David Paredes

I guess after all these years I figured it was time to resume my blog. If you want to read any of my old blog posts you can check out http://www.cardrunners.com/blog/gaucho2121/1/. I still get people coming up to me from time to time, saying that they enjoyed reading my old posts, and I definitely appreciate it. For the people whose poker/strategy/life blog entries you enjoy, if you have a chance you should definitely let them know. Blogging, like poker, is often a lonely endeavor.

As for what I am up to currently, unfortunately I have not been able to relocate outside of the US to play online. I may attempt this at some point soon, but for now I have been grinding at my local casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. Lately it's been Mohegan Sun. I can't say enough how much better of a room it is than Foxwoods. The hotel rooms are nicer (and they give reasonable weekend poker rates if you play regularly), the restaurants are better, the casino is less smoky, and the poker room is just a higher caliber place to play. The high stakes section is elevated/separated, the management listens to the players (for example this year they listened when we asked for a 5/5 game with a 1500 cap--mainly because 5/10 with 2500 cap wasn't running consistently), and you can order food to the table, get more comps, they continually run promotions, the list goes on. The only thing it doesn't have that foxwoods has is continuous 5/10NL or bigger mix games (although the mix game is occasionally at Mohegan). To me this simply does not make sense and is largely due to inertia, and I highly encourage Foxwoods regs to band together and start playing at Mohegan. I generally try and tweet when 5/5 is running so come on by.

I figured I'd kick this blog off with a recap of some of the bigger hands from the 2013 Main Event of the World Series of Poker. I finished 90th out of 6,352 entrants, making day 5 of the tournament. Other than my deep run in the 25k HU in 2011, it was the most fun I've had playing poker. There is just something special about the main event. Everyone is there, from the top pros to the wealthy amateurs to the local satellite winners to the hometown heroes. In theory, everyone has a chance to make a deep run (in reality, I'd estimate that ~1000 players play too weak/passively to stand any chance of cashing, which of course is where the value of this tournament lies). I played far from perfect poker, as you'll see. I made plenty of bad calls, incorrect checks, and poor plays. Despite all that I managed to continually chip up every single day but the last. One of the more satisfying things was getting the texts/fb messages/tweets from friends along the way. As I said already, poker is oftentimes a lonely profession, and it just feels really nice to know that there are people out there rooting for you.

Ok, onto the hands:

Day 1:

Despite a relatively average starting table (John Eames, another British pro, a Scandi, a nit pro, an asian nit pro, and two fish) I started off Day 1 really strong. In the first level I almost got the full double. I raised 88 and called a 3b OOP. The flop was Q84hh. I went broke on day 1 of the main in 2011 with 2nd set v. top set so I kind of felt a weird sense of deja vu, but nevertheless I went ahead and checkraised the flop. He called. Turn 4 I bet he called, and the river was the 9h, I bet a reasonable amount and he called and I was quickly up to 50k from 30k starting. I hoped this early big hand was a good omen for things to come.

Despite the fast start, not everything was ideal. One of the worst aspects of the day was how hot it was. Earlier in the series, Negreanu had tweeted about how cold it was at the Rio during the tournaments, and of course being Negreanu they actually listened to him and raised the temperature. Unfortunately, because of the number of people actually playing/watching the main event, it was a sauna. I felt this could have easily been anticipated, and on crowded days the temperature could be lowered. I really felt at that time that Negreanu should be forced to sit between two fat people in hoodies smelling like armpits as punishment.

After the first level or two of play I started to get a little greedy and took some unnecessary risks. I say unnecessary only because on day 1 the goal really should be survival/low-risk accumulation. Getting into super high variance spots, can, in my opinion, wait for later in the tournament.

In any case the first risky hand I played was the following: The Scandi raised pre to 800, an older guy flats and I make it 2300 with AJo. A british pro cold flats to my left, the Scandi flats, and the old guy--in other words the guy I was trying to isolate initially--folds(?!). Flop is 433hh. Chks to me I bet 3900, the Brit pro folds, and the Scadi c/r to 9100 with 10k back. I shove it in and he calls with KJhh and binks the river Qh, as though he knew it were coming. Go Scandinavia!

