Event #6 ($215 w/ Rebuys) Recap

WCOOP Event #6 started with 2081 entrants and the promise of being one of the longest WCOOP events. We started with 2500 chips, but anytime you were at or below 2500, you could rebuy and add another 2500 to your stack. 7 out of the 8 other players at my table rebought before the first hand was dealt. I decided to hang back and feel out the table before I invested another $215. While most of the players were acting like rebuys cost actual money, two were treating them like they were free. One player, westmenloAA ended up spending in the neighborhood of $3000 on rebuys and succeeded in accumulating ZERO extra chips by the first break.

I spent most of the rebuy period folding unplayable hands, but I did pick up KK about 25 minutes in. Big pairs are like gold during a rebuy period and I easily could have found myself all in against one or two marginal hands. With blinds on 10/20 I raised to 60 and got called by 3 players. The flop came down 7 8 9 with two clubs. Not the greatest flop in the world, but it could have been worse. I bet out 240, got called by one player, and then raised all in by westmenloAA. I knew he could have anything so it was as easy call. I wasn't too surprised when the other player also called since I figured he was on a draw of some kind. When the hands got turned over the other player had A 10 and westmenlo had 5 6 making him a straight. Time to rebuy.

Towards the end of the rebuy period I dropped another 2500 when I lost 88 to KK. At this point I did a double rebuy giving me 5,000 chips and after the add-on (which gave me an extra 3000) I was up to 8,000 chips. 248 players were eliminated from the tournament (meaning they chose not to rebuy at some point) before the first break. About half way through the first hour someone had their stack up to over 50,000 chips, but by break the big stack in the tournament was just over 40,000. With 8,000 chips, 30 minute limits and blinds only at 25/50 (roughly the same chip stack and exactly the same blinds that the main event of the WSOP started with) I knew I was in for a long day.

Towards the end of the 4th level I had a little drama when my computer crashed and I had to dash down stairs and jump onto my lap top. I managed to work my way from 8,000 to 12,500 by winning a series of small to medium pots mostly with AK. I picked up AK five times during the 4th and 5th levels and won 4 out of 5.

During round 6 I made what I thought was a good lay down and missed out on a pretty big pot. With blinds of 100/200 I raised to 600 with KQ and got called by both of the blinds. The flop came down K 10 4 with 2 clubs and they both checked. This looked like a great flop and I bet out 1400 into the 1800 chip pot. To my surprise the small blind called and while I was thinking about what I was going to do on the turn, the big blind moved all in for 7500! If I was up against one of them I could maybe put that player on a draw, but I thought it unlikely that they were both on draws. I thought I might be up against 44 or K10, but even if I was up against QJ or a flush draw there was no guarantee I would win the pot. I folded, the small blind called the all in bet with 89 of clubs and the big blind showed KJ. Whoops. After no clubs materialized I saw the 18,000 chip pot that could have been mine slide into the big blind's stack.

I made some progress a few hands later when I picked up AJ of hearts on the button. The cutoff, who had over 60,000 chips, raised to 600, and after giving some thought to reraising I just called. The small blind also called and the flop came down J 8 2 with one heart. Sweet! Unless I was against an over pair I almost certainly had the best hand. To my surprise the small blind bet out 1,000. Normally the preflop raiser starts the action on the flop and it was a show of real strength to bet out like that, but I had a very solid hand. After the other player folded I made it 3,600 to go. I decided that there was no way I could fold this hand and I thought it likely I was up against QJ or KJ. I got called and the turn was the 6 of hearts. Other than an ace or a jack this was about the best card in the deck for me. There was almost no chance it helped my opponent and it gave me a flush draw to the nuts. My opponent bet out again (1500 this time) and I thought I might be in trouble, but I knew I at least had the flush draw so I moved all in. After some thought he folded I picked up a nice pot.

I picked up a few more small pots along the way and found myself with around 18,000 when the blinds went up to 200/400 at the start of level 8. I picked up AJ and raised it to 1200. Not that this impacted my decisions, but AJ had been a pretty strong hand at my table. In the past few hands one player had lost with KK and QQ to two different players who had called him before the flop with AJ. He was going on and on (for the most part correctly) about how stupid it was to call a preflop raise with AJ. So when he moved all in for his last 4,000 against my AJ, I figured he might be on tilt and I knew he would go bananas if he went broke against AJ. I called and he showed me 33. When an ace fell on the turn I'm sure his mouse paid the price.

I was up to 22,000 which was just over average with 660 players left and feeling good about my chances. Then I dribbled away a good chunk of my chips as I waited for some kind of hand. Some players are very good at picking up chips without much in the way of cards. This is not one of my strengths. Most of my advantage comes from accurately assessing the strength of my opponent's hand once I get involved. I'm not good at getting in there with garbage and making it work somehow. Thus when I have a long drought it can take a toll on my stack.

After what felt like forever I found myself with 15,000 chips, blinds of 400/800 and KQ on the button. The cutoff who was among the tournament chip leaders raised to 2400 and after a brief thought of moving all in I decided to call. The flop came down 6 7 8 and my opponent checked. I figured he had big cards and had missed the flop so I bet out 4,000. He quickly raised to 12,000 and I was forced to fold. All of a sudden I was in bad shape.

Before I knew it the blinds had gone up to 600/1200 and I needed to make a move with any kind of hand. After a few trips through said blinds, I was just under 6,000 (in third to last chip position in the whole tournament) when I picked up KQ in late position. The first player to act, who had a ton of chips, just called the 1200. I had hoped to pick up the blinds without a caller and I thought it very unlikely that he would fold to my pittance of a raise, but KQ was a good hand and I couldn't wait for anything better. I moved all in and got called by the small blind. I was expecting 3 way action, but the first player folded (maybe fearing a big hand from the small blind). I was fearing AK or AQ so I was happy to see him turn up 44. I was even happier when the flop came with a K. The turn was a blank and the river was...a 4!?!? DAMN IT! This was the worst way for that hand to play out. Although the result would have been the same if I hadn't flopped a K, this was the most painful way to lose.

Apparently Jenn (my sister), Damian, Mike, Jake and Matt were all watching and have indicated that they were also swearing when that 4 showed up. 270th place would have paid $1,184 so it would have been nice to make it that far. Instead I finished 363 almost 6 hours after the tournament started. I felt like I played really well in this event and it always sucks to fall just short of the money.