Third level

Starting the third level, it’s time to meet the guys at my table.

Seat 1: loose aggressive, doesn’t respect me. A little talkative - one of those guys who know the tournament officials, and is a little proud of that. He has said today that one should not be ashamed of being caught in a bluff. He was the guy who called my semi-bluff with his straight while a flush was on the board. He may be gettable.

Seat 2: loose aggressive and now gone. Argentinian, made weird bets. He was the one who doubled me up.

Seat 3: originally a loose aggressive guy who got sent to another table, now a tight passive player. He split a pot with me with AQ when neither of us took the initiative to bet the other off the pot.

Seat 4: older guy who has had at least a dozen people come watch him play. I am not impressed with his play - he’s the one who limped with AQ on the button. He is gettable too.

Seat 5: an aggressive player, seems fundamentally sound. He is wearing a hoodie with poker logos branded on it, so he must be a pro. I’m staying away from his hands.

Seat 6: me.

Seat 7: the guy with the rubber duck. Also fundamentally sound, but just got crushed by Seat 5 when he hit a flush on the river. It will be interesting to see if he panics about his diminished stack (like I did before doubling up).

Seat 8: a sleek Asian dude, who I think is Brian Kim. I think the roving WSOP reporter identified him as a high stakes player. Kim crushed me on the hand I could not talk about with a re-raise, probably sensing my bluff. Another scary guy I plan to avoid.

Seat 9: older guy, huge, who is tight aggressive. He’s the one who raised me to 10,400 on my AK on the button. He did the same thing to knock out Seat 2, raising a 4000 pot to 25000 preflop. The guy in Seat 7 was pissed because he had AK on the button (like me) and had to fold (like me). Turns out he had KK, and Seat 7 would have crushed him when an ace hit the flop. He’s gettable too.

As an ecosystem, this table has been kind of a drag. Aside from Seat 1, nobody talks. No “nice hand,” no sympathy, no getting to know you conversation. Which is okay with me, I guess. As they say on Survivor, I’m not here to make friends.

Table 675 Gold

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I’ve taken a couple of hands from Seat 5. He moves very deliberately, but I think he plays a lot of starting hands and then is very conservative after that. I know the style - he’s one of those guys who wants to hit a monster flop with a terrible hand, then lead you to your doom.

Example: He just lost playing 65o to another player playing AKo when they both ended up with two pair. I think he flopped the two pair and thought he would own the flopped ace, but his plan went to ashes when the K hit.

I will need to be very careful about playing high pairs against him.

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Distractions abound here in the Gold room. For five and a half hours, I have been facing a fifteen foot high TV screen playing the 2017 Main Event, now at Day 5. When I am trying to keep a poker face, I generally just look at the big screen.

I am also facing hanging banners of the past winners, in particular a 1976 picture of the young Bobby Baldwin with a fro, an ugly Dior shirt, gold jewelry, and a cup of what is probably coffee.

The media in my face (plus Seat 1 standing)

I keep looking at Baldwin’s face, trying to imagine being in a game with him. Despite the bling and the big hair, he’s clearly a player not to mess with. 

By contrast, I don’t look like that AT ALL. I’m pretty much wearing a sign around my neck that says, “Retired dad on a lark.” 

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Dinner break now. 58,400.  Six hours of play, and I’m down 1600 chips. Amazing.