Alex AJKHoosier1 Kamberis's Official Blog

Alex "AJKHoosier1" Kamberis

So I ended up busting 34th in the $5k NL event at the WSOP, for a not-so-whopping $16,147. I had a very wild day two, but since I never really told any stories from day one, and since you guys were asking for updates since most of the poker news sites were slacking on me, I'll start there.

My starting table featured Eric "Sheets" Haber, and a couple of other guys who I knew were online guys but didn't recognize. I hate asking people what their online name is, because a) it feels reaaaaally lame and b) I don't want to have to answer the question back and blow my own cover. Later, Blake "Balla-B13" Cahail and Blair "blur5f6" Hinkle joined the table, both really good, aggressive players with some big results live recently.

I got off to a really rough start early, which is probably an understatement. I had made a couple bad bluffs that dropped my stack to 7k, when Amir Nasseri joined the table. The guy is infamously bad / super rich, showed up late, and was talking about how he was gonna be basically fooling around, telling stories about some 92o 5-bet shove he made against Mike Matusow, though no one was really listening. Anyways I obviously expected him to play wild, and was excited to see JJ UTG on his BB. I opened to 300 at 50/100, and he reraised to 1100. I thought about just shipping here, but decided to play it at least somewhat safe and call. The flop came rag-rag-rag and he checked. I bet 1200, planning on calling a shove, but he just called. The turn was another brick, and he checked. Again, I thought about shoving, but decided to check behind. The river was a Q, he bet 2k of my remaining 4200, and I called, losing to his KK. How in the fkn world he ends up picking up KK on his first hand at the table after all that commentary I'll really never know.

At this point it was reallllllly tempting to just steam my stack and go home, since we have such a nice place and I was obviously tilted, but I've been really determined to cut that kind of bs out of my game, since it is a pretty huge leak, so I kept on trying to play my A game.

I ended up doubling up and then some when I opened KJ and hit a straight on a Q97 board vs a set of 9's when we checked the flop and a T rolled off on the turn in a 3-way pot. This put me back up to ~6k before the first break, and I pretty quickly felt optimistic again, especially since Nasseri was still on my immediate right with a bunch of chips... chips he quickly donated (mostly back to me).

To be completely honest, I don't even remember the vast majority of the big pots I played/won, mostly because I never actually had a hand, and they all just sort of blend in. I never had a preflop hand better than 99 (except for one blind steal with QQ), never hit a set, and verrrrry rarely hit a flop in general. I definitely did get lucky in a couple of very big pots, such as...

At the 150/300 level, I opened to 800 in MP with 96ss with a ~17k stack. Blair, a verrrrrry perpetual 3-better, made it 2150 from the button. I realllly wanted to 4-bet shove, but I decided instead to call, and then check/shove any flop where I flopped so much as a gutshot, etc. And then I did flop a gutshot... sorta. The flop came 8s5s6c giving me a pair and a gutshot straight flush draw. I checked, obviously planning on shoving, but Blair checked behind. The turn was the sick/beautiful 4s, giving me a flush and putting a 4-straight on the board, though I knew it was hiiiiiighly unlikely that Blair had a 7, because he reraised pre, and because he checked the flop. But, I knew he would think the same about me since I called a reraise pre, so i led the turn strong for 3300. Blair tanked briefly and then made it 7k. I was literally 99% sure it was a complete bluff, since like I said, it's next to impossible for him to have a 7 here. So, I called, trying to keep trapping him. The river was the even sicker 7s giving me a 6-card straight flush and putting a straight on the board. Since I thought he was bluffing and would loooove to bluff that card, I checked, but unfortunately Blair checked too. Still, it was a very big pot, and hitting a 6-card straight flush is always fun.

The other especially memorable pot I won during day one came at the 300/600 level. Sheets opened to 1600 in EP, which Blake flatted, along with a new player at the table, an old dude who wasn't exactly a superstar in the making, so I flatted also, with 54 of spades, and a 28kish stack. The BB, a guy with a CardRunners patch on, who obviously knew what he was doing, shoved for ~12k. Everyone folded back to me, and at this point I was getting almost exactly 2:1 on my money, and knew if my cards were live it was a great gamble. So I eventually made the call, and cracked his AT when I spiked a 4 on the river.

However for me, my best pot of the day was a pot that I actually lost. At what I believe was still the 300/600 level, I opened to 1600 with JThh. The button called, and the small blind, who had my ~40k stack covered and was a very tight/solid player who was one of only two others players at the table as deep-stacked as me called. The flop came Ah6hAx. The small blind led out for 4000. I briefly thought about folding, since I am drawing pretty thin vs an ace, and don't see him leading light here, but I had to peel. The other player folded, and the turn was the 7h, completing my flush. The SB then checked, so i bet 7250. Within seconds he grabbed 5 orange chips and flung them in the middle, making it 25k to go, essentially putting me all in. What this was telling me that he wasn't scared of the flush, since check-raising on that turn would be suicide otherwise. So without tanking for very long, I folded my hand face-up. Later, the player told me had 7s full and thought he played it badly. I thought he played it well, since the vast majority of players will stack off with a flush there. Usually I'm muuuuuch more of a big call guy than a big fold guy, so I was very pleased/relieved to hear I made the correct laydown here.

