2003 World Series of Poker - Day 2
I woke up on day 2 after a good night's sleep and rushed to my computer to check out my table draw for the day.
I was not surprised to see Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu at my table. What I didn't like was that they were both to my left. Daniel did not have a big stack, but Ivey had me more than doubled. I found myself dealing with a sudden case of nerves. Yes, I was still in the biggest poker tournament in history, yes, I had two of the toughest tournament players to my left, but this is what I live for. I had been preparing for this tournament my entire life. I decided that once I sat down, my nerves would get better. The anticipation of playing was harder on the nerves than actually playing itself.
We got started and true to form, Ivey decided he is going to run over the table. He opened what must have been 8 of the first 10 pots. One problem, the other players at the table didn't seem to care that it was Phil Ivey opening. He got raised many times and had to fold each time. Thirty minutes into the day, he was down about 20,000 and had "only" 40,000 left. My stack stayed about the same, and, as I had hoped, my nerves were nowhere to be found. I opened a few pots and didn't get much action. Daniel won a few pots and now I had to worry about two dangerous stacks to my left. Later Phil busted Susie Isaacs when he flopped a flush to Susie's top pair, top kicker. Phil was back to where he started. Meanwhile, players were dropping like flies. It now looked like my table would break sooner than I expected. I decided to bide my time.
Early during day 2, Matt Savage announced some of the names of his wonderful support staff during the tournament. He mentioned Jody Ivner as the person who helped him get the events started each day, and Jesse Ferguson as the guy who helped end each day at the WSOP. I could only think that I saw way too much of Jody and not nearly enough of Jesse at the series this year. I was very disappointed in my performance, but a high finish in the final event would sure make up for it.
Soon enough, our table broke after only about two hours, and I left with about what I started with. My new table was on the rail, and I could see that we would not break for the rest of the day. I also recognized only three players at my table. Dennis Waterman, a tough player, but he was to my right, and Don Barton, another tough player, to my left, but he was severely short stacked. I also had Dan Heimiller across the table from me. He is one guy who will surely bust you if he hits the right flop against you. But, he also might bust himself if the situation is reversed. I decided that this was my chance to really get going. But, I had all day to do it. I was going to be patient, and observe some of my new, unknown opponents. I could be patient, because the structure at this year's event was astoundingly good. The blinds were now 250-500 going to 300-600 and then 400-800! And we got two hours per level no less. For six hours it felt like the blinds didn't change.
This first thing I saw, most of the players at my table appeared to be internet qualifiers. Just in case you weren't sure, most of the internet qualifiers were wearing the shirts of their respective internet sites. This made keeping track of them a little easier. The second thing I noticed, a player across the table from me thought he was the second coming of Stu Ungar. He raised all in twice and then showed a complete bluff after his opponent folded. One hand, he opened and Dennis re-raised him. He then moved in, and after Dennis folded AK he proudly turned over the J8 off suit. On the last hand before a break this bizarre scene happened. Stuey Jr. opened and got re-raised by a red-head with a big stack, Stuey Jr. then called the re-raise. I was the only player who decided to stay and watch the hand during the break. The flop came 22A. He checked and Red, who was sitting next to Stuey Jr. bet. Stuey Jr. then made a small raise. While Red was looking off into space thinking about what to do, Stuey Jr. winked at me from across the table and put four fingers up to his face!! He seemed to want me to know that he had flopped quads. This was truly one of the strangest things I had ever witnessed at a poker table. Red called. The turn came a blank and Stuey Jr. moved in. He had bluffed Red a little while earlier with an all in bet and Red, went into the tank. After about two minutes, Red asked Stuey Jr. if he would show him his hand if he folded. Stuey thought about it and said yes. He may have hoped this would induce Red to call, but it had the opposite effect. Red seemed genuinely relieved that he would not have to wonder whether he got bluffed again, and he promptly showed his QQ and folded. Stuey Jr. reluctantly showed his 22 and we all went on break.
We were now playing with a 300-600 blind, and I was down to about 22,000. I opened in the SB with 67s and a guy with a Pokerstars shirt on called me from the BB. The flop came 954 rainbow. I bet and Pokerstars guy called. The turn came a J and I bet again, he called. The pot was now about 15,000 and he had 10,000 left. The river paired 5's. I now had to decide if this guy was willing to go home and tell his wife that he got knocked out of the WSOP by calling his last money with a pair of 9's. I didn't think so, and I bet. What seemed like ten minutes later, but was probably two, he folded. Whew, I would have been down to 5000 if he had called. Now I had 30,000. A few minutes later, I opened with AQs and Don Barton moved in with a short stack. I had to call. He turned over AK but when the flop came JTK he was sent to the rail. I won a couple of small pots and had built my stack up to 50,000. Soon after, Dan Heimiller opened in middle position and I re-raised from the small blind with KK. He called. The flop came K52, and I checked. He bet and I moved in. I was hoping he would get stubborn with AK, and that is exactly what he had. He called and I had him covered by a few thousand. I now had almost 100,000. Another couple of minutes later I opened in middle position with AQ. Stuey Jr. re-raised me 5000 from the SB. I wasn't going to fold and have him show the J8, so I decided to put him to the test and raised him 19,000. He thought for a while and called. The flop came A72 and he immediately moved in for his remaining 35,000. I couldn't see him making this play if he had me beat. I called and he turned over a sad pair of jacks. I got myself in trouble and sucked out again. Thirty minutes earlier I had almost bluffed my way down to 5000 with 7 high, and now I had 150,000!!
My rush stopped and I lost back some of my chips during the next level. But, during the 600-1200 level, a new player arrived with about 90,000. He opened the first pot for 20,000 and won the antes. A round later, he opened up front for 12,000. I read him for a strong hand, and was pleased to see AA when I looked at my cards. No need to slow play here, I raised 30,000 hoping he might put me on scared jacks or AK. He looked at me for about 5 seconds and immediately moved in. I called, and he showed QQ. My aces held up and I now had over 200,000. My chips went as high as 230,000 and as low as 190,000 the rest of the day. I finished day 2 at over 200,000.
Once again, I didn't feel like I had played my best poker yet. I was rested and I had plenty left in the tank to go the distance. It didn't feel like I had just played twenty hours in two days. In fact, I felt strangely detached from the tournament. I usually get emotionally attached to an event when things start to look good. Not so in this one. I took this as a good sign. Maybe I would be willing to take some of the chances necessary to win if losing wouldn't devastate me like it would in years past. If I could keep a level head, and keep the cards coming, maybe this would be my year. I left the Horseshoe that night quite hopeful.