World Series of Poker: RPI-Fan's Try

[RPI-Fan]

H-B's thread convinced me to get WSOP, and after a lengthy eBay transaction, I picked up a slightly older version than he had for $9.00, shipping included. To see the basic premise of the game, here is H-B's thread.

I'm writing this assuming he doesn't mind me copying his idea. If there's a problem, HonBlu, just post and I'll take this down ASAP.

So I started off with a practice game, playing a satelitte tournament. First time in, I was out rather quickly. The second time in I made it into the heads-up play (one-on-one - 7 other players had been eliminated from the satellite) with the tall stack (I had the most chips - a huge advantage in No-Limit Hold 'Em).

Unfortunately, I made a foolish all-in play (betting all my chips), and he took me, knocking me way down.

At one point I was down to $300, with $300/600 blinds (blinds are forced bets, if more explanation is needed just post - there is a big and a small blind). I managed to double up (win an all-in bet, thus doubling my chip total) a couple of times, and steal a few blinds along the way until getting my bankroll near $6,000, with his almost below $10k. Alas, he called 4-5s with 5-6s, and got the straight draw, winning the tournament.

Feeling I definitely had enough practice, I decided to start over, and am now ready to begin this dynasty. I'm going to start by spending 25% of my $5k on a satellite event. If that doesn't work out, I'll probably play a ring game of stud for a little while to see if I can raise the necessary $10k to make the WSOP. If that doesn't work out, I have no clue what I'll do.

For now, though, I enter a satelitte tournament, leaving me with $3,875 in cash. For now, though, that's safe. I enter the satellite with $2k in chips (same as everybody), and am ready to get going.

~rpi-fan

[Honolulu Blue]

Originally posted by RPI-Fan
H-B's thread convinced me to get WSOP, and after a lengthy eBay transaction, I picked up a slightly older version than he had for $9.00, shipping included. To see the basic premise of the game, here is H-B's thread.

I'm writing this assuming he doesn't mind me copying his idea. If there's a problem, HonBlu, just post and I'll take this down ASAP.

I don't mind at all. In fact, I'm looking forward to reading this dynasty. I wish you well, and hope you do better than I did.

P.S. The satellites can be rough because those blinds and antes go up FAST.

[RPI-Fan]

They definitely do, H-B...

BTW, I'm having trouble running this in windows mode - when I Alt+Enter out of the program it doesn't run well. Is there something I'm missing, or is this perhaps attributed to the older version that I have.

Also, I don't see any way to see what hand # I'm on - I'm guessing that's also a feature exclusive to the newer version(s). Nevertheless, it's not difficult to keep track of manually.

[RPI-Fan]

I arrive in Vegas with $5k in my pocket, and take a comped limo ride from Binion's Horseshoe Casino. When I arrive, I quickly register, and then head straight toward the satelitte tournament. I pay the $1,125 entry fee, and sit at the table. I'm in the middle of the U-shape, and I tell the other guys to call me "Rpifan".

The blinds start out at $25/50, and will go up every ten minutes. The big blind starts with Player 3, so I'll have it on the third hand. And that starts the action. I'll note, as H-B did, hands that I get involved in, or that eliminate somebody.

Hand 1: I get Q6o ("o" = offsuit), and calmly throw away my cards. Player 8 raised, and nobody called, yielding him the blinds.

Hand 4: I'm the big blind and am dealt A5s ("s" = suited), and feel like this is a chance to get in on the action. So I call the $100 raise, and am in the pot with two others. The flop is 5-6-7 (two hearts), so I check with a bottom pair right now. Nothing big comes up, and we all check until Player 8 raises $225 on the river, a 7. Me and Player 7 fold, giving him the decent pot.

Hand 7: Several players call a $150 raise, and when it gets around to me I'm debating what to do with my pocket 8's. Only Player 3 calls, and the flop comes K-2-3. Player 3 raises a little, and I call. A rag comes up, and Player raises $800, leaving me with only one choice - fold. I'm now down to just over $1k.

Hand 11: The blinds go up to $50/100, and I'm dealt J8s. I call the blind, as does one other guy, and the big blind says go ahead. The flop is weak for me, and Player 3 raises, so I quickly fold. I'm down to about $900 now.

Hand 19: Player 7 moves all in on ATs, and Player 4 calls with QJo. Player 4 catches a Queen on the flop, and Player 7 is done. Saves me from being the first one out.

Hand 20: I get dealt K8, and after not being able to play many hands thus far, I get anxious and decide to call. Player 8 raises quite a bit, and I call, leaving me with only $400. The flop comes QQ8, and I check, soon followed by Player 8. The turn is a 7, and I gamble (hardy-har-har), moving all in for $425. Player 8 folds, and I steal a nice pot, getting my bankroll back up to almost $1,200. It was a crucial pot for me.

Hand 25: The blinds have gone up to $100/200, and the 33 I'm dealt looks pretty good when people fold. I raise $200, and steal the blinds.

The blinds go up to $200/400.

Hand 32: I'm dealt a pair of deuces on the small blind, and everybody folds around to me. I seize the opportunity and move all in for a raise of ~$500. The big blinds folds, and I get my bankroll up a bit more.

Hand 35: Player 9 moves all for $100, and shows pocket aces. Player 8 has 6-7 suited, and draws the straight, eliminating Player 9. I'm now just short of $1k.

Hand 37: I'm on the big blind, leaving me with $575. Player 2 raises $800, and with ATs I feel this is my chance to double up. I call, and I sigh as he shows pocket queens. Nothing comes up until the river, when he gets another queen, and easily steals the pot. I'm eliminated, and left to think about what to do next.

Annotating this was a bit annoying, so I'm not going to do it anymore.