Anyways, I ended the day huge with a stack of 102k, the vaasssst majority of my chips being earned without showdown and without any kind of real hand. I was probably around top 10 with 120 or so to go, going into day two, with 72 players cashing. I came in as the table chipleader and my seat at the table was the best possible, with two nitty shortstacks on my left, and the only other stacks close to mine on my right. I was verrrry optimistic to start the day, to say the least. Unfortunately, that optimism faded pretty quickly, when I lost KQss v JTcc aipf for 50k, and then my resteal with QJcc got caught by AA in a spot I thought was too perfect to pass up. I actually dropped as low as 22k very quickly, and was feeling pretty shitty about myself. Fortunately, on the last hand before the first break, my AQ doubled against Blake's 77 when I flopped an ace, so i went to the first break with a moderately healthy ~60k.

My stack went up and down from there, getting as high as ~123k and as low as ~30k again, but I was at around 80k on the button when I finally got a chance to double up, with AKdd. I raised to 16k, obviously begging to induce a shove, especially with Noah "Exclusive" Boeken two to my left. Fortunately Noah obliged me with his A5, and when I flopped a K I had quickly locked up a 170k+ stack. With our table breaking, an above average stack, and only 36 players left, I was suddenly feeling really great about my shot at a final table.

Those great feelings didn't last very long.

I was unlucky enough to be moved directly in-between Eli Elezra and his mountain of chips, and Jon "apestyles" Van Fleet who was also deep-stacked. Only a few hands in, Eli opened to 17k from the cutoff, and I flatted with KQ in the hijack, feeling like my ~165k stack was a bit too much to ship in. As I did this, Eli commented, "So you're going to play every hand I raise, huh?" merely because I'd called his button raise out of the SB a couple hands before. When the flop came out Kx8s3s, I instantly knew there was no way I'd be folding. When Eli quickly check-raised my 21k bet with a big, random stack of orange chips, I instantly put my chips in, only to be drawing virtually dead to Eli's (miracle) set of 8's. I instantly just got up and walked out, only vaguely seeing the red A on the turn that sealed my fate when I was already halfway across the room. GG, 34th place, $16,147.

I was obviously very disappointed, but at the same time, it was my first WSOP cash, it came in one of the bigger/more prestigious events of the series, and I have literally zero regrets about any of the hands I played. There is not one major pot I would take a different line on in retrospect, and I feel like I played better on day one than I think I've ever played in my entire life, which Sheets was nice enough to compliment me on after my bustout. Anywayas, I've got a lot of my confidence back, and I'm very pumped and ready for the $2500 6-max NLHE tournament on Monday. My next post will probably come soon after that.

Also, for the record, I wasn't planning on this blog being so poker/WSOP-dominated, but it's just been such a huge part of my life this summer, and I figure it's mostly what you guys are interested in hearing about. I'll try and include some more about some other stuff that's going on in my life when I get the chance, hopefully soon.

Till then,

AJK

Since no one seems to have any updates on me ='(, I just wanted to let you guys know (brag) that I have 102k in chips going into day 2 tomorrow at the 5k NL. There's 124 people left, with 72 cashing, and first place at just under $800k. The average is ~60k, so i am obviously feeling great about my stack. I ran well and played great all day (including some really sick pots that I will post about when the tourney is over), and definitely got some much-needed confidence back heading into tomorrow.

I'll post another update tomorrow when I am done playing, either by busting out or making it to the final table.

So I was planning on playing the $1500 6 max tournament on Thursday at the WSOP, but they capped it at 1280 people (ridiculous) and I didn't get a chance to register. I didn't get a chance to get in the $5k shootout on Friday, so today's $2500 was the only event I've played in the last few days.

I'm writing this at 6pm PST, about half an hour after my bustout and once again very disappointed.

We started with 5000 chips at 25/50, with a pretty fast structure that felt a lot like an online tournament. I chipped down to 2600 before the first break, then got unlucky a couple times, lucky once, and made a few nice plays to chip back up to ~13k. The following two hands were my downfall...

