The starting table looks a bit like a villager's meeting in Middle Earth. Men and women of all shapes and sizes adorn the seats. I can tiptoe along today and try to make it, but, if the situation permits, I may just open her up a bit today, and try giving it some welly.
An Asian surgeon on my left makes it 3k preflop out of a 40k stack when someone opens to 600. When the hand is done, he wins the pot and in doing so tables 85 suited. Get me a pen. Level 2 at present, and 225/232 remain with people buying in until level 9.
Whilst I'm playing, one guy who was on my table, and stoned, in the WPT a few days ago, just came over to say hi. Nice enough guy, however, basically a complete stranger, but about 2 minutes into the conversation, he alluded that if I'd like to put him into today's tournament. then he'd be willing to play it. I politely declined, and he went on his way. Poker people are so nice! Imagine little old me being singled out for such a great opportunity...
I made the break, but this is muppet-heavy territory. I've seen some truly ugly stuff in the first few levels, including Q2 offsuit calling a 1400 preflop raise out of position and winning the pot, and 86 offsuit 4-betting and ultimately winning when he made a pair of sixes when the dust cleared. The people who say how next-level poker has become clearly haven't played in these events too much, as it still seems to be crash bang wallop in this joint.
Level 4, and 225/264 at the moment. I'd dropped to 33k by virtu of being sensible and then releasing when a nutjob bet out massively, but I started pushing back with decent combo-draws and premium hands, and I'm back to a healthy 42k again.
The guy on my right has been chatting a lot. Gun laws, how intelligent an octopus is, men playing in ladies poker events, the list is endless. I'm sure he's a nice enough guy, he certainly seems so, but headphones and focus are more my MO today, it's not that kind of a chatty table. Most of the conversation between the occupants is, to me at least, pretty mundane. Which famous players people have sat at the table with, notable tournament hands... you get the idea. I'm just a grumpy old bastard I guess.
Plus, I just got asked if I was Australian. Of course I am. We sound exactly the same.
Level 5 nears it's end, and 4 players limp for the 500 big blind cost of living. The comparatively short-stacked actual big blind then ships his remaining 12k into the middle with... 93 offsuit. QJ decides it's worth a call for 1/3 of his stack, and busts him.
I just flopped the nut straight, and had to give it up to an all-in shove from an unsmiling sunglasses, hat, and headphone wearing robot after the board ended up double pairing. Marvellous. Back to 35k again.
Next break. We come back at 400/800/800 with 225/327 players. I haven't seen too much, and have to let 2 overs and a gutshot go on the flop as the raise is too expensive to continue. I get the chips back shortly afterwards when I flop top 2 with AQ and get a bit more aggressive myself.
It's not been a picnic on this table, no one is getting crazily out of line at this stage, but I just got semi lucky. In the big blind I called a standard raise preflop with 98. Flop comes 10 J Q heads up. It's not the nut straight, but I'll certainly take it. The raiser has a shortish stack, and after a bit of metaphorical gunfire, we get all the money in the middle, with me having him covered by over 2;1. We go over, and he shows QQ for a flopped top set... eek!
A brick on the turn and river, and our hero busts a player, and gets up to an all day personal best of 53k. On we trudge.
Approaching the third break now, and I'm still on around 50k. Little has happened of note, apart from us losing junior with the backwards hat, shades, earbuds, and questionable hand selection. He reraised an early position raiser, and then called the 35k shove preflop at 600/1200/1200 with....AQ offsuit. He was crippled by AK, but the interesting part to me at least, is it never looked like folding was ever in his locker preflop for any amount of chips. At all. Unsurprisingly, he's now out. Kids today.
Last hand before the break and I find KK, and opt to trap by flatting an early raise. The under 30 experts will scoff at moves like this. But, as Shakespeare once said "bollocks to them". Sometimes, you just have a feeling. Or at least, I do, anyway. It ends up being a 3 way flop, with an ace as the first card out. I make a small probing bet just to flush out the baby pairs, and the original raiser then makes it 15k! I fold, as does the other player, and he proudly shows his pocket aces, for a flopped top set. I guess I've still got loads to learn about how to play kings.
Back from the 15 minute break and alternate 238 has just been seated. We now stand at 225/427 players today with more still incoming. I'm on around 40k, which isn't great, but I take comfort in knowing if I'd played KK the way the brain trust advises, I'd be driving home by now. Plodding...plodding...
Meanwhile, half the table seems to have gone into shove-monkey mode after the break. I'm not sure if they fed something weird into the A.C during the interval, but one guy just raised to 3500 with Kd 10d (fair enough), gets shoved on for around 50k, and then decides and declares "I'm going to gamble", and calls off his entire stack with it. He flops the flush draw (ugh), but bricks out and promptly busts. This, ladies and gentlemen, is why these things are still good value to play. People just set fire to their buy-in like this on a regular basis. I'm not going to stand in their way, but I am going to scratch my head at their methods sometimes.
Almost at level 11, and I've bled down to 29k. Might be time to start swinging in a bit.
Obviously I'm a professional bok.
I flop a flush with 6h 5h and let a card come off. The original raiser checks, I check, and the big blind bets 10k. I let a blank come off on purpose, so, if two of us have flopped a flush, then I'm unlucky. It's pretty rare. The original raiser flats the 10k, and I decide I can't call and risk another heart coming, so I jam for 26k total. The big blind now shoves, the other player mucks, and we go over to give me the bad news. He has also called with suited cards, but his queen flush beats my baby flush, and that's that, with 200 players or so left.
No regrets. Those spots are ugly but rare, and my only out was folding preflop, which, for the raise wasn't going to be easy. That was that, and goodnight one and all.