The Commerce Rocks - Daniel Negreanu's Blog

Daniel Negreanu's Blog
February 25, 2007
The Commerce Rocks
Negreanu writes about playing
Aces at the Commerce Casino's
2007 LA Poker Classic
$10,000 Event

Daniel Negreanu's Poker Blog

UltimatePokerForum.com
The Ultimate Poker Site

The Commerce Rocks

February 25, 2007

No kidding man, the Commerce is just the nuts for a poker player. No, they
aren't paying me to say that, lol.

Anyway, I decided to fly out on the day of the event since it wasn't scheduled
to start until 3:30pm. The reason they do late starts in LA is so that they can
accommodate the many people in the area who actually have a day job!

I flew into Burbank at around 1:30pm and my high school buddies (Regev &
Oren), and best men at my wedding along with Erick Lindgren, picked me up
at the airport. I was so stoked that Regev won a seat in the main event. He
doesn't play poker for a living and I've known him from before I started
playing. In fact, the first poker I ever played was with him in his basement.

Regev is a wicked smart dude that could be a professional poker player if he
wanted to. When I first moved out to Vegas, he was out there too grinding it
out. It just wasn't for him though. It wasn't a lack of talent that killed him, I
think it was just the lifestyle that didn't suit him.

Anyway, so we drove to the Wyndham to check in, then I needed to go "on
the borrow." I was late leaving for my flight after taking Mushu over to my
mother's house, so I didn't have enough time to go to the Bellagio and get
money. I arrived in LA with a grand total of $500!

As I was checking in and random people were saying hello, my only comment
was, "You got $10,000? Anyone got $10,000?" When I made it over to the
Commerce I was asking some more random people for $10,000 when it
literally flew at me from about 15 yards away. Brad Booth threw a $10,000
brick high into the air towards me from behind. I saw it just in time and had
myself a buy in! By the way Brad, you suck at counting money! There was
$11,200 in that bundle, thanks for the tip.

Anthony Mak drove over with me, Regev & Oren to the Commerce from the
Wyndam. Anthony was given a copy of my notes for my upcoming book and
we discussed that a little bit. He had a few concerns but we got that all
squared away. I can't share with you all what we talked about as I don't
want to affect his chances in this tournament or in upcoming tournaments.

I started out in the tent, but after a few levels our table broke and I made it
back into the main room. The structure at Commerce was excellent:

20,000 in starting chips and 90 minute levels
25-50
50-100
100-200
100-200 (25)
150-300 (25)
200-400 (50)
300-600 (75)
400-800 (100)
500-1000 (100)
600-1200 (200)
800-1600 (200)
1000-2000 (300)
1200-2400 (300)
1500-3000 (400)

Attention all tournament directors... THIS is how it's done. Forget all about
the 75 minute levels, all that does is cause for longer days with less play.
Meaning, if you take a break after ever 75 minutes you end up taking more
breaks during the day. A break after 90 minutes is more than enough and
doesn't stretch out the day longer than need be.

Matt Savage actually likes to add even one more level, a level we say at the
Borgata as well (another good structure), the 250-500 level. I obviously love
the additional level, but if it means switching to 75 minute levels I'd rather
not have that level.

As for the tournament, I played well. I was reading weakness in my
opponents exceptional well and made several "plays" taking pots from
opponents that were on the steal. Everything was cruising right along.

I flopped a flush against a set and was up to 38,000. Then I lost a few small
pots here and there where my opponents hit the flop. Then disaster hit. With
blinds at 100-200 I made it 500 to go with AA. Nick Schulman called on the
button as did the big blind.

The flop came Qh 9c 8h. The BB checked and I bet 1000. Nick called, and I
was pretty sure he didn't hit the flop solid. I felt as though he had a piece of
it, but that my AA were still good.

The BB folded and the turn came the 6s. I wanted to protect my hand against
all of the potential draws out there, so I bet 3000. Nick immediately raised
me to 9000. Now I was in a very tough spot as I could easily be drawing
dead. However, there were also a lot of hands that Nick could have where he
wasn't there yet and I had the best hand. A pair and a flush draw. A pair and
a straight draw. A straight flush draw, or even a pair, straight draw, and flush
draw.