Then I got exceptionally greedy when I raised preflop with A5cc, got the fish at the table to defend his BB and lost on AdJcKc10c, and the river was the dreaded 9c. My mistake on the hand was paying off his river lead. He of course had AxQc and I was back down to 33k.

Before the day started I had told myself I really wanted to play on this particular day because if I made day 2, I would get a full day off in between, which was what I wanted. I dug deep, played some nice hands, and made day 2 with 74.5k, which I was fine with. Could have been more, could have been less.

Day 2:

Day 2 was a truly exceptional day for me. I was sandwiched between Scott Seiver on my direct right and Erik Seidel on my direct left. Later on Lauren Kling joined the table so I jokingly dubbed our table the Jewish Poker Nerd table (Brown, Harvard, UC Berkeley, and Seidel school of hard knocks i.e. Brooklyn College). Getting to see what Erik and Scott do, the types of spots they apply pressure in, their sizing (both of them tended to err on the bigger side with regards to sizing), really was an education.

The first significant hand I played I butchered pretty badly. Michael Lipman (owner of a sports ticketing agency as well as sponsor of Miami's big AAU basketball team--a modern day Blindside as he adopted two young 7" black teenagers) limps utg, Seiver flats, I complete the sb with 108o, and the bb checks so 4 way to the flop. Flop 976dd checks to Seiver who bets 1800 and I flatted. BB folds and Lipman flats. Turn J. I lost my mind here and checked, and of course it checks through. River 8 so Q10 is the nuts. I bet 5k, Lipman folds and Scott makes it 22k. I wound up folding. I hate my line here, and was disappointed in myself for playing my hand in this manner OOP. As I said I played far from perfectly in this main event and this was one of my errors. Scott didn't get off this easy, though. He wound up getting sucked out on pretty hard by Michael and had to endure Michael's "bang bang bang" dance where Michael makes a shooting motion with his fingers and shouts "bang bang bang" loudly and spins around. Sorry, Scott.

I actually thought my main event would end this day after I made the following horrible blunder. I raised AJss utg a pro new to the table flats, and Scott defends his BB. Flop was 835s and I cbet like a moron, and both players flat. Of course the turn comes the awful J. Scott checks I of course check and the other pro bets 5100, Scott folds and I call. The river is the 10 and I literally can't fathom a hand that I beat I check he bets 13.6k and I pay it off and he has 888. I have absolutely no clue what I was doing on this hand and I berated myself very hard afterwards. As a theme for this tournament, most of the hands I wound up losing were less of a case of my opponent owning me really badly but rather me owning myself with payoffs in spots I knew to fold. Poker is in many ways about self-mastery, and clearly I have a long way to go. That said, many of my errors are correctable, so there is definitely hope for the future if I work hard on shoring up the holes in my game.

Luckily I managed to redeem myself with a hero call gone right in the following hand against Seiver. An older woman raises pre to 1400, Scott flats, and I flat IP with K9ss and another guy flats so 4 way to the flop. Flop comes 964r with one spade. Chks to Scott who bets 4k and I call. Turn 3dd brining backdoor diamonds and he bets 11k and I station. River completes the backdoor diamonds with the Jd, he bets 26k I call and he mucks. Now some would say that I should have made him show his hand when he says nice call, but Scott and I were friendly at the table and I generally tend to give that courtesy to others who I feel would extend that same respect to me. That hand helped me get some chips and some momentum going (it was the only "hero call" that went right all tournament), but of course there was one more blowup that day...

I raised EP to 1800 with A4dd. Internet kid flats the bb. Flop is AQ10hh he checks and I am already looking for an excuse to fold the hand so I check, knowing full well I am beat. He bets 2600 on the inevitable A turn and I call. River 4 housing me, he bets 7600 with 30k behind. I tanked forever, knew it was going to be a mistake, but I raised to 20k and he called with A10cc.

