Your reluctant hero got himself to one of Southern California's card club establishments for the first time since leaving Vegas almost three years ago.
Live poker is much slower than I had remembered.
The first level took decades.
I graduated from college and attended my 25 year reunion before we hit 50/100.
I put on some weight.
I changed jobs four times.
I lost the weight and then put it back on as muscle.
Then I lost it again.
I had a midlife crisis.
All the while I kept double checking the time on my phone.
At one point I was sitting at the table, bored out of my mind, chastising myself for such tight play.
I then counted my chips and realized we hadn't orbited yet in the tournament.
How was the play?
Surprisingly good. Maybe it should be. It has been eight years since Moneymaker came along.
By this point in time everyone definitely has a strategy. Everyone showed up with a plan.
Something however was missing from tables I remember in Vegas.
Folks on vacation.
Humans taking a break from the pit games.
Gentlemen looking for action and willing to drop some dollars to get it.
This type of player was just not there.
No, to travel to Bell Gardens, California at 4pm to play in a rebuy requires the belief that one knows what they are doing. The belief that one actually has a shot at winning $30,000.
And while it's true that I've been away from the game for awhile, apparently all of the characters are still the same.
When those writers I've hired to edit this blog entry for me get to work, we can have them include descriptions for each type of player I saw at the table. You know. So that you can fully enjoy my experience of having been there.
I do want to comment on how cruel some of the players were to the dealers.
I can't recall ever seeing it go this far at a poker table in Vegas.
Apparently the California card dealers are not as well protected as their Vegas cousins.
There were a few older ones who were decent but the younger dealers were constantly receiving player abuse, which only made them more nervous and make more mistakes.
I really wish I had filmed some of the interactions I witnessed with my camera as these guys displayed perhaps the best argument I've seen to date for legalizing and regulating internet poker.
(Well other than letting adults do adult things in the privacy of their own home).
These guys let everyone know that there are sick cruel demented people who do not know how to treat others in a public setting.
Which is exactly why God invented internet poker.
So I don't have to sit next to these folks in person.
If only the U.S. Congress could see what I saw.
The horror! The horror!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
I Can't Help It If I'm Lucky
Following up on the last post, here was my play:
I took half of my bankroll and put it on Miami for game 3 at+120.
I took the other half and put it on Dallas at +130 for the series.
The fact that Miami won game 3 let me breathe. I showed a profit regardless of what would happen the rest of the way. If somehow Dallas defied history and won the series, I would look like a genius.
Or at least very lucky.
As we know from poker, it can be very easy to confuse the two.
I took half of my bankroll and put it on Miami for game 3 at+120.
I took the other half and put it on Dallas at +130 for the series.
The fact that Miami won game 3 let me breathe. I showed a profit regardless of what would happen the rest of the way. If somehow Dallas defied history and won the series, I would look like a genius.
Or at least very lucky.
As we know from poker, it can be very easy to confuse the two.
Saturday, June 04, 2011
What do the NBA Finals and the 2-3-2 Format Have to do with Your Retirement Plan?
We are all going to be old soon so let me be brief.
I am not a big fan of the 2-3-2 format used in the NBA Finals. Why switch over from the 2-2-1-1-1 to the 2-3-2 for the final round? The 2-2-1-1-1 is far more intelligent, incredibly more fair, much more reasonable, clearly more likeable, and has better hygiene?* But rather than sit here and talk about how David Stern could make the NBA a better place, lets actually do something for the world by focusing on how to make you money based on the outcome of his NBA finals.
The first step is to get in your car and drive to Vegas if you can make it there before game 3 starts Sunday night. Immediately. Go. You can read the rest of this on the way during rest stops. In fact if you can't get to Vegas in time to bet on the game then there is no point reading the rest of this article. So technically speaking, no one should still be reading. Those who can make it to Vegas should already be in their cars.** And those who cannot should stop reading as well as reading further will only frustrate you when you see how much money you would have won by taking advantage of the incredible value being offered.
