WPT Boot Camp - Day Six

WPT Boot Camp Battle for the Season Pass III

David’s Journal

December 5th – Day 6.

Bavaro Princess Resort: Chow Hall – 2.25pm.

Team Eurolinx has just finished the first session of the Second Chance Tournament. It has played like an online turbo event: the blinds are going up every half an hour and the starting chip allocation was 10,000. There were 170 starters but only six players win prizes; consequently a lot of people have tried to quickly double up, rather than waste a day’s sunshine.

I am our only survivor. The first casualty was online qualifier Ole Brodin who experienced a particularly cruel bad beat during level two. He had pocket 8s and was delighted when the flop landed T-8-3. He quickly pushed his chips in and was called by a player timidly defending K-T. Ole had an advantage of nearly 99%-1%. Even when the turn was a king, he still had 91%. Inevitably, another ten landed.

The other online players, Jeff Lamont and Orjan Knutson, accepted their cab to the beach just before the lunch break, while Sportsbook Manager Magnus Wennlof was one of the few poker players flaunting sunglasses outside at 11.35am. Lydia Melton, Operations Manager, managed to remain in the combat theatre for a little longer but, when she fell thirty minutes before chow time, she said her heart had not been in the battle.

I managed to double up just before reporting for my rations. At the table, I had been chatting to a pleasant American guy who worked for Citibank and he had reached the correct conclusion I was playing a tight-aggressive game. It went against him. I was in the small blind with JJ. The play had been folded to a woman in mid position who had about six big blinds. She promptly went all-in. The Citibank player was on the button and thought for a while before calling. He had a pretty big stack and was a solid player.

It was fairly obvious the all-in was ace rag and my friend was not the type who would flat-call with QQ or KK. I went over the top, all-in. I put him on A8-T. He tried to work out the odds and, to be fair, he said that I had JJ or QQ. After deliberating, he mucked and showed me A-T.
The American lady and I flipped our cards – A7 vs JJ.

The flop was Q 2 7. The turn was another jack. The hand was dead but the dealer showed the river card: a king. The Citibank player would have made the nut straight and ended my campaign. He said he would have called had I been playing loosely. Ironically, all three players acted correctly. We consulted the tournament’s director’s assistant, Samual Quinto, and asked him to punch in the odds in the computer. Citibank man made the right decision – but it was close. Had I had a stack that was 2k smaller, he would have had the odds to call.

El Gaucho Argentinean Steak House: - 9.30pm

My relaxation consultant and I are toasting a successful day. The beer is ‘El Presidente’ and the steak is pan-fried. I am, of course, out of the tournament, but that doesn’t matter right now: I’m pleased with my play.

I spent the afternoon making reads, stealing pots and I even had the good fortune to take down A-J when my queens actually held. I built up quite a stack and reached the final three tables. My swansong was a battle of the blinds.

I had thirteen big blinds and the action had been folded to me, in the small blind. I looked at my cards and saw two nice, chubby snowmen. It was a no-brainer – ‘all-in’

The Scandinavian big blind guy, who was wearing a Santa hat on top of his baseball cap and just about had my stack covered, instantly called. He winced when he saw my 8s. He had A-4. In my opinion, it was a terrible call. I won’t bore you with the flop. I shook his hand and left the casino, confident that I had played well. I finished 22nd. Had the hand held up, I’m fairly sure I’d have made the final table - but it was not to be.

However, I’m feeling very Zen. I’m with ‘The Mad Genius of Poker’, Mike Caro, who states that the game is simply about making correct decisions. Were all my decisions correct? No, not by a long way; but I had made more correct decisions than yesterday and that, at the time, felt worthy of a toast.