wsop part iv

break ended with me having spent all my time writing the last update. back at the table, the levels were jacked up -- it was now a $5 ante, with a $10 bring-in and $30/$60 for bets.

i get the first bring-in and no one calls, giving me the antes, +$35.

i get three small cards as my starters on the next hand, with no one else showing anything tiny up -- i raise and get no callers. +$35. i'm now over my number of starting chips and in fine shape.

a series of hands pass where i don't play and then our table is broken up ... all of us will be put somewhere else, moving me away from the not-a-threat-at-this-moment huck seed ... i draw the one table that isn't clumped with all the others and am given the #1 seat -- my least favorite seat in poker because you can't see the player to the right of the dealerand you're constantly in the way of a right-handed dealers card-holding hand. the player in the #8 seat (the one to my logistical right) is heavily stacked, probably with 4-5k.

several hands pass without me playing, then i'm dealt (Q 8) Q, i raise to complete the bet with three callers, the other two both having low hands. fourth street brings me a 6, but the two low hands both catch bricks. i bet, one low hand passes, the other reluctantly calls. fifth street get another 6, mr. super stack pairs an up 7. he checks, i bet, and heimmediately raises. i call immediately and i can tell this fast call surprises him. have i misplayed something? i can't see him, but i look around the table at other players to judge their reaction -- no one else is surprised, so it's something he's responding to about something *he* knows in his hand. hmm. sixth street brings a non-low card for him and no help for me. he bets, i call. on seventh street he waits a long long time and checks. i have no idea what he has (i doubt he's straight and he's almost certainly not low or he would have bet), so i check too. my two-pair feel marginal somehow. he's got trip 7's to beat my two pair. this puts me down to about $225 and officially in what would be known as "hurting" territory.

now i'm thinking, "goddammit. i haven't actually seen a single person eliminated from a table i've played at. i don't want to be the first."i'm not. the very next hand, a guy with a starting pair of aces ends up all-in and is eliminated. he's replaced by another short stack guy who is also immediately eliminated.

i'm then dealt (10 4) 10. the guy with a 2d opener has taken the (unusual in this game) step of completing the bet for the bring-in, implying he has either rolled-up trips, three cards to a straight, three cards to a flush, or my guess is three cards to a straight flush (2d, 3d, 4d). there is one caller from super stack, who is also going low. my shelf life is about to expire.are 10's good enough? maybe. if i can get money on the table *now*, the little hands are forced to call -- it'll give me greater odds on my investment.when it comes to me, i raise. both hands call.

fourth street brings a 2. notable only in that it takes the low hand card away from both players, but mr. maybe-straight-flush catches the Ad, to show the impressive Ad 2d combo. i check, he bets; the other low guy and i both call.

fifth street brings a 10. i now have three 10's and this is probably as good as it's going to get. both other guys have just got exposed pairs. i have 35 left. so really, what i want them both to do is call so i can maxmize this bet, but how? i want them to think i have two-pair, not trips, because one of *them* might have two-pair. and i'm going to bet this 35, but i need two callers. so what i do is pause for a long time and start mumbling numbers, what i'm doing is counting outs under my breath, somewhat audibly, that would be the same as someone looking at two pair -- if these guys can hear it and figure that out, they'll think i'm on two pair ... i do it for awhile and glance up ... mr. straight flush is smiling at me as though he's just caught me, i can't see mr. big stack, but i can tell that they've both looked at each other in one of those "we know something about him that he doesn't" kind of ways ... which means i'm set.

i bet and get two very fast calls. i'm all-in.sixth and seventh street are no help to me. both other guys check through. they're trying to eliminate me, and neither one wants to make a bet that may make the other eliminating man fold. i show my trip 10's and the table very noticeably freezes. nobody says anything. i can't figure out what's happened yet, but a guy not in the hand can see one of the other player's cards and says to me, "i can't believe you pulled that off." turns out mr. straight flush had been playing A23 off, the A had given him ace's. he'd two-paired, so had the other guy, and they'd both missed their lows.

i win high, there is no low and i triple through -- almost unheard of in a h/l split game and am now sitting around 650. still a bit down, but definitely back in it.

betting rounds go up. this time it's $10 ante, $15 bring in and $50/$100. things will now get serious, because the mode stack at the table is about 800 -- with the one dominating guy sitting above everyone else. but if there's one round of betting for every card, that's $400, or roughly half of a person's stack ... things are going to change quickly.

the good news is this is a relatively tight table -- lots of checking and free cards. the bad news is even then it means that you have to strike in just a hand or two or you're out. i'm very weak compared to these levels, so i need to watch it.