I figured with the World Series of Poker (WSOP) upon us I would talk a little about my breakout year in 2006. I think it makes sense to backtrack and set things up, though. Prior to the 2006 WSOP, I had played only two live events ever (I never even played the $100 buy-ins at the local casino). I had played pretty poorly earlier that year in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and was unhappy with my play.
I built on that experience when I won a satellite into the L.A. Poker Classic in February. I played much better there without all of the jitters that go along with playing live and actually bubbled the five day event. I played against a lot of really good players in that tournament and was feeling much more confident in my ability to play live after hanging in there for three days. If my J-J had held against A-K, I would have had a nice stack on the bubble and been in good position to make a solid run in only my second live tournament ever.
With that in mind and after winning the PokerStars Sunday Million in March, I was pretty pumped going into the 2006 WSOP. I was ready to put on a good display and show that the chops I had honed online could be transitioned to live play, something that at that point in time, no successful online player had managed to do (at least not in Hold’em). I was feeling really confident and entered the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em, the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em, the $2,500 No Limit Hold’em, and the Main Event that year.
The first $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event was a disaster. We started with single stacks that year (only 1,500 chips) at 25/25 blinds. The event had sold a lot of seats, so we started 11-handed, making the tables super cramped and uncomfortable. There were all kinds of fanfare and other things going on that I hadn’t experienced at any of the other events. Quite honestly, the entire scene made me really nervous and uncomfortable. The experience was simply overwhelming, I let it get to me, and didn’t play anywhere near my best poker. By the time the third level rolled around 11-handed (50/100), I had about 1,200 chips left. I eventually pushed all-in over a couple of limpers with K-Ts, got looked up by someone behind with J-J, and was out.
I was devastated. I was pumped for a great WSOP, had gotten to see maybe 50 to 60 hands total, and won zero of them. I was really down on myself thinking that if I couldn’t beat these guys, maybe I should stick to online poker.
That feeling didn’t last very long, though. I slapped myself back into reality and realized that 11-handed with 1,500 chips, there was going to be a ton of variance. I was uncomfortable, played super weak, and that’s not my game. I vowed that in the next day’s $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em event, I would play my “A” game and not pull any punches. If I went out, it would be playing the style I knew worked for me and I would be okay with that. I wasn’t going to blind off for two levels and then ship it in hoping to win again.
The following day, I played the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em event. With renewed confidence and having given myself a solid pep talk, I went in to play my game. I was still nervous for some reason, but once the cards got in the air, I felt completely at home and just focused on playing my game. I remember a hand where a player limped in middle position and I potted it on the button with A-4s. He thought and called. The flop was K-X-X, where I completely missed. He checked to me and I bet two-thirds of the pot. He check-raised all-in and I was priced in. I tossed my last 150 in thinking “This is it” and said aloud, “I hope my ace is live.” He had K-To, which was a pretty poor limp/call, but I binked an ace on the turn and my hand held. At that point, pretty much every bit of nervousness I had went out of my system. I’d made my first “play” and gotten a bit lucky, even though we got most of the money in pre-flop when I was ahead.
Shortly after that, I picked up A-A and knew my image wasn’t that great. I managed to get it all-in versus K-K, so my image probably didn’t matter at all there. The flop was king-high, but I rivered an ace and finally had a healthy stack that I could actually play poker with. From that point on, I continued to mix it up and we got into the money by the end of the night. I was about an average stack and was pretty happy to have cashed in only my second WSOP event. That being said, I wasn’t completely satisfied and knew I had all of the tools to win the bracelet. It was just a matter of putting them all to use, running decently, and playing confidently.
The important thing for me in 2006 was realizing that I had to play my game confidently and not let the setting or the opposition intimidate me. Yes, live poker has some differences from online poker, but the game is fundamentally the same. At that moment in time, I didn’t feel like anyone was playing the game better than I was.
I’ll continue my story in the next column.
