Ceasars 5K and relaxing

After the last 2 weeks of non-stop stress and entertaining, I have decided to play the 5K at Ceasars and then relax for a week. There is still plenty of things I would like to have done to the house before the WSOP, but I will be squeezing in lots of gym trips and video games in the mean time. Eric has promptly addicted me to NHL 09, so Im sure I will be heading to the store to purchase it.
The main event at Ceasars was pretty uneventful as myself and everyone I had a piece of has been elimanated. The field was very weak for a 5K, but a couple of coolers and a missed combo draw sent me packing. The hand histories are not that exciting, but I am going to write a blog soon with a couple of them as well as days 5 and 6 of the WPT main. Till then I will be playing online, sleeping, or at the gym

Justin "robert07" Young

WPT Championship and Venetian Crowning Jewel

My buddy Nick flew into town in hopes of sweating me on the TV table for the WPT Championship. I unfortunately fell short, but not all was lost. Shannon Shorr squeaked through to ensure a fun sweat. Shannon's family also came into town to support him. His family and friends were very nice and extremely ready to get rowdy near the TV table. Shannon was able to double up when 1010 held against 66 and was actually 2nd in chips with 5 remaining. But a tough spot with AJ left him with 15BB to where he pushed all in from the SB with 7c6c. The chipleader called with 44 and somehow the board bricked out. While Shannon celebrated with his in town guests we still had some more sweating to do. Eric Baldwin was chipleader with 13 to go in the Venetian $2500. We proceeded to get uncomfortabley drunk as we watched him take down the belt for 200K. Congrats Eric.
I cannot begin to tell you how nice it is to have a group of friends that are very good and all have different points of view to the game. Talking through hands with Shannon, Katz, Adam, Eric and Cody have vastly improved my game.

Justin "robert07" Young

Day 5 and 6 of WPT Championship

I am just going to give a quick overview of the last two days. Due to my departure in 8th place I dont feel like rehashing the details.
Day 5 started well when I won a sizeable pot with KK vs QQ. I then put a bad beat on Marco with AQ vs AK to put me up to 5M. I then busted Owen Crowe with 7s3s vs AA on a 9c3c3d board. I was up as high as 7.1M, when I doubled Scotty up with two pair vs 3rd set. After that I put another bad beat on a player with AK vs KK. I ended the day with 4.2M.
Day 6 did not go very well for me. I made a handful of small mistakes that allowed me to bleed down to 11BBs at 60k/120k. I shoved numerous times without getting called to keep me afloat. Then Rast opened from early and I found 99 in the SB. I didnt think I could lay it down so I stuck it in. Rast called with QQ and I was crushed for my tournament life. The flop came with a 9 only to see the Q on the river.
Overall I played pretty well in this tournament, but the last 4 levels I went a little card dead and made numerous mistakes. Im sure I will break some of them down in a later blog. Congrats to Shannon Shorr for making his 1st TV table.

Justin "robert07" Young

Day 4 WPT

With the Bellagio tournament rules stating that we redraw every 9 people, I wont try and tell you who was at my table for each hand. Just know there were 45 really good players and about 9 average ones to start the day.
I got a gift early when "The Mouth" raised in the cut off and Hyman calls on the button. I look down in the SB with AA. I 3 bet, Mike shoves and Hyman tank folds JJ. Mike showed QQ, and the board ran out 952JK. The pot put me over 1M for the first time in the tournament.
After a table change Rast opens UTG and a short stacked Owen Crowe went all in for 217K. I found two queens in middle position. I actually contiplated folding due to Rast's small range UTG, and the 5 players yet to act behind. But I made the call, and Jen Harman tanked for 5 seconds and stuck her whole stack in the middle (about 380K). Rast tanked for a couple minutes and folded. I was forced call knowing Jen had KK, due to getting 4.5 to 1. The board bricked for me, but Crowe flopped a set, and Jen won the side pot. Shortly after I fired two big barrells into Jeff Madsen, which he had no problem calling with 2nd pair and no kicker. I began the next level with about 400K and actually fell to 300K during the 8k/16k round. I raised UTG with 4h3h to 42k and a short stacked Liv pushed all in for 130 total. I apologized for the bad beat and called getting 3 to 1. She showed KK, but the board ran out 10h7h6d9h5s giving me both a straight and a flush. I got moved again shortly after and made a nice full double with AA vs 1010 AIPF. The pot put me around 1M where I treaded water till the last level. At 12k/24k UTG raised to 80k, MrSmokey1 called from middle, and I looked down at the aces again. I put 290K out there and prayed for a 4 bet. UTG folded quickly, but MrSmokey 4 bet enough to pot commit me. I stuck the rest in and showed KK for a cooler. The turn gave him a gutterball, but I dodged the 6 outs on the river to put me over 2.1M. I began to open much lighter and chiped up as high as 2.45m, but ended the day with 2.25m good for 4th in chips. The remaining field is extremely tough and I know I shouldn't expect to be on the right side of coolers so I need to bring my "A" game today. Another post coming on Friday.

