ItalianoGACKT Official Blog update. Translation below:
Today, I went to this WSOP Main Event
after a pretty much sleepless night.
I don’t feel sleepy at all, simply because it’s an event I’ve been looking forward to.
I think you can say that this is the the biggest poker tournament in the world,
in terms of both prize money and scale, with around 7,000 having entered in it.
In fact, simply looking for my own table was difficult.
The whole venue was divided into 5 areas.
And the first day alone was divided into and held over 3 days,
when you think about it, the sheer scale of it is terrifying.
Furthermore, because you won’t be allowed to leave the place and reenter after that,
the number of people here is the actual number involved.
There were also quite a number of set ups for at the venue since it’s being broadcast on TV.
I suppose there are many who have seen this on YouTube and other streaming sites.
I wonder just how many poker players around the world
dream of playing at this venue
and aiming for this final table.
Actually,
I’ve become friends with all kinds of players while visiting Vegas this time but
I’m surprised how many different countries these people originate from.
Of course there are those from Europe, and there are also many from
the Middle East, Russia, all over Asia, and South America too.
It’s to the extent where in the beginning, when I threw out the question, “Where are you from?”
and heard a country name that I’ve never heard in English before,
I’d ask “Eh?? Eh??” over and over again.
For example,
I was completely unable to catch the pronunciation of
【Ecuador】,
that I kept asking the other person, “Eh?? Where’s that?? I don’t know…”,
and when I finally arrived at the realisation that they’re from Ecuador, I was moved on my own.
After the emcee’s greetings, the game started.
I felt tense for a moment but the atmosphere wasn’t as highly charged as I expected.
In fact, with the blind raise coming only once in 2 hours,
I got the feeling that even if I made it to the finals,
it would become a rather harsh game of endurance
that’s pretty much like running a super endurance race for more than 10 days.
We started with having 50,000 points with us.
I was able to get a good grasp on the flow of the game on the table, and stretched that to 80,000 points
At this table, the chip leader has 100,000 points.
I intended to go up against this guy
and I kept eagerly waiting for the for the right timing, but that timing did not appear.
Around 3 hours after the game started,
one player joined in late.
『What??
You can join this event late…??』
I wondered,
yet at the same time, I felt as if I’ve seen him before somewhere.
I kept thinking about that familiar face.
I should try talking to him a little.
His English is quite accented…
This guy… who is he…???
I’ve seen him before somewhere…
I thought, and while sifting through my memories, the game progressed.
This guy plays well.
Although he’s playing with a wait-and-see approach,
when he gets it, he gathers a lot of chips…
He grinned.
Ahh!!!
This guy was a finalist last yeaaaaarrr!!
I finally figured it out and looked it up online.
【Vojtech Ruzicka】
He was a finalist in 2016’s WSOP Main Event,
and although he didn’t win, he was the player who I thought played best.
He won $400 million last year.
He doesn’t look like that at all…
Somehow, I couldn’t stop smiling.
Despite that there were so many tables here,
I somehow actually ended up at the same table as a finalist…
I continued playing as I chuckled.
From here, I’ll be using a bit of poker vocabulary to talk about it.
Around 4 hours after we started playing,
the best possible situation happened.
I’m on the button, so I’m in a position that allows me to hijack the chip leader,
so when the middle position raised again, he re-raised it further again.
When I looked at the amount of money in the re-raise, the thought crossed my mind that it’s probably quite a high pocket.
I have Q and 8.
Normally, it’s a hand rank that you’d put down but
because they’re cards that I like
and I’m in a good position,
I called after quite some time passed.
The guy who was the chip leader kept looking at me.
The other players have all folded.
Depending on the flop, I might get stuck…
If the cards are bad, I’ll just go down but
this is the only way to set up this highly guarded guy.
And the best possible timing arrived.
It was a situation with a rainbow of Q, 8 and 4.
Without spending much time, he checked.
While looking at him, I took quite some time,
and I bet a little more than what was in the pot.
Following this, without missing a beat, he raised to double the amount.
『He’s got me…』
I involuntarily muttered in my heart.
From the way he’s betting, his hard play style,
and his unique timing,
based on my reading, without a doubt, I’m staring at someone with A or K in his pocket.
He probably doesn’t have a J pocket, but if he did, based on his firmness, I’ll definitely go down.
If he has a Q in his pocket it’ll be the end of me but
it’s pretty unlikely based on probability and at the same time,
the way he’s betting is basically different.
Of course,
if this reading is wrong, I’m completely finished but
it’s the reading part that’s also one of the most enjoyable parts in this game.
That’s why,
if I can’t trust my own reading, it’s the end.
If my reading is correct,
I don’t think I’ll go down as long as he doesn’t have anything else up his sleeves.
And as long as he’s watching the way I, with my wide ranging hand, am playing,
I think he’ll be expecting something like AK, AQ, or KQ.
The board is a rainbow.
There’s no flush.
Since it’s difficult to consider a straight, I don’t think he’s thinking about that.
Then,
at the turn, a 9 appeared.
It’s not a bad number.
I opened up a space and checked.
If I placed a bet without opening a space,
he would probably think that I’m coming at him with AQ.
He is quite aware of how wide the range of my hand is.
I don’t think that he’d think I’m pushing with AA.
Evident to that, after my bet, he raised without hesitation.
As expected, after my bet,
he raised it by 2.5 times more.
He thinks that I’m pushing with AQ.
After taking awhile, I went all in.
He started to take quite some time to think.
The stubborn guy started thinking about all the possibilities or that I have AA,
and struck off each possibility one my one.
Of course,
I’m not playing in a way that suggests I have AA at all.
He might be concerned, thinking that I could have QQ.
However, I am, of course, not playing in a way that suggests I’m holding onto Q’s at all.
I think he surely sees it as me calling with AQ.
While thinking that way, he will definitely call too.
Of course,
the safest hand will be for him to drop it here but
to get the chance to increase his points 170,000 in one go, he tried fighting.
After much struggle, he called.
I slowly opened my cards.,
Q, was what he read correctly, but the moment 8 appeared, he looked at me with an expression of disbelief.
He looked at me with a face that said “This guy!!!”.
From here, for his hand to be stronger than mine,
he will need the cards K, 4, 9 and the probability of those appearing is less than 16%.
Although risk is definitely involved,
I’ve arrived in a scenario where I could get the largest number of chips.
Then the card was revealed.
The moment the last card was shown, everyone went “Ooohhhhhhh〜〜〜〜!!!!”.
The card that appeared in the river was, unbelievably, K.
He attracted it out with such a slim chance.
Relief appeared on his face.
Hmm, it can’t be helped.
It’s the result of taking the risk and challenging.
The scenario that I hoped for played out all the way until the very end too.
And the result of that was that I lost anyway.
Of course,
I suppose there are people who are against this style of play too.
There are also people who think that the turn should be played without risk.
In a way, that’s correct too.
But this is my style.
Even if I imitated others, I can’t get used to it, and it can’t be helped.
My play style is risky,
and there are many areas where I can clarify wins or losses.
I understand that too, and since this is the result,
I thought that I have to tell him that this was a nice catch,
and after I shook his hand, I left the venue.
I lost, but I don’t think that it was pointless.
Poker includes things like these too.
That’s why it’s interesting.
Also,
I sincerely look forward to
seeing the other Japanese players proceed into the finals.
Do your best everyone.
Source: GACKT Blog
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA