2022 WSOP Main Event Write-Up Part 2
This article is mainly focused on my poker hand histories from Days 1-2 of the 2022 WSOP No-limit Holdem event, held at the Paris-Bally's convention centers between July 3 - 16, 2022. See Part1 of this series for a writeup of the few days preceding the main event.
If you're bored with the details of my comings and goings there, skip straight to the hands (in between solid lines). Vice versa, if bored with poker, skip them.
Morning of July 5th, I woke around 9:30 and skipped the gym routine - wanting to be 100% ready for the long day ahead with enough sleep under my belt. My breakfasts were pretty simple throughout - a bowl of keto granola and coconut milk I had brought with me, chilling it in the ice bucket. Then, decaf coffee at the hotel counter, pouring it into my Zojirushi mug and slipping into the side of my Ogio backpack - playing the perfect "poker geek" role.
Showing up to my table on time, we were 5 handed to start. People were trickling in slowly and it would take some time for it to fill up. The table to my right featured Daniel Negreanu, his usual jovial self with a host of cameras and railbirds tracking his every uttering and action. Mike A showed up shortly thereafter and took these shots:
As you can see from the photo below, 6-handed there were 4 good pros (two of them French crushers, both sponsored by the same Euro-outfit), one Fishy American and myself. Bad table draw!!
Poker hands (Main Event Day 1):
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Hand 1
At Level 1, 100 SB / 200 BB / 200 BB Ante.
I have the opening stack, 60,000.
I pick up AKhh in the big blind(5 handed).
Hijack opens to 500, cutoff (to his left) and button call, SB folds, I raise to 2500, HJ folds, CO calls, BU folds. We will go to the flop heads up with me out of position.
Pot size is 6100.
Flop is QQT (didn't note suits, but no Flush Draw).
Check / Check.
Turn is A.
Check / Check.
River is 4
Check / Check I show and win.
Analysis: Out of position with AK, this is a clear flop check. If you don't know why, contact me for fish-coaching :). The turn is arguably a bet by me - however note that Button's flop check-back does not necessarily remove Qx from his range. Also note that Button is one of the French pros and perfectly capable of big-bluffing. So I like my turn check. The river check is too nitty. Once he checks back turn, he probably doesn't have much but reasonably enough to call a small river bet like 1/3 pot.
Hand 2
Still at level 1, stack size approx. 63,000
I get 87dd on the button.
One limp from the field, I raise to 700, blinds and limper call (pot 3000)
Flop K8X
They check to me, I bet 1000, they fold.
Analysis: 87 suited is hand I could have considered over-limping the button with. It's pretty much the only position I'd ever enter with a limp. And the limp from the field is not insignificant - it will likely call a raise and be ahead on most flops. However, the raise should "clean up" my equity and fold out the blinds - which it clearly didn't in this case. Still, the K high flop favors my range and should be cBet whether or not I "have it" - the fact that I flop second pair just adds to my incentive. Since this is a high-frequency bet, it should be bet fairly small by my entire range.
Hand 3
Still at level 1, stack size 65,800, 6 handed
I pick up JJ in the Hijack (2nd off the button)
UTG (who is also Lojack just to my right) bets 600, I raise to 2000, cutoff to my left calls, button and blinds fold, UTG calls. Pot is 6500.
Flop is 974.
UTG checks, I bet 2000, they both call. Pot is now 12,500.
Turn is a Q.
UTG checks, I check, cutoff bets 8,000 and we both fold.
Analysis: I may have butchered this one on the flop. While I think I still have a range advantage, they have the nuts advantage (more 77, 44 in cutoff's range than and UTG also has 77). My flop bet is motivated more for equity denial than anything else (I hate many turn cards like Q, K, A and even T and 8 that give me gutshots fill many draws). Against two opponents, it's kind of meh, since they're getting great odds with all broadways that missed. And since my Cbet frequency on this board is low, if I do bet for equity denial and value, it has to be much larger. Honestly I'm still torn between a larger bet and checking, which may be better. From the turn onward, I think the play is straightforward. Given the flop action, with UTG still to act after me, a fold is the only play that made sense to me.
