290 WSOP Dealer's Choice SNGs at Rio

2000 starting stack with 20 minute levels.
sat - $290 pays $1520 (3 $500 chips + 120 cash)
High card for Dealer's Choice Button
High Card for actual button (if used)
about 1 rotation = 1 level

Structure Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6nU9yrlXprrMm9hWVVGOTdJMlU/edit?usp=sharing
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Feedback (or discussions night before) = different procedures for actual WSOP event

Although hero didn't have descriptions, hero noted that many were players who played in the 30/60 mix at Rio, but also some randoms based on what other players said.

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1st Table Reads:

1 middle aged male - said he called someone over from 20/40 mix to play SNG
2 ?
3 ?older Asian male with glasses
4 hero
5 H. H.
6 ?

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After drawing for Dealer's Choice button, game selection started with Seat 1.
Hero doesn't remember who gets actual button.

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Badacey:
(likely 75/150 limits)

Hero dealt in MP?: 32Axx (32Ar)

Pre-Draw:
Hero: raises
Vil?: reraises
(folds back to hero)
Hero: calls

Note: Action may have been 3 way in reraised pot)

1D 1B 2D 2B 3D 3B
Hero 2 x/c 2 x/c 2 x/f
Vil? 2 b 1 b 1 b

Hero's Hand after 1st Draw: 32Axx (32Ar)
Hero's Hand after 2nd Draw: 32Axx (32Ar)
Hero's Hand after 3rd Draw: 32Axx (32Ar)

Analysis:
Pre-Draw: Smooth 32Ar = raise. It doesn't feel like a cap b/c villain could have a badugi and have much better chances/equity to scoop.
1st Draw: Draw to 8-9+ badugi
Betting after 1st Draw: Check/Call is standard.
2nd Draw: Same as 1st
Betting after 2nd Draw: Hero can usually check-call IIRC. The math may actually dictate fold since hero's likely getting completely freerolled.
3rd Draw: At the time, hero didn't know exactly what to do. Based on further reading after the fact, it may have been best to try to get to a 86+ 2-7 even w/o badugi chances.
Betting after 3rd Draw: Sigh, hero doesn't have much of bluff catcher with villain only drawing 1.

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2-7 TD:
(likely 100-200 limits)

Hero is on relative short stack.
Hero had a smooth 7 2 card draw and got there on 2nd draw with wheel (#1 = 75432)

Unfortunately, hero doesn't remember betting action. Hero doubles to about 400 against an 8xxxx

Hero loses some chips in probably another hand.

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PLO8
(likely 50/75 blinds)

Hero: chooses PLO8 with short stack (maybe ~400 total) - level 4

PLO8:
Hero dealt in UTG+1: AJJ4r

Preflop:
Hero: raises to 200
Vil?: reraises to 600 (putting hero all in)
Hero: calls

Board: Ax Qx Kx 4x 7x (no fd)
Hero's  UTG+1 chops Ax 6x 3h 2h

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Stud8:
(likely 200/400 limits)

Hero doesn't remember up cards and exact action.
3rd Street:
Vil?: (Xx Xx) Lx (2-5) __brings in__calls
Vil?: (Xx Xx) Xx __folds
Vil?: (Xx Xx) Xx __folds
Hero: (Jx 2x) Ax ________completes
Vil?: (Xx Xx) Bx __folds
Vil?: (Xx Xx) Bx __folds

(2 players)
4th Street:
Vil?: (Xx Xx) Lx Lx Lx
Hero: (Jx 2x) Ax 2x 2x

(2 players)
5th Street:
Vil?: (Xx Xx) Lx Lx Lx __checks___calls
Hero: (Jx 2x) Ax 2x 2x __bets (all in)

Hero continues to bet as Vil?'s board isn't very scary (no straight/flush draws) and in case villain paired up/has weak high hand.
Vil? eventually shows a low

Analysis:
3rd: Hero on a steal (sorry about lack of up cards).
4th: Although hero only has trips, hero has huge value even against 2 low board.
5th: Hero doesn't have many chips to do anything other than get it all in.

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Hero eventually out in 4th around level 5 or 6. It may have been in Badeucy that hero busted.
Hero complimented dealer & tipped for doing a really good job. Usually, the cash amount (most of it) is dealer tip.

