Main Event Blood Bath
At the Cabana at Mandalay the day before Monkey and I were talking about how bad you'd have to run to bust the Main Event early. I said I'd need a lot of coolers/bad beats. Maybe three or four massive ones. Don't tempt the poker gods with hubris. They showed me exactly how many I'd need to run through a 50k starting stack.
( Another bit of hubris, I've had friends post hand histories usually turning monster stacks into crumbs late in a tournament, and I admit I suspected they were somewhat made up or at least exaggerated. Part of me just didn't believe they could run so bad. Well, now I'll believe anything. This run bad may sound unbelievable but I did live it. Just gross).
What a day. Crushing spiritually. Kept saying this will turn-- it has to turn. And part of me loves running bad early, because if I survive, and I keep surviving the potential is there to run great late. And this story will only be more epic. Been short plenty of times and turn crumbs into cash so I stayed positive, but it didn't matter. Rationally, I only don't like a couple of spots and lines in the following hhs. Feel free to be critical. If I made mistakes you'll see them..
I just want to say thank you to all the support and belief by the investors the last couple of years. Many of you have said things privately or in DMs that have made me treasure the experience. So as a thank you, if you don't like being cornered in the Rio by a guy telling bad beat stories, turn away now!
Anyway if you enjoy torture, my hand histories in Main Event from Hell are all here for your displeasure:
1. Second hand two red aces. (SECOND HAND!) Old man utg +1 raises. He seems confident. YUM! Folds to me on button. I raise. He 4 bets. I tank. He looks like he's never folding.
In my head, I can see he's prepared to make the trip home and say I lost with two kings on day 1. YUM.
I want to give him that story. However, I think prudent play is to let the board run out (he's never folding). And blast away the river if it looks clean. I will not pay him off if he makes a set and will be a little cautious if a Queen hits though I'm fairly sure he has only KK or somewhat less likely the other two Aces
Flop Jack high. He checks. Okay check behind for now (HE'S NEVER FOLDING I'M NOT LOSING VALUE). Turn a third spade. He bets. Okay. (No spade, no spade, no spade about to bet at least half my 50k stack... on river) then a spade.
He checks. Ugh. I... check. He says those four spades killed his action. HE WAS NEVER FOLDING... what an optimal scenario had he not had... two black kings. Seccond nuts and he checks. Well, I know I like this table.
2. Run QQ into AA. Fun. Board saves me this time.
3. KK into 1010. Old guy opens. I three bet he calls. Flop is Jack high. He checks. I bet. He raises. Arguably I could have found fold here. Turn brick. He lessens his bet. Odd. Call. River another small bet. Call. Set of tens.
4. Ak. Bet two callers. Flop King. Bet. One caller. Turn 5. Bet called. River brick. Bet called. He shows set of 5s.
Did I mention I loved my table ... literally as you can see they want to keep me around and not get any value for their hands. Just needed an uptick in luck.
5. K10 suited on button with a limper. I bet, limper calls. King high flop. I bet he calls. Turn is brick. I bet big he calls. River is an Ace. He checks (again). This time I check. He shows A6.
6. I have AK raise a limper. He and a blind calls. Flop is King high. Limper donk bets, I raise, blind folds and limper calls my bet. Turn puts three diamonds on board. He check calls my bet. River four flushes. I don't have diamond. He checks. I turn AK into in a bluff. He snaps calls with pocket 6s and the six of diamonds. Ugh... what?
7. I have Ad9d on button. One limper. I raise. SB calls. Limper calls. Flop is Ace high. Check, check. I bet. SB calls. Limper folds. Turn puts two diamonds out there. SB checks. I bet... really want to hit flush. He calls. Brick flush. River air ball. He checks. I... check. He flips AK. Unbelievable.
Did I mention I love my table. What's not to love about these guys?
8. I have AsQs in sb. Limps to me. I raise. BB calls. Limper calls. Flop is two spades but also two sevens. Bet call call. Queen ball turn. I bet fairly large. Blind folds. Limper calls. River is a 4 of spades. I bet with Ace high flush. Limper raises small. I just laugh and just call. He has pocket fours of course he does. WTF!
