WPT Championship, Day Two

Posted on By Wil

Hooray for computer issues. My iBook is acting up, (details, including lots of NSFW language in the audioblog) but I took a chance on making it go this morning . . . so far, so good. I’m using Safari, so I wonder if the problem is with an older version of Firefox, because Thunderbird does the same thing. Maybe something’s corrupt in some library or something.
Well, I’m not going to worry about it right now, because I need to focus on the tournament.
I’m still alive, but barely. Yesterday I played pretty well, other than two huge fucking stupid dipshit rookie idiot mistakes that cost me 30K in chips, tilted me, and took about an hour of play before I recovered, mentally. Details on that stuff will come later on, as I understand some of my possible competition here is reading my blog.
Cool note: Andy Bloch told a writer for Pokerwire yesterday that my blog was really cool, and very well-written. Sweet!
So I was all the way down to about 25K in chips near the end of the day, when I finally got a hand I could play. On the button, or in the cutoff (can’t remember and my notes are messy) UTG raised it to 1800. With the blinds at 300-600, this was a standard steal-raise, but I had decided that this was my Moment iof Truth: I was all-in on this hand no matter what . . . I just wanted to play it right so I could get some action from at least one of the players, probably the raiser, who was this guy Victor (pro player, I forget his last name. Very nice guy, though.) I re-raised to 6000. He thought about it for a long, long time, asked me how many chips I had, all that stuff. Since I had decided I was going to move on this hand no matter what, I wanted a call, so if he was looking for weakness, he wasn’t going to find it. Eventually, he called. The flop was 9-7-x, all different suits. He checked, I moved in immediately.
He thought about it again, and eventually said to one of the other guys, “He hasn’t played a hand in four hours.” I just looked at the flop, and hoped he called. I loved this flop.
“Do you have Kings?” He said.
“It’ll only cost you about 20,000 to find out, Victor,” I said.
“I worked hard for these chips, man,” he said.
“You sure did.”
He tapped his cards, fiddled with his chips, rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses, and folded.
I nodded and raked the pot.
Next hand I got was also a monster. Two playable hands in a row took a little bit of the sting off of the relentless string of K-2o, 5-3o, and J-7o bullshit I’d been looking at all day.
I raised it up to 6000, got one caller. The flop was a Jack and two baby cards. The caller bet half the pot, I moved in, he folded quickly.
I gave about 1800 back in blinds and antes, and ended the day around with 37375 in chips. That puts me around 272 in a field of about 314 or so, and it means that if I don’t double through before the end of the first or second level today, it’s only a matter of time before I’m out.
I talked with Travis from ACME last night, and if I’m still alive in this thing this afternoon, we’re cancelling the Dancing Barefoot performance tonight, and moving it to next week.
I only have to make it to 100th place to get $30,000! That would pay for all my kitties, and the knee surgery Ferris has to have on Monday. (Can I get an “Oy vey,” please?)
Time for breakfast, then a quick shower. I’ve got Darwin with me, so he’s channeling all the Monkey Mojo I can get.

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Comments (107)

  1. Sorry to hear about the iBook, dude. Great that you’re back, though. Is there real network in the hotel?
    Your monkey’s name is Darwin. Har!
    Good luck in making one of your hobbies a payday. Go Wil! **mojo mojo mojo**
    Can’t wait to read about it.

  3. Network connection: Eric_in_PA.vegetasei.org >>> darwin.wilwheaton.net
    #:sendmojo
    SendMojo v4.2.0 Initiated
    Calculating Mojo… done.
    Mojo Type? non-loser|poker
    Sending non-loser poker mojo…
    Mojo transfer complete. Start a MojoLoop? y
    Running in background…
    Good luck Wil! Hope you make the money!

  5. Question:
    Since you didn’t have to buy in to the game, do you get to keep the winnings?
    Or do you have to pay back the buy in of you win enough?
    Or is it all free money?
    And don’t you have to give it to charity or something?

  6. Best of luck, Wil. And, in your vast amounts of free time 😉 could you make a recommendation for a good poker terminology resource for those of us who don’t know what you’re talking about?

  7. Here’s an extra big dose of Monkey Mojo from me! I asked my two year old “neice” (my friends’ daughter), who is sitting on my lap right now if she wanted to send some mojo, and she shook her head… Sorry. 😉 LOL Good luck and keep having fun!

  10. You’re going to get a monster hand. MONSTER! Play nice and tight, then spring the monster on them when they’re not suspecting it…
    You got at least 100th place, easy!

