Bovada WSOP 8-Seat NLHE

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been watching the Bovada WSOP qualifiers, which feature an increasing number of guaranteed $3K packages including a $1.5K buy-in and an equivalent amount in money for expenses. The particularly interesting feature to me has been that the more people who enter doesn’t affect the number of packages offered. That’s set. Additional amounts in the prize pool are paid out in $500 increments, very similar to the Survivor tournaments I first saw a few years back at the Venetian.

It’s a two (or three)-tiered payout structure, with the top tier getting the package, the second tier getting $500, and the final tier (of one player) getting any remaining money less than $500 in the prize pool. The first of the satellites had a single WSOP package paid out, and the number increased each week by one, reaching eight last weekend. The final run next weekend skips over nine and goes to ten packages. The first four ran as $109 entries, with the final five costing $162, so your ROI if you cashed was likely to be 360% or 208%, respectively.

I’d watched the progress of a couple of these early on but hadn’t played them because Sunday afternoon is our family dinner. A couple got into the money before four hours were up, but as more of the prize pool got concentrated up top for the packages, that was likely to get longer.

So I took a flier on the next-to-last one, and ended up playing through the arrival of my dad and a neighbor who comes to Sunday dinner, then playing at the table through dinner, which isn’t probably going to happen again anytime soon. Once I hit the money, I wasn’t too concerned about getting the package, though it would have been nice. Playing short-stacked on the bubble while keeping up a conversation and passing the ginger beef and salad was a bit of a juggling act, but it worked.

Hand 2 [ad 2d] UTG3 T5,000 10/20
I raised to 45 and got called by both the blinds. The flop was [2h 6c 5c], SB bet 120, BB dropped out, and I came along with bottom pair. We both checked the [qs] on turn and [5d] river, he showed [6h th] and took the pot. BB folded [td kd].

Hand 7 [kc ks] SB T4,815 10/20
UTG limped with [3c 2c] and CO was along for the ride with [ac 5h]. I pushed it to 200, and went to the flop HU with UTG. [4d 6d qh] on the flop and he called a c-bet of 280. [9h] turn and my bet of 800 took it down.

Hand 8 [kc qc] D T5,335 10/20
Switching to ‘D’ for notation of the dealer button. Two extra keys adds up. CO opened to 60 and I called, along with the blinds. The flop was [jc 2h 3d]—not exactly my favorite—but I called a c-bet of 80 from CO and the blinds folded [9d tc] and [6c 8d], respectively. [ad] on the turn got checked, then the river [ts] gave me the nuts, and I checked-raised CO when he bet 260. He folded [ac 2d].

Hand 11 [9s ac] UTG3 T5,855 10/20
I opened to 45, getting called by CO ([td qc]), and both the blinds ([7s tc] and [9h ad]). The flop was [8s 8h 3d], the blinds checked, I c-bet 100 and they all folded.

Hand 13 [ah qd] UTG1 T5,990 20/40
I opened to 100 and everyone folded.

Hand 17 [jc kc] D T6,050 20/40
I called a raise to 120 from UTG2 ([4x ad]) to see a [2d 4s 5c] flop, then a c-bet of 120. Folded to a turn ([6h]) bet.

Hand 26 [2c 2h] D T5,740 30/60
Not usually a fan of the small pairs, but everyone folded to me, and I raised to 150 and took the blinds.

Hand 27 [4s 5s] CO T5,830 30/60
Again, a little out of my usual bounds, but it was folded to me, so I made another 150 bet. This time, BB called me with [as jd]. The flop gave both of us something: [2s 3d 5d] and we checked it, then the pair he was looking for with a turn [ac] made my straight. He check-called 160, then did the same for 300 on the [2h] turn.

Hand 28 [8c qc] HJ T6,470 30/60
I just limped in behind two other players, and six of us saw the flop. [4h tc 9s] gave me a gut-shot draw, I checked, D bet 180 with [ts qs], UTG2 had a set with [th td] and called, and I came along. The [qh] looked kind of pretty, UTG2 checked, I bet 600, got a call from D, then UTG shoved and took the pot without a showdown.

Hand 29 [8d 6d] HJ T5,630 30/60
Another 6-way limped pot. [kd 8c jh] on the flop, everyone checks, [7h] on the turn, and I fold to a bet initiated by BB.

Hand 37 [as qd] HJ T5,480 40/80
UTG2 limps in with [kh 9s], and I raise to 180. He calls and we’re HU to a [7d 6s 9d] flop. I c-bet 280, he calls, and it’s [7h] on the turn. We check. [8d] on the river, checked, and he wins.

