By Karl Mahrenholz
So here's a few hands from the WSOPE and EPT that I've played this week.
The £10k WSOPE main event is fast establishing itself as the premier event of the year. Certainly in Europe. I much prefer playing in this event than I do say, Monte Carlo. Day1A saw me draw a table with Phil Ivey, Tuan Lee and Markus Golser. Action was fast but that was fine with me and I played a small ball style, never reraising before the flop, setting a few traps and making some moves post flop. I cruised up to about 60k and by leve
l 3 was vying for the chip lead. Everything in fact was going so smooth that I knew something would happen before the end of the day, although I did have to wait for the last level for it:
(a) Playing 150/300/25 I raised the button with 97 to 775. Willie Tann called in the big blind. The flop came 9 4 9 with 2 diamonds. Willie checked, I bet 900 and he check raised to 2900. I called. The turn brought an offsuit 6. Willie bet 4900 and had 13k behind. Passing is obviously out of the question, so raise or fold? If he has me beat He's probably going to bet about 9k on the river and I'm probably going to pay him off. If he was slow playing an over pair before the flop he would probably slow down on the river, if he gets called again. If he has a flush draw should I let him see the river without forcing him to put all of his chips in? My decision at the time was to set him all in. He called and tabled J9 which held. In retrospect I prefer just calling and seeing the river in position, but I don't think setting him in is too much of a m
istake and I'd only have saved a few chips in this instance.
I therefore came back on day 2 with a rather disappointing 32k which was slightly below average. Having said that, the super structure of this event meant I still had plenty of play. The key hand of today's play came about half way through the day
(b) Playing 300/600/75 I had just moved to a new table, on which I recognised Joe Beevers, Jamie Key, Chris Moorman, some old Full Tilt guy (Steve Brecher?) and Ted Lawson. I also recognised the Russian kid who won the Aussie Millions but didn't know his name. In this hand UTG+1 raised to 1700 (youngish American guy) and I called in the cutoff with AQcc. The button also called (another American online player). The flop came 10c 9d 2c giving me the nut flush draw. UTG bet out 3500. I was playing 35k at this time and decided to make it 10,500 to go. By the time action was back on me, the button had make it 35k and the original raiser had moved all
in. Both players had me covered. Wow. The original raiser pretty much had to have a set of 10s or 9s, leaving the button having either another set, or possibly something like 78cc. Worst case scenario, would be being up against a set and 78cc, leaving me with 6 outs on the flop. If I was up against 2 sets I'd have 8. I had to call 25k to win just over 80k, just over 3/1. If both players had sets I'd be getting about the right price, but if two of my outs were in either of my opponents hands I'd be little better than a 4/1 dog to win the pot. After lenghty consideration I decided to pass, figuring that with such a good structure, I could still work with 25k and get it in in better shape. I would have been up against 109hh for the EP raiser and a set of 2s for the button. The turn was a jack, which would have given me and extra 6 outs, and the river a blank 3s. Despite the fact that I would have missed, I think if I could play this pot again I would have called. If this hand had have been in any other event but the WSOPE I would definitely have called, because the structure of most events aren't so forgiving. However, t
his was a great opportunity to get a big stack, With such a strong field I'm not sure it is right to pass up this type of opportunity.
I nursed my short stack through to the end of the day, without getting any good spots to try to double up. I reshoved on moorman a couple of times blind towards the end as he seemed to have some sort of fascination with my blind :) I came back for day 3 on a short 33k, blinds would be 800/1600/200. My bust out hand is in my previous post, kinda standard given my stack size and the other opponents that were in the pot. 20 off the money, sigh :(

After busting from the WSOPE I quickly learnt that the EPT london was a sell out. I guess I really misjudged this, I know there was added money but I thought in generals the size of the fields were on a downward trend this year, and I don't remember this event selling out last year? Anyways, I wasn't too fussed about playing it after the disappointment of the WSOPE but by the time Thursday came, there I was queuing up as an alternate. I got in with 40 mins of the 2nd level still left, so not too bad. I had a different game plan in mind for this tournament than I had employed in the WSOPE. Mostly due to the different structures but also in part due to a lot of thinking I've given recently to my tournament game and my general approach in these events. I chipped up to about 12k and then in the second round of level 5, the following hand happened:
(c) I'm on the button playing 12k, blinds are 150/300/25. My image from the earlier levels was quite solid but since the last break, I've raised and reraised a couple of pots in the last round or so. The big blind in this hand is a young English player. I've learnt a little bit about his game from both watching him at this table (raising 107ss utg) and through things he has told me (was friends with the Hinkles and railed Grant against James). I know his perception of me would be as an aggressive player and he seemed the type who would want to play back at me. Anyway....on this hand I picked up JJ on the button and raise to 775. I'm dying for him to make a play at me. so him making it 2500 was both expected and very welcome. I can't really just see a flop with this hand and I'm never passing if I make it 6600, so I deicded moving all in would show more weakness. He made a brave call with a pair of Kings and they held.
As I got out of my seat and made my exit, at the exact same time Praz was busting. His KK in the big blind no good against the aggressive button players AA. Must be so nice to be on the right end of these set ups. We both walked over to see Chaz was also all in. The thing about railing Chaz, is that you know when his money is in he's got the best hand. (Very similar to watching Jaymee....). He turned over a pair of kings and we all looked on as his opponent's pair of tens makes a straight. We run good.
Gonna finish this post with one more hand. Praz played the £20k high rollers event today at the Vic. Here is his exit hand, courtesy of Poker News