top of page

Vegas: June 13th, 2009

Written June 18th, 2009


A great time was had by all that came, but we'll have to wait until next time for our first gold bracelet...

Rey Laguardia (Joe Niner...winner of our Promotion), Kevin Zis (kzis71), and myself headed to Vegas on the 12th to play in World Series of Poker event #28.  There were over 2600 players with a prize pool of over $3.6m (first prize: $660k+).  Jonathan Libiran (Triskelion1) also joined us in the event.  Here's a summary of how we did...

Rey wasn't able to get much momentum.  We all started with $4500 in chips. After patiently waiting and getting moved to several different tables, he was starting to get a little low.  He was down to $2500 in chips and was looking for a hand to start building with.  He got his wish when he was "blessed" with AA.  With a pre-flop raise to him prior to the flop he got all-in against JJ, putting himself in great position to double up.Unfortunately, a Jack came on the flop sending him to the rail.  He did get a chance to play against Paul Wasika (2nd place finisher in the 2006 Main Event) at his last table.

 

Kevin lasted into Level 4 (4th hour of play).  He was card-dead for all 4 hours so he found himself getting short with $2300 left.  He was in the big blind with a big stack bully to his right.  All fold to the button who goes in for 600. Small blind (big stack) calls. Kevin looks down and finds pocket queens.  Unfortunately, I forgot to tell him that it is impossible to win a hand in the WSOP with QQ :-)  so he goes all-in. The button thinks but then folds.   The big stack small blind decides that his 6-7 offsuit is worth a $1700 call. The flop comes 8-9-10 giving him the straight!  Ugh! Unfortunately a Jack didn't save Kevin and he was sent to the rail.

 

Jonathan made it to Level 6.  At his table was Dennis Phillips (3rd place finisher in the 2008 WSOP Main Event).  At one point, Phillips doubled up 

through Jonathan.  However, Jonathan had the last laugh (and a story to tell) when he later busted Phillips from the tourney!  Nice work Jonathan.  He later ran into a 

dry spell and eventually was eliminated.

 

I got going with my best WSOP start to date.  I built my stack up to about $6500 after the first hour.  I got moved to a new table and while I was stacking my chips on the first hand I'm dealt pocket 7s.  There was a small raise and a couple callers so I called to see the flop.  Flop comes 7, 5, 2.  I hit top set!  I check.  The original raiser goes all-in for $6000 (huge over bet).  It folds to me, I call out his hand (big 

pair) and make the call.  Now with top set I'm feeling pretty good....until he turns over his hand...pocket queens.[Note: QQ has knocked me out of 3 WSOP events, so you can say they are NOT my friend!]  I honestly didn't like my chances at that point! lol...  Well, he didn't hit his 2 outer so I doubled up!  2 hands later, I 

look down and I've got AA.  There is a raise and a call before the action gets to me.  I re-raise.  The original raiser goes all-in (with A-9 offsuit) for about $2k more.  The other player folds, I call and knock the guy out.  After that hand our table broke....so in 3 hands I go from $6500 to about $17,000!  I decided that it's time to shift gears and tighten up a bit at the new table.  I didn't play much for about an hour and tried to get a good read on the table.  I had identified a couple of weak players that were willing to chase and make bad calls.  Those were the people I wanted to mix it up with.  I finally got my chance against one of these players when I called a small raise with QJ suited and got heads up.  Flop came QJ2 with no flush.  Guy bets, I make a good size raise and he calls.  Turn comes a 6 (still no flush).  I make an even bigger bet trying to win the hand right there (I put this guy on a draw...chasing, or maybe AQ or AJ).  He makes the bad call.  The river comes a 10.  He checks, I bet (putting him almost all-in).  He raises all-in for a tiny amount more.  At that point, I figured he got there on the river.  There was about $12k in the pot and I was forced to call his final ~$600.  He turns over AK...he hit his gutshot on the river.  Ugh!  My bets were definitely large enough to get a good player off of that hand, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.  That

brought me down to about $8500.  I made it to the dinner break (end of Level 6) with about $8000.  Blinds were $200-$400 with a $50 ante.  I would only have a few more shots to make something happen and I decided I needed to try to double up over the course of the next hour or so.  I waited patiently, missed on 

a couple hands I limped into, and found myself down to about $3500.  I decided I've got to find a hand to push with to either steal the blinds or double up.  I found a good spot...late position it is folded around to me and I'm holding A6.  I push all-in and run into AA.  Ugh!  There was a little excitement when I hit 4 to a flush on the turn, but it wasn't meant to be and I was eliminated.  I think I ended up at

about 800 out of 2640 players.  Victory will have to wait until the next WSOP event!


There was a good group of people that came to Vegas to join in the fun.  We had a great time watching a lot of the poker action going on in other WSOP events.  There seemed to be a lot more pros out and about and playing in tournaments.  At one point there were about 15-20 recognizable pros all playing in one small area.  I'll have to put together a photo page on my website from all the photos that people
sent me from the weekend.  There were also a lot of tourneys and cash games that people played in with varying degrees of success.  By the end of the long weekend, I was all poker'ed out!

I've had a lot of fun playing online and in live games with all of you.  I can see that the level of play is getting better and better all the time!  I'll be setting up another poker promotion very soon, ramping up for the Tahoe WSOP events in November.  Hope you can join us in the monthly online events! 
Thanks to all those that continue to think of us for their real estate needs and the needs of their family and friends.  It allows us to continue putting on these fun events.

Stay tuned for the kickoff to the next one...

bottom of page