Hand 39 [qc qs] UTG2 T5,020 40/80
UTG has [ks 2s] and limps, I pop it up to 300 and he calls. We check the [7h ad 8s] flop, the [ah] turn, and the [9c] river and I win.

Hand 40 [tc qd] UTG1 T5,440 40/80
I open to 180 and get re-raised by HJ to 440. I get a little ambitious with the Portland Nuts and call. The flop is [5d 7s 6h], he bets 480 with his [ks as] and I fold. Back to starting stack.

Hand 44 [tc kc] D T4,880 40/80
UTG2 limps, I raise to 200, he calls, and the flop is [6d as 4h]. He checks, I check, the turn is [ac], and he bets 230. I don’t think he has an ace but I don’t have anything and I fold. He had [qc 7c].

Hand 47 [qc qs] UTG2 T4,680 40/80
Nobody calls my raise to 200.

Hand 49 [ac qc] UTG T4,800 40/80
HJ is the only call to my 200 raise. The flop is [ts th 3c], I c-bet 300 and get called, improve a bit with the [8c] on the turn, bet 680, and he goes away.

Hand 56 [as 7s] UTG1 T5,300 50/100
I open to 250 and get called by UTG2 with [jc ts]. The flop is [6h 9s 5h], I check-call a bet of 300. He’s open-ended on the [8c] turn and bets 700 after my check, but I have the straight already and go all-in. He folds.

Hand 57 [9d as] UTG T6,700 50/100
I raise to 250 and everyone folds.

Hand 62 [9c th] HJ T6,850 50/100
Got myself into a little trouble on this hand. UTG2 raised to the fishy amount of 332. I called. The flop was [4s 2h 5s] and we both checked. A [9d] gave me just enough to call the 630 turn bet. And I felt I had to call the bet of 1,453 on the [5d] river, but two pair no good vs. two deuces in your opponent’s hand.

Hand 66 [9c qc] UTG T4,435 50/100
I raised to 250 and was called by UTG1 with [jd 3d]. I got bluffed off the board of [6h 6s kc 7s kh] by a small river bet.

Hand 68 [6s 8s] SB T4,085 75/150
UTG raised to 300 and UTG3 called. I called. The flop was [8c td 6c]. UTG had [jh js] and bet 761. UTG3 raised to 3,200 holding [6h 5h] and I went all-in with bottom two pair. UTG had just 1200 behind and called with less. UTG3 only had to call another 600. The turn was [2h] and the river was [as], and my two pair was best.

Hand 73 [tc js] UTG1 T10.6K 75/150
I raised to 400 and BB called with [ad 8h]. The [4s qs as] flop gave me the second nut flush draw, and I should have bet, but just checked behind. [3d] on the turn and I called a bet of 404, then folded to a bet of 1,004 on the [ah] river.

Hand 74 [jd js] UTG T9.8K 75/150
I opened to 450 and SB 3-bet to 1.5K with [ac kh]. I called, the flop was [9d 3s qh], and SB bet 950. I shoved. SB had me barely covered, but folded.

Hand 76 [tc ah] SB T12.3K 75/150
I opened to 450 and called a BB raise to 1,050. The flop was [jc 8h 4c] and I check-folded to a bet from [2h 2c].

Hand 78 [th 9s] CO T11.2K 75/150
I raised to 400 and BB called with [ks tc]. The flop was [kh 2d 8c], I c-bet 450 then folded to a raise of 1.5K.

Hand 79 [7d ad] HJ T10.4 100/200
UTG1  opened with [5h 5c] to 547 and I called. The flop was [kh 7h 2h], and even with the ace and middle pair, I didn’t feel like facing down a flush draw so I folded to a 600 chip c-bet.

Hand 85 [kd ks] D T9.5K 100/200
One of those hands that can be incredibly disappointing if it goes wrong. This one didn’t. UTG raised to 600 from a stack of 3K and action folded to me. I had everyone at the table covered and shoved it all in. The blinds folded, D went all-in to call with [jd ac] and I caught a full house on the river of the [9s 4h 9h 8d kh] board.

Hand 94 [js kd] HJ T12.7K 100/200
I put in a raise to 500, got called by BB with [8d jd], bet 600 on the [kh 7s 6c] flop and took the hand.

Hand 96 [tc qh] UTG1 T13.7K 100/200
I raised to 600 and got called by [6h 6s]. The flop was [3s 6c ts], I check-called 500 with top pair. On the [js] turn I semi-bluffed 1K, UTG3 raised me to 3K and I folded my drawing dead hand.

