Event #76 - $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event · 07/03/2023 @ 12:00pm

Pretty good day, even though it started off slow for the first two levels.

Not every day you get to bust Erik Seidel AND have him replaced by Daniel Negreanu -- in an event with a likely field of 10,000+ unique individuals!

A record 3,080 registered for today's 1C. About 2100-2200 registered for Days 1A and 1B combined. That already puts the figure at around 5200.

Add tomorrow's likely huge 1D, plus the Day 2 registrants, and 10,000+ is likely.

I mostly played small ball, and was fortunate enough not to lose any significant hands. The few tough folds I made were correct, as I found out either at showdown or by the person showing me their hand that I made the right move.

The aggression I showed today was also well-timed, as I was pretty good at firing when my opponent(s) were weak, and backing off when they were strong. My aggression was also selective, so my bets mostly garnered respect.

I had two interesting hands with Negreanu which involved pocket 7s.

The first I had black TT, raised in the cutoff, and a Euro, who had not yet gotten out of line, 3-bet me. Negreanu, who was short but not crippled, elected to pitch his 77 from the BB. Flop came Q74. The Euro bet the flop, I called. Turn check/check on a blank, and river I bet/he called after thinking on a Q (which is basically a blank here). Negreanu was irritated he got ran off the 77, and correctly called that the guy likely had a 4. The guy sheepishly conceded that he did, and said embarrassingly, "This is the first time I 3-bet light all day... and this is why I shouldn't do it!"

Negreanu wouldn't have gotten a ton out of me, as the Q high flop would have run me off the TT if he leaned too hard on me, but he still would have won some much needed chips.

Not too long later, an Asian guy raised in early position, and Negreanu 3-bet. This time I was the one with the 77 in the blind. And like Negreanu, I chose to fold. Why? Because Negreanu had a stack which was going to be tough to play against -- not tiny, but small enough to where he could easily go all-in with a hand which either beats me or is behind me. I decided it was too hard to play 77 there, plus I had to worry about the early raiser. I pitched it. Flop was TT3, and it turned out the Asian guy had 66, and Negreanu couldn't beat it -- presumably ace high. They checked the turn and river. Oh well. When the flop was TT3, I remember thinking that I would be stuck calling off a shove from Negreanu had I been in, and I didn't like that -- not in this event at this deep point.

Erik Seidel was the first one out of the table. He seemed to enter a lot of hands, though otherwise played reasonably, However, when he couldn't get himself back to starting stack, he finally punted with AK on a missed board, and the guy next to me snapped him off with QQ, and this sent Seidel down to 7k or so. He got his final money in against me, fortunately with a lower club draw than my ace-high club draw, leaving him only with pair outs, which he did not get. My busting of Seidel made Pokernews.

My high point was about 140k, but I was card dead most of the final hour, dropping me to 130,700, which is well above average. We started with 60k.

More next post.

2326/3080 made Day 2. That's a whopping 75.5%, leaving average right around 80k.

I'm tied for 313th out of these 2326.

I will be combining with the Day 1A and 1B fields on Friday at noon.

Something is wrong with the table reports. These should be complete, but nobody from 1A or 1B is listed at my Day 2 table!

All I see are these 3 seats, all of us from 1C:

Seat 6 Bastiaan Faessen ALMERE, , NL 24,100
Seat 7 Todd Witteles LAS VEGAS, NV, US 130,700
Seat 8 Simon Mallemaci Rio Grande, , AR 77,600

:wat

I'll have to ask about what's going on. I would like to know who is sitting with me beyond these two guys.

Great stuff Todd, keep it up!! Good luck!!

The 2023 WSOP Main field is already the biggest in history, finally beating the 2006 poker boom record of 8,773. This is NOT because poker is bigger now than 2006. It's not.

It's because the WSOP's marketing is so good, and the brand is so strong, that it continues to grow despite poker shrinking. For all of Caesars' fail, their marketing has always been top-top.

I still predict we break 10k by the time the Day 2 registration closes, which will be on Saturday afternoon at 4:40pm.

On my 50th birthday, I still had no gray in my beard. I had some light brown hairs which some people thought was gray in pics, but I legit had no gray in my beard when I turned 50, which is fairly unusual.

Unfortunately, the next month the gray started to creep in, and about 1.5 years later, I have the salt-and-pepper thing going on. Anyway, here is a pic of me from yesterday, taken near the end of the day by Pokernews.

