WPO
Trip Report
WOW!!!!
What a great place to play pot-limit Omaha!
Unfortunately, I don't play. As you might
expect from my statement, the PLO was
plentiful and very live. The games ranged
from 5-5-10 to 150-300 PLO. It wasn't
uncommon to see $80,000 pots or bigger
in the 25-50 game. The pot-limit holdem
was also very strong for the first two
thirds of the tournament.
Here are some hands from the games: 1.
25-50 PLHE $6000 deep. I was in the big
blind with a-5 of spades. It's passes
to the button (playing tight and obviously
not too experienced in PLHE) who makes
$200. Small blind and I call. The flop
is 5 5 2 rainbow. SB checks, I check,
and button checks(doh!) On the turn comes
a 6 for a board of 5 5 2 6 rainbow. The
small blind bets $600. I think of what
he has and come to the conclusion that
I have him beat( only has $1000 left),
so I raise it to $1800 to go and surprise
the button moves all-in for $4700. The
small blind folds and I think. Is the
button capable of raising preflop with
66, 56, 52, or 34? No,No, and No. I call.
I said, "Are you full?" and got no reply.
The river was a J for a board of 5 5 2
6 J. Good a safe card, I think... I turn
my hand up and my opponent starts hopping
in his seat as he slowly turns his hand
over.....pocket JJ. Bad beat for Jedi.
Bad Beat 2- He leaves after doubling up
and slow rolling me. We're friends three
days later.( I owe you one at the Series,
Tony!)
2. 5-5-10PLHE with $20 straddle $3000
deep. I was UTG with AA. Standard smooth
call.( There was lots of aggressive players
preflop) David Pham makes it $100 in middle
position. It's folded to me, I raise to
$300. David calls. Flop is K 10 4. I check
and David Pham bets the pot. I raise him
all in for a few bucks more. He has AK
and gets no help. I win.
3. 5-5-10PLHE $2000 deep. I limp in middle
position with a stack breaker hand, 9
7 of clubs. The 4am specialist raises
to $40. I call and it's two handed. The
flop is 10 8 Q with two clubs. I bet the
pot and good ol' 4am raises the pot. I
put my good friend all-in for about $700
and he turns over AQ. I'm a slight favorite
at this point. We deal it out three times
and I scoop all three and break the 4am
specialist for the first time in three
years.
4. 5-5-10 NLHE $4500 deep. I have 99 in
early position and call. A tilted Mississippi
Monkey(tMM for short) raised to $100 and
I call. Two handed. The flop is 8 4 3
. I check. The tMM bets $400 and I raise
$1200. tMM moves all-in for $2700. I think
for a few minutes and call. tMM has K
4 off and Jedi takes a nice pot.
Here are some hands from the final table
of the $1000NLHE. This is the 1st time
ever where I got my money in right almost
every time.
I started the final table in 7th chip
position($10,850) with blinds at 300-600
in a strong field. I had good position
in relation to the big stacks Richard
Tatalovich and Syracuse Chris as well
as Toto L. The stack sizes were relatively
similar after Rich and Chris, so I felt
that third was definitely up for grabs,
I decided to work on that first. OK, let's
shift into 5th gear and test the water.
The first hand I played was A7suited in
late position. I raised to $2000. Richard
moves all in for$30,000 + from the blinds.
I'm pretty sure I have the best hand,
but I decide that I want to pick a better
spot. I also think that I can encourage
him to move in on me some more. I show
him A7 suited to encourage the aggressive
behavior and muck it. Damn, three hands
into the final and I'm in bad shape. I
slow down into 2nd gear and watch a round
or two. I notice several things. Richard
and Chris, the two big stacks, are not
leaning on the blinds. In fact, no one
is. Yum Yum! Back into 5th gear. I build
my stack by stealing the blinds and staying
out of bigger pots. I've probably played
three times as many hands as the next
guy. In this time, I won every little
pot except one. Richard moved in on me
again. I showed him a hand and mucked.
A few hands later, Richard raised my blind.
I looked down and found at least a K high.
I move all-in. While he thinks, I get
up and give him a show.(That acting class
sure paid off) I walk around making all
sorts of weird facial ticks. I knew that
his hand was weak and I also knew that
what I was doing was screaming BIG HAND
to an excellent player ( which he is).
