WSOP 2008 - Day 2D - Rollercoaster

After dinner the blinds go up to 150/300 with a 25 ante.

Not much happens for an hour apart from reraising from the small blind with QQ after a standard button raise, which gets me 1500 - then I play a couple of hands with "the King".

Hand 1 - I am getting a bit bored so raise with KQ both clubs from mid position. Unfortunately the King calls from the cut-off and everyone else folds. Flop is Q75 with 2 hearts so I bet 2K - he calls. This makes me nervous. I think he is good enough to fold a heart draw, but may be he has Ah so fancies seeing another card. Turn is a 9. I am a bit of a wuss and check and he does too. When an A comes on the river I check again ready to fold, but he checks too - I show my KQ and he shows one queen too. Not sure if this is a moral victory.

Hand 2 - This costs me a ton of chips - perhaps I could have played it better. I am dealt AK both diamonds in late position and I raise a limper to 2k and the king calls from the button. The limper folds so the pot is about 5k. Flop is AQT with 2 spades. I am pretty sure the king will bet so I check and when he bets 2k I reraise a further 5k on top. He then goes back over the top for another 10k. This is pretty much 2/3 of my stack so I am going to have to go all-in or fold. I dwell for a bit and decide to fold - was this wise or weak - I don't know.

Anyway this means I only have 12k at the final break and when we resume with 200/400 blinds with a 50 ante I am struggling. I manage to limp with KQc and when the flop comes 467 all clubs I call a 1.5k bet hoping to catch a break on the turn - but it is 9d and when he bets 5k I have to give it up. I am now down to 8k and looking for an all-in spot.

At last I get that quality hand K7s and decide to reraise Chris Lee who has limped from late position. I pile all my chips in the middle, everyone else folds and he thinks for a bit then folds saying that he does not think I would not make the move without a strong hand. All that tight play earlier pays off.

A few hands later I get 92 in the BB and when there is a min raise plus call from the SB I decide to take the substantial pot odds and call. The flop comes 876 with 2 diamonds and the gifted amateur bets a derisory 2k. He does not have many more chips than me, so I figure him for a draw, so decide to go all-in. The original raiser folds and he thinks forever before folding.

I am starting to claw my way back when I pick up QQ in the big blind. I decide to just call a 2k raise from GA - I think he is pretty much pot committed so he won't be folding to a raise, so I'd like to see a flop. Sure enough when an A comes he bets out and I make a pretty easy lay down.

Then with 30 mins to go I catch my big break. I have AQ in the big blind and the Milwaukee kid makes a standard raise from mid position of 1500 to go. Chris Lee just calls, so when it comes round to me I decide to push. MK starts thinking and I am pretty sure he must have AQ AJ or a lower pair than QQ - because by now he has a big stack so does not really need to get involved. He mutters a lot and then folds. However when CL calls instantly I know I am in trouble - and he flips AK. I can't believe he just called with that hand given how aggressive he had been all day. However a beautiful laydee appears on the flop for me to suck out horribly and pull in a stack of chips. This is slight justice because he inflicted a similar beat on the king earlier.

I keep out of trouble and on the very last hand of the night I pick up AJ both hearts. I raise and get 2 callers and the dealer flops me a nut flush. Rather stupidly I bet 1500 and everyone folds in a hurry - but never mind I have 32,000 chips to take into Wednesday - yippeee!