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WPT Hollywood Casino Indiana Poker Open Event #1

On March 4th I played in the Hollywood Casino’s first WPT event, the Hollywood Poker Open. As I mentioned in an earlier blog this casino is located in Lawrenceburg Indiana. This first event was a No Limit Hold’em tournament. The buy-in was $340 and there were 880 players who entered the tournament. The tournament began in two separate rooms – one in the regular poker room and the other room was in the main ballroom. As players were eliminated and tables broke down the remaining players moved to the main ball room.

As with any other good tournament there was plenty of excitement and expectations were high! Everyone was eager to begin an exciting day of poker.  My day began on Table #2. Each player started with a deep stack of $20,000 in chips with 30 minute levels. (I know – the levels were a bit short!)

One would expect that $20,000 in chips is plenty to begin with and it certainly was a good beginning.  Starting out, my table was very tight. There were no large pots whatsoever for the first hour. So, I decided to try and steal my fair share. For one particular hand I was on the button with 8 4 off suit and I called. The small blind folded and the big blind checked. The flop was A72 rainbow and I’d already decided that I was in the stealing mode. I was first to bet – $250 bet with an instant call by the big blind. Well, first bullet fired. Then came the turn – 10♦. I bet the pot again – $750. The big blind called again quickly. Now for the river – it was a nothing card, a 5. There were no possible straights or flushes on the board so I bet again – half the pot and got an instant call. I began to see that there would be no stealing on this hand – I’d be hard pressed to win this hand with an 84 off suit. I showed my 84 and he flipped over his cards quite confidently – 23. Wow! He called me on every street and I just couldn’t get him to fold. (Amazing – a true calling station!)

Now, you may wonder why I continued – I had fired three bullets and he called me at each and every street. I had better not try that with him again – no folding for that guy!

Later, my chip stack dwindled down to about $12,000. Having won zero hands out of five I was beginning to feel a little cursed – none of my hands were holding up. So, I decided to bluff from UTG and make a standard raise of 3x the big blind. Everyone folded to the Big Blind and he called. The flop came A83 with two diamonds on board.  I bet half the pot and was called again – what? Another calling station? That was my first thought. The turn card was a 5♦. Now three diamonds are on the board and again, I bet half the pot and get called immediately. Second bullet – same result – call!  On the river came another diamond. I was the first to bet and this time I pause for a second or two and then bet $2500 which is about 60% of the pot. My opponent thought for a nanosecond and then called. He leaned forward, peered in my direction and asked, “Do you have a diamond?”  Okay, so I lost another one!  Who says you have to steal your fair share. It wasn’t working for me so far.

As the day continued, my chip stack dwindled to a paltry $3500.  But I was about to get my first break as I found I had AA. My hand held up and I won a small pot. Now I had increased my chip count to about $4500. Unfortunately our table broke at that point and I was moved to the ballroom. Darn! I win a hand and they break the table.

My new table was all the way down to the far end of the ballroom and my seat was directly beneath an air conditioner that was bellowing cold air directly down on our table freezing everyone. Just to let you know, the ceilings in the ballroom are very high, approximately 30 feet high. So, for an air conditioner to blow out a gale force wind of such velocity just seemed incredible. Anyway, my new table was quite nice but freezing. Still, the good part of all this is that my chip count had increased to $60,000 and we were breaking for dinner – a sixty minute break!  Good, I thought, time to relax, recollect my hands and determine how I’m playing. The average chip count at that time was $30,000 and half the players had been eliminated – approximately 440 remained.

Coming back from dinner I was feeling good about my change from losing to winning pots. I mixed in a few bluffs along the way and increased my chip count to $130,000 where the ACC was about $45,000.  There were many television monitors stationed around the ballroom which were easy to view to see both the blind structure and how many people remained in the tournament.

Now came an interesting hand. I was in the small blind and everyone checked around to two behind the button. This guy moved all in with $34,000 followed by a fold and the button moved all in with $39,000. I peeked at my cards and saw two red aces. There was a nice pot brewing! I observed that the big blind had behind him around $150,000, so I couldn’t just call and allow him in this juicy pot – so I moved all in!  The big blind announced, “Good bet,” and then he mucked his cards.

The first all-in showed K9 suited diamonds and then the button showed AJ off suit. Okay, I loved their cards and my possibility of winning this pot. The odds were greatly in my favor – say approximately 3:1 but never forget it’s not 4:0!  The first all-in is about 17% to win followed by the big blind of about 6%. So, the flop came – JJ5…and I lost this juicy pot and a chance to move up to $200,000.

Now, I was down to about $90,000 and on the next orbit where I’m UTG and holding AK suited hearts.  I raised 3x the big blind and it was followed by fold, fold, call and the rest of the players fold. Okay, I had one caller. The blinds were 2000-4000 with a 500 ante.

The flop came 44K. Do you like the flop? Not bad – two pair with top pair. Now, what can my opponent have? He did not raise me pre-flop – he simply called! Okay, I doubted seriously that he had A4 or K4. So, I thought, what does he have? Okay, maybe two pair topped with the Kings with an ace kicker. I checked and my opponent checked. What kind of player is he? I had never played with him before and I was wondering if he is one of those calling stations that I’ve run into earlier in the tournament where I just couldn’t get ‘em to lay down their hands?  I had never played with this fellow before so I didn’t know anything about him.

Okay, the turn card was another 4. Now, I had a full boat – what could he have?  I couldn’t check here so I bet another $20,000 (remember I started the hand with $90,000) and he again called. The last card was a nothing card and I still had a full house 444kk. So, I bet another $20,000 and he not only called but moved all-in. Well, I thought, “Maybe, we have the same hand – 444kk. Maybe he thinks I’ll fold or that I’m bluffing.”  But either way, he had gone all-in. The question then was, “Do I have the best hand or a tie for the best hand? If I call and lose this hand then I’ll be down to $10,000.”  Certainly, I did not like his calls and now he had not only called me on the river but moved all-in.  My last thought before calling was, “Don’t tell me he has pocket aces! He hasn’t raised me once along the way!

But, I do have a blocker here on both pocket kings and aces. Oh boy, nothing indicates that he has a big hand until his all-in on the river. Yes, I’m very aware that he has a good hand – the question is does he have me beat?  Okay, I called his all-in and he showed AA.
Nice hand!  (Sure wish a King would have come on the river)

Well, I was now down to a paltry $10,000 and then managed to increase my stack to $25,000 on an all-in by me with k9 on the button when the blinds were 5k-10k.  (Remember, I was short stacked.) The big blind called me with AJ and luckily for the first time the flop hit me – King! and my hand held up!  But, with the blinds so high compared to my stack I was forced to play any marginal hand at this juncture. Another orbit went by and now my chips had been reduced by the blinds and antes to about $5,000 and I had to move all-in and was called in two locations.  I did not suck out and lost the hand, finishing at #168.

I believe they paid down to about 88 places. The result was that I had struggled early and then had a good run and then ran into a buzz saw at the end. But, that’s poker – always exciting!