Here's the scoop: Since the NBA gas gone to this painful 2-3-2 format, when the series is tied 1-1 the team that has won game 3 has gone on to win the series all 11 times. For those of you playing along at home that's an 11-0 record for the game 3 winner
The leap of faith your financial adviser is asking you to take is to understand that the winner of Maimi at Dallas game 3 Sunday night will go on to win the series. Sure seems possible, plausible, and dare I say believable.
I will not tell you who to pick. We do not want to make lines move.
What I do, want to do, is help you maximize your profit.
If you like Dallas do not take them at -140 in game 3. Grab them at +130 to win the series. This fits nicely in your portfolio along with the +160 to win the series you have from before it started, along with the ridiculous +250 Mavs series line you grabbed after they lost game 1.
If you are a Miami guy bang the Heat at +120 for game 3. I know. Nervous Heat fans are sitting there thinking they don't need to win game 3 to win the series. And I am here to say 11-0. The Heat better win game 3 if they are going to win this series. What a gift to get them at +120 for a game they are going to win if they are going to win the NBA Finals.
To review:
At this moment in time we can get Dallas +130 to win the series. Heat +120 to win game 3. In essence there is no favorite. Only value.
A week from now one of these is going to seem like it was too good to have been true.
But it was.
At this moment in time.***
You're welcome.
*The 2-3-2 format requires players to stay at least 3 nights in the same hotel room.
**I do not endorse the reading of this while driving on the I-15 or any other road that leads to Vegas.
*** As long as the team that wins game 3 continues to go on to win the series.
I am not a big fan of the 2-3-2 format used in the NBA Finals. Why switch over from the 2-2-1-1-1 to the 2-3-2 for the final round? The 2-2-1-1-1 is far more intelligent, incredibly more fair, much more reasonable, clearly more likeable, and has better hygiene?* But rather than sit here and talk about how David Stern could make the NBA a better place, lets actually do something for the world by focusing on how to make you money based on the outcome of his NBA finals.
The first step is to get in your car and drive to Vegas if you can make it there before game 3 starts Sunday night. Immediately. Go. You can read the rest of this on the way during rest stops. In fact if you can't get to Vegas in time to bet on the game then there is no point reading the rest of this article. So technically speaking, no one should still be reading. Those who can make it to Vegas should already be in their cars.** And those who cannot should stop reading as well as reading further will only frustrate you when you see how much money you would have won by taking advantage of the incredible value being offered.
Here's the scoop: Since the NBA gas gone to this painful 2-3-2 format, when the series is tied 1-1 the team that has won game 3 has gone on to win the series all 11 times. For those of you playing along at home that's an 11-0 record for the game 3 winner
The leap of faith your financial adviser is asking you to take is to understand that the winner of Maimi at Dallas game 3 Sunday night will go on to win the series. Sure seems possible, plausible, and dare I say believable.
I will not tell you who to pick. We do not want to make lines move.
What I do, want to do, is help you maximize your profit.
If you like Dallas do not take them at -140 in game 3. Grab them at +130 to win the series. This fits nicely in your portfolio along with the +160 to win the series you have from before it started, along with the ridiculous +250 Mavs series line you grabbed after they lost game 1.
If you are a Miami guy bang the Heat at +120 for game 3. I know. Nervous Heat fans are sitting there thinking they don't need to win game 3 to win the series. And I am here to say 11-0. The Heat better win game 3 if they are going to win this series. What a gift to get them at +120 for a game they are going to win if they are going to win the NBA Finals.
To review:
At this moment in time we can get Dallas +130 to win the series. Heat +120 to win game 3. In essence there is no favorite. Only value.
A week from now one of these is going to seem like it was too good to have been true.
But it was.
At this moment in time.***
You're welcome.
*The 2-3-2 format requires players to stay at least 3 nights in the same hotel room.
