1. 2008-12-28 20:36:55

   PokerStars 35000 Player Tournament Guinness World Record Attempt

   I'm going to be live blogging my participation in the Guinness world record attempt by PokerStars. Look for more soon :)

   Update (12:41pm): I won my first hand. We started with 3,000 chips and I'm at 2,960, after I flopped the nut open-ended straight draw with early on. Heh, while writing this I just stole my second win with by continuation betting a terrible flop. Up to 3095. Woo! There are already only 33,744 left.

   Update (12:53pm): I just picked up some chips with by spiking an ace on the turn. I don't know if it was necessary, as I bet and my opponent folded. The very next hand I pick up . The same guy limps in front of me and I raise it up. One player calls and the limper re-raises all in for less than 1k. I call and the other player folds. The dude flips over . Awesome?! ... !! I yell out "COME ON" and the river is the . LOL. I am up to 5000 and the blinds are 20/40 with 32k players left. While I was writing this I got and lost the minimum to when an ace came on the flop and he didn't bet until the river :)

   Update (1:01pm): At one point there were almost 250,000 logged in to PokerStars. Tony said he could tell from the speed of the site. Crazy. There are only 170,000 people logged in now.

   Update (1:08pm): I don't like the PokerStars look and feel, but some of the other features are making me rethink my dislike. First, not only can you select/deselect "muck losing hand" but you can also choose the option for "show winning hand". Better yet, when looking at previous hands, you can do a "live replay" of the action. Very cool. Now I can watch myself bluff-raise continuation bets with ace-high. Maybe not a bluff, I guess... And finally, the "stats" section actually shows some detailed stuff about your position. Here's mine so far:

   During current Hold'em session you were dealt 36 hands and saw flop:

   • 1 out of 3 times while in big blind (33%)
   • 2 out of 3 times while in small blind (66%)
   • 7 out of 30 times in other positions (23%)
   • a total of 10 out of 36 (27%)
   • Pots won at showdown - 2 of 4 (50%)
   • Pots won without showdown - 4

   Update (1:26pm): Still in it... Luke and Jon dropped out on some bad beats. Paul, Tony, and Parag are still in it. Not much happening for me. I have 5,925 in chips and the blinds are 40/80. The average stack is almost 4,000 and there are 27k players left. Prizes go down to place 8750 or so. Wow!

   Update (1:32pm): We are on the first short break. I am up to 6285, but the blinds are going to be 50/100 with an ante of 10. That means the average chip stack has an M of 16. Another few rounds and people will be dropping. 26k players left.

   Update (1:50pm): I'm in 3,617 place with 6,695 in chips. The blinds are going up to 60/120 with 15 in just a minute. The chip leader is at 29k while the average is 4,300. 24,397 players left. Make that 24,384.

   Update (2:03pm): Whew. I just limped in early with and caught a middle position all in with . At 10k.

   Update (2:12pm): Got and took 4 limper's money and the blinds. Not bad. At 10,295 in chips with 19k people left. Average is 5,400 and the blinds are 100/200 with 25 antes.

   Update (2:35pm): I recently layed down pocket jacks preflop after I 3-bet and was put all in by another player. That was tough. But not as tough as losing half my stack to pocket 3s versus my :( I'm at 4,140 and the pot has 850 in it at the start of each hand. Crap!

   Update (2:39pm): We made it to the second break. Parag, Paul, Tony are still in it, too. There are 12,046 players left. Only 4,000 more to the money lol. The pot has 975 in it at the start and I'm sitting on 3,760 and going to be the small blind. Guess I'll be open-shoving here soon :)

   Update (2:50pm): Redemption! I cracked aces with my LOL. Back up to 8140.

   Update (3:06pm): Parag is out - he flopped two pair against a flopped straight. Tony doubled up twice and is at 10k. Paul and I are at about 10k, too. The average stack is 11k and there are 9541 players left. 1,000 more until the money ($20 for the worst prize). I've been folding. Woo.

   Update (3:19pm): We are playing hand for hand at each table because we are on the bubble (8751 players left). I have just under 8k (6000th place) and the average is 12k. There is about 2,000 in the pot at the start of each hand. Play is SLOWWWW so I'll post my latest stats:

   During current Hold'em session you were dealt 143 hands and saw flop:

   • 5 out of 14 times while in big blind (35%)
   • 9 out of 15 times while in small blind (60%)
   • 13 out of 114 times in other positions (11%)
   • a total of 27 out of 143 (18%)
   • Pots won at showdown - 5 of 9 (55%)
   • Pots won without showdown - 16

   18% total flops seen is pretty low. I like it.

