Quick Summary: Our streak of cashes continues (4 years in a
row now)! There was even another final
table appearance….you’ll have to read below for details…
Another great poker adventure last
weekend in Lake Tahoe for the World Series of Poker. I brought several people along this year to
join in the tournaments. Dusty and Jason
were the co-Winners of our Promotion#9 and each got to play in 2 WSOP events
and each received some cash for travel expenses. Francois, Ed, and JP all received entries
into some of the WSOP events as my way of saying “Thanks” for using our real
estate services. [As always…if you are
thinking of buying/selling, or know someone that is, let me know…it could land
YOU in the next World Series of Poker!] I
have asked each of them to provide a poker trip report so you can see how they
did. Here you go….
From Jason Chan……
I
played on the Friday and Saturday $345 tournaments. Both tournaments went
well and I lasted about 8 levels deep in each tournament.
The end of my
first tournament went something like this: I was mid-position with a 10k stack (started
the tourney with 10k) with blinds at 150/300/25Ante, hands are folded around to
me and I look down to see pocket 9s. I raised to 900-ish, button calls,
BB thinks and calls. Flop comes 10-5-6, 2 hearts. BB checks, I bet
to 2k-ish, button calls again, BB folds. 7(non-heart) comes on the turn,
and I shove. Button calls with AK hearts. Ace comes on the river
and ends my tournament career. :(
The second
tournament ended like this: I had a short stack of about 6-7k 150/300/25ante,
everyone folds to the right of dealer, he raises to 600. Folds to me, I
look down to Q8o, and I call the 300 bet. Flop comes Q-rag-rag rainbow.
I check the flop, and dealer raises 1.5k, I pushed and got an immediate
call. He turned over Aces and my jaw dropped. My tournament life
ended there. I felt pretty good about my
performance as I made it somewhere into the 8th level (4hrs in).
I really enjoyed
myself, and would love to go again.
-Jason
From Ed Stacy......
One bad hand can wipe out 8 hours of playing well.
After eight hours of being patient and growing my stack slowly, I
went into the dinner break with about $25K in chips (started with
$10K). Very rarely did I show down, I played position and pushed
when I thought someone was weak and the strategy was working. Then, a few hands after we got back
I limped in from late position on a marginal hand. Big and small
called as well and when I flopped middle pair, figured I would push if big
and small bet. Small bet $2500 into a $4000 pot, big folded and I
said those often-too-stupid words...."All In."
"Call" Ouch.
He was sitting on top two pair. I ended up hitting my second pair, but my
bottom two pair was not enough. Thank you for coming, out in 83rd!
All-in-all, a great experience and a humbling evening.
Thanks Chris
-Ed
From Francois Bertrand……
Tourney 1: End level 1. Down about 1K.
Chased a draw from my big blind when I thought I was bullied. Later, Pocket Ks. Folded to my raise. Made 75
;)
Lost another 1K on a king high flush vs. quad deuces :O
End of level 2. @9,525. Came back a little.
Got knocked out middle of level 3…here’s how it went down:
I had aces full of ten, beat by aces full of queen, beat by quad 10s!
Had A9s under the gun, called 75, raised to 250 behind me. 4 callers, I called,
6 in the hand.
Flop came QsTsTc. Check, check, I check, 500, one caller and I called.
Ad on the turn. I checked, check, check.
Ah on river. I bet 1,750
Raised to 4,200
Raised all-in
I called, my left beat me in the pot with pocket 10. Other guy had AQ! I thought that only happened on Fulltilt! Lol…
----------------
Second tournament:
One triple up early with AQ
Then card dead until I called an all in preflop with KK. He had me covered and
pocket 4s.
4 on the window...Ugh!
---------------------------
Third tournament:
Lasted until the very end of 8th level
Almost card dead the whole way. Played a little in first 2 levels, and chip
stack went back and forth between 8,000 and 15,000 (started at 12,000)
Then for the next 6 levels I got nothing to play. Card dead at its best, with
no move opportunities.
That's 3 hours of frustration.
A few minutes before the second break, I got my first pocket pair of the
tournament (4 hours into it). 2 red 10s. Raised to 650, called twice. Flop came
A73 all club. I checked it and its bet behind me and called. I sent the 10s into the muck and the bettor
eventually took it with AK; other guy was drawing to a flush.