Then I got very lucky against Seidel. He had 3b me once before, and he was sitting on my direct left. He is so tall and he leans way back in his chair, and I was in the 5 seat, so it was very possible he could have seen my hand. In any case I folded (57ss) and I asked him if he could see my hand and he said he hadn't, but that he would tell me if he did. I really dislike the 5 seat at the table, it's just extremely hard to protect your hand. Anyways it folds to me in the SB and I raised to 2.5k and he 3b the BB to 7600. I flat with 108dd. Flop is 1075dd I check and thought about check raising his 9500 bet but didn't want to flip for 200k so I just flatted. Turn 2d, I checked and he checked. The river was the A, and I got too fancy/greedy here and checked. He tanked forever, looked like he was going to bet, tanked some more (around 2min total I'd guess) and then checked. That's what makes him the best.

I had a nice hand against Lauren Kling where she raised 2500 in MP, I 3b with KJo to 6k, and she flatted. I barreled the 1073hh flop she called, and she c/f when I actually hit my hand with the lucky K turn.

I started feeling my oats a little bit and on one of the last hands of the night I wound up 5betting A2hh from the bb against an EP open, and got it through to end the day with 200k.

Day 3:

I started off day 3 on a positive, albeit not as positive as it could have potentially been. I wound up making a full house against a Euro, and as he was tanking the river he wound up getting the clocked called on him. The floor came over, but he was wearing sunglasses, a hoodie, and headphones and had absolutely no clue the clock was called on him. The floor didn't tap the guy on the shoulder or make eye contact or anything, and then once the countdown had ended the floorman literally ripped the cards out of the guy's hands and ruled it dead. The kid looked shocked and it was clear he had absolutely no clue the clock had been called on him--he truly was in la la land. I guess I could have told the guy mid-hand he had had the clock called on him, but I didn't want to give off any sort of strength tell. The kid was upset at what had happened but obviously for him he got lucky.

This was the day of me getting owned by the same British pro over and over in the three following hands:
1. Folds to me on the btn with AA I raised to 5k and the bb internet British pro defends. Flop is Q106 he check calls 6k. Turn 9cc backdoor clubs chk chk. River Q he bets 15k, and again it was another scenario of not being able to invent a hand I can possibly beat but I pay it off like a clown anyways and he has KJo.
2. I have KhQx and I raise pre to 5k. Same british pro flats IP. Flop Kx102hh. I bet 6k he flats. Turn Jh I chk he bets 12k I call. River 4h I chk he bombs away 30.5k and I station if off and he has AhQx.
3. Sean Winter raises to 6k I flat 33 otb, and the same british pro that screwed me twice defends his bb, why wouldn't he, he cannot lose a pot against me. Flop is 764hh chks to me and I make an idiotic bet of 11k. Brit pro flats and Sean folds. Turn Kd chk chk. River 5 giving me the ass end and he bets 25k. I enrich the bank of England once more and pay him off and he of course has 87dd.

Despite getting owned by that chap, I managed to bust two shorties KK>99 and 1010>AQ, and played some good poker aside from those three hands, and ended the day with 680k, heading into the day 4 (the day you make the money).

Day 4:

For the first time all tournament, I wound up having a maniac Euro on my direct left. In general this can be annoying, and this was no exception. He 3b me 3x within the first level of play and in the only hand I defended he showed down A4o (which was good on the A high). It got to the point where I literally 6bet him with AK (and no, the 6bet was not all in, it was a click-back war), and thankfully he found the fold.

At some point after this we made the money, and the rapidity of the bustouts naturally increased dramatically.

Despite my early success with the 6bet clicking war, the aggressive Euro wound up getting the better of me on two key hands later on in the day (one of which I will mention now and one five paragraphs down):
1. I raised pre with KQ he 3b and I call OOP like a fish. Flop is QJ2r. I chk call. Turn Acc backdoor clubs I check he bets 42k I call. River K I check, he bets 113k, I cannot fathom a single hand I beat, but I call anyways and he has 109dd and I'm down to 570k.

