WPT Vietnam Report

Why do we tolerate the outdated decor, smoky hallways, non-existent air conditioning, half hearted dealers, constant card marking, 50k for water, 10% “tax”, slow rollers and bad beat celebrations of Pro Poker Club? Because the tourneys are soft! Of course I wish the conditions are better but I’ll take soft fields over comfort and atmosphere any day. 

This past WPT was a measuring stick for me. I wanted to see if I am good enough to continue on this path or should I just forget about tournament poker. I made a horrendous mistake on the High Roller but other than that I think I played a decent series. It’s my first triple ITM series where I cashed the Kick-off, PLO and main event.

PLO FT second chip leader

The kick-off was pretty uneventful, standard hands, coolers and KO. Then I jumped into the short deck event. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. First bullet I busted when middle position over jam KK pre, I had AA on the button I rejam, big blind decides to call with JT. Flop was 678, turn 9. Then my second bullet I jammed 30 antes with KK only to be called by big blind’s A7o. Flop A.

PLO was the painful one. I was 2nd chip leader with 5 players left. I had the other players covered by quite a bit. UTG I opened QQJ8ds. Chip leader on the sb called. Flop KQ3r I decided to slow play. Turn was 4s and now with two spades on board. Chip leader donks for the pot, I repot and he jammed. Snap call. He shows JJ52sss. Yes he had 3 spades in his hand. I had 70% at the time to become the new chip leader with 3 short stacks left. River A. Should I have fast played my flop? I don’t think so. Can’t be result oriented and I like my line. I got him to commit 300k with 30% equity.

First plaque in Vietnam

Main event at one point in day2 I was top 5 in chips. I lost AT < TT 8bb jam, then lost AQ < TT for 15bb. On my left was a UK player who had been 3 betting my opens quite a few times. One time I decided to defend my open with JThh. Flop came 985hxx. I check raise his cbet and was snapped off by AA. I still had 37% equity and turned a T which kept me at 30% ish for the river. But it wasn’t what I hoped for. Two 70-30 flips that did not go my way.

Last event of the series I played in the High Roller. Leading up to my last bust I had QQ on the big blind. Utg1 opened, button flat, I 3bet to 7x, initial aggressor folds, button jams for 60bb and I snap off. He shows AKo. Board ran T7T4A. Gg. 

Overall I think I played a decent series but again not finishing super deep means it wasn’t a great result. If I won that PLO hand I would have had a shot at winning that event for 10K USD instead I got 1800 for finishing 5th. But I collected my 5th ITM for the year, with 2 FTs, outpacing my 2018 results at a much higher ITM %. I decided to extend my dream for just a while longer, heading to Taipei for J88 and the HK/Taiwan Series. 

Same denomination but different color. Call me OCD

So far I have kept to my new year resolutions. But upon reflection, I still need to work on my discipline and focus. In some hands I have shown flashes of brilliance that most pros would be proud of, but at times I would make mistakes even fishes would laugh about. Gotta work on increasing the first part and reducing the second.

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