Terrence

I guess it stands to reason that the deeper you get into the World Series of Poker, the tougher it gets.  That being said, I have a hard time seeing how things could get much more difficult than my Day 2 table.  I'll go even further and say that the final table will not be as tough as the group I went against yesterday.

Before getting into it, let me give an overall update.  Following the second Day 2 today, we've lost 3/4 of the entrants.  About 6,400 people entered, and there are only 1,600 left, less than 1,000 away from the money.  It's within reach, and there's a chance we may even get there late on Day 3.  Dozens of name pros have been eliminated thus far, including Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, and plenty others.

My Day 2 table began in the Brasilia room, which is basically the secondary room at the Rio.  The Amazon room is the main room, and the place that we will all be playing in once we've eliminated enough players to fit there.  Right when I sat down, I took stock of my tablemates and their chipstacks.  I was among the leaders at the table, with probably two guys that had me slightly edged.  There was a wide range of styles and nationalities at this new table.  I was in Seat 6, and to my right was English pro John Duthie.  I've seen Duthie before and know that he plays a little loose, often catching people by surprise with low suited connectors and the like.  To his right was an older man that I think must be a war vet, as he had three fingers on one hand and none on the other.  He played a very tight game, but when he got a big hand he pushed hard with it.  To his right was a young German guy who was extremely unpredictable.  He changed gears very well, sitting out for half an hour before raising and reraising five straight hands.  It was tough to get a feel for him.  To his right was a kid in his mid-20s in a long-sleeved Florida Gators shirt.  He was also very tough, and I could tell early on that he knew what he was doing.  Most players seemed to stay out of his way, as he took down a lot of pots preflop uncontested.  Oddly enough, he seemed to do the most raising from early position.  The 1 seat was taken out rather quickly, so no need to worry about him.  Seat 9 was another tough European--a young Swedish kid that seemed to reraise half the preflop raises.  It was hard to put him on anything, as he was very active in most pots.  To his right was a young Canadian kid that played a very tight style, and finally to his right was a middle-aged guy that seemed to play a pretty straightforward game.

On the first hand, I looked down to see AQ in middle position.  With 200-400 blinds and a 50 ante, I made a standard raise to 1,200.  The guy immediately to my left reraised to 4,000, and it folded back to me.  I wasn't thrilled at the prospect of playing AQ out of position, especially against a guy that didn't have a huge stack, so I laid it down.  He showed aces!  Just as my pocket tens on the second hand of Day 1 seemed like a good sign, I took this as a bad omen of things to come.  Did I mention I hate AQ?

The next few hands saw a preflop raise followed by a reraise, followed by a fold.  It gave me a good idea of the way the table was going to go.  I decided to get in on the action (as well as make a statement that stealing my blinds would not be tolerated), when about 12 hands in, Duthie raised from the button.  I looked down to see A7 off from the small blind, and made a meaty reraise of 3,800 on top.  He thought for a bit, then tossed it.

Duthie came into the day with less than 30,000 in chips, but he quickly got back on his feet after coming in for a raise in middle position.  The guy to my left made a huge overbet push of about 20,000 on top.  Duthie barely had him covered, and he said, "I just can't lay this down.  I call."  Duthie flipped over queens, which were in great shape against the 77 of his opponent.  The board ran out safely, and the queens held up.  I wasn't thrilled to see Duthie chipping up, as I knew he could be dangerous.

Shortly after Duthie's double-up, I called a raise from Gator guy on the button with 56 of spades.  The flop came down as perfect as I could hope for--347 rainbow.  Oddly enough, he checked it.  I thought he was looking for a check-raise, so I didn't slowplay my fliopped straight and threw out a bet of 2,000.  Apparently my read was off, as he tossed it pretty quickly.  That seemed like a missed opportunity, but I guess he put me on a big pair preflop and he totally whiffed it.