   Update (3:22pm): I just cashed in the biggest poker tournament ever held! We are at 8492 players and I'm guaranteed $20 at least. First place is $30k. The real money doesn't really start until you get into the top 100 ($300 for 100th, $700 for 30th, $1500 for 10th).

   Update (3:40pm): The action has been fast and most furious. I worked up to 20k in chips with 2 continuation bet bluffs and pocket tens. The players got wise of that so I ended up folding preflop to an all in but leveled out at 16k in chips. But then I called a short-stack all in but forgot somebody was behind me. I managed to get a straight, but the guy behind me got a flush and I paid him off, not even realizing it was there. I was down to 5k but stole blinds to get up to 8k now. Damn!

   Update (3:54pm): We are on break. Paul just got knocked out. I stole 3 sets of blinds and am up to 13k. Tony is at 10k. Average stack is 23k and the pot starts at 4k! Math time :)

   Update (4:14pm): I played perfectly against a similar stack and got him to commit all his chips with 2nd pair to my top pair. Yay! I'm at 34k in chips and Tony has 20k. Average stack is 36k. There are less than 3,000 players left!

   Update (4:22pm): Tony is at 45k and I'm at 30k. Scratch that, Tony is at 55k and I'm at 35k :)

   Update (4:40pm): I'm out in 1702 place. I had 6 big blinds and went for a steal with . It's kind of hard to steal from and , though. Payout was $60. Now I have a PokerStars bankroll I guess hahahh. Tony is still going strong with 72k in chips while the average is 66k.

   My final stats:

   During current Hold'em session you were dealt 214 hands and saw flop:

   • 6 out of 20 times while in big blind (30%)
   • 11 out of 22 times while in small blind (50%)
   • 19 out of 172 times in other positions (11%)
   • a total of 36 out of 214 (16%)
   • Pots won at showdown - 7 of 13 (53%)
   • Pots won without showdown - 26

   I think I tightened up too much at the end. There were a couple opportunities where I could have called opposing all ins with or and the like. In retrospect, I'd rather get my money in there than where I did, but I don't know if it was a mistake.

   Update (much later): I didn't update this after Tony's 418th finish for $100. Awesome finish man!

   Posted by Jason M at 2008-12-28 20:36:55

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Comments on “PokerStars 35000 Player Tournament Guinness World Record Attempt”

1. • Posted by Nick L g 2009-02-05 22:05:55
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   • Wow congrads by not getting sucked out on and become another # hope to hear about more of these.

2. • Posted by Jason M g 2008-12-31 18:13:02
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   • Not bad at all. Of course, not quite worth the hourly rate, but it was a lot of fun!

3. • Posted by AllanSchwartz (unverified) g 2008-12-31 02:19:10
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   • I enjoyed playing in this game. I made it fairly deep. I finished 702nd, for an $80 prize. Not too bad for a $10 investment. (plus 5 hours of time). :-)

4. • Posted by FREMONTkyle g 2008-12-29 06:10:12
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   • but you did good either way so dont worry about it too much

5. • Posted by FREMONTkyle g 2008-12-29 06:09:56
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   • thats the hand with AJ that you ended up not calling? how did he play the QQ and AT? and were stacks similar then if he shoved with AT and didnt shove with QQ then you can pretty much assume he didnt have AA KK QQ JJ and so really your only worried about AK AQ so in that spot if you want to grab chips for the final 5 tables it would of been good spot to call since you were considered a short stack

6. • Posted by Jason M g 2008-12-29 06:05:38
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   • The guy I ended up not calling had only shown two hands in the last twenty hands: and . He wasn't a total knit, but I didn't want to risk it. Put in the same situation, I might not have accounted enough for the blinds going up in a few minutes and that if people in front of me got aggressive I'd be going all in for the "steal" in early position. I'll think about that a bit more next time...

7. • Posted by FREMONTkyle g 2008-12-29 03:04:15
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   • stealing in those tournies the way yyou were genarlly is not a bad spot re stealing is hard because most the players at that level dont know how to fold they always think there pot committed when they put there money in like that guy with the K4os against your JJ they are easily frustrated. thus the best way to play them is early on pick up the dead money fromt he limpers and in postion make raises to steal calling with an AJos is not a bad play either because alot fo these players will shove with 33-88 or A6-AT so your gunna win most the times espesially since your capable of noticing the knits at the table. me myself i pay attention to the payout increases and when there is a span of say 200 players before next jump versus 50 players im more willing to push with the 57S or call off with AJos