Hand 4
Still at level 1 and with 60,400, I pick up 66 on the button. It folds to me and I open for 500.
SB folds and BB calls.
The flop was Q7x with two hearts (I don't have one). Pot size 1300.
Checked around.
Turn is a 6!
BB check, I bet 2000, he calls. Pot is now 5300.
River 7h.
BB check, I bet 5000, he raises to 22,000, I snap-call and lose to Q7 who flopped 2P and rivered a higher full house.
Analysis
Psychologically, this was the pivotal hand of the event for me. Although it dropped me to 35,900 chips leaving me still with 180 BB, it was a gut punch that took a bit to recover from. Luckily, I didn't raise the river. If the river had not been a 3rd heart, I might have even folded to his re-raise.
With regard to bet sizing, I think mine was ok. Overbet the turn (150% pot) for value and pot-sized bet on the river was targeted at hands that just made trip 7's or flushes.
Daniel Negreanu on the next table, encountered a similar spot later in the day when he flopped 77's full against QQ's full and lost 90% of his stack, effectively busting him.
Hand 5
With 34,200 in my stack, I picked up AdQh in the lowjack position (3 off the button). By now, the table was 8-handed. Early position opened to 600, I 3bet to 2000, button called, SB called, BB (aggro French pro) 4bet to 12,200, everyone folded.
Analysis
While at this point in the event I normally won't have a 5Betting spot, a jam here with AA would be fun. But AQo with 161 blinds behind won't invest another 51 of them just to see a flop against a likely TT+, AQ suited, AK, A5 suited range, on which I have 34% equity. This hand also illustrates the difficulty of my table draw - even though I 3Bet from mid-position, I could not get to see a flop with a fairly premium hand.
Hand 6
With 31,700 in my stack, I picked up AK offsuit in middle position. Early position opened to 600, I 3bet to 2000, folded to him and he called. Pot is 4,500.
Flop T85
Checked around.
Turn A
He checked, I bet 2000, he called. Pot is 8,500.
River Q.
Checked around, I show and win.
Analysis
Even though I won this hand, I had some doubts about my river play - instinctively I felt like I missed value. So this hand warrants a deep-dive.
- I like the flop check back with air - because it favors his range and I want to realize my equity.
- I like the turn bet and sizing is ok, could even be bigger like 60%-70% pot. This is where I end up ultimately getting value in this pot.
- Anecdotally, I disliked my river check-back. But let's unpack it a bit using basic math. EP who opened and called my 3Bet is a bit of a goofball who had been playing too many hands. Instead of the "normal" 10%-15% opening range from EP, let's give him 20% of hands or 260 combos. When I bet 44% pot on the T85A board, he is theoretically folding only about 1/3 of his range. But realistically with the turn A and a street to go (giving me leverage), he has to fold all of his missed hands, leaving him with perhaps 100 combos. Of those 100 combos, with the river Q about half of them have improved to a better hand than mine. So betting here is lighting money on fire. Why do I think he has about 50 "good combos"?
KJ:16, J9s:4, AQ:6, AT:6, A8s:2, A5s:2, QT:9 = 45
OK - so he can only win with 45/100 or 45% of his range. He'll probably call more than that (50% is minimum defense frequency for a pot sized river bet). The problem is that if he folds half of his range, the part that calls mostly beats me. So I shouldn't bet the river (some high level - fancy play is to bet something like 10% pot forcing him to call 90% of the time and therefore breaking even or better on the extra bet).
To confirm this, plugging his wide range into GTO+ and following the hand as played, AK is a river check 100% of the time.
Hand 7
With 36,000 in my stack, I pick up AQ offsuit in UTG1 (second to act). UTG (first to act) a very
good French pro, opens to 600. I raise to 2000, folds to him and he calls. We go to the flop with a 4500 pot.
Flop is AKT
Checked around.
Turn is 4
He checked, I bet 2000, he folded.