I lost a flip where utg opened to 17k, I flatted AKo, another kid jams 100k, utg folds and I call and lose to QQ to get down to 420k.

Then my luck started to turn, and in miraculous fashion. Someone raised from EP, I flatted AhQx, and an internet pro defended his BB. Flop came A104hh, check, the original raiser bet, I flatted, and the BB checkraised. Of course I should have folded right then and there, but I got stubborn and called. Turn came a brick, he shoved all in for slightly more than pot, and I went into the tank. He called out my hand at one point (well it's pretty clear at that point when I'm tanking what I have), but I decided to make the horrific call off. He had A10 so I was in dire need of the Q which came on the river. The color instantly drained out of the kid's face, and he sort of stumbled away from the table. I actually felt for the kid--that one was just disgusting--but hey, suckouts are a part of poker, and someone once said the best way to win poker is suckouts. That hand got me up to 950k. Throughout the course of the tournament my poor play had constantly gotten punished, it was nice to be rewarded for playing like a moron for once.

I bled some off against a Frenchman where he raised 23k from the co and I flatted K10o from the bb. Flop KQ9 I chk called 20k. Turn Q chk chk. River J I make a straight, I chk he bets 68k, I think, can't imagine that I am ever good here, but I call anyways and lose to the obvious Q9.

Hand 2 vs. the Euro:
Then I got very lucky again--although my luck in this hand was not to lose more than I did. I limp the sb with KK and he checks his option. Flop if 1076hhd. Chk chk. Turn is the obvious A. I chk call 16k. River is the J I chk call 38k and he has A6dd. I believe if I play it any other way I lose much, much more.

I finished with 1,117,000 to end the day.

Day 5:

I slowly chipped up in small pots, and entered the dinner break with around 2.3M. Then everything went to hell and I could not win a hand the rest of the tournament. The first major hand I lost was when an aggressive player opened from MP, I flatted the SB with AQo, and the BB jammed for 500k. The player who jammed was pretty solid, and had been complaining about not getting any big hands. The opener folded and I called it off. I regret this hand more than anything because I was doing so well picking up smaller pots in position, and despite what the books might say, and what his range should be, it's the main event, and if there is one tournament you can safely avoid "flipping" in, it's this one. I was in great shape, playing strong poker, and there just wasn't the need. Of course it wasn't even a flip he has KK and I stood no chance.

I then lose another big hand playing a little too high variance in a 3b pot (the hands wound up being my 99 vs. 1010), and I am down to 850. Another 3b gone awry, and I got down to 650. I just couldn't buy a pot to save my life. I felt my tournament slipping away, and it did when I shoved over an open with AQ and got rejammed by another player who had QQ.

From 2.3M to out in less than a level. Once the downward spiral starts, it's just incredibly hard to stop it.

Final thoughts:
Once it was over and I knew it was time to go home, it reminded me of the last day of summer camp when part of you is happy to see your family and get back to school, and another part of you keeps wishing it could last just a little bit longer. There is just no other tournament like the main event. The atmosphere, the intensity, the coverage, the fact that it's the one poker tournament a year that your non-poker friends might care about. Everything about the tournament is special. I got to play four and a half days of glorious poker, and got a taste of what it feels like to make a deep run in the Big Show. I just hope I have a few more deep runs in me before my playing days are over. As I said, I have a tremendous amount of room for improvement in my tournament game, but I also feel I did a lot of things right that other players might not take advantage of. Hope this blog provided some insight. It was a nice end to the summer, I wound up cashing in 5 out of 17 events played, and made a bunch of deep runs in the ones I didn't cash in.

Now I'm off to Florida for the $10M guarantee, here's to hoping for some run good down there and for another deep run chasing the final table.

Thanks for reading, would love to hear any comments or questions. Follow me on twitter @gaucho2121, it's by far the best way to reach me.

David

No blog is complete without pics so here are a few:

My first tournament of the summer, the 5k PLH, where I wound up getting 20th.