Next hand I am in the big blind, button made it 700 (blinds 100/200) and I went
all in with AQoff. He called with pocket 10s, I turned an ace and got back to
around 9K+
Next hand I am in small blind, button raised to 1,200 and I re-raised to 4,200
with pocket Js
Big blind re-raised and it's for almost all my chips. I went all-in and he
called with pocket Ks. His hand wasn't too surprising, was either aces or kings
there. But I already had half of my stack in the pot and if I fold I basically
have 10 blinds left. No miracle and I was out.
Very frustrating to finish like that after 4 hours of patience and a 10 minute
rush, but I had a blast and will be coming back next time around!
-Francois
From JP Libiran…….
Highlight: $345 NO LIMIT Event #05 (2-Day Event)
188 Tournament
players started with 10K in chips.
I never really
got involved with any hands until Level 8 (4 1/2 hours) into the tournament. Winning
some pots here and there, by the 9th Round, I had approximately $14,250.
Sometime around Level 9 or 10
Chris Simone was sitting right behind me on the adjacent table which was fun! I looked
down at my hand and I stumbled into Pocket 10s. Blinds are approx $200-$400. I’m sitting on seat #1 and on the Button, seat
#7 raised $550. I flat called his raise, and so did the big blind.
As the flop shows: Jh,2x,7x, I started thinking, was flat calling on the
flop a good idea??. By that time, seat #7 bet $1100. With a
little over $13,000, I figured I can afford to call one more time. Big
blind folds. The turn is the 10 of hearts. "I GOT TRIPs!"...... Since
I was on the dealer button, seat #7 took a little while, in fact someone called
"TIME" on him. He bet $3500........ With possible straight showing:
Jh,2x,7x,10h and a flush draw, I again flat called his $3500. DID I
MENTION, seat #7 was the chip leader with over $40,000 in chips!!! And
the river is.................. 10 of diamonds!!! yahoooooo......
and the best part..., He goes all in on me!!! "I
CAAAALLLL".... seat #7 had trip "2s".... he lost....
Since that hand,
I never looked back. I got hot for about
45 minutes, and saw my chips grow from $28,000 to about $80,000 in chips by the
12th round..... Chris Simone looked over and said, “JP…I think you the chip
leader!!!”
And then, the
biggest Hand came...............I was on the
Button again sitting on 6 of Hearts / 7 of hearts... Still in seat one, I flat
called, there were no raises... Up until it got to the big blind, seat #3
raised $1100. I flat called, we were heads up. The flop was J of Diamonds
/ 5 of hearts / 8 of hearts. Wow!!! I had a straight flush draw...
Seat #3 came out firing about $4500... Again I flat called... Nothing on
the turn, except for the 6 of diamonds... I had a pair of 6s... seat #3
went out and bet again $4500. Again I flat called, and then the
Unthinkable happened........ 4 of Hearts at the river.... Yahooooo straight flush!!! He checked the river with nearly over $20,000 in the pot and
looked over at me. He was sitting with about $25,000 Left, So I figured
I would go all in, Hopefully he would be thinking I was bluffing a flush draw
all along.... So then he Called... I show my Straight flush and the
guy looks over at me and was pissed off!!! Wow....!
By Round 14, I
was sitting with $180,000 in chips when the average chip stack in the
tournament was about $56,000. I had a HUGE chip lead.. This was probably
the highlight of my night... with 58 players left, I was sitting nice and
pretty... I made it though Day1 after 21 levels of play (12hrs of poker!) and
would have to come back the next day for Day2 with just 14 players remaining
out of 188!
I ended up placing
12th in the Tournament the next day. My QQ all-in preflop was called by AK and the
other guy hit a king on the turn. I
finished in the money and couldn’t have been happier! It was an awesome experience. Actually an AMAZING experience, especially
when Chris Simone was right there with me. Before the tournament started
the day prior, Chris and I told each other that this was our last chance to
make the money. And since we didn't do so well at the $550 buy in, we were
looking for redemption. And redemption
is what WE got.
I would like to
Thank Chris Simone for sponsoring me in the Lake Tahoe WSOP... It was an
amazing weekend. I also would like to thank my friends who supported
me while I was in the Tournament. You guys kept me "focused"...
Thank you: Tim Gomes who provided a Room for me to stay Sunday night. Thank you to Donna Gomes for giving me a ride
back home. And of course, thank you to my wife for supporting and taking care
of the kids while I was in the tournament!
And a special thanks to the whole SimoneTeam who assisted and guided me
through my short sale process on my home!
From Chris Simone…….
It seemed like it was shaping up to be
a long poker weekend….one where it seemed I couldn’t catch a flop to save my
life! I had been taking a lot of lumps
in the WSOP tourneys, and wasn’t having much luck in the cash games
either. We had gotten down to our final tournament
with JP and I playing in Event#5, a $345 2-Day event. The pressure was on….one of us needed to cash
to keep our Tahoe streak alive! There were 188 players and it paid 21 places.
