2003 World Series of Poker - Day 1
About a year ago, I made what turned out to be a fortuitous decision.
I decided to concentrate a much larger portion of my poker time to getting my NLHE tournament game into peak shape. Spurred on in equal parts by some who have foolishly suggested that side game players don't make successful tournament players, a desire to be a part of the next big thing in poker (the WPT), and by the knowledge that the really big scores in poker are to be had in NLHE, I vowed to go to all the major no-limit tournaments... for at least a year and see what happens. Not only would this allow me to sharpen my no-limit skills, but I would have a chance to study up on the new crop of players.
The final event at this year's WSOP was going to be the culmination of this year long effort. I was thrilled with the wins I had had this year so far, but I was determined to erase an embarrassing 15 year run with zero cashes in the final event of the WSOP. I finished 5th on my first try in 1987. I hadn't gotten a sniff since.
My over/under number for the final event had seen its ups and downs. During the Bellagio event I thought we might get as high as 750 players. When I saw how the Second Chance tourneys were killing the supers, I lowered my number to 650. But, as the supers started to gather steam during the last week of the WSOP, my number kept climbing. Could 800 be possible? I didn't think so. But as I got the reports the night before the tournament started, 800 seemed a possibility. I slept well, and got down to the Horsehoe at 1:00 PM on the dot. There was a palpable energy in the air as the number of entrants topped 800. The event got started with about 805 starters.
I settled into the 4 seat and took a look around. Sadly, I saw a lot of familiar faces. Josh Arieh was to my right, Minh Nguyen across the table from me, and Mingh Ly in the 1 seat. My table also had the expected assortment of fresh faces. After the number of entrants topped 810, we were informed by Matt Savage, that even though they were out of tables, more entrants would be accepted on an alternate basis. Alternates for the World Championship, what has the world come to? But given the extraordinary circumstances, I think Matt made the correct decision. Not that Matt makes very many bad decisions. The final number of 839 left most people in awe. I see little reason why we should not top 1100 next year.
I got off to my usual slow start. I tried a couple of unsuccessful bluffs, and anytime I opened, it seemed like I got re-raised. After level one I had about 8500. I make it a habit to go to the ABC store on Fremont Street during the breaks. While on my quest for a banana and some water, I heard the usual stories; so and so has 30,000 already, that guy hit a two-outer with one to come, another had aces four times. During this past year, I have started to focus solely on how am I playing, what my chip position is, and who at my table can be outplayed. Worrying about how other players at other tables are doing is counterproductive and I have basically eliminated it from my game.
During level 2, I picked up a couple of nice hands. I busted a small stack with AA and picked up a few pots after the flop. I had my chips up to about 13,000. The play really started to pick up during level 3. 100-200 blinds seemed to get the game out of the mud. I remember one hand where an internet player, who had been playing really tight, opened for about 800. Minh Nguyen raised 1500. The internet guy raised 4000. At this point, I would bet my life that the internet guy had AA. But, Minh called. The flop came three rags, and Minh checked and the internet guy bet 5000. Minh called again. A small pair on the turn, and Minh moved in for his last 2400. The internet guy called. Minh turned over KK and the internet guy had the expected AA. Needless to say, a K! came on the river, and Minh raked in the 30,000 pot. Did I feel bad for the internet guy? Maybe a little, but what really bothered me about hand was now I had to contend with Minh's big stack instead of the internet guy's stack two to my right. A little while later, Mingh Ly opened from late position, I called in the BB with 77. The flop came JJ6. I checked and Mingh bet 2000. He is a tough side game player and I knew he could have anything. I didn't want to commit with a raise so I just called. I don't like playing pots out of position and I wasn't getting any info with this call. All in all, I think this was a pretty bad call. But, after the 7 fell on 4th street, it was looking pretty good after all. The cards can make geniuses of us all. I checked, and Mingh bet 4000, I raised my last 5000 all in. He thought for about 2 minutes and folded. Now I was up to about 20,000. Day 1 was turning out OK after all.
There is not much to report about the last 2 levels of day 1. I opened a lot of pots and won a lot of antes. When I got called, I usually flopped a good enough hand to bet, and I seldom got raised. I don't think I saw a river card after level 3 and I finished day 1 with about 30,000. Fewer than 400 players survived day 1 and I was happy to be one of them. I also had accomplished one of my goals heading into the day. I hadn't burnt myself out. You can't sustain total concentration for five straight days. I skated through day 1 as planned and I hadn't left anything on the table. I felt fresh and ready to play all five days.