**I do not endorse the reading of this while driving on the I-15 or any other road that leads to Vegas.
*** As long as the team that wins game 3 continues to go on to win the series.
Friday, June 03, 2011
3.5 Weeks Later
Hmmmm. I sure wouldn't mind playing me some internet poker this weekend.
What a great way to relax, have some fun and enjoy myself.
Maybe go deep in a tourney and win some money.
Oh sure I could play live and visit one of LA's card clubs.
Or drive a bit further and do some damage in Vegas.
But I gotta admit it sure sounds nice to just stay at home and play.
What a great way to relax, have some fun and enjoy myself.
Maybe go deep in a tourney and win some money.
Oh sure I could play live and visit one of LA's card clubs.
Or drive a bit further and do some damage in Vegas.
But I gotta admit it sure sounds nice to just stay at home and play.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act
What strikes me as unlawful is pushing through an agenda without proper debate.
Sneaking something into a 2006 port security bill that no one would dare vote against.
Not having a real discussion about the matter.
Where are all the adults at?
On the bright side, it sure is nice to have time back on the weekends.
Sneaking something into a 2006 port security bill that no one would dare vote against.
Not having a real discussion about the matter.
Where are all the adults at?
On the bright side, it sure is nice to have time back on the weekends.
Friday, February 04, 2011
7 Years of Poker
So here I am sitting on a decent story of going to Vegas last Summer to play in a bracelet event. I finished day 1 sitting next to Matt Matros which worked out well for me having him to my right. I then had an unexpected day off before returning for day 2. This was due to the 4000+ player field having two "day 1" starting days.
This bonus day off just happened to be my birthday. My friend, the good doctor Blerge magically appeared. If one is forced to face the indignity of spending a birthday in Vegas, Blerge sure ain't a bad person to do it with.
Various debauchery ensued all over that small town in Nevada. Good memories were instantly created. My birthday would eventually end early that next morning with me finishing up what began as a late night Main Event satellite.
It's not too often I get to play in a second live tournament while still being alive in the first. This also seems like a good time to mention that I am one of those people who believes that if you step on a butterfly in Brooklyn, someone coughs in Forrest Lake.
Well it could actually be a sneeze. Lets just say that it's one of those noises from a human being where the other person in the room doesn't know whether to say "God bless you" or not. You know. Cause sneezes are worthy of blessing and coughs are not.
This is all my roundabout way of sharing that the events of my birthday completely changed the luck I would experience the next morning on day 2 of the bracelet tourney. That's right. The power of someone calling an all in raise with their king queen close to the bubble for a $10,000 seat has that kind of residual effect.
I'm still not sure why he makes that call. We were pretty equal in chips so basically he was risking 10K on king queen. Friends tell me that some call all in with king queen there hoping the other plays has jacks or smaller. Still that's taking the worst of it. And the fact that I could easily have ace king makes the king queen call not so likable to my stomach. Like I may not make that call with ace queen. And he's calling with king queen. Because how can you ever fold king queen?
Despite this late night setback I still had to wake up and play Day 2. Yet clearly I was no longer on the same rush. Suddenly my ace king was losing to ace rag. Suddenly my pairs were watching smaller pairs flop sets. Poker stopped being easy. And my stack fluctuated....like a stack that fluctuates. How's that for a metaphor?
The highlight of day 2 was my knocking out David Sklansky. I raised preflop with ace king and Sklansky pushed all in from the blinds. Such a fun moment in that there is no way I can be ahead here. He sure ain't making that move with ace jack. On the other hand there is no way I can fold. It was for a small percentage of my chips and more importantly we've got a story at stake. Sklansky had queens. I flopped an ace. Which only means that at that moment he was running worse than I was.
