WPBT HORSE Event

Full Tilt Poker
March 13, 2005

I almost missed the HORSE tourney but ended up finishing in 10th place. I'm was pretty excited about that finish. I did much better than I thought I would. I was as high as 4th at one point. I blew it when I got killed on two Holdem hands in Level 16. I pissed away T20,000+ in chips in that round. Congrats again to Royal who won. I played at his table for awhile and he kicked ass. I can't remember a single mistake he made. Well done Royal. I just missed the final table but I had alot of fun.

Prior to the tourney, I got a some advice from Paul. I had never played Razz before. I had only read about it. And I've only played Omaha and Stud a few times at best and not for alot of money. After a bunch of conversations with Paul, I jumped into the HORSE event.

During the tourney, I had to pay attention to the lobby menu to stay focused. I had it up in the background so I could remember what game I was playing. I tend to space out sometimes so I needed that window up to remind me what hands to play. lol. Since Holdem was my best game, I figured I definitely had to do well in those levels. My goal in the other levels was to not do anything foolish and try to make it to the second round of horse. If I still had some chips, I figured I could make a run then (or at least attempt to). I figured I was going to lose all my Stud and Stud Hi/Lo hands. I feel those are my 2 worst games. I have no clue why but they are. Well, I have some clue but I won't share that.

Level 1 - Holdem: Got a few good hands but won no big pots.

Level 2 - Omaha 8OB: Won a hand with the low. Small pot.

Level 3 - Razz: Played a few hands and lost a big pot when 6th and 7th street killed me with runner runner KK.

Level 4 - Stud: Won a few hands surprisingly. I jammed the pot with JJ-A and won a big pot.

Level 5 - Stud 8OB: Won a nice sized pot with TK-A.

Level 6- Holdem: Flopped a set of 8's and won the pot. I caught some monster hands in this level and kept winning big hands. I was moving up in the standings fast. I started to get a little more aggressive around this time.

Level 7 - Omaha 8OB: Won a fews hands but nothing big until I scooped the high and the low for a monster pot.

Level 8 - Razz: Won a big hand with 8 high.

Level 9 - Stud: I was in 13th place by now. I was jamming the pots big time in Razz and Stud when I had great door cards showing. It was working because most people folded or called then folded to me. I was trying to be aggressive at this point and it seemed to work because by the time this level ended, I was in 9th.

Level 10 - Stud 8OB: Folded like a machine in this level.

Level 11- Holdem: I slipped places in this level. I couldn't believe I was sucking it up in holdem. I did better the last holdem round but this one was bad news for me. I was in 20th place now.

Level 12 - Omaha: Won a few pots here to pick up some momentum again.

Level 13 - Razz: I won 3 pots in a row in this round and moved up to 7th place. My aggression level was high and I was getting hungry. Snack time for me. Too bad there wasn't a waitress here to get me some chicken fingers.

Level 14 - Stud: I was over T12,000 by now. I kept winning pots early when I raised. I moved into 4th place in this level but blew it when 2 nut flush draws didn't hit. I ended the level in 11th place.

Level 15- Stud 8OB: It was down to 2 tables. I won 2 big pots with TA-A and then rolled up Q's. I caught a full house on 6th street and beat another boat. The other guy had 10's full. The pot was almost T20,000. I moved into 3rd place.



Rolled Up Queens



I was 4th in chips!


Level 16 - Holdem: My KJ lost to FTrain's JJ. I rivered someone a little later when my A4 beat A8. I made some bad calls in this level. Too many cold calls killed me and I was getting shortstacked. I pushed all in with A8s and lost to AK. I finished in 10th place and missed the final table. 93 people played which was way more than I thought would. Top 16 places paid. Moonstomp killed me in the last level. He played very well all night too.

The tourney ended when Royal beat out Moonstomp heads up. Congrats again Royal! While prepping for this event, I think I got a little addicted to Razz. lol. I think I picked that game up pretty quick. Full Tilt was a pretty decent site. It was much better than some others I've played on. Though I didn't like it that I couldn't tell what city everyone was from. I thought the tourney ran pretty well except for the blind structures. They started out a little high for my taste. We probably should've gotten more chips to start with that structure. I had fun and I was glad I did well since that was my first time playing HORSE. I have to thank Paul and Phil Hellmuth for my good showing in this event. Paul gave me a crash course the day before the event and I re-read through Phil's Play Poker Like the Pros book the day of the event. How funny is that!!



Final Standings