I only got involved in one other hand before our table got moved back into the Amazon room.  This hand really illustrated why playing with deep stacks gives you more freedom than regular tournament structures.  After Duthie limped in mid-late position, I peeked down at the 46 of hearts.  With position on the cutoff, I elected to call, and along with the blinds, we saw a four-handed flop of J73 rainbow, giving me a gutshot.  The Canadian kid checked, then the aggressive Swedish kid bet 1,200.  Duthie thought briefly then folded, and I saw this as a chance to take a pot off the kid.  I put him on a weak jack, and I called not only with the gutshot, but looking to take it down later in the hand.  The turn paired the 3, and the Swedish kid checked.  I bet 1,800, hoping it would look like I wanted a call.  He must not have seen it that way, as he raised another 4,000 on top.  I still saw him as having a weak jack, and I decided to represent 77, a line that I had followed pretty well so far.  I made a pretty small reraise of another 5,200 on top, and the kid thought for about 20 seconds, then folded.  That was a nice pot, and put me up over 70,000.  Shortly thereafter, we were asked to move into the Amazon room, although our table wasn't breaking.  We all picked up and moved to the back corner of the Amazon room, to the 60th table in the Orange section.

A new player was moved to our table after Duthie eliminated the guy with QQ vs. 77.  A young Spanish kid, he came to the table with about 35,000 in chips.  He wasn't the one to worry about, though, as we soon lost the player in the first seat when the German guy took him out.  Filling his spot was none other than Carlos Mortensen, the 2001 Main Event champ.  "The Matador" had around 30,000 in chips, but when a guy like that has anything in front of him, you take notice.  He seemed to be laying back mostly during his first few hands, and the flow of the table continued--raise, reraise, fold.  I had noticed that the few hands that Mortensen had raised, he had made it a different number each time.  Twice he had made nearly a 5X raise, and both times the kid in the Gators shirt had reraised him and took it down preflop.  A few times he had raised smaller, and on all but one he ended up taking the pot down either pre- or post-flop.  I figured that his oversized raises were with something like a small pair or some kind of suited connector type of hand, and that thinking led to my next play.  Mortensen made another large raise from under the gun, and Duthie called in middle position.  I looked down to see pocket 4s, and thought it might be a good time for a squeeze play.  After Mortenson's 2,500 raise (blinds were 250-500), I put another 8,000 on top.  Mortensen folded rather quickly, but Duthie called.  I can't say I was happy about that, but I figured that if I stayed strong I could take it down.  The flop was beautiful but scary as it came down 49T with two hearts.  I had flopped bottom set, but there were draws galore on there.  Duthie thought for about 20 seconds then checked.  I thought about checking behind and trying to trap, but there was just too much danger out there.  I bet out 10,000, and he thought for about two minutes before folding.  I thought he was going to push on me, but I guess he decided against it.  He looked at me and said, "Nice hand... I think.  I folded queens.  It just didn't seem like the right time."  I wish I had known he had queens, because a check behind may have won me a lot more money.  I thought he may have been splashing around with some kind of suited connectors, though, not a pair.  A check may have made him think I had AK and missed, so I regret the play.  That being said, I dodged a bullet by getting him to lay down queens in the first place, despite having flopped a set.  I wonder how everything would have played out if I had just called preflop.  Mortensen may have caught a piece of the flop, Duthie would have the overpair with no reason to think he wasn't good.  I could have taken a monster.

Not long after this hand, the Canadian kid got mugged.  He raised preflop, and Gators guy called in the big blind.  The flop came down T92 with two hearts, just like the flop Duthie and I had seen..  Gators checked, and the Canadian kid made a 2/3 pot bet.  Gators kid raised, Canadian reraised, Gators reraised, and Canadian just called.  The pot was huge at this point.  The turn was a king of hearts, and both players slowed down with checks.  The river was a blank, and after Gators checked, the Canadian bet 25,000, nearly his entire stack.  Gators guy got up from the table and said, "Wow this is sick."  This was the first brutal decision he had needed to make, and he took a good five minutes before he made it.  He seemed ready to fold a couple different times, and the Canadian kid remained stoic throughout.  Finally, though, he made the call, and he turned over T9, for top two pair on the flop.  It was good, as the Canadian kid had QQ. 

Shortly before the dinner break, we lost the Canadian kid when he shoved for his last 7k with K3, only to be called by Duthie and his 99.  The 9s held, and the kid was gone.  That turned out not to be a good thing, as who came to our table but Bill Edler, the pro I played with on Day 1.  Bill had a stack of about 30,000, but he soon doubled up off the German guy when he turned trip jacks and called the German's push with just a pair of 6s. 