Hand 99 [qs 8s] SB T10.8K 125/250/25
Action folded to me, I raised to 750 and BB folded.

Hand 105 [jd ts] UTG T11.1K 125/250/25
Raise to 600 and take the pot.

Hand 106 [qh 8d] BB T11.7K 125/250/25
I get a walk.

Hand 110 [9h ac] CO T11.8K 125/250/25
UTG1 opens to 650 with [qd ts], I call, and BB is in with [qh 8h]. The flop was [qc 3c 3d] and I folded to a UTG1 c-bet of 775.

Hand 111 [qh 6h] HJ T11.1K 150/300/30
We only had seven players at the table, the first two players folded and I raised to 700 to tin the blinds and antes.

Hand 114 [js qd] BB T11.7K 150/300/30
Everyone folded to the SB who had [tc 3s] and only 4.6K. He decided to try to steal and raised to 900. I would have raised to that if he’d called anyway. We checked the board down to [8h ks 2d ac 9s] and I won.

Hand 117 [tc th] CO T12.6K 150/300/30
I open-raised to 900 and won the hand.

Hand 119 [qd td] UTG2 T13.2K 150/300/30
Raise to 750 and win.

Hand 124 [td th] D T13.3K 150/300/30
I opened to 900 and BB called with [js qc]. It’s good to flop top set on a dry board, I’ve heard, and [ts 2c 5d] looked parched. BB checked and I bet 800. [3d] for the turn. He could have [ad 4d] when he bets 1.7K, but I call and then [ac] hits on the river. We both check and I win.

Hand 125 [8d 8s] CO T17K 150/300/30
UTG goes all-in for 4K and we’re HU after I call. He shows [5d 6d]. The board runs out [2h 6s 7s ts tc] and he’s eliminated.

Hand 127 [4s 4c] UTG1 T21.7K 150/300/30
I made a min-raise and go HU with D, who has just 5.6K. The flop is [ad jc 2c], I check-fold to a bet of 875. With [ac th], D has top pair and a backdoor flush draw. Good fold.

Hand 128 [ac 9c] UTG T21K 150/300/30
Raised to 800 and took it down.

Hand 130 [ks qc] SB T21.4K 150/300/30
UTG2 min-raised and I called to see a flop of [2s qd ad]. I check-folded middle pair like a wimp to a bet from [5s 5d].

Hand 131 [jd kh] D T20.7K 150/300/30
UTG3 raised [kc qs] and I called, along with BB holding [8s qc]. Everyone checked the board down to [8d 2h 9s 7h 3h] and BB won with second pair!

Hand 134 [2d ad] UTG2 T20K 200/400/40
I raise to 1K and SB calls with [ac 5c] The flop is [7d 2c 4h] and SB checks. I bet 1.6K and get called. [7c] on the turn and [8s] on the river and I fold to a 3K bet.

Hand 138 [as 8s] SB T16.9K 200/400/40
UTG raises to 865 and I call, along with BB. It’s [6h kd 2h] on the flop, and everyone checks. I check fold the [tc] river when BB bets and gets called by UTG2.

Hand 139 [5c 5h] D T15.9K 200/400/40
I just hate low pocket pairs. I know there are people who swear by them and love to set-mine with them, but I’ll take a higher set any day. Anyway. I’m on the button, so I call a bet of 825 from UTG and fold on the [jd 2d 7s] flop to a bet of 1K. He had [kd kh]. See?

Hand 144 [7c 7h] UTG1 T14.8K 200/400/40
Not crazy about middle pairs, either. I’m on a new table. with three smaller stacks, and everyone else covering me. I raise to 1K and get re-raised to 2.3K by BB with [qh 8h], which I call and promptly lose when [ac 3d qc] flops. It gets checked down and I lose.

Hand 145 [ac 8c] UTG T12.5K 200/400/40
Time to rebuild. I raise and win.

Hand 146 [8h 7h] BB T13.4K 200/400/40
SB open-raises to 860 with [ks 8d]. I call and fold to a c-bet on the [qd js 4c] flop.

Hand 149 [ah js] CO T12.1K 250/500/50
I raise to 1.3K and get a call from BB with [9d as]. He folds to a c-bet of 2K on a [qd 2h 6d] flop.

Hand 151 [9d ac] UTG2 T14K 250/500/50
Raise to 1.3K and take the blinds.

Hand 152 [td 8d] UTG1 T15K 250/500/50
Raise to 1.3K and take the blinds does not work when 24K stack in CO goes all-in with [as 9h]. Not sure why he felt he needed to do that with that hand and nearly 50BB, but no skin off my nose.