We now moved to level 2, 200 SB, 300 BB, 300 BB Ante. I have 38,700 or 130BB.
Hand 8
I picked up 88 in the Highjack (two off the button). There was a limp-call from early position and I raised to 1100. The BB and limper called. We go to the flop with a 3800 pot.
Flop is 543, Checked around.
Turn is 2
Players checked to me, I bet 1500 and they folded.
Analysis
I repped an Ace on the turn and actually had value. What more to say?
Hand 9
With 41,000 now in my stack (rebuild mode), I picked up AJo in middle position. Early position (same from previous hand, goofball who plays too many), bet 700. I raised to 2100 and he called. We go to the flop with a 5000 pot.
Flop is KJx.
Checked around.
Turn was a low card.
He checked, I bet 1500, he called. Pot is now 8000.
River was another low card.
Checked around, I show and win.
Analysis
I won so I played it well right? But seriously, once he checks the turn my Jack is often good for a small value bet. Checking the river was wise given all the Kx he can show up with.
Hand 10
Things were now looking up. With 44100 in my stack, I got A9dd in cutoff (right of the button). Early position goofball opened to 700, I raised to 2100, SB good pro with a 20K stack raised to 5000. Folded back to me. I consider calling but end up folding due to domination by higher Aces and effective stack shallowness.
Hand 11
With 39600, I got AThh in the BB. UTG bet 800, Cutoff (same goofball who opens/calls a lot) called, I raised to 3500, they both called. We go to the flop with a 11,000 pot!
Flop is an ugly 995.
Checked around.
Turn is 8.
I bet 5000, UTG folds, Cutoff calls. Pot is now 21,000.
River is a 4.
Checked around, we show and I lose to AQ.
Analysis
I tried stealing this pot twice and failed. Goofball/ fish refused to give up. If I had bombed the river he was maybe folding, but it would have to be large (15K+) and I couldn't pull the trigger. Goofball ended up busting not too long after that.
Hand 12
With 30,600 in my stack I got KJ offsuit in the BB. UTG opened to 800, SB called and I called. Pot is 2700.
Flop is Q9x.
UTG bet 1000, SB called and I called. Pot is now 5700.
Turn is 4.
Checked around.
River is 8.
I check, BB bet, and we both folded.
We now moved to Level 3: SB 200, BB 400, BB Ante 400.
Hand 13
With 28,300 (71 BB) I picked up AK offsuit in middle position. Early position (good French pro) opened for 1000, I raised to 3000, he jammed (covers me by a lot) and I snap called. He had AKo as well and we chopped.
Hand 14
Same stack, I picked up AKss in the BB. Lojack limp called 400, Hijack raised to 1500, SB called, I called, Lojack called. Pot is 6400.
Flop is T62 with two clubs, no spades.
Checked around.
Turn is A.
SB checked, I bet 4000, Hijack called. Pot is 14,400.
River is 5 (not a club).
I bet 7000, Hijack folds.
Analysis
The main decision point in this hand for me was preflop. Facing a suspect limp from MP, then a raise and a call, if 3Betting I'd have to raise to about 4.5X the HJ's raise (6750). This table's history did not indicate that such a raise, committing almost 25% of my stack, would get through them. So I opted to go for a multi-way pot with a hand that will often smash the flop and be fairly disguised. I also didn't mind strengthening my calling range from the BB - it doesn't always have to be capped with hands weaker than AK.
Flop checks were standard (I did expect a cbet from HJ); Turn bet by me was standard; HJ must have hung around with a draw like KQ, KJ or Tx. River bet 50% pot was also standard from out of position.
Hand 15
With 34,600 I got A8hh in the Lojack. UTG opened to 1000, I called, blinds called. Pot is 4400.
Flop is Q97 with one heart.
Checked around.
Turn was Th giving me a flush draw.
SB bet 3500, I called, the others folded. SB is an American pro-type, who in Hand 4 almost stacked me FH over FH. Pot is 11,400.
River was a 3x brick.