  13. So, by the way you explained the first hand, it sure sounded like pocket 9’s… Hellmuth’s favorite, both black? The only thing that would make me question that would be if you’d hit the nut set, you’d wanna string him along. Of course, wanting to go all in with 7’s doesn’t sound like you.
    Oh well, can’t wait to hear further explanation!
    BTW, if it wouldn’t be too much to ask, what would you recommend to be the best NLHE tourny book you’ve read? Your recommendation of Lee Jones’ low-limit book was great, and I’ve got a 10-seat to final table satellite in two weeks, need to brush up…

  15. I offer you mojo in musical form! (OK, the song’s talking about a crap game, not a poker game, but still.)
    They call you Lady Luck,
    But there is room for doubt,
    At times you have a very unladylike way of running out,
    You’re on this date with me,
    The pickings have been lush,
    And yet before this evening is over you might give me the brush.
    You might forget your manners,
    You might refure to stay,
    And so the best that I can do is pray…
    Luck, be a lady tonight,
    Luck, be a lady tonight,
    Luck, if you’ve ever been a lady to begin with,
    Luck, be a lady tonight.
    Luck, let a gentleman see,
    How nice a dame you can be,
    I’ve seen the way you’ve treated other guys you’ve been with,
    Luck, be a lady with me.
    A lady doesn’t leave her escort,
    It isn’t fair, it isn’t nice,
    A lady doesn’t wander all over the room,
    And blow on some other guy’s dice.
    So let’s keep the party polite,
    Never get out of my sight,
    Stick with me, baby, I’m the fella you came in with,
    Luck, be a lady,
    Luck, be a lady tonight.
    A lady wouldn’t flirt with strangers,
    She’d have a heart, she’d have a soul,
    A lady wouldn’t make little snake eyes at me
    When I’ve got my life on this roll.
    So let’s keep the party polite,
    Never get out of my sight,
    Stick with me, baby, I’m the fella you came in with,
    Luck, be a lady,
    Luck, be a lady,
    Luck, be a lady tonight!
    – From the musical Guys And Dolls

  17. Good Luck Wil!! I hope you grab that 30,000!! I wish I had the money to give you!! God knows I could use some money!! No matter what happens you have done your best and that is what counts. I love poker. Trouble is I seem to lose the damn chips faster than anyone. And I love it because…Well anyway I always say good things happen to good people, and Your a good guy so you never know! Have a safe , great trip!!

  19. I’ve heard there are issues with the latest update to OS X 10.3. Specifically with Java components, I seem to recall, although I don’t actually know the details. Try a search on news.com for more info, I think that’s where I spotted it… May or may not be relevant, but I thought I’d mention it.
    Also, mad mac monkey mojo headed your way. 😉

  20. And now Ferris has to have knee surgery?? How much more can you guys take? Glad to see you are hanging in there! Aimee

  21. Oh Ferris, did you pull a Luna? My idiot second chi–,do–, (oh who cares? She’s a dumbass, and SO can’t read…) ran head-on into a fire hydrant and popped a knee. Only Luna. Poor, stoooopid Luna. All the bitches send sloppy doggy kisses in your general direction.

  23. Good luck Wil! Sorry about your computer problems, but thanks for posting your audioblog last night. Knowing you might be rescheduling your reading before I left to come see it allowed me to change my plans so I’ll be there to see you next week instead…I would have been rather frustrated to get to town there and find out the reading wasn’t happening. Lots of MOJO from me headed your way.

  24. Buntz:
    He’s in a tournament, which I think means that chips he’s playing with are tournament chips; you can’t cash them out for real money.
    What happens is that people play poker, all the time people dropping out of the tournament by losing all their chips. 1st place in the tournament is the person that ends up with all the tournament chips. 2nd place is the last person to have lost theirs. 3rd place is the person before that, and so on. I’m not sure if it’s rounds survived that ends up determining your ranking, or they mark by the clock when people drop out.
    So none of the chips are real money. However, when you finally lose (lose all your chips) you are “ranked” somewhere between the top and the bottom, 1st through 3000th or whatever. The top 100 or 200 (I forget) finishers get real money as a reward for playing so well, the higher the rank, the more money. Wil’s shooting to try to break that level and bring some prize cash back.
    Most people in the tournament paid real money to get in. That’s the gambling part; most people pay to get in ($25,000 I think, judging by his earlier post), and don’t get anything back. That’s how the casino gets the prize money and still makes money themselves. Sometimes winners of other tournaments are asked to play for free, just for publicity I suppose. I think that the winner of the Hollywood Home game and the next person were invited, but they couldn’t make it, so they went to the next person in _that_ tournament, who was Wil. So Wil’s in for nothing, but could get some significant cash out. That’s why he’s changing his plans around to stay.

  25. Craig, thanks! That was exactly the answer I was looking for!
    I hope he can get some out of this. I hate how just because you’re a celebrity, if you ever play a game (game show or what not) you’re forced to give the money to charity!
    Good luck Wil

  26. Raising to 6000 with 300/600 blinds? Was this a reraise? I mean, that’s 10x the big blind. It worked this time, but normally that seems a little high. Now, I’m not trying to tell you how to play. I just love poker discussions. Personally, almost all of my preflop raises (steal, starting hand, or monster) fall between 3-5x the big blind, and I vary it to avoid opponents getting a read.