Hand 154 [kc 9c] BB T13.7K 250/500/50
CO has under 5K and min-raises to open. I call and flop a gut-shot on [qh 7h js]. He bets another 2.6K, leaving just 1.2K behind and I go all-in. He snaps, shows [ad ac], the turn is [9h] and the river is [ts] and he falls to my straight.

Hand 163 [7c 9c] D T17.7K 250/500/50
I opened to 1.3K and BB called with [8s 6s]. We both checked the [8c js jc] flop, then BB check-called my 2K bet on the [6c] turn. [as] on the river kept me from barreling again, but my flush was the better hand and I took the pot.

Hand 164 [6s as] CO T21.6K 250/500/50
I opened to 1.3K and SB shoved 8.8K. I folded. He had [qd td].

Hand 166 [th jd] UTG2 T20.2K 250/500/50
I open to 1.3K. SB raises to 3.6K with [8c 8h] and we go HU to the [6d jh 9d] flop. He bets 3.7K, I shove, and he folds.

Hand 168 [ts th] UTG T28.4K 250/500/50
CO and BB call my 1.3K raise and the flop is [kc 7c qd]. Everyone checks, the river is [7d], and I fold to a bet of 2.3K from BB, who wins with [ad jd] (Mutant Jack!) v [ac qh] when the river [2d] makes his nut flush.

Hand 175 [kc ah] UTG2 T25.7K 300/600/60
UTG shoves 3.6K and I call. Everyone else folds and I’m up against [ad td]. He hits [th] on the turn and doubles.

Hand 200 [jc 8c] D T16.7K 500/1K/100
UTG1 min-raises[th kc] and I call , along with BB ([6h 2c]). The board on the turn is [ks jh 9d 7s], BB and I both fold to a 2.8K bet.

Hand 203 [kc qh] UTG2 T14.3K 500/1K/100
I raised to 3K pre-flop and won the hand.

Hand 215 [ks qd] UTG T14K 600/1.2K/120
I jammed on the bubble and won.

Hand 218 [8s 8d] D T14.5K 600/1.2K/120
CO limped in and I uncharacteristically limped, since we were still on the bubble. SB called and so there were four of us to the flop with me in position. It was [3s 5s 6d], everyone checked, the turn was [5c]. SB (22.3K behind, [7d 2d]) with a gut-shot straight draw, checked. BB (27K, [ks 6s]) had top pair and bet 2.5K. CO had [ac 2c], with 27.8K and just a draw to the low end of a straight, fold. At 13.3K and 11BB, I didn’t feel I could risk the over pair and gut-shot against a possible two-pair, trips, made straight or full house and folded along with SB. It was either fold or all-in. Looking at the folded cards in the report, both of the other eights were dead.

Hand 229 [ts td] UTG T11.9K 800/1.6K/160
A lucky table change saved me from the BB and put me in late position, so I was able to just ante up to this point. I jammed my 7.5BB in and nobody called.

Hand 230 [8h 8s] BB T15.6K 1K/2K/200
CO min-raised to 4K and I called, with the flop coming down [ah 2d qd] I couldn’t bring myself to bet into it and folded to a bet of 4K from [jh 9h].

Hand 234 [8c tc] HJ T9.8K 1K/2K/200
I went all-in and took in blinds and antes worth about a third of my stack. The bubble had broken somewhere in the previous few hands, so we were in the money.

Hand 235 [ad ah] UTG2 T13K 1K/2K/200
One of those hands to get when people think perhaps you’ve been too active. I was still the short stack but one on a seven-handed table. SB had more than half their chips in for the blind and ante. UTG1 called with about 32K and [7d 8d]. I still had less than 10BB, so I jammed, SB was all-in for a call, and UTG1 probably figured he couldn’t get knocked out anyway. It was my aces against UTG’s [7d 8d] and [js qh] for SB. I for two pair and was a live for a while longer.

Hand 242 [ah 2h] BB T29.7K 1K/2K/200
SB jammed with no previous action for just over 19K. An obvious steal. With [as th]. So just as fast as I go up, I go back down.

Hand 244 [5h 5c] SB T10.4K 1K/2K/200
I can think of worse hands to go out on. CO raises to 4K, I shove, BB re-shoves 16K, and CO calls , with 40K behind after the call. Me v. BB’s [ah kd] v. CO’s [qh tc]. I win if CO doesn’t make the call, but he hits trip tens and knocks out two of us.

VPIP: 27.5%. PFR: 18.4%. Showdown: 25% of hands played. Won 65% of showdowns.

 Four hours and forty minutes. 244 hands. 30th of 271 entries. +209% ROI.