Dispatch from the WSOP Global Casino Championship
This week I'm playing the biggest poker tournament of my life. I was so prepared that I didn't pack my clothes and had to wear work stuff that's been collecting dust in my duffel bag since the last hand of the World Series of Poker was dealt in early July.
Non-poker prep aside, the tournament in question is the WSOP $1 Million Global Casino Championship. As some astute readers of PokerNews may know, I qualified for the event — only a select group of players can even buy in directly for $10,000 — by winning Casino Champion honors at my hometown WSOP Circuit stop in Horseshoe Council Bluffs.
So now I'm at Harrah's Cherokee in the Western North Carolina mountains, having arrived around 2 a.m. the night before the event started following a 12-hour road trip with my good buddy and Circuit legend Josh Reichard. Day 1 went down on Tuesday, and spoiler alert... I did bag up an average stack.
It was an exhilarating day of poker, a rush partly due to the stakes of the event — my previous biggest tournament was a $3,700 World Poker Tour shot — and partly owing to the fact I hadn't played a hand of poker in a month. Here, I'll run through my thoughts from Day 1, highlighting some themes and briefly running through some hands I played. Some of them may get a deeper dive at a later time.
Battling a Bracelet Winner
I sat down and started to play my first hands about 10 minutes before the first break. I opened the first two cards I was dealt and played a three-bet pot immediately with 8♣7♣ — we didn't win — and was shocked how utterly calm I felt. I expected some nerves, but I think not seeing a card for a month really washed my putrid summer from my brain and allowed me to come in focused and clear-headed.
I'd need that focus because sitting across from me was WSOP bracelet winner Ryan Leng. Leng has posted some strategy articles himself here on PokerNews (here and here), so I'm a little bit familiar with his thought processes from reading those articles. I also know of him a bit from his final table appearance at the 2017 World Series of Poker, where he had a near miss, losing to Chris Frank heads-up.
That being said, I wasn't prepared at all for what I saw from Leng on Tuesday.
Leng played more pots than possibly any player I've ever sat with. It's not just the frequency that stands out, though. I'd describe his playing style as very unique, not at all like most of the top regulars I've seen or sat in against. He just has a lot of moves that the more straightforward pros simply don't use. Limping, check-raising in some weird spots — that type of thing. I wouldn't call it good or bad, but just something for which you've got to make some adjustments.
In any case, aside from Leng, I'd guess I drew one of the better tables in the 120-odd player field. However, Leng quickly had accumulated a mountain of chips, and given the amount of pots he was entering, I knew we'd be butting heads frequently.
That's exactly what happened as we played several big pots over the course of the next few hours. A spot opened up early with a cold four-bet bluff when Leng opened for 900 at 200/400/400 in the cutoff and William Romaine made it 3,300 on the button. I then stuck in 10,400 in the small blind with Ax10x and got it through.
We'd play another big one at the next level when Leng raised to 1,100 in the hijack and I made it 3,700 from the small blind with A♣K♥. The big blind cold-called and Leng stuck around for a 9♥K♠9♠ flop. I bet 4,400, the big blind folded, and Leng made it 12,000. I called, and the turn was a 4♦. We both checked, bringing a 4♠ on the river. I checked again and Leng quickly checked back, unable to beat the ace-king.
If he'd have bet river, I would have had a tough decision, although given I'd expect a nine to bet the turn, it would be down to whether I believed he had a flush or not. I think his most likely hands were gutshots with one spade as bluffs, and maybe king-queen or king-jack for value.
In any case, I felt like I held my own against Leng overall. Things would certainly pan out much better for me than they would for him as he took some ugly beats (lost with ace-king to tens after a guy just jammed a king-high flop into him) and he ran ace-queen suited into ace-king for the rest. He was a fun guy to play with both because he constantly made you think and adjust and because he was good conversation at the table.
A New Villain Arrives
A little while after Leng busted, a player sat in on my right rebalancing our table. It was a guy whose game I'm very familiar with — Josh Turner, one of the superstars of the Circuit, who has a slew of final tables and more than $2 million in cashes to his name. Although I had a big stack with around 240,000 at 600/1,200/1,200, Turner actually covered me with around 280,000.
Turner with chips is always a bear to deal with as he plays all of the pots, but having him on my right presented a great, if high-risk opportunity. I knew this was a chance to go into Day 2 with a truly promising chip stack.
Unfortunately, while we did battle about as much as anticipated, things would not go my way in the two large pots we played.
The first one came up when Turner opened in the cutoff and I three-bet bluffed with K♥9♣ on his left. I continuation bet an ace-high flop then tried a river bluff with the nut-flush blocker. It proved unsuccessful, however, as Turner looked me up with second pair.
Then a more damaging hand occurred as I three-bet him again holding jacks the very next hand. I'd flop middle set, but Turner found a flush on the turn with 10♣9♣. He led into me and I called. Luckily, another club hit on the river and we both checked, but I still lost a very sizable pot.
Turner would be rebalanced to another table shortly after that, so I wouldn't get a chance to get my chips back. From the looks of how he was running, it wouldn't have mattered as he absolutely rolled his last table and bagged an absolutely monstrous stack to lead the Day 2 field.
Other Thoughts and Day 2 Outlook
After Turner left, I continued to slide a bit. I felt the wheels coming off mentally for a moment, but I regrouped with some aggression.
In one hand I put in a four-bet with A♥2♥ after I had raised from the button, the small blind who wasn't giving me much credit called, and the big blind tried squeezing. That gave me some much-needed juice and confidence and I recovered to bag 150,000, a little over average and worth a solid 60 big blinds heading to Day 2.
I was overall very happy with my play. There were some hands I'd like to have back that I wish I played a little better, but I think I did a great job getting river value in some thin spots. My favorite was a hand where I defended big blind with 6x5x against a button open and my opponent checked back a 10x10x6x flop. I bet turn and got a big value bet paid on the river after two low cards rolled off.
Day 2 is upon me as I finish typing this, sitting in as the first cards are dealt. I have a chance to make my very first Day 3 of my poker career, and it would be a great time to do so with around $280,000 up top for the winner. I have the likes of Stephen Song, Will Berry and Zach Donovan at my table, so it won't be easy.
Either way, I'll bring another tale from the Global soon, and hopefully it's a triumphant one.
