WSOP 2008, Part 5 (7/2)
Well, exciting news. I went back today for the final 22 of the Venetian $330 Deep-Stack tournament. Upon getting there, I looked at the standings. There were 22 people left, and there were 7 people with smaller stacks than I had. This put me in 15th place. I got a hand early on and doubled up to about T500,000. But with blinds starting at T10,000/T20,000 with a T4000 ante, it really forced action.
People trickled out. The next increase in pay was at 18 people. It was not too long before we got to that point, and we combined down to two tables. My goal was just to push good hands, while trying to climb the ladder. Several times I folded decent but vulnerable hands such as KTs. Soon, we were down to 15, and the pay increased to about $1900.
Action was slow. It typically went raise, fold, fold, fold. This was how poker was meant to be played. Everybody was tight and aggressive. About two hours into the second day, we were down to 12. The pay again went to to $2350.
I was getting cards, but every time I had a hand, everybody would fold. We worked our way down to 10 people - the bubble for the final table (two tables of five). Blinds were at T20,000/T40,000 with a T5000 ante and I had T240,000. I had not seen a decent hand for awhile. I was UTG and saw QTo. I pondered whether I should make a move. The table was tight and respecting raises. The problem is that my only move is fold or all-in. I knew I only had enough chips for three more rounds of the table - which was 15 hands. I thought that I was the tournament short stack, and decided to make the move. I pushed all-in. Everybody folded to the big blind who calls. He shows AA. UGH! I busted out in 10th place for $2350.
I must say that this was another great learning experience. It is interesting to see how the face of the tournament changes as you get to the money bubble, then how tight it gets as you get closer to the final table.
Because I cashed, my Cardplayer.com profile will be updated. I will post the link as soon as the results are updated.
So, the question is, “What next?”
I might play the $540 Venetian Deep Stack tomorrow (7/3), the $1060 Deep Stack on 7/4, or the $540 Deep Stack on 7/5. I have not decided yet. . .