SB bet 2500, I decided to bluff raise to 10,000 and he snap called with 99 (set of nines).
Analysis
What was I repping with my river bluff? KJ, QT, 77 and that's about it. I certainly wasn't trying to fold out 2-pair or better, but SB's small river bet looked weak. In reality, he just thought he might get a crying call from one of my middling hands that would have called turn.
Hand 16
With 16,500 in my stack after my failed bluff and a few rounds of blinding down, I got AQ offsuit in middle position. Early position opened to 1000, I 3Bet to 3000, he jammed, I folded.
Analysis
34 BB seemed too deep to call off with AQ. I was probably against a range that was ahead of me - EP's opening/4Betting range from EP was tight enough.
We now moved to Level 4: SB 300, BB 500, BB Ante 500.
Table is now full - 9 players
I went card-dead for a long time and blinded down to 8000 chips (16 BB).
Hands 17-18
I got AQ and AK, shoved both and was folded to.
Hand 19
I got QQ in UTG1. I opened to 1200, folded to French pro - chip leader on button who jammed, I called and beat 99. Afterwards he remarked "maybe I should have just called there, your opening range is very tight" and I said "probably".
We now moved to Level 5: SB 300, BB 600, BB Ante 600.
Hand 20
With 20,300 in my stack, I got AKss on the button. UTG tight player opened to 1500, I raised to 4000, he called. Pot is 9500.
Flop is Axx.
I jammed, he folded and showed JJ.
Analysis
33 BB is a bit deep for a preflop jam (although he would have likely called). But being the table short-stack, I may have missed a golden opportunity to double up here.
I then blinded down to 19000 (on the way I called a raise from the BB with A5 and folded after missing the flop).
Hand 21
I picked up JJ in the SB. Cutoff (French pro chip leader) opened to 1400, I 3Bet to 5000, he folded.
Hand 22
With 21600, I got Q8 offsuit in the BB. Cutoff (French pro chip leader) opened to 1400, I called. Pot is 3700.
Flop is 976.
I checked, he bet 1400, I called. Pot is 6500.
Turn is 4.
Checked around.
River K.
Check around and I lost to J7 offsuit.
Analysis
In this formation and at this stack depth, is Q8o strong enough to call from the BB, even getting great odds? QTo or even Q9o may be the borderline. The problem is also my opponent, who will play perfectly post-flop. Having flopped an open ender, in hindsight I could have jammed the turn - my pair outs were also good (at least I could expect the Q to be). I was surprised by his open of J7o - I guess as chip leader he figured he could run over the table.
Hand 23
With 17,900 in my stack, I got 55 in middle position. Chip leader in early position opened to 1400, I called, late position called, BB called. Pot is 6500.
Flop is 822.
Early position bet 3600, we folded.
Hand 24
With 16,500, I got AKdd in the BB. UTG opened for 1500, folded to me, I jammed, he folded.
Hand not played
With 18,000 I got 97o in the BB. UTG opened for 1500, late position called, I folded. Flop was 975. The original raiser had A9 and a FD on the turn so I missed that one (seemed like every time I called I was missing and every time I folded I would have tripled up!). Relative to hand 22, my holding was weaker but with a call ahead of me I might have considered the odds (calling 900 into what will be a 5400 pot represents 17% equity which any two cards has much more than. I estimate my 3-way equity there at about 25%-30%).
I ended Day 1 with 16,800, meaning 21 BB going into day 2 (next level is 400/800/800). Not yet critically short but starting the circle the drain. Nevertheless, I was ok with most of my play and happy to have avoided stacking off in the cooler hands I encountered.
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Day 1 Dinner Break
Between levels 3 and 4 of Day1, there was a 75-minure dinner break. Mike A informed me that another friend, Scott L was also at the event and would join us for dinner - the more the merrier! The three of us met up at the Burger Brasserie at Paris (nearby the main event area) and since I was the first to play Day1, brought them up to date on the day's happenings.
The next post in this series will describe Day 2 hands played and the remainder of my trip.
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