WSOP #49 $1500 NL Ante Only - End of Level 10 (400 Ante)

First hand back from break, one player opened for 300, and another called. I saw AQ, and 3-bet to 2000. Everyone folded.

After a lot of folding, the 60's gentleman opened from SB to 600. It folded to me, and I 3-bet to 2100 with TT. A Kid in the Hyjack shipped it All-In, and had me covered. SB folded, and I went in to the tank. I would have 8100 left if I fold. Also, I saw that Kid talking to Melanie Wisner on break about stalling so he can get to the money. So far, he has been acting incredibly slow in spots that should be automatic. It's hard to see him squeezing here, so I folded. He didn't show.

At the table behind me, Phil Hellmuth and Men "The Master" are verbally sparing, and so far it's been friendly but loud.

Now, back to the folding, which there was a lot of. When we got to Level 8 (400 ante), I was under 6000 chips, or 15 Antes. It was time to start shipping before the level went up, there just wasn't an opportunity.

Eventually, I looked at 88 from the SB, and insta-shipped for 4200. It folded around to the 60's European gentleman, who went All-In for over 20k from the Hyjack. The others folded, and he proudly showed KTo. The Door Card was a Ten, and the Flop was QT3. The Turn and River were [QT3] 9 J, giving me the Straight, but giving him a K-high Straight.

I was out of the tourney about 10 - 15 players from a min-cash of $2409.

Sigh!

Overall, I'm very happy with my performance today. After I badly butchered KK in Level 1, I recovered and played very well. I adjusted to my tables, which were very Internet Pro heavy. I used selective aggression to pick up pots when the opportunity presented itself.

I had two problems today, my seat draw and a total lack of cards. I was in Seat 3 at my second table, where I spent most of the day. Seat 1 and Seat 5 were Internet Gurus who were playing 80 - 90% of the pots, often against each other. Their chip stacks had many wild swings, but neither cared about that. With them always wanting to see Flops, the proper adjustment for me was to drop into Super-Nit mode, and pick my battles. Unfortunately, those opportunities were few and far between, as you have already read.

But the problem with Super-Nit gear is that I need to get a few hands, and that just didn't happen. I was getting the occasional hand before the Dinner Break, and I was able to slowly build my stack without risking it. But after Dinner, I just didn't have anything, and that was when the structure kicked in.