Justin "robert07" Young

Day 3 WPT Championship

My table draw certainly wasnt the worst in the room, but if was rough going with players like Jen Harman, Johnny Chan, Blake Cahill, Alex Keating, and Mike DeMichelle at my table. A failed attempt at a float and a 3 barrel into top set put me down to 440K fairly quickly. Then at 1.5k/3k Johnny Chan raised to 7k, I looked down at two black kings and elected to just call. Jen and Mimi Tran both called as well in the blinds. Flop was Jc3h2c. It checked to Chan and he bet only 14k. I again played it slow to see how the blinds would react and just called. Jen called and Mimi folded. The turn was a good card for me, the 2d. Jen checked and Chan bet 45k. I did not see much value in raising here either and just called. Jen got out of the way and the river was a 7h. Chan quickly bet 55k into a pot of 175k. A smallish raise probably should have been the play, but I elected to call. Chan showed AJ and I was up to 600k. I slowly built my stack to around 700k when Mimi opened from middle position and 2k/4k. Cahill called as well as Mike D. I looked down at 1010 in the BB. Mimi was playing pretty nitty and a 3 bet would pot commit me to her push, so I just called the raise. The flop was A33 rainbow and I was ready to check fold. But it checked around and a 6c hit the board. It checked around to Cahill and he fired just under half pot. Mike D. called as well and a bluff seemed like a good play. I put them both on medium aces and figured I could represent a 3 or even 66 with a check raise. I put an additional 60k on top and waited for the chips to be pushed my way, but Cahill called after a 2 minute tank. Mike D. folded and the river was a Kd. The king didnt change anything, and I figured one more shell would do it. I fired 150k in the middle and Cahill snap calls me with AQo. It was a very nice call of my well thought out bluff attempt. Then a fun hand went down in the 3k/6k level. Mimi opened in middle to 16k, Mike D called as did a wild frenchmen. I looked down at AJcc in the SB and hesitantly called. The flop came down Jh8c6s. It checked to Mike D and he bet a tiny 25k. The frenchmen called as did I, not knowing where I was. The turn was a 2h, and myself and Mike D checked. The frenchmen fired 80K leaving himself exactly 150k behind. Thought about raising, folding and just calling, but elected to passive approach and just called. Mike D. sprung from his chair and counted us both down. He stacked out chips for a raise then acted like he was going to fold. And then he just called. The river was a 3d and I decided to try and control the pot and put Mike D in a tough spot. I bet exactly half of the frenchmens stack in order to have the appearance of wanting the betting reopened to me if the frenchmen pushes. Mike D quickly called and the frenchmen insta mucked. I announce AJ???, having little idea if it was good. Mike D again leaped from his seat and mucked his cards. The pot put me around 800k. I ended the night with 732k good for 15th in chips and 73bb. Another update will be coming on Thursday.

