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Server Time: 12/1/2008 11:45:43 PM PACIFIC |
 Aruba trip report (long), Mark Gregorich, 21. Oct 2003 22:08 | ||
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| Unfortunately, there isn't much poker content here. Not three days worth, anyways. My wife and I just returned from the Aruba tournament, which was basically our first vacation without our kids in over 2 years. Its definitely the most I've ever appreciated a vacation. I'll give a few trip highlights, then discuss how I busted out of the big tournament. I really liked Aruba. The weather was a very comfortable 85 or so, with a constant breeze to keep things refreshing. The humidity was noticeable, but not overwhelming. Excellent food - I wasn't really expecting it, but there were many great restaurants. We learned to be patient with the service, though, as things operated on "Aruba time" - which I translate loosely as "whenever we get around to it." Food highlights included some great mahi mahi and snapper caught locally; also a Brazilian all you can eat style steakhouse which served many kinds of meats. The beaches were nice - lots of white sand, without those pesky biting sand fleas which ruined the beach in Maui for me. Snorkeling was pretty good - lots of good sized tropical fish. The best thing about the week were the people. Its fun going to a resort type place with a large group of people with something in common - we made lots of new friends, and became better friends with others. We spent some fun evenings at Carlos and Charlies, a bar/nightclub frequented by many from the poker group (I don't even want to think about my bar tab). My wife took lots of pictures, some of which could be quite profitable (especially those from the bar). The poker part: The main event was a WPT tournament, $4000 no limit hold'em. A huge number of players (including myself) won a seat for it online, and the number of entrants was around 450. The tourney went off in 2 flights (Jack McClelland drew seats the night before, and you either played from 8am-4pm or from 6pm-2am the first day). I drew the late flight, and noticed that I knew most of the players at my first table. It wasn't the worst table draw of the day (one table had Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Howard Lederer, Robert Williamson, and Barry Shulman), but not the best, either. The players I knew: Kenna James in seat 1, Lyle Berman in seat 5, Prahlad Friedman in seat 7, me in seat 8, and Kathy Liebert in seat 9. We started with 10k in chips, with $25-50 blinds, and 1 hour rounds. What this meant was: there wasn't much gambling the first couple of rounds, but the limits got kicked up quickly, so it was a fast tournament (and it had to be to reduce the field from 450 to 6 in 2 days). I had nothing in the way of hands until my two key pots came up, in the fourth level ($150-300 blinds, no ante). Hand 1: Lyle Berman makes it $700 in late position. He has struggled so far, having lost half his stack. I think he could have virtually anything here. I'm in the small blind with $9500 in chips and AK. The big blind has just been moved to our table - I've never seen him before, and he has about $25k in chips. After Lyle raises, everyone folds to me. I decide to make it $2700, a raise I felt was enough to get Lyle off most of his hands and win me the pot. I also considered moving all-in here, as well as smooth calling. I didn't like calling, because AK is a tough hand to play postflop, especially out of position. Also, I wanted to play the pot headsup, and just calling would likely encourage the big blind to call as well. Anyways, Lyle thinks for awhile and then calls, leaving him with $2300. I'm going to bet this amount on the flop, regardless of what comes. The flop comes 34Q, I bet, and he calls. He has 45 suited, and wins the pot when I blank out. I think the main question about this hand is whether I made the correct preflop raise. Against most players, $2700 would be enough to encourage them to fold a hand like 45. However, and I could sense it at the time yet ignored it in my decision, I felt that Lyle was frustrated and ready to gamble, and I knew he had this type of call in him. So, had I made him commit all his chips preflop (thus removing implied odds from the equation entirely - although you could make a case that raising half his stack pretty much accomplishes this too), perhaps he would have laid his hand down. Or, do I want him to call $2700? Personally, I don't think so - I wanted the pot, and AK isn't exactly a powerhouse against 45 suited. So, in hindsight, I think I should have just moved all in and taken my chances. Hand 2: A round later, Kenna opens for $700 UTG (he's playing loose aggressive style, and doesn't have to have a premium hand here IMO). Lyle calls, and I'm in the big blind with AQ. Another decision. I think I either have the best hand or two overcards, so I'm not folding (there are times I would fold this hand, but this isn't one of them). So, I can either call or move all-in (I don't have enough chips left -about 2500- for a smaller reraise). The advantage of calling is that I have a good chance not to go broke with the hand if I miss the flop, and a decent chance of doubling up if I hit it. The advantage of moving all-in is that I think I have just enough chips to win the pot immediately if neither one of them has a good hand (which I feel is very possible), and am a coinflip if I get called. I decide to move all-in, and only Kenna plays. He has 44, and they hold up, so I'm off to the beach. At least Aruba's a good place to be on the rail. Thanks for reading; Mark Gregorich | ||
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| Re: Aruba trip report (long), mroban, 22. Oct 2003 08:59 | ||
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| No comment on the poker Mark. I am just seething with envy that I didn't get in. Sounds like a great week. Maybe next year for me. One question: I thought last year the pros played separately from the amateurs and then the winner of the amateurs joined the final table of pros that were invited. Did the structure change this year to a strictly open format where everyone either buys in for $4,000 or wins a seat online? | ||
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| Re: Aruba trip report (long), modestmice, 22. Oct 2003 09:01 | ||
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| on 22. Oct 2003 08:59 mroban wrote: > No comment on the poker Mark. I am just seething with envy that I didn't get in. > Sounds like a great week. Maybe next year for me. > > One question: I thought last year the pros played separately from the amateurs and > then the winner of the amateurs joined the final table of pros that were invited. > Did the structure change this year to a strictly open format where everyone either > buys in for $4,000 or wins a seat online? great question and thanks mark for the post. i'd rather go to Aruba than the wsop! ----------------------------------------------------- "I prefer talking with old persons of the female sex who peddle family gossip; next, with the insane-and last, with very sensible people" -S. Kierkegaard | ||
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| Re: Aruba trip report (long), Mark Gregorich, 22. Oct 2003 10:00 | ||
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| Yes, they did change the format - everyone plays together now; its just like a normal tournament Mark | ||
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| Re: Aruba trip report (long), noiseboy, 22. Oct 2003 10:29 | ||
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| I'm so jealous, I wanted to go, but I only got my high speed internet in time to play the very last super-satellite. Oh well, next year. The great thing about the Aruba tourney is that even if you lose you win. I mean you got a vacation for the price of the entry satellite, along with a chance at a big payoff. | ||
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| Re: Aruba trip report (long), Jav, 24. Oct 2003 11:38 | ||
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| Damn those 4's!!! Oh well, sounds like you had a great time, hopefully you'll make it back next year and get another chance at it. | ||
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