WSOP 2011

Been really unmotivated to blog, but I'm forcing myself to get this one out.

To sum it up, I did really well this year at the WSOP. I played 15 events and had 6 cashes, including a 3rd place finish. I cashed for over $200k. I didn't take home that much money, because I sold out a lot of action to my friends and family. I made them some money though, so that felt good.

The long story.

I showed up on June 1st, the night before the first open event, the $1500 Limit Omaha Hi/lo 8 or better event. I left in mid July.

I busted the Omaha 8 event, but made day 2 and made a small cash in the $1000 No limit hold'em 3 days later. I felt good about making an early cash, because last year I went 2 for 22 and wasn't looking to repeat that experience.

These are the results and notable things in each event.

$1500 Limit Omaha 8 or better - busted near end of day 1.

$1000 No limit hold'em - cashed for $2444 midway through day 2.

$1500 No limit hold'em shootout - We had a 10 handed table, and I got a tough table. It included Tom "Durrrr" Dwan, who was actually the worst player. He didn't seem focused. After I busted him, I got heads up versus another good player. We played a big reraised pot where he crippled my chip stack when we both flopped good. I finished 2nd for our table for $0

$1500 HORSE - I got an amazing table draw. Most of my table seemed almost clueless, but I ran really bad and ended up busting quickly. Probably the most frustrating event I played.

$1000 NLHE - busted near end of day 1, was card dead, happens.

$2500 8 game mix - I made day 2 of this event, but I made a few mistakes on day 1 and didn't have a lot of chips. Still this was a really fun event, I think I'll do better in it next year.

$2500 10 game mix - This was even more fun than the 8 game mix. I was doing pretty well, but I lost an enormous PLO pot where I turned a broadway wrap and the nut flush draw and he turned top two pair and we got it all in.

$3000 Pot Limit Omaha - This is my first cash since the early 1k No limit event. It's been 12 days and I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to have a repeat of the previous year. Fortunately I squeak into the money as a short stack and then end up busting not long after. I mincashed for $6077, after getting coolered by Joe Hachem. This is the first time we play this year.

$2500 HA (Half hold'em, Half Pot limit omaha) - I immediately make a solid cash in my next event and feel real good about it. I felt like I had a big edge over the field in this event. A lot of players seemed good at one game or the other but not both. I think PLO is my weaker game, but I still felt good about it. I cashed for $7555.

$2500 Razz - This event was really swingy for me. I met up with some razz specialist before and had fun playing chinese poker with them. They were booking big last longer bets, I turned them down. I ended up out lasting almost all of them! I still busted after going on a frustrating stretch of bricking off near the end of day 1. Razz is a pretty tilting game sometimes.

$2500 2-7 Triple draw lowball - This is my first of 3 top 18 finishes. I felt very good about my play throughout both days, and was pretty patient about waiting for the right spots for the most part. This is a really fun form of poker and I got really good at it over the past year. It paid off big for me in this event, even with a tough field. I ended up busting 17th, but I had a really big draw that bricked off and had I won that pot, I would've probably made the final table. $8075

$1500 PLO8 - This was the event I was looking forward too almost more than any other. I have gotten very very good at PLO8 and I was looking to prove it. We started with 4500 chips, and by the dinner break 6 hours in, I had around 40,000. That's absurd! And will probably never happen again to me. Anyways, I just dominated all my tables for two straight days, and then eventually lost 3 all in pots in a row with only 2 tables left to bust in 18th place. I got my first five digit score for $10,229.

$1000 NLHE - busted another 1k nlhe, nothing really notable to mention, other than I ran kinda bad.

$5000 PLO8 - I got a table draw with quite a few name pros, including Daniel Negreanu. That didn't mean anything to me, cause I was better at this game than all of them combined. This is simply a form of poker that most people rarely play, and experience is huge in this game. I brutalized my table for 10 straight hours on day 1 and finished with a large chip stack. I was well above average for the entire day. In day 2, my chip stack shot up quickly to be chip leader half way through and just held onto it with careful play. I ended the day 3rd in chips. In day 3, I made my first final table at the WSOP in 2 years and enter the final table 7th in chips. I got lucky with aces against aces and won to become chip leader. Just as soon as that happens, Phil Laak coolers me in a huge pot with a lucky flop, turn, and river. I still end up out lasting 6 out players to finish 3rd for $180,180. Huge cash, but I didn't have very much of my own action unfortunately.

$10,000 No limit Hold'em Main Event -

I ran very good day 1 and accumulated over 100k. I took a small hit at the end of the day to finish with around 91k.

Day 2 I was still well over 2x avg stack, and I took advantage of this by playing aggressively on a scared table. I accumulated more chips, but then made a few bad bluffs and go back down to around 85k. I then picked up a pair of kings and because of my aggressive table image, I got my entire stack in against AK. He hit an ace on the flop, and my main event was over.

I might add more stuff later but that sums it up.

I'll see you across the felt.
Bryce