More of Day 1

refer to previous post for seating chart (I am in seat 5)

50/100 9250 in chips

1) BB KQ seat 4 SB completes I raise to 350 he folds
2) HJ 98s seat 2 limps, I limp, and both blinds in
A(QJs) checks around
4s checks to me, I bet 200 and all fold
3) MP A6d I raise to 250, seat 8 (button) calls
A84 check check
6 I bet 400 he calls
K I bet 1200 and he folds (I bet alot here thinking he was calling with any A, but not calling with anything else, and I thought he would check behind with most marginal hands anyways)

Joel Casper sits down in the 10 seat
4) 3rd 54c I raise to 250, CO (9) calls
AT5, I bet 350 and he folds 10.3K in chips
5) SB 22 seat 1 raises to 300, me and Tom call
984, I lead for 500 and seat 1 calls (I thought this had a good chance of success if seat one didn't have an overpair - Tom is squeezed because of a tight preflop raiser behind him)
J (2nd diamond) check check, 5d check he bets 1500 and I fold (I didnt want to keep firing based on the hand where Jason won with an obvious set and the guy couldn't fold an overpair)
6) HJ K9s I raise to 250 and all fold
7) 2nd 66, I limp BUT and blinds in
KQ4 check around to BUT, he bets 400 Jason CR allin to win (had a feeling that was coming)
8) MP 65c, I raise to 250, Tom and Casper call
(A82s) checks around
K check, I bet 550, Tom calls
2 check check, I opted to forego a second bullet because I had feeling Tom thought I was full of it, he wins with K(Qs), I do have to show my 65 though
9) Next Hand AK, I raise to 250 and all fold (8600 chips)
10) (Next hand) 2nd AJh, I limp, HJ raises to 400 I call (I probably should have just folded this pre because of the previous two hands. I didn't want to raise because I thought it would be ripe for a RR. The limp was kind of a cop out)
442 check, he bets 700 and I fold (8200 chips)
11) BB A6d, Casper limps, SB and I come in
T93, check check 200 from Casper, all fold
****12) SB JT, seat 9 limps, BUT limps, I complete
KQ3 check check, 9 bets 300 and I call
At this point I am going to try to describe seat 9 in further detail. He has been playing many pots usually coming in for a limp as he did here. Post flop he has bet when in position most times it was checked to him on the flop and turn. He has checkraised from out of position a few times also (he showed big draws at the showdown). He was on fire throughout this level hitting numerous flushes. He seemed like he was ripe to trap.
9 check, he bets 600, I just call
I called because I almost certain he is going to bet the river if a blank comes off, and if I checkraise I think the hand could easily be over. Some of the guys preferred the CR, but I thought I would make the minimum doing that. It may have been the better line in many cases, but I'm not sure.
Q I lead for 1000 because I thought this card was a card he may easily check behind on, and I didnt think he could bluff raise me when I lead out. However, when I made my bet, he made a "you shitting me" kind of grunt and body movements. It seemed very similar to the disappointed exhale some guys do right before they bet/raise when they have a monster. Sure enough he raises to 3000 about 10-15 seconds after I bet. My initial instinct was that he had a boat, but I definitely had to think it through. It was the last hand of the level, so I had plenty of time. With him any two suited cards were possible as were KQ, Q9, 99, 33. I thought there was a very small chance he may even limp KK or QQ in early position. The hands I could beat were AQ, maybe he would raise a weaker Q, and of course a flat out bluff. I was getting 3 to 1 odds to call, and I was sitting on just over 6000. Against a good player this is a much easier call because I would have felt he would have been much more capable of a move. I started talking to the guy by telling him "I can beat trip Q's" he asked me "What?" and I said it again. At this point he said "then you have to call." I tanked a while longer before folding faceup. I only showed because I thought it was the best way to get him to show and everyone knew about where I was anyways. He turns over 77 and explains his raise by saying "I thought your grey chip (5K) was purple (500) and that you only had 1600 left." Now the greys and the purples did look alot alike so that was entirely possible, but his explanation seemed to mean to me that he bluffed thinking it would be really hard for me to call given it was for my tourney life. In reality, it would have been much easier because I would have been crippled if I folded. The main factor in my fold was his "tell" and the fact I underestimated his ability to make a move there. I went with a read and I was wrong. I can live with that I have found out. I talked with MasterJ, Brady and Casper about the hand. Casper and J would have called, but Brady said he would have probably folded. I think my mistake on the hand was leading out on the river. In retrospect that is my only regret on the hand. I would have snap called any reasonable bet on the river if I had checked.

This hand was significant for many reasons: it was the first time I had ever talked with a player during a hand to try to get a read; it was the longest I had ever tanked (so far...) - about 5 minutes; it was probably my biggest fold ever (even though wrong). I actually wasn't upset after the hand, just surprised. I still had 6050 in chips and we were only starting the 100/200 level.

At the end of each of these blogs I am going to do one or two Indiana Main Event Hands of the Day to show the "high" (as in what are you smoking) quality of play. None of the hands I was involved in will be in this list since I will be describing them during the course of my summary, although many could easily make this list. I will do it countdown style. I am sure I have forgotten some of them, but I do have 14.

In at #14: This hand actually wasn't necessarily poorly played just very strangely played. I believe it occurred at the 100/200 25 ante level. A very tight pre raiser opened from UTG to 800. I folded A4d in MP. This fairly aggressive siphoner called in the CO and Bill Edler called from the button. The flop came (53c)2. UTG checks and the CO bets 1200. Bill Edler calls and UTG folds. Turn 9. CO bets 2000 leaving himself 3600. Edler thinks for a while on his 9k stack. I thought he was considering raising, but he finally just calls. River 9. The CO thinks for awhile before betting 1600 of his 3600. Edler looks completely baffled, but finally calls leaving himself about 5.5K. The CO had 98. This was the hand that led to Edler's demise as he seemed to be tilting the rest of the level until he got eliminated in a hand that will make the countdown later.

In at #13: From the eventual winner of the event Carlos Uz (that pained me to write) and a guy Tom and I nicknamed Hammer for his similar style to the player from the E pah T Baden event. For background, Carlos and I had played at my second table on day 1 for about 4 hours and then he got moved to my 3rd table late on day 1. He will be involved in 5 of the 14 hands in my countdown. This guy is the chronic loose weak passive player who just spews chips without putting any pressure on anyone (that is until he started winning every hand at the final table). He actually just called with KK out of the BB on one hand with 3 other people already in the hand for a raise. He would limp AKs UTG on a fairly short stack and then just call raises - folding post if he missed. Hammer loved the allin. He got second to Mandy in the 1K event, and at that final table he probably said allin more than the rest of the table combined and often for huge amounts. In any case, on the 600/1200 200 ante level, Hammer opens for 3750 UTG. Carlos reraises to 7500 (RED ALERT!!!!!!). Once I instafold without even looking at my cards (ok I did look but only to see if I could chop with him), I turn to the guy on my right and say "this guy has a monster either AA or KK, and probably 80-90% he has AA." The guy thought I was exaggerating; I thought I may have been underestimating the percentage. Everybody folds rather quickly. Then the funny thing happens. Carlos turns over his cards emphatically and says "I just want everyone to know I wasn't making a move." Enough said!