Trip Report
by Gabe DeVitto
(From his blog: http://www.deucehighnogood.blogspot.com/)
This is my first trip report, so I apologize if it is choppy or poorly written.
Friday morning I hopped on the train from Philly, and arrived at the Taj around
10am. The poker room was already hopping, so i quickly registered for At large
and the 11am HOE tournament. This was my first time playing At large, and I was
struck immediately about how friendly everyone was. I really didn't know anyone
here, and I was worried about feling awkward, but everyone was very nice. I was
more nervous than usual to be playing a tourney, since I never played Stud
Eight or Better in person before, and in fact, had only played it online the
first time earlier in the week. Well, I figured, this would be a nice lesson.
I arrived at my table, and was immediately shocked about how few chips we would
be starting with. Fortunately, this situation was quickly rectified, as we
received an extra 500 chip, to give us a total of T1500 to start. Luckily we
were starting with limit hold-em, a game I still consider my bread-and-butter
(even though I probably play more no-limit at this point). The first few rounds
were uneventful, as I didn't play a single hand outside of the blinds in
Hold'em. Omaha and Stud didnt go much better, and i was quickly down under
T1000. Then came my first lucky break, (and one of the few hands I remember),
as I was dealt a suited A, 2, 3 in Omaha.. Better yet, the board came 333, and
I was called down to the river. That put me right at my starting stack again,
and that is where I stayed until the first break.
Right after the first break, I got involved in a big Stud pot, where i made a 6
low, and two pair and scooped the whole pot. Now for the fist time, I had some
chips. From there I won a pot here and there and kept my stack about steady. At
that time, Bill Chen was moved to my table. Now I had never met him, but I knew
that he was writing a book on game theory (along with Jerrod Ankerman, who
unknown to me had been at my table early on in the tourney). I asked Bill about
the book, and he was nice enough to tell me some details in between scooping
some big pots. Meanwhile, I noticed people were dropping like flies, and for
the first time I wondered if i had a chance to sneak into the money. Right as
that thought hit my mind, I was carded off my table and onto another table with
2 huge stacks. We were on Hold'em and I picked up KK on the button. It was
raised and called when the action got to me, and I three bet and got two
callers. The board came three rags, two of them spades, and I was check-raised,
at which point I three-bet. We were heads-up until the river, and when a queen
hit, my unlucky opponent had to call me down with AQ spades. That was a huge
pot, and I quickly became the chip leader at the table.
Naturally, I was almost immediately thereafter carded from my seat. At this
point in the tourney we were down to about three tables. My new table turned
out to be fairly aggresive, especially a woman across the table who raised
almost every pot, much to the consternation of one member of the table who
dubbed her a "raising station". This strategy turned out to be highly
successful, and it would not be the last I heard from Jodi (I soon thereafter
learned her name). Meanwhile, we switched back to hold em, and I picked up QQ
on the cutoff, raised, and Bill Chen called from the BB. The flop came 10 8 2
rainbow, and Bill check-raised me. I three-bet, but was somewhat worried that I
was behind. Now, for the first time in the tournament I got lucky and the board
paired deuces--I didn't find out how lucky I was until the river when Bill
turned over 10 8, and I scooped a big pot. I now had a huge chip stack, and
with the bubble approaching, quickly used it to my advantage, stealing a fair
number of pots. Finally, after a annoyingly long period of hand-for-hand play,
we were in the money, and down to 2 tables.
Once the bubble burst, people were dropping like flies, and quickly we were
down to the final table. I would say I had a slightly above average stack at
the start of the final table, and I felt good about my position. Unfortunately,
the cards had another idea, as I went through an entire rotation of games
without playing a single pot, save for two blind steals with garbage.
Fortunately, a very nice woman named Llew entertained me with great stories as
I folded hand after hand. Also, this quickly became the final table where no
one would die, as anyone that was all-in was guaranteed to stay-alive. After
about an hour, however, people began dropping like flies, and we must have lost
5 people in 5 hands. I was able to eliminate two players when my aces held up
in Omaha, and we were down to 4 players, me, Bill Chen, Rob Catlett, and Jodi
Neufeld. Bill, who was due to speak shortly at the poker-stars sponsered buffet
was eliminated by Jodi, and if memory serves me correct, she eliminated Rob on
the very next hand.
I started heads-up at about a 2-1 chip deficit to Jodi. The blinds were so
high, and it was so late, that we just decided to play No-limit Hold em with
blinds of 5000/10000. There were only 150,000 chips in play, so I knew there
would be a lot of pre-flop pushing. Jodi , of course, quickly informed me that
she had won theFossilman heads-up championship at FARGO, and I could quickly
see why, as she was very aggresive and difficult to read. To compound my
problems, I feel like heads-up is the weakest part of my game. I was, however,
able to push over the top of Jodi on a couple of hands and get the chip lead.
Very shortly thereafter, Jodi raised, and I looked down to see AT0. I pushed
in, and Jodi correctly called with KQ. The flop came down KQx, and I was down
to hoping for a J, which did not appear. Jodi had seized the chip lead back,
and from that point on, she plain and simple whooped me, and earned the title
and the majestic plaque that came along with it. After collecting our loot,
Jodi and I went to the buffet dinner, and I enjoyed both great food and a great
presentation on game theory.
After about an hour i excused myself, checked into my room at the Taj, and laid
down to take a brief nap with the intention of meeting some friends at the Trop
for some later night NL ring games. After 11 hours of poker, though, my body
had different ideas, and I woke up at 5am not knowing where the hours had gone.
I eventually fell back asleep, and woke up just in time for the NL tourney the
next morning.
The NL tourney was much less eventful for me (although I did receive a bottle
of cider as a bustout gift) About two hours in, I called a raise from the big
blind with T9d. The flop came Q and two baby diamonds, and I raised the flop.
The pre-flop raiser thought a long time, and pushed the rest of his chips in. I
had him covered, and the pot was offering me almost 3-1, so i called. Alas, no
diamond came, and i was down to T400. Shortly thereafter i pushed on the button
with Q9, was called by KJ, and did not improve. I was out in 133, but I still
had a great time. After playing some ring games for a couple of hours, I had to
head home, and didn't get to play Stud on Sunday. Neverthelss, I had a great
time at ATLARGE, and met some really nice people, and can't wait to play again
next year.