From the very start at my first table
I could see that my luck was finally starting to turn around. My pocket aces held up for a nice small
pot. A few hands later I was dealt
KQs. Flop came J,10,6 rainbow. I bet, there is a small raise…I call. The turn is an Ace giving me the
straight! I check, other player bets
$500, I raise to $1k and he calls. The
river is a 7 (no flush). I bet $2200 and
he just calls. I win a nice pot and am
up to ~$15k in chips. Still in Level 2,
I limp with a JQ. The flop comes 10,9,2
rainbow. I am under the gun so I bet and
get called by 3 players (excellent…builds the pot). The turn is a King….another straight! I don’t think I’ve hit a straight all weekend…I
think my luck is turning. I check. Other player makes it $1500. I think about it for a minute (…..Hollywood anyone?)
and I push all-in hoping he’ll think my over-bet is a steal attempt. Well, the other guy had 10,10 in his hand
(flopped a set) so he wasn’t going anywhere.
He calls and I knock him out when an 8 comes on the river! I was then up to $26k and sitting pretty.
In Level 3 (…these are 30 minute
rounds), I flopped another open ended straight draw that hit, giving me another
straight….improving my stack to about $30k.
I stayed at ~$30k all the way through Level 4.
In Level 5 I look down at pocket
7s. I raise from middle position to
about $500 (blinds were $75-$150). It
folds to the button who shoves all-in for his last $2800. I thought about it, hoped for a 50/50 race (2
over cards) and I called. Unfortunately
for me, he turned over pocket 8s! But
unfortunately for him, the flop came KK7!
My 7s held up and I knocked out another player!
In Level 6 I called a min-raise with a
Q9 suited. I had built up a big enough
stack that I could afford to play around with these hands that I love so much…:-) There
were 5 callers for $350. The flop comes
A99! I bet $1600 hoping someone has a
strong Ace. One player raises it $2200
more. I re-raise ~$10k to force him
all-in. He calls me with AK and I knock
him out of the tourney! I’m now up to
~$46k.
For the next hour or so I took a few
hits. At the end of Level 8 I had ~$31k
in chips.
Stressful hand in Level9: There was a min raise that I
called from the button with Q10. The
flop came 6,6,10. My read was that the
guy didn’t have a 6, but I’d seen him play hands like 10,9s, 10,J, etc. The turn was a 7 and the river a 4. I ended up winning about $15k on that hand
when he turned over 10,J. Was nervous the entire hand and barely won
that one! At the end of Level 9 I was at
~$48k in chips once again.
Not much action for about an
hour. In Level 11 there were 85 players
left out of 188. Blinds were
$300-$600. I called a raise to ~$4000 preflop
with a pair of 7s. The flop came K64
rainbow (not a bad flop for me necessarily).
I was first to act and decided I was going to steal this pot. I bet ~$16k thinking that I’m safe as long as
the other guy doesn’t have AA or a king.
Well, he did have a king and snap-called me! Ouch.
Down to ~$25k in chips. Average
chip stack at this time was about $25k, so I was still in decent shape (just
not as good as I was).
In Level 12 (6 hours into the event) I
was in the small blind. Blinds were
$400-$800. It folded around to the
button who made a 3x raise to $2400. His
bet and mannerisms made me think that he was trying to steal the blinds. I looked down and saw AJ. I decided to fire back by pushing
all-in. Much to my surprise (ugh!) the
big blind calls! I wasn’t expecting that
to happen. Well, we turned over our
hands and saw that we both had AJ! Split
pot. I was a little surprised that he
called for all his chips after I went in, but as long as I didn’t lose the hand
I was okay. I ended up finishing Level
12 with ~$30k in chips.
Side note: At this time, I was sitting
at a table right next to JP and we were only about 4 feet apart. I could see whenever he made any big moves
and he was keeping an eye on me too. It
was a lot of fun! I looked over at one exciting hand....JP
had just pushed all-in for about $40k in chips….and he had 2 callers! This could be the biggest pot so far in the
entire tournament. JP turns over JJ, one
other player turns over Q9s, and the third player turns over AK. The flop comes QQ5…excitement/cheering/moaning
erupts! The turn is a Jack….the table
EXPLODES! The river is a blank….JP
knocks out TWO players and is sitting on a mountain of chips! He had ~$125k and was easily the chip leader
in the tournament. Amazing!