  27. Listened to the audioblog again, and here are better details:
    The top 100 finishing positions pay. From position 51 to 100, the payout is $30,000. For the average schmo who bought into the tournament with cash, if you end 100th or better, you make your $25,000 back and a little more.
    Wil says if I don’t double through before the end of the first or second level today, it’s only a matter of time before I’m out. He said in the audioblog that he had about half the average chip stack. I don’t know what “doubling through” is, specifically, but I think it has to do with the rule that in a given hand, you can only get from each player the total amount you bet. This puts you at a dis-advantage if you’re playing with a lot less chips than someone else.
    Example: I have $10 in my chip stack, and I’m playing aganst 3 people each with $100. I’m dealt two aces. Very likely I’ll go all-in. However, even if the flop (the first three community cards down on the table) are ace-ace-something, giving me 4 of a kind, I can only win $10 from each of the other players. Best case, I end up with $40, and they each still have $90. When you’re at a significant chip dis-advantage, then you have to have huge cards or bluff people out of pots several times to build your way back up. I think that’s what Wil’s saying in his “doubling-up” statement; if he doesn’t gain significant ground (measured in chips) early in the day then his chances of finishing in the top 100 dramatically, and he heads back home.

  28. http://www.cardplayer.com/tournament-log/?event_id=835
    the above site has a live update for the tournament – not very often, and they’re only following the big dogs, but it can be fun.
    Also, under “tools” on the home page is a rules of poker that may help some of the more pokerese deficient. Or, try this site: http://conjelco.com/pokglossary.html
    Although, I glanced through and noticed that they left out “cutoff”, so maybe that won’t help all that much… (cutoff is the last seat before the button).
    Monkey mojo, and some calming Chi, on the way Wil.

  29. loogie,
    It was a re-raise. The opener bet 1800, or 2x the BB which is low/ok from UTG, but seems to be begging for a call. Wil made a pot-sized re-raise, which even without knowing Wil’s hand and his read on Victor, I’d still say seems reasonable for the situation.
    To clarify pot-sized in this scenario: I normally include my call amount as part of the pot before calculating a pot-sized raise (similar to Pot Limit), so the pot size would be 900 (300sb + 600bb) + 1800 raise from “Victor” + 1800 call from Wil = 4500. So, Wil’s re-raise to 6000 would include his call of 1800 + raise of 4200 (appx. = pot size of 4500).
    Sorry to poker nerd out, but like loogie, I enjoy discussing hands and “bet messaging”.

  31. According to a PokerWire update a few minutes ago, Wil’s at 48th with $60k. They just moved the blinds to 500/1000 with a 100 ante. There are 295 left in the field.

  33. *crosses fingers*
    I’m sending you mojo, indeed, though it’s difficult to muster up the mojo knowing I can’t make it to the reading next week.
    Good luck, Wil!

  34. Ok, last comment just to correct myself.
    I think that ranking is suspect since the last chip count list still only shows 78 players and there were roughly 300 at the time. I thought it would grow.
    Anyway, his chip count was probably accurate at the time it was posted and he’s most likely still in it as of now since they appear to be posting every name that’s eliminated.

  37. logan66,
    I know that it was a reraise in the hand against Victor, but he said the very next hand he was dealt a monster and raised it to 6000. Was there a previous raiser in this hand? Maybe, I’m misreading everything…but my poker nerd instincts are blaring too loud for me to think clearly.

  38. According to Poker Wire, as of Apr 20, 2005 18:24:03 ET, Wil is in 48th Place with $60K… am I reading this right????
    I’m a Poker dummy, but I listened to his log, and that means he’s in a money payout position.
    I think Wil has turned from Mojo with the Monkey, to outright MONKEY LOVER! lol
    Congrats Wil, you poker geek you!
    🙂 Kel

  40. I hope he keeps his 48th position, or betters it! How much longer does he have to stay in this tournament in order to place? Like all week or what???
    GO WIL GO! Keep up your Money Lovin’, it seems to be working!
    🙂 Kel

  41. uh wil may be having his “positively 5th street” moment… $180,000… wow
    watching from afar with interest
    -cass from vox

  42. The chipcount from Poker Wire isn’t quite right. It’s certainly missing people who have more chips. Still, 180k isn’t bad at all. Certainly an improvement on the 37k he started the day with.

  46. That sucks about your ibook Wil. I shelved my 1998 blueberry ibook last year (should sell it on ebay, but I just don’t have the heart to)… now I’m using a Dell (I f**king hate PC’s)
    But hey, if you keep kicking serious ass monkey in Vegas, you can buy yourself one of those snassy new Macs!
    KEEP IT GOING!!!! We all have our fingers and monkeys crossed for you!
    🙂 Kel

  47. Doing great Wil – and you’ve outlasted Andy Bloch and Phil Gordon already. Nice!
    Don’t forget The Hammer:
    funny commercial (2.5 meg quicktime)
    🙂

  48. WOW! Amazing run for you Wil.
    Personally, while I would like to attribute it to your brilliant play and good luck, I’m going to give at least a part of the credit to the many people on this blog who are sending positive thoughts your way.
    You can’t underestimate the power of “combined positive thought”. It might even explain why praying sometimes works.
    Charlie L
    Portland, OR

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