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2nd SNG Reads:
1 Amnon Phillipi - met in AC playing HORSE
2 middle aged non-Caucasian guy who kept talking (chose NL 2-7 SD)
3 "SamENole" (Matt)
4 hero
5 Brett R. - mixed game player (mid 20s/early 30s) with glasses
6 British young male named Sam

Seat 1 didn't get to choose game before busting

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Dealer's Choice Button started on seat 2:
Seat 2 -> NL 2-7 SD

Hero doesn't remember who gets actual button.

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NL 2-7 SD:
(10/25 blinds, 5 ante)

Dealt to hero in MP?: T853 Q? (T8 draw)

Pre-draw:
Vil2: raises to 75
Hero: calls

(2 players - 215 in pot)
Draw:
Vil2: stands pat
Hero: drew 1

Hero's hand: T8xxx

(2 players - 215 in pot)
Post-draw:
Vil2: bets 200
Hero: tanks/calls

Vil2: shows 86xxx (may have been 87)
Hero: mucks

Analysis:
Pre-Draw: This seems ok to flat IP.
Post-Draw: Hero thought hard about ranges. What pat hands are villain betting? Does villain bet a lot of Txxxx? Hero beats only some of the Txxxx with T8.
This may have been a fold (not because of results, but possibly because of inaccurate hero determination of villain ranges in vacuum.

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Badeucy:
(likely 50/100 limits)
Hero folded: 97643r (76r)

1D 1B 2D 2B 3D 3B
Vil? 3 x/c 2 x/f
Vil/BB 2 x/c 1 x/c 1 x/c/c?
Vil? 2 x/c 1 x/c 1 x/c/r
Vil? 1 b 1 b pat b/c

Hero's hand after 1st Draw: 96xxx
Hero's hand after 1st Draw: 976xxx

Villain shows #2 (76432) + 6432r badugi and scoops

Analysis:
Pre-Draw: Easy fold. Hero has no 2 and a really bad 2 card hand for badugi side.

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Badacey:
(likely 75/150 limits)

Hero dealt in BB: 62Axx (62Ar)

Pre-Draw:
(folds to Vil3)
Vil3 (SB): calls
Hero (BB): raises
Vil3 (SB): calls

1D 1B 2D 2B 3D 3B
Vil3 3 x/c 2 x 1 x/c
Hero 2 b 1 c 1 b

Hero's Hand after 1st Draw: 62Axx (62Ar)
Hero's Hand after 2nd Draw: 632Ax (632Ar)
Hero's Hand after 3rd Draw: 632AA (632Ar)

Analysis:
Pre-Draw: This may have been a loose raise (52A may be better in Badacey), but hero's IP.
1st Draw: Hero doesn't pick up anything.
Betting after 1st Draw: Hero bets when card ahead (standard).
2nd Draw: Hero draws and gets badugi.
Betting after 2nd Draw: Hero bets when card ahead (standard).
3rd Draw: Hero bricks on freeroll.
Betting after 3rd Draw: Hero hopes villain doesn't have badugi and can fold. Hero's trying to scoop pot.

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Hero's first selection was Badacey for more experience.
Hero likely chose NL 2-7 SD during 2nd selection (likely 4 handed).
Hero didn't seem to care about winning SNG and even admitted to table (since table seemed very tough and hero was asking if fish would even play this MTT tomorrow). Hero was genuinely concerned because there were few/any fish at all. In general, hero picked games that he needed to play for the next day.

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Hero out (very likely) in 4th, possibly around level 7 (300/600 limits, 75/150/25 big bet game blinds)
Unfortunately, hero doesn't remember what game or how he busted. It may have been in Badeucy.

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On a positive note, many of hero's friends passed by (in 1st SNG) and C. C. passed by with other friends in 2nd SNG. Hero also got some more valuable experience with choosing games and hero had trouble getting on mixed cash game lists anyway.

230 Big O8 MTT at Golden Nugget

15000 starting chips at 25/50 blinds and 30 min. levels.

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Late Registration Table Reads:
1 older guy, eventually saw him folding top 2 face up when villain calls then bets all in for 1 PSB
2 L. F. (another regular in the PLO8 & PLO worlds)
3 ?
4 ?
5 Hero
6 D. A. from Florida and previous other PLO8 MTTs
7 ?
8 ?