9. 5d6d in bb just a limper. Check my option. Flop 7d4xKd. I bet. He calls. Turn brick I bet he calls. River a brick (of course). I feel he has a weak king at best but most likely a smaller pair. I bet stiffly. He snap calls. *He had also shown an ability to call two streets and then fold river. Otherwise I don't try.
Btw, I wrote these hands in different places on social media and texts so some may be out of order.
10. AQ in SB. Two limpers. Raise. Call. Call. 9 high flop. I cbet both call. Turn a six. I'm done. Check. Bet. Bet. (i fold). River brick. Bet call. They both turn over 96 o/s to chop with two pair.
Really, really? Can this be happening. How can I have the greatest table ever and run like this. Limp, calling with 96 off suit. Share outs and hit both their cards. Huh?
11. Short stacked. I'm at 10 bigs. (blinds 150 to 300). Guy makes it 750. I shove for 3200. He... folds. What? What?
I have? Two red aces again. I show table. They are laughing at how bad I'm running. Of course you have Aces when a guy makes a terrible fold with 60k in front of him. Even the guy that I kind of made a rival (by stealing from him the few pots I actually won) is sympathetic. They discuss how bad it is to run so bad in the Main Event.
12. Bust out hand. Suited A9 on button. Shove. SB calls with 88. Okay, not bad. Flop is KQ10. Not terrible, any Jack, any 9, any Ace. Turns is a king. Wow. Facecard, facecard, facecard... River is a... the final tease. A face card. But one of the two that don't work. King ball. Good game me.
I'm playing a couple of bullets in the one drop. And will be supporting/railing my friends and fellow minions still in the Main. Congrats to Laura Crafton, Gene D, and Robert Harwell for making it through. Also, a huge thanks to all the investors, and Monkey for putting me in and believing in me again. Pretty crushed for you guys that I'm out so early. I'm so grateful for the opportunity as well as all the wonderful people I've met or become social media friends with through this. I think those still repping us are all class acts and easy to root for, Let's go Minions!
 |
| This will not be me this year. |
( Another bit of hubris, I've had friends post hand histories usually turning monster stacks into crumbs late in a tournament, and I admit I suspected they were somewhat made up or at least exaggerated. Part of me just didn't believe they could run so bad. Well, now I'll believe anything. This run bad may sound unbelievable but I did live it. Just gross).
 |
| I had to Curb My Enthusiasm |
What a day. Crushing spiritually. Kept saying this will turn-- it has to turn. And part of me loves running bad early, because if I survive, and I keep surviving the potential is there to run great late. And this story will only be more epic. Been short plenty of times and turn crumbs into cash so I stayed positive, but it didn't matter. Rationally, I only don't like a couple of spots and lines in the following hhs. Feel free to be critical. If I made mistakes you'll see them..
I just want to say thank you to all the support and belief by the investors the last couple of years. Many of you have said things privately or in DMs that have made me treasure the experience. So as a thank you, if you don't like being cornered in the Rio by a guy telling bad beat stories, turn away now!
Anyway if you enjoy torture, my hand histories in Main Event from Hell are all here for your displeasure:
1. Second hand two red aces. (SECOND HAND!) Old man utg +1 raises. He seems confident. YUM! Folds to me on button. I raise. He 4 bets. I tank. He looks like he's never folding.
In my head, I can see he's prepared to make the trip home and say I lost with two kings on day 1. YUM.
I want to give him that story. However, I think prudent play is to let the board run out (he's never folding). And blast away the river if it looks clean. I will not pay him off if he makes a set and will be a little cautious if a Queen hits though I'm fairly sure he has only KK or somewhat less likely the other two Aces
Flop Jack high. He checks. Okay check behind for now (HE'S NEVER FOLDING I'M NOT LOSING VALUE). Turn a third spade. He bets. Okay. (No spade, no spade, no spade about to bet at least half my 50k stack... on river) then a spade.