In Level 13 I look down under the gun
with pocket 5s. Blinds were $500-$1000
at this point. I make it $4000. It folds around to a player that pushes
all-in for ~$12000. It folds to me. I’m getting about 2:1 on my money and throw
in $8k more hoping he’s got something like AK, AQ, etc for a coin flip. He turns over the ladies….pocket Queens. Usually, it only takes ONE queen to beat me
(lol)….he had two and he took down the pot.
Down to about $15k. The very next
hand I look down at AJs. There was a
min-raise in front of me. I pushed
all-in and got called by a guy with pocket 10s.
I hit my Ace and doubled up!
Roller coaster of a round… I ended
Level 13 with about $30k in chips. There
were 44 players remaining…JP and I were still in and needed to make it to 21
for the money.
I got moved to another table in Level
14 and decided to play very tight while I tried to figure out the players. The blinds were $600-$1200 with a $200
ante. After 20-30 minutes of not playing a hand I limped with 5,6s
UTG (making it look suspicious like I wanted a caller representing a big
hand). I threw out a continuation bet
after the flop and stole the pot. Not
much else during this round. At this
point, the rounds last 40 minutes.
Starting Level 15 I was getting a
little low. I had about $21k in chips
and the blinds were $700-$1400 with a $200 ante. I would need to start looking for a good
place to double up. There were 36
players remaining. JP was sitting on
~$170k in chips!!! Then I was moved to
play at the same table as JP!
I wondered if I was going to be another one of his victims! JP and I had joked at the beginning of the
tourney, saying that if either one of us knocked the other one out that at
least our chips would be going to good use…
During this level I managed to double up to about $45k. JP continued building to about $180k…impressive. His stacks were so tall that I thought they
would tip over into the pot accidentally…lol.
I finished Level 16 with $47k in
chips. JP was at ~$150k. There were only 27 players remaining….we were
almost to the money! Level 17 was fairly
uneventful. I did manage to build my
stack up to about $66k. We got down to
just 24 players.
I was determined to make it to the
money. I had enough chips to wait it out
and I didn’t want to risk anything at this point. I played very tight just waiting. By the end of Level 18 we were down to 21
players….JP and I had both made it into the money!! What a thrill it was that we had BOTH made it to the money! I was sitting on about $60k in chips and JP
had ~$150k. Mission accomplished! The Tahoe streak continues… Now it was time to have some fun.
Level 19 (10 hours into the tournament!)
had blinds at $1500-$3000 with a $500 ante.
I think I played my best poker from this point on in the
tournament. On one hand I raised to $9k
with AQo and someone went all-in. I
would have had to call with all my chips and I didn’t want to gamble so I
folded. Down to $49k. A few hands later I look down at pocket
10s. I made it $11000. Someone pushed all-in. This particular player could have made that
move with a smaller pair, or something like AK, AQ so I decided to call him. He turned over AK but my 10s held up! After winning that pot my stack had climbed
to ~$120k.
Level 19 (continued): Anther big hand…Under
the gun player limps for $3000. Next
player makes it $10000. I look down and
have JJ and push it up to $30000 hoping to steal a healthy pot right
there. Suddenly, the under the gun
limper pushes all-in for $200,000! It
folds to me. I tank for at least 2-3
minutes. I’ve watched this guy play
quite a bit. My read was that I should
fold. I followed my gut and folded. He turned over QQ! Dodged a bullet there….those ladies are still
after me! I was down to $86k after that…still
in decent shape though.
Still in Level 19 I got to implement
something to near perfection that I felt really good about. Several times over the last hour or two I had
limped from the button or small blind only to have the player to my left come
over the top and steal the pot. I was
setting up a big play. In Level 19 is
when I got my opportunity. I’m in the
small blind and it folds around to me. I
look down at pocket Aces! I make a 3x
raise of $9000 and the big blind calls me. The
flop comes 9,4,4. I’m first to act so I
bet $25k (hoping he’ll just think I’m throwing out a continuation bet). He immediately shoves all-in for $75k! I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have a 4 so I call
him. He turns over 8,9s. He hit 2 pair on the flop (perfect!), but of
course my two pair was bigger! My aces
held up and I knock him out, growing my chip stack to $168,000!
After that hand I got moved to another
table (I think we were down to ~18).