We then lost Duthie in an instance of a squeeze-gone-wrong.  Mortensen raised, Gators called, the German called, and so did the older guy.  Duthie pushed for another 25,000, which elicited folds from Mortensen and Gators guy.  The German thought for a while, then said, "Let's gamble," and he threw in the call.  The older guy got out of the way and we were heads up.  The German had 44, which amazingly enough had Duthie crushed, as he could only turn over 53 off!  That was a pretty sick move, and the 4s held to knock Duthie out.  His seat was soon filled with a middle-aged guy with about 50,000 in chips, but the German cut out half his stack with a couple of well-timed reraises to put him in trouble.

Bill soon whacked the new guy who took Duthie's spot when he came in raising and got one call, then they both checked a flop of 589.  The turn was a queen and Bill bet 5,000, only to have the other guy push for 17,000 more.  Bill insta-called with 67 for the second nut straight, and the other guy was drawing dead with AQ.

All throughout this, I was staying pretty quiet.  I raised a few times from late position to take some pots, but I wasn't really getting into any big pots.  This had turned out pretty well for me, though, as I had just crossed the 100,000 mark by the final break of the night.  Unfortunately, I slid a bit after the dinner break.  First, I got tricky and limped with aces in early position.  Seeing as how the table had been so aggressive, I thought for sure I would see a raise and a reraise before it got back to me, but much to my dismay there were three other calls.  The flop came 28Q with two diamonds, and Mortensen and the Gators guy checked.  I bet out 2,000, and a player behind me folded.  Mortensen called, then Gators guy raised it another 6,500 on top.  What could he have?  I thought he had a queen, something like QJ, and I made the call.  So did Carlos, who I put on a couple of diamonds.  The turn was a black 4, and after Mortensen checked, Gators guy bet out 20,000.  After getting called on the flop, I didn't think he'd go so crazy with just a queen.  I thought about it forever, going back and forth between pushing and folding, but I finally opted to toss it, as did Mortensen.  Gators guy said that if I pushed he would have puked and then called, and said he had flopped top two and that I was scaring the crap out of him with how long I was thinking.  He wasn't going anywhere, though, so that was a good laydown.  I doubt Q8 would have called if I raised, so I probably take it preflop, but at least I got off of it.  After this hand, though, I gave away about half my money on a funky hand.  I had mentioned that the Swedish kid was raising and reraising a ton of pots, and once again he came in raising on my big blind.  It folded to me, and I saw KJ off.  I don't particularly like this hand, but I decided to throw in a call.  The flop was 577, and I thought I could take it down with a bet.  I bet 5,000, and the kid called.  I immediately figured that he was floating the flop, looking to take it down with a bet later on.  I was ready to let him do it, but then the jack hit the turn.  I checked it, and he bet out 10,500.  I called.  The river was a queen.  I checked again, and this time he threw out 20,000.  I really didn't believe him, especially with how many pots he had been splashing around in, but this was a big bet to have to call.  I went with my gut and made the call, and like a punch in the gut he turned over AA.  Ouch.  That pretty much cut me in half, under 50,000.

I bounced back pretty well after that, taking a few hands with preflop reraises with jacks and tens.  I also put a squeeze on Edler and Mortensen after Bill raised, Carlos called, and I popped it 15,000 on top with AK.  I was ready to dance if one of them pushed, but they got out of the way.  I ended the night with slightly less than I had started with--57,900.  In relation to the blinds, I still have plenty of chips, as we'll come back to 600-1,200 blinds with a 200 ante.  There's definitely still plenty of room to play, and I have to think I'll have an easier table than I did on Day 2.  I'm a bit disappointed with that KJ hand, since I probably shouldn't even have called it preflop, but I'm glad that I was able to bounce back.  Day 3 is going to get us close to the money, so I'm thinking that if I can get over 100,000, I'll be looking good to make a run at it.  75% of the people that started it are gone, and I've got a shot, so I'll definitely be taking a positive outlook into Day 3.