I was unlucky enough to start off with nosebleed cash game player Eric Liu (Full Tilt pro, maybe better known as p3achy_keen) at my table, and he was playing pretty wild, saying he wanted to bust and hit up some go kart place in town. He actually blind shoved a button for 4k at 25/50 and sucked out on 88 with K3 (K on the river) to get some chips in the first place. After that, he started playing well with his typical aggro style. So, I told myself I was going to be trouble for him, since I was a couple to his left, and felt like I wanted to be the "table captain" for once, and take charge of the situation. So, when Liu raised to 550 at 100/200/25 (we are both ~13k deep), I called with 86cc from the button. The flop came out Js9s8d. Liu checked, I checked behind, more than happy to take a free card, and afraid of getting check-raised by one of the myriad drawing hands possible. The turn was the beautiful 6h, giving me bottom two pair, a hand I was 99% sure was good. Liu lead the turn for 1025, which I raised to 2725. I knew my raise looked verrrry bluffy, since we both checked the flop and the turn was such a brick. I was realllllly hoping to induce a semi-bluff shove from a drawing hand, or something like T9 etc. Instead, Liu just called. At this point, I was 100% sure I had the best hand. The river, though, unfortunately, was the 9h. Liu checked as did I with my now counterfit two pair, and he flipped the KJ and took down a big pot. If the river was any kind of brick, I would've kept repping a bluff, shoved, and probably got called. Oh well.

So I came back from the second break (600 or so players left of the original 1400) with 7k chips at 150/300/25, which I again chipped up to about 9500 or so, when my bustout hand came. After raising the previous two hands (with 74s and AKs respectively), I picked up JJ under the gun. I once again raised to 800, telling myself pretty much immediately that unless two other people came in, I wasn't going to be folding the hand preflop. So, when a seemingly mediocre online player bumped it up to 2200ish from middle position, I didn't have a very tough decision. I shoved, he tanked, and eventually called off the rest (having me covered by about 2k) with AKo.

The flop came AQJ. Turn T. GG.

Sooooo I lost the 20k flip at 150/300 in pretty excruciating fashion, and am now sitting at home once again very, very bummed. This shit definitely wears on a person quickly, especially with the way that I've busted my last couple events. I just hope I can keep my morale/motivation up, keep playing as well as I know I have been, and eventually enjoy the cards falling my way.

...or WSOP, for short.

So far I've played three events - the $10k PLH, $5k Mixed HE, and $1k NLHE rebuy.

In the $10k PLH, I chipped down very quickly by running AA into a set, but losing the very minimum I could've. If anything, it was kind of an ego boost, making me feel like I was gonna be a tough one to knock out. I eventually chipped up from the 20k starting stack up to about 70k, then back to about 30k, then busted with QJdd vs QTo on a QT8 flop vs a maniac lagtard near the end of day 1. Oh well.

I lasted one and a half hours in the $5k Mixed HE, a new live tournament record for me! I missed an open-ended straight flush draw for a big pot in limit, then JT<55 on JT52 board in NL for the rest. Huzzah.

Today's event, the $1k rebuy, was one of the more brutal bust-outs I've had to endure recently. I was in for $7k after the double add-on and had 15k chips at the end of the break, so I was feeling good... until the following hand went down.

God I hate telling bad beat stories.

At this point, I've chipped up to about 20k, with one very nice iso-shove with JTs, and a couple well-timed bets with air. A new player at the table opens to 650 at 100/200/25 from EP with a 25k stack. CrazyMarco calls, as does Maridu. All three players have me covered (or just about), so I call with 8d6d from the SB. The flop comes Kd4d2d, giving me a flush. I lead for 1625, obviously hoping to induce action or at least start building the pot. The original raiser pops it to 7-8k or so, and the other two fold. Without much thought, I go allin for the rest, about 10k more. The guy debates for a little, then calls with 22 for bottom set.

Turn 3s. River 3d. GG.

The 40k+ pot would've made me one of the early chipleaders, but instead sent me to the rail, feeling pretty dejected. The day was pretty fun up to that point, between sitting next to Maridu and the overall light-hearted atmosphere in the room during the rebuy hour, but unfortunately they make you leave when you run out of chips = (. I'm also especially disappointed to not still be in with that huge stack, because of the fact that most of my success online has come in the big rebuys, and I was really liking my chances in this event. I can only imagine what kind of damage I could've done with 200+ bbs early...

When I busted I tapped the table and sped out of the room without a word. Sorry to Maridu and Marco for not giving out the gl's and such (rootin for you guys), but I wasn't really in the mood. I usually try to be as classy as possible (especially live) when I bust from a tournament, and at that point I definitely couldn't think of many friendly things to say to anybody, so I just insta-bounced. I'm not even really in the mood to make this blog post, but I know I have a duty to you guys, and I'm gonna do what I can to keep this bad boy updated as well as possible.

Anyways, I'm off to relax/steam the night away, play a full online slate tomorrow (Wednesday), then get in the $1500 6-max NLHE WSOP event on Thursday afternoon. I'm definitely keeping my head up, since I know I've been playing fine, and really feel like things need to start going my way soon. I'm still very optimistic overall about the WSOP, and feel like the best player at the table almost every time I sit down.

I'll be making my next entry sometime this weekend.

Good night from Vegas,

Alex "AJKHoosier1" Kamberis's Blog