WSOP happenings - part 2

Above: The back of the "Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas" sign looks like this.

The poker on Friday was poor. Players limped, players called when they knew they shouldn't and players were too ABC (not mixing up their play).

Saturday was the exact opposite. Anyone who limped was punished and players were aggressive and tricky. A big-stack player raised from under the gun. A short stack moved all in and he had to call because it didn't cost him much more (I don't remember the exact figures now). The raiser turned over ♦7 ♦5. The same thing happened to the other big stack. He raised and then called because of pot odds and showed: ♣K ♣3. That's how these guys built up their stacks -- they weren't afraid to put their chips in the middle.

The only really terrible play I saw was this: An old man who obviously had no clue, but did have a stack of ~32,000 made a min-raise to 6000. It folded to me in the big blind and I moved all in for ~20,000. The old man had ♣A ♠Q and called.

What hand can he beat? If I had A-A, K-K or Q-Q he's crushed. The most likely hand in my range is A-K which also crushes him. The only hands I could hold that he could play against are J-J or possible 10-10 and even then he's an underdog.

He got lucky, I had ♠J ♣J. He got unlucky because my hand held up.

This guy thinks on Level I: I don't know what you have, but I have a good hand so I don't care. He had plenty of chips if he had folded, but that concept whizzed right over his head.

One more common mistake I saw (more on Friday than on Saturday) is the 100% continuation bet. That doesn't work against seniors -- if they have something they'll call and if thy don't, they fold.

When I went to a table, who made CBs and who didn't was one of the things I looked for. I was able to exploit this three times. I would check to the raiser, then check-raise his CB (twice on air, once I actually had something). Folks, mix up your play -- I'm just sayin'.

Best story: A guy came running over to our table on Saturday to tell his friend about a pot he just saw. Two players were all in pre-flop for a pot of T90,000 and it was A-A versus K-K, obviously. A king came on the flop! And they say online poker is rigged.


Above: The "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign is so popular, it has its own parking lot so tourists (and poker players!) can stop and take photos.

Images by MOJO and taken with my Canon.