bet a weak hand.
How are you playing AAh and AJo on the turn?