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Hero barely registered at end of level 6.
Hero's stack was still at 15,000 but at 300/600 (to start level 7 after color up)

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Hero dealt UTG: Ad Ah Qx Th 5x

Preflop:
Hero: raises to 1500
Vil?: calls
Vil? (BB): calls

(4 players - 4500 in pot)
Flop: Kd Jd 8x
Hero: checks
Vil?: bets 3000
Vil?: calls
Hero: folds

Analysis:
Preflop: This is an ok hand to raise in EP or limp.
Flop: Hero can continue with nut wrap + no flush draw MW. Hero decides to be conservative.

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2nd Table Reads:
1 older guy (30s-40s) with glasses who L. F. said was toughest player at table
2 ?
3 middle aged person
4 middle aged male
5 N. (husband F. was in MTT as well) from NJ
6 L. F.
7 Hero
8 ?

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Blinds: 300/600

Hero dealt in BB: Kx 8x 6x 3x 2x

Preflop:
(3 players limp)
Hero checks

(players - 2400 in pot)
Flop: Ax Kx Kh
Hero: bet 1500
Vil8: calls
(other players fold)

(2 players - in pot)
Turn: Ax Kx Kh 7x
Hero: checks
BB: bets ~3000
Hero: folds

Vil? shows AATxx

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Blinds: 400/800?
Hero's stack: ~7k

Hero dealt in LP: AQJ53 (A3 suited)

Preflop:
(folds to Vil3)
Vil3: raises to 2000
Hero: calls
(other players fold)
Hero was calling IP

(2 players - 5200 in pot)
Flop: J53 two tone (hero does not have flush draw)
Vil3: bets 5000 (seat 3? maybe 4?)
Hero: tanks/folds.

Analysis:
Preflop: Hero could easily 3b preflop. Calling raise with suited A3 is ok with ~1 PSB on flop too.
Flop: TBH, this is an easy call with hero only having 1 PSB left and villain could be betting tons of air. Even in worse case scenarios, Hero easily has ~33% equity against nfd/nld. If hero sees sets (which are unlikely), hero's equity is crushed to ~20% though.

board: jc 5h 3cHand Equity Scoops Wins Hi Ties Hi Wins Lo Ties Lo
ad js qs 5c 3s 34.78% 108,304 289,668 13,697 0 21,152
ac 2c 65.22% 287,166 296,635 13,697 416,641 21,152

board: jc 5h 3cHand Equity Scoops Wins Hi Ties Hi Wins Lo Ties Lo
ad js qs 5c 3s 10.67% 21,530 22,403 1,556 86,344 8,215
jj 89.33% 489,762 576,041 1,556 174,427 8,215

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There was a scenario where stacks got intermingled between seats 1 & 5 (and possibly others) when all in.
L. F. worked with floor to replay the action so that stacks were proper as seat 5 got a couple more chips than everyone else.

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Blinds: 600/1200
Hero has ~4k

Hero dealt in UTG: Ah Kx Jx 8x 3h

Preflop:
Hero raises all in
Vil1?: calls
Vil3: reraises all in
Vil1?: folds
Vil3: shows As Ax Jx 5x 2x

Board: Qx Tx Qx 9x 5x
Hero's stack: 12.3k

Analysis:
Preflop: With hero's stack size (~1 PSB), this is an all in push UTG.

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Blinds: 800/1600
Hero's stack: ~8k
Hero dealt UTG: Ah Jx 8h 7x 3x

Preflop:
Hero: raises to 3500
Vil?: reraises all in (hero is all in for less)
other players fold

Hero: calls
Vil?: shows AAK52

Board: Qh 9x 6h Kx 6s

Analysis:
Preflop: This may have been a slightly loose open UTG, but hero had a tighter table image and on the short stack. Hero has to call against a < PSB raise.

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Hero out in 55th or so. Keep running into good aces. Hero was up against AAw twice – Hero won one, but lost other for tournament life.

