The greatest day of the year in poker is underway.
And it gets repeated each day for the next four days.
For most, the dream is still alive. Anybody can win, but the odds are in favor of a nobody actually pulling it off. 1301 dreamchasers entered the Amazon Room today with visions of becoming the next Chris Moneymaker or Jamie Gold dancing through their pretty little heads
There was yet to be any bad beats dealt yet, no ace-king all in against queens, no aces being cracked.
At least for the first 8 minutes.
The dream was alive for all of 8 minutes for Matt Jansen. He was eliminated with A
A
on an all flop when his opponent held KQ.
Many players don't realize just how much of a grind the main event is. The dreams slowly start turning to reality for most players around the dinner break. Once you stare at 52 for a few orbits in a row, seeing any pair makes some players go a little crazy. At least that's my excuse for how 33 can get it all in for 20k when the blinds are only 50-100. Naturally his opponent had AA. You know how the story ends...
If there's one word I've heard the pros repeat over and over when describing the field, it's dead money.1 Actually, that's two words. Whatever.
Here's three tips on how to turn the dead money into your money:
1. Don't bluff.
Seriously. There's no reason too. The majority of these players have no idea where they are at in a hand, and will look you up on principle. I saw a guy call three big bets with 22 on a 996Q10 board because, as he stated when he proudly flipped over his cards, "I've got two pair."
2. Let the action come to you.
Let your opponents make mistakes, then capitalize on them. Shawn Buchanon busted a player when he check-raised Shawn's 3k bet all-in for over 20k on a Q43 board. His hand? KJ for no pair and no draw. Shawn had a set. Awesome.
3. Play loose preflop and tight after the flop.
Because of #1 and #2, a succesful recipie for many pros has been playing a wide range of connectors (both suited and otherwise) because when they do hit a flop, they will invariably stack off an opponent who doesn't know how to fold top pair. Or any pair. If you miss the flop, don't feel obligated to continuation bet against dead money because you will get called. See flops in position with low risk because the rewards are huge when you hit.
1 The Grinder is definitely not dead money.