Still wearing that bracelet. Wonder if it helps or hurts your image. Do you take it off when you want to look clueless.

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Originally Posted by Texter

Still wearing that bracelet. Wonder if it helps or hurts your image. Do you take it off when you want to look clueless.

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Definitely helps. I don't want to look clueless. My style works better when people respect my bets.

https://twitter.com/DanDruffPoker/st...94670148812802


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Tweet from: DanDruffPoker (Todd Witteles (chip updates))

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My Day 2 history:

Survived, busted near money: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2021

Busted day 2: 2009, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2022

Cashed deep: 2010, 2019

#pfa76

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https://twitter.com/DanDruffPoker/st...95200501743616


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Tweet from: DanDruffPoker (Todd Witteles (chip updates))

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The guy who crippled me in a cooler (but not unreasonable) hand at the 2022 seniors event with fewer than 300 left, is in seat 2. Time to return the favor? #pfa76

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https://twitter.com/DanDruffPoker/st...96668948566016


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Tweet from: DanDruffPoker (Todd Witteles (chip updates))

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17 minute delay in starting, likely due to the bad seat assignments, such as what occurred at my table. We are finally going!

#pfa76

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https://twitter.com/DanDruffPoker/st...05209239359491


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Tweet from: DanDruffPoker (Todd Witteles (chip updates))

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Flopped massive draw, fired whole way, missed, even though scare card hit for opponent making it look like I hit. I mucked when called, so neither of us saw each other's hand. Down to 107k #pfa76

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https://twitter.com/DanDruffPoker/st...10742977585153


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Tweet from: DanDruffPoker (Todd Witteles (chip updates))

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So far this isn't going too great. SB vs BB, I raise, he calls. Miss dry A high flop, I bet, he calls. Pick up open ender on turn, check/call. River blank. Only 3rd hand I've entered, lost all 3. Down to 98k #pfa76

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https://twitter.com/DanDruffPoker/st...14516110561280


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Tweet from: DanDruffPoker (Todd Witteles (chip updates))

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Maybe that earlier triple barrel bluff got me a call later. Different opponent min raised late, I call BB with A2o. Flop 34T rainbow, check/call. Turn A, check/check. River 5, I bet, he thinks and calls. Back to 107k #pfa76

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https://twitter.com/DanDruffPoker/st...28285586952192


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Tweet from: DanDruffPoker (Todd Witteles (chip updates))

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Struggled hard for first 2 hours, having just enough to net hands and getting raised off, missing draws, and seemingly running into big hands constantly. Battered down to 85k at break. Come back to 500/1k/1k. #pfa76

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https://twitter.com/LeeBBury/status/1677435610850820096


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Tweet from: LeeBBury (Lee Bradbury)

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Started Day2 of Main Event w/ 134.5k. End of first level. 137.5k. #pfa76

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https://twitter.com/DanDruffPoker/st...36277447364609


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Tweet from: DanDruffPoker (Todd Witteles (chip updates))

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Got some back off the 60ish guy who kept check raising me in the first 2 hours. Up to an even 100. #pfa76

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https://twitter.com/DanDruffPoker/st...46801044152321


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Tweet from: DanDruffPoker (Todd Witteles (chip updates))

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Starting to return from my awful first level. Sitting on 116k. #biteemback #pfa76

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https://twitter.com/DanDruffPoker/st...49911485480960


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Tweet from: DanDruffPoker (Todd Witteles (chip updates))

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Guy who I punted to earlier with triple barrel semibluff in BB, I had Ac3h on button, raise 2300, he calls. Flop 885 two diamonds. He checks, I bet 2k, he calls. Turn Jd, check/check. River A spades. He fires 5k, I call, he shows 44. Up to 126k. #pfa76

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https://twitter.com/DanDruffPoker/st...55883327139842


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Tweet from: DanDruffPoker (Todd Witteles (chip updates))

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Defended Q9ss in BB against UTG raise. Flop J74 one spade. Check/check. Turn 6s. I bet 2500, he calls. River Td. Check/check, he had As5s. Glad I missed the spade, but down to 114k #pfa76

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https://twitter.com/DanDruffPoker/st...63021621514240


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Tweet from: DanDruffPoker (Todd Witteles (chip updates))

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Final hand I had QQ and guy who crippled me in 2022 seniors got me again. He was in BB. Ace flopped, he had it, I folded turn, he showed. Briefly touched the same 131k I started with, going to break with 124. #pfa76

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