He checks. Ugh. I... check. He says those four spades killed his action. HE WAS NEVER FOLDING... what an optimal scenario had he not had... two black kings. Seccond nuts and he checks. Well, I know I like this table.
2. Run QQ into AA. Fun. Board saves me this time.
3. KK into 1010. Old guy opens. I three bet he calls. Flop is Jack high. He checks. I bet. He raises. Arguably I could have found fold here. Turn brick. He lessens his bet. Odd. Call. River another small bet. Call. Set of tens.
4. Ak. Bet two callers. Flop King. Bet. One caller. Turn 5. Bet called. River brick. Bet called. He shows set of 5s.
Did I mention I loved my table ... literally as you can see they want to keep me around and not get any value for their hands. Just needed an uptick in luck.
5. K10 suited on button with a limper. I bet, limper calls. King high flop. I bet he calls. Turn is brick. I bet big he calls. River is an Ace. He checks (again). This time I check. He shows A6.
6. I have AK raise a limper. He and a blind calls. Flop is King high. Limper donk bets, I raise, blind folds and limper calls my bet. Turn puts three diamonds on board. He check calls my bet. River four flushes. I don't have diamond. He checks. I turn AK into in a bluff. He snaps calls with pocket 6s and the six of diamonds. Ugh... what?
7. I have Ad9d on button. One limper. I raise. SB calls. Limper calls. Flop is Ace high. Check, check. I bet. SB calls. Limper folds. Turn puts two diamonds out there. SB checks. I bet... really want to hit flush. He calls. Brick flush. River air ball. He checks. I... check. He flips AK. Unbelievable.
Did I mention I love my table. What's not to love about these guys?
8. I have AsQs in sb. Limps to me. I raise. BB calls. Limper calls. Flop is two spades but also two sevens. Bet call call. Queen ball turn. I bet fairly large. Blind folds. Limper calls. River is a 4 of spades. I bet with Ace high flush. Limper raises small. I just laugh and just call. He has pocket fours of course he does. WTF!
9. 5d6d in bb just a limper. Check my option. Flop 7d4xKd. I bet. He calls. Turn brick I bet he calls. River a brick (of course). I feel he has a weak king at best but most likely a smaller pair. I bet stiffly. He snap calls. *He had also shown an ability to call two streets and then fold river. Otherwise I don't try.
Btw, I wrote these hands in different places on social media and texts so some may be out of order.
10. AQ in SB. Two limpers. Raise. Call. Call. 9 high flop. I cbet both call. Turn a six. I'm done. Check. Bet. Bet. (i fold). River brick. Bet call. They both turn over 96 o/s to chop with two pair.
Really, really? Can this be happening. How can I have the greatest table ever and run like this. Limp, calling with 96 off suit. Share outs and hit both their cards. Huh?
11. Short stacked. I'm at 10 bigs. (blinds 150 to 300). Guy makes it 750. I shove for 3200. He... folds. What? What?
I have? Two red aces again. I show table. They are laughing at how bad I'm running. Of course you have Aces when a guy makes a terrible fold with 60k in front of him. Even the guy that I kind of made a rival (by stealing from him the few pots I actually won) is sympathetic. They discuss how bad it is to run so bad in the Main Event.
12. Bust out hand. Suited A9 on button. Shove. SB calls with 88. Okay, not bad. Flop is KQ10. Not terrible, any Jack, any 9, any Ace. Turns is a king. Wow. Facecard, facecard, facecard... River is a... the final tease. A face card. But one of the two that don't work. King ball. Good game me.
 |
| Let's go team! |
I'm playing a couple of bullets in the one drop. And will be supporting/railing my friends and fellow minions still in the Main. Congrats to Laura Crafton, Gene D, and Robert Harwell for making it through. Also, a huge thanks to all the investors, and Monkey for putting me in and believing in me again. Pretty crushed for you guys that I'm out so early. I'm so grateful for the opportunity as well as all the wonderful people I've met or become social media friends with through this. I think those still repping us are all class acts and easy to root for, Let's go Minions!
Comments