White 544 - Levels 3 and 4

At the end of the last level, we lost Chucky Guy, who was knocked out by the Purple Haired Lady when she spiked a two-outer to make a set of sixes.  He had been more passive than I expected, and you can’t survive this game by waiting for good hands.  Adios Chucky!

During the twenty-minute break, I reflected on the WSOP’s infrastructure for accommodating the bladders of three or four thousand old men.  It reminded me of the Harris County courthouse elevator problem, which was this: how many elevators do you build to accommodate thousands of defendants, lawyers, and court staff who are all going to court at the same time?  You can’t go by the average number of people over the course of the day, because there is a two-hour window where everyone is using the elevators, and then six hours where they are hardly used at all.

WSOP accommodates this by having a GIANT number of urinals and toilets we all use at once.  It is really something to see.

New guy has replaced Hoodie Guy.  Another cool dude gone to seed.  He has played a couple of hands and seems very tentative.  You can tell stuff by how a person puts the chips in the pot - he very deliberately placed them in front of him, like he wasn’t sure about the decision.  When he got reraised by Metal Ring Guy, he backed off like a man staring at a snake.

KQ off, one behind the button.  I raise to 1200 and Glasses Guy calls me.  Flop is nothing, so I bet 2500.  He comes along.  Turn is nothing, so when he checks, I check.  King hits the river and we check it down.  I win the hand with my kings over his underpair of jacks.  Lucky!

Vikings Guy is now gone, his tens losing to Metal Ring’s jacks.  Of the original six, we are down to me and Purple Hair Lady.  I am basically playing small ball for now, winning small-ish pots from position and a little luck.  I am avoiding the all-or-nothing hands at all costs.

New guy replaces Chucky, wearing a black Superman hat and a branded shirt, like the pros wear in the TV games.  He’s getting a massage while he plays (I’ve never done it myself, but it seems pretty cool).  His stack is not pro-level, about 20,000, but this game is not easy, even for the pros, so who knows?  He might be really famous, or just a guy.

At the risk of sounding like an obtuse American, it is dawning on me Glasses Guy actually has a French accent.  How did I hear Spanish?  Hmmm.

I get into a hand with Superman.  A5clubs, and I raise to 1000.  He is the only one to call.  The flop gives me two clubs but we check it to the river and my flush does not mature.  He bets 3000 and I call his obvious bluff, and I am right.  He whines, “I tried.”

We lose Grateful Dead Guy, his tens losing to Metal Ring Guy’s two pair.  Again, we hardly got to know him before he disappeared.  I just keep motoring along.

New players in the Viking Guy’s and Grateful Dead Guy’s seat.  She does not look like a Senior.  The other guy looks like a slumming rich guy.  They both seem very competent.

I get over on Superman again when my AQ catches aces on the turn and the river.  He folds to my 4000 bet after complaining that I had not raised before the flop and therefore could not possibly have an ace in my hand.  He was full of it and just posturing before his inevitable fold.

Up and down we keep going.  I am definitely grinding and only chasing draws when the other players let me.

32,800 after three hours.

______________________

The table seems much harder now than it was this morning.  The vibe is more mean-spirited poker room than friendly neighborhood game.  

I think it was when Superman came into the game.  He is raising a lot preflop and woofing a lot about his hand and others’ hands.  He pushed Metal Ring off a hand and then showed him the ace in his hand, saying, “I’ll show you my ace, you look like a good guy, or maybe you aren’t.  I don’t know.”

It also seems like I need to be more aggressive to get respect at the table.  Ordinarily, one bets 2.5 to 3 times the big blind when raising a hand, but now I’m having to bet 4x to generate folds preflop.  This makes me a little uncomfortable.

And I am playing a little tentatively.  I called a small raise preflop with my favorite hand, Q 10.  The flop comes 10 7 4, and the Asian lady bets 3000.  Turned out she had JJ, so I thought I made a good fold to what I thought was an overpair, but then another 10 hit the turn and I would have gotten a big pot.  Should I have called the 3000?  I think I am being constrained by my decent, but not great chip stack.  3000 would have been substantial, with not a lot of paths to success.  I can’t let this hand change my strategy, however.

Glasses Guy just pulled out an inhaler with Asian herbs and passed it around the table.  I passed, feeling like I did as a kid saying, “I’m cool” when the joint was being passed around.  Everyone was shivering with delight.  Go figure.

Giggler is gone.  His KK caught a K on the flop, then Metal Ring Guy’s AA caught an ace on the river.  Why don’t I get hands like that?

Asian woman says she’s from Hawaii.  That sounds right.  She seems very chill and is rocking the bucket hat with aplomb.

Big hand - Purple Haired Lady raises to 1100 into my AK.  I reraise to 3200.  She calls, and the flop is a bunch of nothing.  I bet 7000 and she folds.

At the end of four hours, 33800!