WSOP
2004
T4+T5: The Good News
Was I Got A Straight Flush...
Lest
anyone ever tries to tell me a bad beat
story ever again, I am happy to report
I can top them. In one of the satellites
I played today I got all the money in
before the flop with TT vs T7 (he had
bluffed all in). The flop was A25 all
diamonds, not that I wasn't already miles
ahead but one of my tens was also a diamond.
The turn was the 4 of diamonds. And yes,
the river was the 3 of diamonds.
Yesterday
was the Omaha Hi-Lo, a game I love as
a cash game and hate as a tournament game;
I know there's skill to it, but none that
I possess. Instead I played a satellite,
and lost. But today I did play, in the
$1,500 Pot Limit Hold Em, now that IS
my game. I even placed in it last year.
Nothing doing this year, although I did
last to the third level which means it's
now only costing me a low $500 per hour
to play now rather than the $2,000 per
hour for the first event and $750 per
hour for the second. That progression
has to be a good sign, I should be on
the plus side in just a few more events.
Tonight I lost another satellite, then
chopped another 50-50, overall I am doing
pretty well at satellites, that's a good
sign too. One thing I do think is excellent
is that the satellites are a great value,
$225 gets you $2120, $175 gets you $1620,
and the starting chips give you a decent
amount of play before they go out of control.
Yesterday was my friend's birthday, I
took him to the 4 Queens to eat in their
steak house. I like this place a lot,
it's in the cellar, has a nice atmosphere,
an outstandingly knowledgeable sommelier
(who gets to take a sip from every bottle
he opens, how sweet a job is that!), very
good food (including an awesome made at
the table salad), and prices that don't
look any cheaper when they are written
as words instead of numbers. A bottle
and a half of wine later I was beyond
drunk, I mean world spinning drunk, food
falling off of my fork drunk, walking
sideways drunk. But I had a great time,
or so I am told.
Today we went to the Bellagio buffet,
it's $25 for dinner but considering the
amazing quality of the food I still think
this is one of the best bargains in town.
The service as always was awful, not sure
if it's because they are understaffed
or underachievers, although I do know
that with my assistance they are under-tipped.
I
haven't seen it mentioned elsewhere, but
this year the WSOP is allowing headphones,
and you are also allowed to read at the
table (not that that one affects much
of the poker population). Neither seem
to be being abused right now, I sort of
like that both of these restrictions from
previous years have been lifted. One thing
that is causing some disagreement is the
slightly flattened payouts and the many
more places paid (up to 100 if the event
has enough entries). I see this as a good
thing, I think it encourages new players
to enter more of the events, some of the
top pros don't like having to share the
wealth, I think they are being a little
short sighted.
I'm
not playing today's $1,000 + rebuys No
Limit Holdem, I think you need to be willing
to invest at least $3000 to be competitive,
(or you need to get lucky early), that's
a bit too steep for me. Instead I think
I might head to the liquor store�well
maybe not.
Paul Westley
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