$5000 1/2 Limit 1/2 No Limit Hold’em

Before we get to the next event, I figured I’d give you a brief overview of what happened to me in the $1500 no limit event. I wanted to take advantage of my weak table early, but if you can’t hit a draw then it’s going to be an early day. In three key hands I had the following: 9d 10d vs Qd Qh- Board Kd Jd 10h 4s
Ah 9h vs field in four way action pot- Board Qh 3s 5h
Ad 9d vs QQ- 10d 9h 7d… 8h…. 4c….see ya In two events so far it’s been a similar story with me not connecting on any base hits, never mind home run balls. It’s a long series, though, and I’m ok with my play so far. After I got knocked out of the tournament I headed to TPC Summerlin to play 27 holes with my buddies. After that, we ate at Kona Grill than played Golden Tee golf and pool at my house. It was a fun night, and I was playing well on the pool table. I’d been off recently, but had my A game that night. ***************************************************************** Sunday was a day off since the $1500 was split into two day ones so I took the opportunity to golf with my buddies over at Spanish Trail. The Canyons nine just opened so we played Canyon Lakes, then Canyon Lakes again for a 36 hole day.
I randomly ran into Dewey Tomko and Doyle Brunson on the course who claimed to be “scouting” my progress. They just so happened to roll up when I hit the best 5 wood I ever hit and landed it 7 feet from the hole. I missed the putt, but then hit a solid drive on the next hole. Doyle then carted off with a, “I’ve seen enough.” Little do they know how bad I really am! I had a good day, though, hitting the ball pretty well for the most part. At night I had an appearance to make on behalf of Corum, the official timepiece of the WSOP. I did a similar appearance for them last year at Caesars and this year they held a little tourney at the Rio, right in the middle of the action. I floated around the room a bit, giving advice to those who asked, and even some of those who didn’t ask. I actually own four Corum watches and they are the only ones I wear. I had an old Rolex from winning the best all around player award in Foxwoods back in 1997, but I never wear it. ***************************************************************** Tomorrow my tournament doesn’t start until 5:00pm. At about 11:30am I’m going to head to Spanish Trail again to play 18 and then head straight to the tournament from there. And yes, I promise to shower before I leave the course! The tournament is an intriguing one. Last year there were complaints that the mix was too heavily biased towards the limit portion of the tournament, making the no limit aspect much less important. This year we went with a much better structure I think, playing 30 minutes of each game, starting with NL (I believe) and then changing to limit. The no blinds will essentially always be about 50% of the limit blinds. That seems to be pretty close in terms of being a fair ratio. For example, a no limit game with $25-$50 blinds will play similarly to a $100-$200 limit game with $50-$100 blinds. I think this is a fun event, and one that, again, suits me very well. My results in limit hold’em events have been, historically very good. In fact, as a tournament game, I definitely think it’s one of my absolute strongest and my results would show that. The reason I haven’t won any limit hold’em events recently is well, because none of the $10 WPT events or EPT events are limit hold’em, and those are really the only events I play outside of the WSOP. There are major adjustments that need to be made in these two games. Limit is a game where it’s important to pound hard and get full value for your hands, while NL is a game where caution is extremely important, as is setting traps which is rare in LH. My sleep schedule seems to be getting better. I’m pushing myself to stay up till closer to 2:00am and waking up about 10:30am. It’s just much more conducive to the WSOP schedule and so I think adapting is crucial. Whether it’s a noon tournament or a 5:00pm tournament, I plan on sticking with a 2:00am bedtime and a 10:30am wake up. The 5:00pm events make that tough, though, as they don’t finish until 3:00pm. On that note, I’m going to hit the sack. ]]>