WSOP Event 27: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em

For some reason I can't quite explain, I showed up for another circus full of monkeys chasing a bracelet the other day ... otherwise known as a WSOP $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event.

Because these are the smallest-buy-in NL events at the WSOP, they naturally attract the largest and weakest fields of all NL events.

Unfortunately, I have what equates to a snowball's chance in hell of winning a bracelet in one of these events.

Even if I thought my edge was so great that I was twice as likely as the average schmo to win the tournament (which I don't), I'd have less than a 0.1% chance of winning the bracelet, given that the field is over 2,000 players.

I know it sounds pessimistic, but I'm merely trying to be rational here. Okay, maybe the fact that I've been running like battery acid for the most part since getting to the WSOP has an influence on this outlook, too.

Anyway, my overwhelming desire to get a bracelet in this lifetime caused me to pony up the $1,500 and show up. You only get $3k chips and the blinds are $100/$200 after two hours of play, so you need to hope to accumulate early.

Circus full of monkeys.

And if you think that's bad, you should have been there two years ago when players received exactly the buy-in in chips for their starting stack!

To say I had a bad run of cards in the first level would be an understatement. I only voluntarily put a chip in the pot once, and it was limping the button behind other limpers with J 9 and folding on the 6 5 3 flop.

I picked up A A in the second level, but my only customer folded to my bet on the 6 7 3 flop. In fact, the only big pot I played before the first break was when I got a short stack all-in for half of my stack pre-flop holding 9 9.

Almost symbolically of how uneventful my day had been, he turned over the red nines.

After the break, I had $3,700 chips during the $100/$200 level. After four players had limped in, I looked down at 8 9 on the small blind.

I almost limped in, and then the devil on my shoulder (who has the voice of my good friend "BodogAri" Engel, coincidentally) told me that I needed to punish the limpers and pick up the $1,100 chips in the pot without showdown. Since the limpers were all "chronic limpers," I decided to go for it.

Bodog Ari: Punish the limpers.

I raised to $2k with $1,700 behind, trying to make my hand look extra-strong. Unfortunately, the first limper then moved in for about $6k total.

It folded back to me and I obviously made the call, getting almost 4-1 on my money. Thankfully, he had the hand I was praying he had at this point - A K - and I doubled up after flopping a nine and holding.

Don't ever forget, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. =)

After getting all my money in pre-flop with nine-high, I went back into hibernation and folded hand after hand. In fact, it's almost embarrassing to admit it, but during the $100/$200 ($25) and $150/$300 ($25) levels, I only voluntarily put a chip in the pot once.

You'd think I had aces, right? No ... I made a similar move to the 8 9 from earlier! This time I committed my stack with the T 8 after limpers. But unlike the previous time, I was successful without showdown.

After going into "ninja mode" and moving in pre-flop to steal blinds over and over once they had moved up to $200/$400 ($50), I called a shove from the desperately short-stacked Mike Gracz.

He moved in for $2,250 from the cut-off with J 5 and I called with A 6 from the big blind. He doubled through me after making two pair on the river and knocked me back down to $4k.

A few hands later, I moved in from late position for $3,775 with the K Q. Jay Heimowitz called from the big blind, holding A T. I was packing up my things and ready to head for the exit on a J 6 4 8 board, but the Q on the river gave me a little life to go to the dinner break with.

Circus freaked.

On break I realized something very ironic about this tourney. I had played some of the most patient poker I had in the entire Series during this event and yet I repeatedly got all of my money in bad!!!

Unfortunately, my run after the break was short-lived ... basically because I forgot how to suck out during dinner. After stealing the blinds a few times at the $300/$600 ($75) level, I got caught by a short stack after raising with the 7 9.

I made it $1,650 and called $3,950 more after he moved in. Apparently, my nine-high was no match for his A A.

Two hands later, I moved in for $6,525 with A 8 from late position. The small blind woke up with T T, which held, and another attempt at getting a bracelet at the circus had failed.

--Matt Stout

"All In At 420"

More WSOP Blogs from Matt Stout:

• WSOP Event 23: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em
• WSOP Event 17: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout
  
• WSOP Event 13: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em
• WSOP Event 9: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em