Travell Thomas: A Full Orbit

As you can see by the tweet at the bottom of this post, DJ MacKinnon requested an orbit of coverage on current chipleader Travell Thomas (who has a little more than 200K), and here it is. This orbit began about 15 minutes into Level 9, with the blinds at 400-800 and a 100 ante. This orbit lasted about 25 minutes.

Hand #1  –  Travell Thomas has the button. Seat 5 raises under the gun to 2,200, seat 8 raises from middle position, and Travell folds the button.

Seats 5 and 8 play a pot on a board of K10548, and seat 8 takes it with a river bet.

Hand #2  –  Travell Thomas raises from the cutoff to 2,000, winning the blinds and antes.

Hand #3  –  Travell Thomas raises from the hijack to 2,000, seat 4 calls from the button, and seat 5 moves all in from the small blind for about 12,000. Travell folds, and seat 4 calls with 99. Seat 5 turns over 33, and he needs to improve to stay alive.

The board comes Q5254, and the pocket nines hold up for seat 4 to win the pot and eliminate seat 5.

Hand #4  –  Seat 4 raises from the hijack to 1,800, and seat 6 calls from the small blind. (Travell Thomas folds from middle position.) The flop comes 1097, seat 6 bets 2,500, seat 4 raises to 7,500, and seat 6 calls. The turn is the 4, seat 6 checks, seat 4 bets 9,000, and seat 6 calls.

The river is the 6, seat 6 checks, seat 4 bets 15,000, and seat 6 check-raises to 40,000. Seat 4 tanks a bit before he calls. Seat 6 shows J9 for a pair of nines, but seat 4 turns over 86to win the pot with a heart flush.

Around this time, Travell asks Tony Cousineau across the table, “How much you got?” Cousineau shows him a handful of chips. Travell says, “I’m gonna finish you off. I know you wanna buy in again tomorrow.” Cousineau laughs.

Hand #5  –  Travell Thomas folds from middle position. Seats 3, 6, and 8 play a small pot on a board of 109810. All three check the flop, and seat 3 takes it with a bet on the turn.

Hand #6  –  Travell Thomas folds UTG+1. Seats 3, 6, and 9 see a flop of A63, and seat 3 takes it with a bet on the flop.

Seat 1 is very short stacked, and he gets up from the table after he folds under the gun. When he’s out of earshot, Travell points to seat 1’s chips and says, “I wanna bust this guy too. Cousineau says, “You can’t bust him if he doesn’t play a hand.

Hand #7  –  Travell Thomas folds under the gun. Tony Cousineau plays a three-way pot on a board of 10754 — all three players check the flop, and Cousineau takes it with a bet on the turn. Cousineau shows 33 as he collects the pot.

Hand #8  –  Seat 8 raises from the cutoff to 2,000, and Travell Thomas says, “Again you’re raising my big blind from the cutoff? I’m not folding anything here.” After a pause, he adds, “I might, if it’s really ugly.” Action folds to Travell, he looks at his hand and says, “It’s really ugly.” Travell folds K3 face up.

Travell asks seat 8, “How is it you keep getting a hand when you’re in the cutoff?” Seat 8 shrugs with a smile.

Travell looks at his own chip stack and tells the table that his goal is to finish the day with 230,000, and he only has about 200,000 right now. Time to win some more chips.

Hand #9  –  Seat 1 moves all in from the button for 3,000, Travell Thomas calls from the small blind, and seat 3 calls from the big blind. Travell says, “I should’ve raised. I shouldn’t have let this guy in.”

Any additional betting will create a side pot between Travell and seat 3. The flop comes 1065, Travell bets 3,500, and the big blind calls. The turn is the 4, and both players check.

The river is the Q, and they check again. Seat 3 shows Q10 for two pair, queens and tens, and Travell flashes A4 for a pair of fours with a missed flush draw. Seat 3 wins the side pot.

Seat 1 shows J9 for jack high as he is eliminated from Day 1B, and seat 3 wins the main pot.

Travell announces, “Now I’m on tilt!”

His goal was 230,000 by the end of the day, but at the end of this orbit, Travell has dropped down below 200K.

Travell Thomas  –  197,000  (246 bb)