O-Poker

I am feeling a little better after having a little time to reflect on the WSOP. I was playing great poker, making great reads and getting some (much needed) big field deep stack live play experience.

Day 1 (1st table)

Seat 1 - Online Qualifier that had obviously never played live before. He always anounced his actions with "Raise," "Re-raise," etc. The funniest thing that he did was announce "RAISE!" whenever he was the first one into a pot after the flop. I looked around the table after he did this the first time and noticed the "licking the chops" look on a couple of the other player's faces. I don't think he ever put in a three bet other than an all-in, but I can imagine that he would have probably said, "I re-re-raise"

Seat 2 - Online freeroll winner from Sweden that played a ton of pots. I remember him raising from early position with QJo and making bets at the pot on a Jack high flop after getting called on every street. He would not back down once he started and had some huge swings.

Seat 3 - Me

Seat 4 - Former Assistant Tourney Director to Matt Savage at WSOP 2004; runs a card room in Northern Cal. He played a lot of pots and I got the feeling that he tried to prey on the players that he thought were weak-tight. (perfect for me since I wanted the table to think I was weak-tight.)

Seat 5 - Tiffany Williamson

Seat 6 - Don't remember much about this guy. He didn't play many pots.

Seat 7 - Hyper-Aggressive Pokerstars Qualifier. He was involved as the aggressor in a ton of pots early.

Seat 8/9 - Don't remember much about them - other than played tight.

Seat 10 - Made some huge unneeded bluffs into small pots. He took a stab at EVERY pot that he was involved in. He tilted a bit after Seat 7 called his bluff on the river with a flush on a paired board.

Interesting Hand 1
I hadn't played many pots other than limping a couple of times with small pocket pairs and suited connectors, missing and folding to bets on the flop. I didn't mind making the folds since the blinds were 25/50 and we started with 10k in chips. I was also acutely aware that these folds would make me look very weak-tight and I could use that to my advantage until the table broke.

First level - I was dealt 9c7c in late position and limped after 3 others had limped. 3 more limped behind me for 7 players. The flop came 9 high with 2 clubs. Checked to me. I bet 1/2 pot. Seat 4 calls. (He had been calling a lot of flops and taking down a lot of pots on the turn when it was checked to him.) The turn brought an ace - giving the board 2 spades and 2 clubs. I checked and he bet 300. I called. The turn brought the 10s. I checked and Seat 4 bet 600. I thought and decided that he didn't have anything and was just trying to take away the pot from a perceived scared weak-tight player and called. He said I was good before I turned over my cards.

Interesting Hand 2 (Tiffany Williamson)
It was interesting to have Tiffany Williamson at my table after all the hoopla surrounding her last year. Everyone wondered how she ever made it so deep last year. She was very quiet. The cameras came over for about 10 minutes and she didn't enter a pot or say a word. One thing I noticed was that every bet that she made was an overbet. (Example - Blinds 25/50. TW in the BB. Someone raised preflop to 150. Folds to her, she raises to 950.)

She had actually gotten a few chips this way and was probably around 11k near the end of the 1st level. The first break came and I made a mad dask for the port-a-pottys. After the break I noticed TW was no longer at the table and Seat 7 had a huge stack. The hand was described to me as follows by one of the players at the table:

BLINDS 25/50!!!!
Folds to TW. She raises to something like 450-500. Seat 7 raises to 1.5k. TW calls. 9 high flop. TW bets. Seat 7 (Super Aggro) bets all-in. TW thinks for like 10 minutes and calls off all of her chips during the 1st level with 1010. I do not understand how anyone loses all of their chips during the 1st level with 1010 unless it is set over set. How did she make it so deep last year?!?

Interesting Hand 3
(Hand that Loopy posted - but some details weren't right from how I explained it over the phone to him.)
Limped in late position with 77. Flop came 2d2h8d. Seat 7 (Super Aggro) bets 300. Folds to me. I decided that there was no way Seat 7 hit that flop. He had limped from early position. Before this hand he always raised from early position if he had a hand. I call - everyone else folds. Turn is 10. Seat 7 bets 1,500. I call. River is a 6. Seat 7 bets 2,000. Based on the way the guy was playing, I figured that he had missed his flush draw and wanted the pot. I also felt like he thought he could take the pot away from me because my perceived weak-tight image. I call and ask him hand. He says Ace high. I turn over 77 and he mucks. It was a big pot for so early. I no longer had a weak-tight image in the eyes of the solid players that were at the table and was able to use that to my advantage.

Interesting Hand 4
I was dealt QQ in the big blind. Seat 7 raised. Seat 9 (tight) called. I decided to just call with QQ and decide to find out where my hand is after the flop. The flop comes AK5. I check. Seat 7 makes a big bet, Seat 9 calls. I fold and probably save a ton of chips my not making a raise preflop.

My first table broke shortly before the dinner break.

Part 2 to follow later. (I'm not sure if anyone cares about this kind of detail in a trip report. My main reasons for posting this is so that I can look back on it later and to show my thinking during the WSOP.)