(BLOG AMENDED 11.4.09. BECAUSE BETTING AMOUNTS IN SAMPLE HAND WERE OFF CONSIDERABLY. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU BLOG ABOUT SOMETHING  2 WEEKS LATER. I APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCORRECT AMOUNTS)

I was about to leave for Foxwoods a couple weeks ago, when I decided to take another look at the WSOP circuit event here in Chicago (Hammond, Indiana) and I'm glad I did. The events took place at the Horseshoe Casino inside the VENUE. The Venue is where all the concerts take place and it is a great tournament area by any standard. There were around 90 tables set up, with overflow in the main poker room. The structures offered at these events -the $400 buy-in all the way up to the 5K ME- were quite simply the best I've ever seen. The $400 event had 40 minute levels (10k starting chips), $500 event had 50 minute levels (10k starting chips) and the 1K had 60 minute levels (15K starting chips). This was only the beginning, however, as no levels were skipped in any of the tournaments and they had redundant antees for multiple levels. For years I have said that the circuit events were geared entirely towards luck, but this couldn't be a bigger departure from that. If these structures are indicative of what will take place at every other stop across the country, the WSOPC will be benchmark for what poker tournaments should be.

*A side note: the turnouts for the events were way strong. The first event, which I missed, attracted 1400+ players. With a great structure and 80K for first, can you say great value?!

I played three events in all-- $500, 1K and 2K. I never got much going in the $500 and I got way coolered in 2k. In the 1K, however, I final tabled. There were some interesting hands in this event and I'm going to discuss one of them. At the time of this hand, I am one of the bigger chip stacks with around 40K. The blinds are 100-200 (25 dollar ante) and there are two limpers in front of me. I find 79 of clubs on the button and I decide to limp. Both blinds come in as well. I could think of a lot of reasons to raise here, but the fact is that both limpers in front of me had been limping with pairs etc., and I had a loose image, so it just didn't make sense to push the action at that moment. The flop came out 2 8 4 with two clubs. So, do I like my hand at the moment? No. I'm beat in many ways--Set, two-pair, better flush draws, and over-pairs are all possibilities. Of course, what I needed at this point was information. Both blinds check and the first limper leads out for $700. The second limper folds and the action is to me. Being in position, and wanting more information, I raise to $1800. The small blind folds and the big blind (a savvy local cash game player) thinks for 10 seconds before calling. The original bettor calls as well. The turn brings a 6 of diamonds, adding an up and down straight draw to my hand. Now, both the big blind and the original bettor check. Normally, I'm taking a free card here. This is one of the main reasons why I made a raise in position on the flop and 9/10 im taking the free card. The problem was that this situation presented a unique opportunity- I felt like I had a spot-on read on both of my opponents. First of all, if my opponent in the BB was floating a set or two pair on the flop waiting for the turn to brick -which it did- he was going to lead out on the turn. He didn't, and all his movements upon acting showed me he was weak- it was possible that he either had a better flush draw to mine, or had top-pair and was waiting to see what I would do on the turn. My read on the original better was that he was weak as well. This wasn't the first time that he lead into a pot aggressively, only to fold on the turn or river. So, taking all this information into account, I decided to take the pot down right there with a $5500 bet. Here's where things just got stupid, and where you simply can't control the sometimes wacky decisions of your opponents. After taking around 90 seconds, my opponent throws out $12000 for a raise. The original bettor throws his hand away immediately and the action is now back to me. At this point, despite the raise, I still felt like my read on him was spot on- basically, everything my opponent did before and after putting this last raise in just strengthened my opinion. A fold at this point would have been ridiculous as there was just too much money in the pot. * I would later find out that my opponent, despite being on my left, was completely frustrated by my playing style -ha ha, that's the point, buddy- and made this raise out of desperation. Anyway, I decided that a call here was a much better play then an all-in. Why? If my opponent had a flush draw, but missed on the river, he would likely save his chips and I would have an additional win by going all-in on the river. It was that simple. I felt that my opponent was that weak and the raise he made just made no sense. I called and the river did brick. After 5 seconds or so, my opponent checks. I, of course, push in and then he goes into the tank. After about 4 minutes, the clock is called. With about 10 seconds remaining in the countdown, my opponent finds a call and is elated to find that his 78 off was good. I had gone from 40K to 6K in about 10 minutes. LOL, the whole table was stunned by our holdings and no one new what to say except nice hand. A level later, I sparked a discussion about the hand to relieve my frustration and, after a little back and fourth, the guy finally acknowledged that his play was a low percentage one and that it was wholly due to his frustration with me. Clearly, if he read me weak, the only play for him was to push in on the turn. That would have shut me down right there. Well, it happened, and while he went to the chip lead, I was now the short stack sitting well below average.

After another level elapses, we go on break and come back to $150-$300 blinds (25 dollar ante). So, yeah, we started the tournament with 15K and I only had 5K 4 hours into the tournament. But, I still had plenty of chips in relation to the blinds and that's where a great structure can help you rebound. 60 minute level after 60 minute level, I clawed my way back, chipping up slowly. At two a.m., after playing for almost 14 hours, I bagged around $240K. This was was good for the chip lead going into day 2, and we were about 11 players from the money. I love this game :).

By early evening of the next day, we were on the final table. I started with about 180K which was below average (I didn't have a great day 2) but after a few pots, I was over 400K and looking forward to possibly getting a ring. Unfortunately things went a little south after that. After flopping two pair against a set, I was down to 250K. On my last hand, I got my chips in with 99 against A10 in a blind battle. My opponent flopped a 10 and that was it. I always want to win, but considering that I had not played live in quite a while, 8th place was a good start. Perspective is an interesting thing, particularly when you start to manage it better. With a the right frame of mind, things have come a bit easier as of late.

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This past week, I traveled to northern Wisconsin and Canada. There is nothing like fresh, mountain air and fall is beautiful time to be up north. After spending a lot of time outdoors and having some incredible meals, we finally came back home, fully relaxed. I had a great time, Daiva. Aciu ir as myliu tave.

I'm currently deciding what I will be playing next and will def be watching the Nov 9. As far as PP goes, I guess we'll see.

See you at the tables,

MJ