WSOP
2003 Day 6
A Hard Day's Nit
Our
very own Jim "The Nit" Meehan won the
2K No limit tonight, it was around midnight,
that's a total of 24 hours for the event
(excluding breaks), no complaints here
about the amount of play they get. If
you don't know Jim you're missing one
of the great personalities in poker. Jim
is a super smart guy and a high stakes
cash game player, one of those guys you
see peeling off wads of bills in the pot
limit games. He is not your typical cash
game or tournament player, he talks loud,
he takes smoke breaks every 5 minutes,
and he constantly has a beer to his lips.
Jim is a great guy, always entertaining
and full of stories, I was thrilled to
see him win his bracelet tonight. As the
final card was dealt from the deck (Jim
had KK against JJ) and Jim was announced
the winner, you would have had trouble
deciding if he'd won or lost, I didn't
catch any emotion, I think he was being
respectful of the guy he'd just beaten.
I
didn't get to see much of the final table
as I was playing in the 1.5K Pot Limit
Holdem. Yes, I know I promised you a bracelet,
if there had just been 26 less players
I'd have one, I came 27th. out of 212,
just getting into the money and my first
ever cash in my two years and six events
at the WSOP. I played my best game ever,
my table was in the final area so never
broke, but as people were knocked out
we kept getting tougher players. It started
with Amir Vahedi and Humberto Brenes to
my left making it hard to steal blinds,
then later on TJ arrived with a huge stack,
plus several other assorted superstars.
I was short stacked the whole day and
other than one KK, one AK, AQ twice, TT
twice, 66, 44 and 22, I had the most horrendous
run of cards and spent all day playing
a short stack, stealing my way into the
money. One key hand for me was when I
was in the big blind with AQo. There was
a raise to 300 (blinds 50-100) and 4 limpers!
So when it got to me I raised all my chips,
I was short stacked and this was a chance
to get back in the game. All folded except
for a guy with 66, what was he thinking!
The flop was K85, I was ready to leave,
the turn was an 8, the river was a K,
Ace plays, oh yeah! The money was the
same for 19-27, and only $500 more for
10-18, so there was no point in creeping
up the ladder, I was short stacked and
needed chips fast, so on the very first
hand after we were reseated at 27 I raised
UTG with 22, almost got away with it too,
but the big blind had 99 and was no doubt
quite happy with the 953 flop. He checked,
I went all in for my last few chips, he
called, and ighn. So the good news is
I now have enough that I will play the
2K Pot Limit and the 1.5K Limit.
I
talked to Mike Laing tonight, I felt a
bit bad about how the story I told yesterday
may have sounded, Mike took the whole
thing very well but I hope I didn't make
it sound like he was being a pain, it
is just his shtick, I didn't think he
wasn't doing it with me in a mean spirited
way.
Tonight
I asked about the tips, apparently that
is going very well, people are tipping
on top of the 1% that is being taken out
for the tourney staff and everyone's happy
so far. Also abuse has stopped since day
one, no more penalties, and final chip
counts have been right every day. The
11pm had another big field tonight. Matt
continues to tweak the main event structures
as we go along, I like that they are responsive
to the players and slow things down or
speed them up during certain levels as
necessary. The clocks are still ticking
and Matt hasn't called me a wanker in
almost two days, life is good.
Tonight
I went with a friend to see "The Core"
at Neonopolis, this is the downtown shopping
complex that is full of old restored neon
signs of Las Vegas, worth checking out
at night, plus it has a very nice multiplex
cinema. If you saw Armageddon you've already
seen The Core, except the shuttle goes
down instead of up, but the effects are
excellent, especially the opening scene
with the space shuttle.
I
won't be playing for a few days, and I'll
be locked in my room working for the next
two, so not sure if I'll be doing a report,
all I might have to offer is a description
of the furniture and why my fridge was
only working at night.
Paul Westley
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