Justin "robert07" Young

Prelims, In-Laws, and WPT Championship

I woke up last Monday feeling very refreshed and ready to play, so I decided to play the 5K at Bellagio. Despite a very hard table that included Deeb and Sorel I was able to chip up to 46K from the 20K starting stack. Then at 200/400 I look down at two red aces. I go to make it 1050, but misclicked to 2050. I immediately cringed and did not expect any action. Jason Lester repoped it from the SB, which created an easy ship knowing he could not fold getting 2.4 to 1. He turned over AKdd leaving me a big favorite to win the 50K pot. But the board ran out K54K2. The beat left me with 22K. I played super nitty to ge to the final 3 tables, but eventually had to ship with AJo, Dorin found AK and sent me packing.
I played 1 mega to get into the main event, but the A game was not there. I busted in level 3 and was ready for a break from poker. Luckily my in-laws were coming into town to visit and look at the new house. We decided to take a trip to the Grand Canyon, which I had never been. He had an absolute blast. No picture does the Grand Canyon justice. It was an incredible experience. We hiked down and around the canyon for 2 days soaking up the views. The mini vacation convinced me to try and play the 25K WPT Main Event. I send a text to all my friends I thought would take a piece of me. To my suprise they all responded, and I ended up selling much more of myself than I intended. I was very flattered that they would buy a piece of me so I did not turn anyone down.
Day 1 had me seated with Evan McNiff, Brian Rast, 3 very solid players and 3 huge fish. Considering the field I was very pleased. I chiped up very slowly just taking smallish pots from the weaker players till the end of the night when Bill Edler sat down 2 to my left. UTG (a very good player) raised to 1700 and 300/600. I looked at 5s4s in middle position and called. Edler reraised to 5100 from the button, and after UTG called my call was pretty standard. Flop was Jc7h3h. I was ready to check fold, but Edler checked behind us. The turn was a 5d giving me a pair and a gutter. UTG checked and I bet 9200. Edler quickly raised to 24200 and UTG folded. Thinking it was near impossible for him to have a set in that spot I called. The river was a 7s, and I checked without any real plan on what I was going to do if he bet. Edler tanked for all of 5 seconds and stuck it all in for about 55K. If I called and lost I would be down to 70K, which was still over 100 BB at the time. So I went with my gut and called with 3rd pair. He mucked his hand, shook my hand, and began to walk away. I tabled my cards and Bill peeked back to see what I had. He came back to the table to shake my hand again for the nice call, a true class act. I ended the day with 231K, putting me in the top 10 in chips. Also while I we were waiting to bag up for the night we ran 2 blind PLO hands for $500 a person. I scooped both deals and walked away another 3k richer.
Day 2 had me at a table with Gavin Smith, Amnon, PearlJammer, Bobby Suer, and David Grey. Tougher than the day before, but given the stack sizes a very good draw for me. After winning a handful of small pots I got up to 300K. Then David raised UTG and everyone called except for Gavin. I was calling with any 2 in the BB and I looked down at 87o. The flop was K54 rainbow. UTG+1 bet 5400 into a 18K pot. Amnon called behind and I had a decision to make. I felt UTG was very strong I thought I could bust him for about 150K if I hit my magic card, so I called as well. The turn was gin and the 6s fell. I checked, and UTG+1 bet 11500. Amnon quickly raised to 35K giving me a dream scenerio. I elected to go ahead and raise trying to get the money in before a scare card could hit. I made it 85K, UTG+1 mucked and Amnon announced all in. I called and he had 23 for the bottom end straight. I was very active after that causing me to get paid off by Gavin Smith and Bobby Suer when I flopped 3 of a kind in each hand. The 2 knockouts lifted my stack to 600K with 2 levels to go. In level 9 I looked down at 22 UTG and raised to 4200 (at 800/1600). Middle position had about 200k total and raised to 11200. Deciding to set mine I call the 7K. Flop was 6s5s3d. I checked and he tanked and checked behind. The turn was a 4d giving me a straight. I lead 16k and he quickly announced raise to 45K. I felt there was a small chance he had 77, but AKdd seemed most likely, so I called. River was a 3c pairing the board. I checked planning to call any bet. He fired 50K, I called, he showed AA. A very very wierd line to take with the hand, but the pot put me over 725K. In the last level I made a couple iffy bluffs including a cold 4 bet with seven hi. Needless to say it did not work out and I finished the day at 621K. Good for top 5 in chips. Day 3 updates will be coming tonite/tom morning.

Justin "robert07" Young

Avoiding Malaria and Tournies

I got a room for Morgan and I on Monday and Tuesday, thinking it would be fun to play poker and hang out with friends without worrying about driving home. I busted out of the 2k pretty early after losing 2 flips and decided to play cash games until the NCAA Final. The only open seat was in 200/400 mix, which I am probably a marginal loser. But the lineup looked fairly soft so I sat down. I made a couple huge mistakes in Stud Hi/Lo Regular, but was close to even. Then I lost with three consecutive pat hands in 2-7 in very big pots, got scooped twice in Stud 8, and missed 3 draws at a wheel in A-5. My bad luck and less than stellar play put me down an additional 10k. I decided to play blackjack to blow of some steam and hopefully get a few free drinks in me. Unfortunately I slowly but surely lost $9400 without much of a sweat. This not only tilted me more, but caused me to lose a personal bet to myself meaning I owed Morgan an additional $440. I put a bet on MSU money line and headed to my room to yell at the TV. The game was all but over in the first 8 minutes as UNC destroyed the Spartans. I figured the only way not to go broke was to play the nightly $330 tourny. They got a whopping 17 players, paying 3 places. With Morgan by my side I proceeded to get drunk and take down 3rd place. I got up the next day a bit hungover and headed over to the Venetian for their $330 tourny. I turned 12k into 50k and then into nothing in a matter of 3 hours. I went to the room to relax until dinner time. Eric, Mary, Morgan and myself went to Palms for some Mexican cuisine, lovely cocktails and a movie. "I Love You, Man" was funny and certainly better than any Vin Diesel movie. We headed back to the Bellagio to find some free drinks at a cheap blackjack table. Gin and Tonic was the drink of choice. Eric pointed out that one of the ingrediants in tonic water was quanine sp??. Apparently quanine helps prevent malaria. Once we learned this fun fact we decided to reduce our risk of getting the disease for the rest of our lives. Appox. 5 hours and 20 drinks later we stumbled to bed. I went home on Wednesday and started to detox. I played a few online tournies with nothing but a shollow cash in the 8 game SCOOP event. Im going back to the casinos on Friday for the $1500 at Bellagio.