Under the gun I look down at AJ of clubs and make it $12k. A short stack makes a min raise (which was a
mistake on their part…they should have shoved) so I call. At that point, the short stack player only
had about $20k remaining. I was going to
be first to act and I decided already before even seeing the flop that I was
going to shove all-in no matter what to try to get her to fold if she
missed. The flop came Kc,Qc,7h which isn’t
a bad flop for me (royal flush draw). I
shove all-in and she immediately calls me with AK. I got a club on the turn for my flush and
knocked her out! I was now up to $220k in
chips (the average stack at this point was $117k). I was in good shape.
Level 20 ended with 16 players
remaining. JP and I were still in! I had $185k in chips. Now I was focused on getting to Day 2
(another one of my goals). It was
close. Just needed to get through one
more 40 minute level.
Level 21 was pretty uneventful for
me. It ended with just 14 players
remaining. JP and I were still in and
made it to Day 2!! JP had ~$55k in chips
and I had $160k. 12hrs of poker is
enough for one day….lol! It was about 2:30am....Bed time….
Day2 Level 22: Blinds are $3000-$6000
with a $1000 ante. On the VERY FIRST
hand I get dealt pocket Kings :-) I’m in the big blind. Someone made it $15k before it got to
me. I raised up to $45000 and the other
player folded. Nice way to start the day! Now sitting at $180k.
On the other table where JP was I see
that on the 2nd hand he doubled up to ~$120k. That got him healthy again. Nice work JP.
Unfortunately, a while later JP was dealt the final blow….QQ. He raised, someone else re-raised, he pushed
all-in, they called. The other guy turns
over AK and hit his king on the turn. JP
is knocked out in 12th place and scoops a nice payday. 10-15 minutes later someone else got knocked
out and we were down to 10 players and merged into the FINAL TABLE! I had ~$130k in chips. We were now seated on their ‘main’ table next
to some bleachers….we’re in the big leagues!
Some people were there to cheer me on which was really nice.
On the final table someone got knocked
out and we were down to 9. At that point
their MC goes on the loud speaker to introduce the “final 9 players”. It was a lot of fun to get that far. Back to the poker action….after a little
while, a short stack to my right pushes all-in for about $50k. I know he was getting a little desperate and he
could be pushing with a wide range of hands.
I look down at pocket 10s and call him.
He turns over JQ. My 10s hold up
and I knocked out another player and was up to $180k in chips. I was riding my “pocket 10s” euphoria (I had
won several times with them) and was even talking about that fact a few hands
later when another semi-short stack pushes
all-in preflop. I look down and see…..pocket
10s again! Is this an omen? I decide to call. The other player turns over pocket Jacks…ouch! In retrospect, that player was a little
tighter of a player and I might have been able to lay down the pocket 10s, but I
guess you never know how it’s going to turn out. I lost that hand and it crippled me to about
$65k.
In Level 23 I was trying to be patient
and pick a good spot to shove. Blinds
were $4000-$8000 with a $1000 ante. I
had bled down to ~$43k before I even saw a card higher than a 10….K3s. I shoved and was called by J10. I won the hand and was back to $95k. I raise-folded preflop a couple of hands over
the next 20 minutes when people kept coming over the top of me. I bled down to $49k remaining. Looking for a spot to make a move, I found it
with pocket 3s under the gun. I got two
callers. The flop came 2,4,10. One of the remaining players bet $100k and
the other player folded. The remaining
player turns over……pocket Queens! My
nemesis…! The turn came a 5 which gave
me 8 more outs, but it wasn’t meant to be.
The river was a jack and I was eliminated in 7th place for a
$2000 payday.
I had a great time and felt like I
played really well in that tourney (and a lot of things went my way too). Also worth mentioning: Mark Thompson (MarkT123) finished 19th
in event 2 for his first WSOP cash (congrats!).
Tim Gomes and John DeMarinis played in a $70 satellite and both
qualified for the Tahoe Main Event ($1500 event)…good luck guys! I’m already looking forward to Vegas in 2012
for the WSOP.
We will be starting up our next SimoneTeam
WSOP Promo…#10 in December. Register Now
by clicking here. We’ve decided to turbo
charge this next promotion and we will be offering TWO World Series of Poker
prize packages! There will be a 2nd
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qualifying for! Click here for all the
details. Feel free to register today for
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get 20 bonus points for the Standings!
We can continue to put on these free
fun promotions because many of you have been keeping us in mind for your real
estate needs (or when you hear others that need professional assistance buying
or selling a home). We can help with any
sort of transaction (Short sale, Bank owned-REOs, regular sales, Investors, etc). We have some amazing tools that I developed
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Remember…we like to “thanks” our poker friends for using our services by
bringing them to play in the World Series of Poker! Hope you can join us.