Thanks for reading!
~rpi-fan

[RPI-Fan]

FTR - I started another game, and low and behond, won the satellite event. I was pretty weak in the early going, but stole a couple of decent hands, and got very lucky (2 or 3 times caught a card on the turn or river to steal a pot) and made it into the heads up play.\

The guy I was against had almost a 2-1 chips lead, but he sucked in heads-up. He was excellent in the ring game, but now couldn't do jack shit. So I took care of him in a relatively quick manner.

I've yet to start the World Series (though I did just double-up on a blackjack hand with my old character to see what the event was like - it's pretty interesting), but will doso soon. I'll try and post an update of how it goes/went.

A note on the strategy for this game. I don't know what strategy H-B used, but I can't find one sure-fire strategy. If you play tight, the fast-rising blinds will eat you alive. If you play loose, the computer is savvy enough to call your medium-strong hands with killers (QQ over AT, for example). I'm not sure what I'm going to do in the Series. Since the blinds are insignificant early on (you start with $10k in chips), and are much slower to rise (every 30 minutes as opposed to every 10 minutes in the satellite tournaments), I think I'll start out playing a very tight game. I don't think the computer will pick up on this, so I should be able to still milk some money out of them when I get playable hands (two face cards at the very least, or AT).

So, I'll see how it goes, and if H-B has any strategies I'd be very interested to hear them.

~rpi-fan

[Honolulu Blue]

Patience will work OK in this game. The blinds aren't too damaging early on and if you're patient enough, you can make it to the second day without too much trouble.

One bluff I sometime used was after the flop or turn, all the players would check back to me and I would throw a big bet out there. It'll work a majority of the time, but when it doesn't work, the results can be disaster. It's up to you whether you want to add that to your repetoire.

[RPI-Fan]

Yea', that's a pretty easy play. If the AI is able to catch on, I'd be impressed, since it would show some solid programming. If you try that in a real game, you'll get burned incredibly fast. It might work once, maybe twice, but if you keep doing, you'll pay (literally).

Thanks for the tips, and any advice on getting it to run in windows mode better? Or was your's a natural Windows version?

Thanks!
~rpi-fan

[RPI-Fan]

So I was a little intimidating as I sat down at my table (#9) for the World Series. But I played alright, and after half an hour had a bit more than half of my $10,000 remaining. So, only a minute or two after the first increase in blinds, I was dealt pocket queens. This was my chance - all I could say to myself was "carpe diem" over and over again.

So after a few raises of a couple hundred, I go all in. Player 7 calls, and I'm happy. He turns up 8's, and I'm grinning. But on the flop, with the third card he catches the 8. The turn and river don't help, and I'm sent home, shocked, and yelling wildly.

Have to give it another shot, I guess.

~rpi-fan

[RPI-Fan]

Well, I come back the following year, and enter another satellite. This time I roll right through it, going into heads-up play with more than 12,000 chips (~70% of the total chips at the table). I ride my advantage to an easy win, as it took less than 50 minutes total (The blinds never even reached $500/1000).

So I went into the WSOP a bit more optimistic. I was seated at Table 8, and greeted my fellow competitors. I got off to a great early start, my biggest win being worth about $30,000. I had 56s, and the flop gave me an outside straight draw, so I moved all in. Two others called for just about the same as me (~$9,500). I indeed got the straight on the turn, and now had like $27,000 - enough to put me in first place in the overall tournament very early on.

Now, anybody who's played this game, or any no-limit poker, knows that the bigger lead you have makes it exponentially easier to play well and win more money. I did just this, and after almost an hour (blinds haven't yet hit $100-200 with no ante), I'm at around $34,000. I was close to $60k at one point, but called a foolish all-in for around $15k, and got bumped down. I'm still in first place overall, but I now can't afford any more dumb plays like that one. I'm still easily the high roller at my table.

I took a break, and will continue later tonight or tomorrow - the increased blinds should play hugely into my favor.

~rpi-fan

[BBT]

Good job, RPI and good luck. I've never made it to the second day during the WSOP and you look like you're well on track.

Now if I could only win a freaking satellite.

[Honolulu Blue]

Originally posted by RPI-Fan
Thanks for the tips, and any advice on getting it to run in windows mode better? Or was your's a natural Windows version?

Mine was the Windows version. The last time I ran the DOS version of WSOP, it was under Windows 3.1, and I didn't have any particular problems with it. So unfortunately I don't have any advice for you in that department.

On a better note, it looks like you're doing a fine job in the satellite and the Series. You are absolutely right in that it's much easier to play with a lot of chips. Keep on keeping on and I'll see you at the final table.

[RPI-Fan]

HB: It's not that I have problems running it in Windows 95, it's that it's hard to switch applications while running it. I can't have WSOP and a text editor open at the same time - no advice on that front either (or was I misinterpreting your comments?)

Thanks!
~rpi-fan

[Honolulu Blue]

No advice on that front either. Many DOS programs don't like running in windowed mode, especially if they have good (for their era) graphics.

[RPI-Fan]

Well, I made it to Day 2, and at this point the blinds are at $200/400 with a $75 ante. I had, at one time, nearly $100k, but got burned on a flush (he had higher card) and went down below $50k. I'm now back up to $58k (and got moved to a new table), and playing a little better.

We're 162 hands in, meaning it's probably about 15 minutes away from another increase in blinds and ante ($100 and $300/600 will be the new prices).

One interesting thing was, early on in Day 2, I got dealt pocket Aces. I called, and only the big blind and one other stayed in. I raised about $1k after the flop (nothing big showed), and they both folded. Then, the next hand, guess what I get? Pocket aces! I raised the minimum amount, and everybody folded!

Sucked to only win a tiny bit of money, but nevertheless was pretty cool.

~rpi-fan