Looking over at Nick's chips I noticed that he had about 19,000 left. Feeling
like I was ahead, I decided to put him all in. He called instantly... oops! He
turned over the 10-7. That off suit 6 on the turn was my death card. No other
card could cost me all of those chips. A Jack and I check the turn. A heart and
I probably check the turn. The 6 only filled one possible hand, and wouldn't
you know it, that's what Nick had.

The very next hand I folded. The very next hand, with just 1025 left in chips, I
picked up AA again! This time I limped in for 200 under the gun, hoping to get
some action and either double or triple up if possible. Another player limped
in from middle position and both blinds were in. The flop looked "ok" for my
hand... As 6d 4h. The blinds checked and I checked to the limper who bet
450. The small blind called, so I went all in for 375 more-both players called.

The turn was a 9 and both players checked. The river was a 2 and the SB
checked to the limper... he reached for chips and I almost got up and walked
away... he bet 2000 and I knew. The SB folded and the limper turned over
3-5 for the straight.

In hindsight, I could have played the AA against Nick more cautiously, but I
couldn't exactly just fold on the turn when he raised me. I should have
probably smooth called and maybe saved a bet on the river. In fact, had I
played the hand like I normally would, I'd probably still be in. The river was a
7, so it would have been impossible for me to call and I'd still have an
average stack. Overall I'd say it was a mistake. Thing is, you are just bound
to make more mistakes against great players since it's more difficult to put
them on hands. Nick is a great player and has shown a willingness to bluff in
all kinds of situations, so he really earned those chips from me.

Now, I would have posted this blog sooner, but I've been having some
serious issues over here at the Wyndam:

1. Internet Connection- The high speed in my room wouldn't work. I called
Wayport, nothing. I called the front desk and they had a technician come to
my room...nothing. They just couldn't get it fixed at all.

2. Water Machine- I went to go get a bottle of water out of the machine. The
machine is rather finicky, it won't take bills and it won't take coins. It only
takes credit cards. I had three cards with me.... and none of them worked.
The machine was broken.

3. Room change- at 8:30am this morning another tech guy walked into my
room, waking me up. He tried fixing the internet... but nothing. Finally, they
had me change rooms. I requested a room change last night, but they had
no rooms available. I get to my new room and the internet works.

4. Television- I was laughing at this point at how ridiculous things were
getting. While the internet worked in my new room, the TV was busted. The
tech comes out again, me and him are like buddies now although I don't
really understand him very well. His English isn't very good and my Spanish is
pretty weak. Anyway, he fixed the TV so now I'm all set.

I'm planning on staying in LA. My buddy Regev is out of the tournament, but
Anthony Mak has made an excellent come back and is now sitting on about
25,000 in chips. He was down to about 7,000, but didn't quit and caught a
few hands just in time.

We had dinner together and went over some of the key hands he played. He
described each hand to me and he has played everyone perfectly. Kid is like a
sponge. To really grasp what's going on here, it's important to note that this
kid won the protégé contest through the .net site, beating out a ton of
players. Then, he moved on to a tough final table and won that too.

What's his level of real experience? Virtually non-existent! He has played
micro-limits occasionally, but has zero experience against the top players.
The creepy thing from my perspective, is that despite his lack of experience,
he has positive equity in these WPT events. His knowledge base is far
beyond what it should be for such a beginning player.

The only think he is lacking is the lingo! At dinner he was describing a hand to
me like this, "Everyone checked to me so I raised 1200." He really doesn't
"sound" like a player, but man can this kid play. No joke, no exaggeration,
this kid is pretty sick.

Today I plan on heading over to the Commerce periodically to check on him.
I'll have a look at his table, see who I know and what I can share with him.
Mak's chip count isn't spectacular, but with so much play in this event he
doesn't have to make any drastic changes to his strategy. His stack is still
relatively healthy in relation to the blinds.

Read More Entries from Daniel Negreanu's Blog

Site Directory