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Vegas — $600 Orleans
That weekend, this tournament ($600 for 30,000 chips and $500,000 guarantee) was one of the only live big prize tournaments in Vegas. This tournament was stacked with talent. Players like Chris Fox, Landon Tice, Ryan Laplante, and yes, even chainsaw Allen Kessler were all playing.
My table had several pros:
— Justin Lapka (Lappy)
— Ian O’Hara
To start the tournament, I was nervous. I recall a few key hands that I want to relive and share.
Level 1 (100/200)
On the 2nd hand of the tournament, I pick up QJss in the small blind. MP opens to 2.5x, Button calls, I call in SB, and another pro Danny (the BB) calls making it 4 ways. The flop is A48sss. I’ve flopped the 2nd nut flush. I check. It checks around. The turn is a 9h. I bet 700. Danny raises to 2300. The other two fold. I call. River is 3d. I check (intending to check-raise) and Danny checks behind. I win a small pot as Danny shows two pair.
1st Break
I didn’t have any significant hands occur. I recall opening several pots, missing the flop, c-betting the flop, and folding on the turn or river. I wasn’t connecting with the board in any considerable way where I wanted to get involved and invest chips to either value-bet or semi-bluff. My stack was 25k at the 1st break.
Level 8 (500/1000)
The hand before the 2nd break, my table looks at the clock for the final few seconds. Most of the players fold immediately and stand up for break. I’m in the small blind with AA. It folds to me. The big blind is Danny and I decide to limp in. He realizes that he is in the bb and starts paying attention. He thinks for 10 seconds and raises PF to 3200
2nd Break
Similar story. My image was tight. When I played, I was opening and c-betting but not connecting with the board. I had 23k at the end of level 8. With only 20 bb to survive the remaining 8 levels, I needed to look for spots to get it in.
Level 9 (600/1200)
I pick up TT in early position. I open 2.5x and a tight player calls from the big blind. The flop is 8 high and he pushes all-in for just less than my stack. I call and almost double up (TT vs 99) to about 35 bb. My table breaks.
Level 11 (1000/2000)
After folding most of level 10, I pick up AQss with 20bb. I open to 3 bb from middle position and get 3 callers (button, sb, bb). The flop is 962 rainbow. I shove, button folds, sb folds, and bb calls with 82 for bottom pair. I bust.
Things I learned:
– some pros will fire multiple bullets. For example, I watched Lappy fire 4x. I know because oddly, he was placed to my immediate right on all his bullets. I’m not sure how or why.
– find weaknesses and attack. The strongest players at my table were not attacking the other strong players. They were instead attacking the weak players and building big pots against them.
– minimize error w/ sizing. On several occasions, I made too large of a c-bet or PFR. The pros don’t make this error. On several occasions, I called a bet in a spot where I shouldn’t due to implied odds. The pros don’t make this error. On several occasions post-flop, I asked my opponent how many chips they had. The pros rarely asked, they were aware of it before the hand started.
Overall, I got whooped.
I learned a lot and I’ll be better prepared next time.
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1 Reply
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Sounds like a fun time.
I’ve always cheered for Lappy, he’s a Minnesota guy, streamed on Twitch. but yeah, he will fire all the bullets he needs to.
I like your comment on sizing. I’ve read some things around how important sizing is and how its one of those simple areas to improve your win rate. So making the correct sizing on your bets and being more attentive on whether you should call or not based on bet sizing can be huge.
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