Justin "robert07" Young

Tournies, Baseball, and the SCOOP

I played the 2K event at Bellagio last week. I got a couple very nice gifts early on putting me up as high as 35K at 200/400 blinds. But as we got closer to the money my cards went ice cold and every time I tried to pick up a weak blind I was 3 bet. I ended up calling Nick Binger's all in 3 bet with 33. It was a very marginal call for an additional 22bb, but I was frustrated. He flipped up A10o, for a race. The flop was clean, but Nick used his magic: packed up, said "Good game" and of course the Ace peeled on the turn. I was left with 8bb, and I shoved with K5o. I was called by A7o. I packed up, said "Good game", and boom a King hit the turn. I motioned it was due to the packing up and the poker gods punished me with an ace on the river. Out 15th and 9 got paid.
We were planning on going to an exhibition game on Friday, the Mariners vs the Rockies, so I just played a little bit of cash games before we went. In the 4 hours I did not win any pots at show down. I didnt get involved in any big pots, but was still stuck 4500. The game was a lot of fun except the fact it was very cold and windy. Most of the crowd we were with did not want to stay past the 3rd inning, but we pressed on all the way to the 5th. We left with the Rockies up 5 to 1.
I used Saturday and Sunday to play the full slate of online tournaments. With PokerStars having the SCOOP events there were big events with big prize pools. I went deep in the 200 1r1a PLO. I was 2nd in chips with 24 to go and 65k going to 1st. I raised up front with QhJc9h8c, and got 3 bet by the button. We both had enough chips to see a flop and I was very sure he had a big pair that was connected. The flop came down Qs7h3h, giving me top pair and a flush draw. As long as he didnt have AA and hearts or a set I was in very good shape. I lead pot and he shoved the remainder. I called and he showed KKQ10 with no hearts. So I could win with any J,9,8 or heart making me about 60% to win. The board bricked out and I lost half my stack. I few hands later I called a raise with 7655 single suited. The board came out K76 with two diamonds, giving me two pair. It is a tough situation to lead, check call, or check raise. I elected to check raise 80% of my stack and he shipped the rest. I called hoping he had big diamonds, but I was wrong and he showed KK for top set. I think the proper play is either leading with intentions of giving up to any raise or call, or to check call 1 street and give up to any other bets. My line was probably the worst you could take. I ended up 19th. That was painful and was the highlight of my weekend. I bricked every other tourny, and was stuck 8k for my efforts.

Sunday Tournies and Spade Club 500

I went over to basebaldy's house to play Sunday tournaments with the intention of playing a light slate so I could watch my first WPT episode. Due to very little success and a few glasses of scotch, I changed my mind and played a bit more than planned. One of which was the 2nd 100 rebuy on Stars. Luckily for me I ended up 4th in the event giving me 16k and a winning session.

I decided to play the $500 Tournament at Bellagio, the Spade Club Event. I had always thought that it was for invited guests only, but was informed otherwise. Unfortunately I was not informed to the correct time, as I showed up 2 hours early. After lunch and a roof top discussion with friends I still had 40 minutes to kill. So I fell in the trap of playing blackjack. I lost $1500, meaning I would have to finish 7th or higher to break even. This motivated me to play ultra aggressive during the whole tournament. This style of play stole me numerous blinds and antes and put me in some marginal positions. With this style I was chipleader at dinner break, at the money bubble, and at the final table. Then a guy with 300k raised to 25k at 4k/8k blinds. I looked down at two black aces and smooth called in position. Flop was QdQs3d. He checked and I bet 40K, he went all in and I called. He turned over two red dueces and I was 85% to have half the chips in play early in the final table. The board ran out 4d, 5d giving him the flush and me reason to order another scotch. I ended up getting in my last 10bb in with 55 vs the same guys KJo. Flop was Jack hi and I was out 8th. Very dissapointing, but very happy with how I played. I will be playing a lot of Bellagio's tournies, so I'll keep you guys updated.

Justin "robert07" Young