10-20 Mix Cash Gaming at Rio

10-20 mix
Games in the Mix:
lo8
super stud 8 (deal 4 hole cards, discard 2 if staying past 3rd street)
badeucy
razzdugi
2-7 triple draw
badugi
badacey
a-5 triple draw was almost included
super razzdugi (deal 4 hole cards, discard 2 if staying past 3rd street)

Reads:
1 Asian (middle aged) player who kept sitting out of stud variants (super stud8) and was mad when people talked strategy
2 J. C. younger male
3. J. P. younger male
4 younger woman (IIRC, had diamond or seven star status)
5 middle aged male who said he doesn't care if people talk strategy, it's only 10/20 mix
6 middle aged woman who says she plays a ton of the 10/20-20/40 mixes and was told to stay away from 20/40 b/c game may not be good
7 hero

Hero won a couple big pots in razzdugi by scooping multiway.
Hero started with A23r, completed, and just kept players in betting every street after making 6? + 6 badugi on 4th

Hero discarded for perfect A23
4566 board 3 way
hero scoops

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Another player – likely J. C. made a big razzdugi scoop with nut/nut

super razzdugi (4 -> 2 on 3rd)

saw other player scoop with nut-nut in razzdugi in 3 way pot

Continued Online MTT Prep for WSOP

1. I've been on quite the MTT heater.
1A. It's nice to finally have a HORSE, Badugi, and (tracked) PLO8 MTT wins on my resume in addition to the Stud 8 OPS win. (I won 2 PLO8 MTTs on Bovada...). I do feel that I messed up in some spots with ~15BB as I was only ~1/4 HU in PLO8 though.
1B. It's also great to ship my first ever mid-stakes (and short handed) 6-max NLHE MTT ($33)! I definitely ran above +EV and won some flips.
1C. I'm not so happy about only being 1/4 in PLO8 MTTs when HU. Effective stacks were ~15-20 BBs and I was in the lead in most of them. Sigh, I guess I should work on my PLO8 MTT closing skills.
2. Unfortunately, there's 0 mixed games live. I'm planning to play a bunch of Dealer's Choice mixed games either in 10/20-30/60 mix or in SNGs (assuming they run).
3. There are some small stakes badugi, a-5, and 2-7 td MTTs. Some 5cd cash (small stakes) helps with training overall as well as watching Triple the Gold & Luck of the Draw (Deuces Cracked video series).
4. I reread through some NLHE & LHE literature. I took notes on Building a Bankroll Full Ring Edition (NLHE) & Winning in Tough Holdem Games. Harrington on Modern Tournament Poker & A Poker Player's Guide to Mixed Games are on my reading list.
5. There were some really good PokerNews articles on more of the obscure Dealer's Choice games (Badeucy/Badacey) which helped.

OPS Stud 8 Win!

OPS Stud 8 Win!

Night Owl $33 - 6-max Turbo NLHE

Night Owl $33 - 6-max Turbo NLHE

HORSE MTT!

HORSE MTT!

PLO8 MTT Turbo w/ Rebuys!

PLO8 MTT Turbo w/ Rebuys

Badugi (3rd chance) MTT win

Carbon/Aced OPS Recap (May edition)

1. An accolade that never appeared...
I ended up shipping the $60 Stud8 Carbon/Aced OPS! If I have some time, I'll post some screenshots of the win.
It was a tough victory. The toughest player at my table (per Official Poker Rankings/OPR) got lots of chips towards the end. I was fortunate to pick up some big hands/scoops in HU play to seal it though!

2. The OPS reentry period lengths are still absurdly long. Registering with ~1 big bet (limit) or ~10 BBs in big bet games!
3. Min cashing and "getting a resume entry" seems rather easy in non-NLHE.
4. But, I somehow missed it in stud hi and razz. I was thinking about folding to money, but got rather big hand in stud and busted ~7 places from the money. Razz had no reentry for some reason...
5. I thought about late registering to the $109 PLO and trying to squeeze a min cash. (It was beat ~8 other players with identical starting stacks to hero). I actually had a really good shot. The $215 HORSE was a bit tougher though...

6. Fields seemed very soft in many spots.
Many of the mixed gamers stopped playing on Merge (PLO8/PLO, limit games, etc...).

7. I even ventured and played a couple NLHE MTTs on Sundays. Unfortunately, I bricked all of their "main events" except 1 ($11) after reentering 3+ times :(
8. There's still a big disconnect between quality of play and what I expect to see in WSOP.
Outside of $33+ NLHE MTTs, the field quality even in mid-stakes MTTs were pretty soft to their comparable cash game settings. This is likely a product of most players' impatience with Merge's horrible management.
Unfortunately, it didn't make me feel more comfortable about accurately assessing my skill level, especially in mixed games.