He mucked and on to the next.
I had doubled my stack with eight players
left. Rich and Chris were still just watching
for the better part of the tournament.With
my chip count I felt like I could win.
Everyone was in a shell. It was move in
poker or fold.
My first real pot.....Nicola Salemeh moved
all in from early position for about $7000
and it's folded to me. I saw him play
a few all in pots earlier and knew he
didn't need the nuts to move in. I call
with pocket tens. He turns over pocket
66. The flop comes with a ten and he's
dead. I'm catching up to the leaders now....only
a little more to go.
My next hand was the only coin toss I
had to play. Toto, a great California
player, had moved all in for small chips
with KQo and I called him with 88. No
help for Toto and I scoop. Incidentally,
we played another small pot together.
Toto was in the small blind and I was
in the big blind(300-600). He calls and
I check with 10 7o. The flop is 8 3 3.
Toto checks and I bet $1200 with 10 high.
Toto then raises me $1500 more. I think
for two seconds and decide he stealing,
so I raise him $2500 more. He mucks immediately
and says, "I was just testing you."
The key hand 500-1000blinds? I think.
I'm in the small blind with AKo and $32,000
in chips. The action is passed to Syracuse
Chris who has about $34,000 and he calls
the blinds. I raise to $4500 and he immediately
moves in for $34000 after the big blind
folds. Time to put on the thinking cap.
Is Chris capable of doing this with a
big hand? Am I even money or am I a dog?
I decide that I'm either even money or
a huge favorite. The best hand I give
him is 77. The reason is that he bet too
much. A big hand there will not raise
8 times the previous action unless both
players are super sophisticated or very
weak. I didn't think that was the case.
I said," I call. He shakes his head and
turns over 54 of hearts. Yes, I'm a huge
favorite, about 2-1 preflop. The flop
is horrible for me. It was something like
5 3 6 giving Chris an open ended straight
draw plus a pair. I had three clubs and
two overs. Turn was an 8 of clubs. Yes,
more outs. Nine clubs and 5 overs. A club
on the river gives me over half of the
chips in play.
I slowed down a bit when it was three
handed, Jimmy Tran and Richard T. tossed
their chips back and forth until Jimmy
finally went broke.
Richard and I were finally heads up.$1000-2000
blinds. He had $20,000 more than me. $139,000
in play. I really wanted to play him because
I felt he was one of the best on the circuit
and I had a $100 last longer bet with
him. That was the hardest $100 I ever
earned! Too bad it didn't last longer.
The first two hands we exchanged blinds.
The next hand, I applied some actual poker
skill. Richard was in the BB and mucked
his hand out of turn. The dealer gave
him his hand back and said it wasn't his
action. I saw this and raised immediately
$4500 to go. To my surprise, he called.
The flop came Q 8 9 rainbow and Richard
bet out $6000. I thought for a second
and concluded Richard can't have too much
of this flop. He would play QQ, 88, 99,
10 J, 67, Q8, Q9 , or 89. I call with
K 4o (king high). Turn is a 5, I think?
Richard checks and I fire $10,000 and
he mucked saying it was Q 2. I think he's
hot now, not sure if I made a move or
not. The next hand I raise him again from
the big blind and he mucks preflop. I
now have the chip lead by about $15,000.
This is the final hand. I'm in the small
blind with 99 and raise $6000 more. Richard
immediately moves all-in. I'm very sure
I have a huge lead, but double check my
thoughts and chip count any ways. 1. I
think he's hot and can't wait to get me.
2. It's a huge over bet(meaning PLEASE
DON"T CALL) 3. Rich probably thinks I'm
leaning on him, so he's taking a stand
and he's right. 4. I kept mucking in this
scenario to set him up and now it's time
to play. I call. Richard turns over Q
4 of clubs. The flop is K K J. The nine
on the turn makes Richard dead and I win.
Yeah! The $100 is mine.
Jason Viriyayuthakorn
PS: This win is dedicated to my good friend
Matt Lessinger, who writes for Poker Digest
and defends my play against another certain
writer for Poker Digest. Hope you have
enough ammo, buddy.
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