After dinner I sat with Alex Jacobs at two tables. The first table was tough with him to my left. The second table was easier with him to my right. When they broke our table with around 250 players left I still had hope. At my new table I picked up pocket 7's on the first hand but doubled up a guy who pushed behind me with ace nine. Soon after I picked up ace 10 suited, got the rest of my chips in but could not overcome pocket 6's. And just like that my month long ride of running well was officially over.
I had really wanted to go into detail about many of the hands that took place. Just like the good old days. But right now that's not possible. So I am going the other way with it.
This entry is me ending the story and reclaiming my blog so that I can post again. There have been moments over the past few months where I had something to say but felt I couldn't because I hadn't finished this other story. Well now I have.
In 2010 I did not have enough time to write about poker.
However that's not the real shame.
No, the real shame was I didn't have enough time to play.
This bonus day off just happened to be my birthday. My friend, the good doctor Blerge magically appeared. If one is forced to face the indignity of spending a birthday in Vegas, Blerge sure ain't a bad person to do it with.
Various debauchery ensued all over that small town in Nevada. Good memories were instantly created. My birthday would eventually end early that next morning with me finishing up what began as a late night Main Event satellite.
It's not too often I get to play in a second live tournament while still being alive in the first. This also seems like a good time to mention that I am one of those people who believes that if you step on a butterfly in Brooklyn, someone coughs in Forrest Lake.
Well it could actually be a sneeze. Lets just say that it's one of those noises from a human being where the other person in the room doesn't know whether to say "God bless you" or not. You know. Cause sneezes are worthy of blessing and coughs are not.
This is all my roundabout way of sharing that the events of my birthday completely changed the luck I would experience the next morning on day 2 of the bracelet tourney. That's right. The power of someone calling an all in raise with their king queen close to the bubble for a $10,000 seat has that kind of residual effect.
I'm still not sure why he makes that call. We were pretty equal in chips so basically he was risking 10K on king queen. Friends tell me that some call all in with king queen there hoping the other plays has jacks or smaller. Still that's taking the worst of it. And the fact that I could easily have ace king makes the king queen call not so likable to my stomach. Like I may not make that call with ace queen. And he's calling with king queen. Because how can you ever fold king queen?
Despite this late night setback I still had to wake up and play Day 2. Yet clearly I was no longer on the same rush. Suddenly my ace king was losing to ace rag. Suddenly my pairs were watching smaller pairs flop sets. Poker stopped being easy. And my stack fluctuated....like a stack that fluctuates. How's that for a metaphor?
The highlight of day 2 was my knocking out David Sklansky. I raised preflop with ace king and Sklansky pushed all in from the blinds. Such a fun moment in that there is no way I can be ahead here. He sure ain't making that move with ace jack. On the other hand there is no way I can fold. It was for a small percentage of my chips and more importantly we've got a story at stake. Sklansky had queens. I flopped an ace. Which only means that at that moment he was running worse than I was.
After dinner I sat with Alex Jacobs at two tables. The first table was tough with him to my left. The second table was easier with him to my right. When they broke our table with around 250 players left I still had hope. At my new table I picked up pocket 7's on the first hand but doubled up a guy who pushed behind me with ace nine. Soon after I picked up ace 10 suited, got the rest of my chips in but could not overcome pocket 6's. And just like that my month long ride of running well was officially over.
I had really wanted to go into detail about many of the hands that took place. Just like the good old days. But right now that's not possible. So I am going the other way with it.
This entry is me ending the story and reclaiming my blog so that I can post again. There have been moments over the past few months where I had something to say but felt I couldn't because I hadn't finished this other story. Well now I have.
In 2010 I did not have enough time to write about poker.
However that's not the real shame.
No, the real shame was I didn't have enough time to play.
Friday, November 05, 2010
100/200
With my stack in the 12k range I pick up 8,9 suited in early position and raise to 500.
Loose aggressive player to my left makes it 1800.
It gets folded back around to me.
1300 to win 2600 but more importantly the villain began the hand with approximately 10k. We expect him to continue bet the flop at which point he will have committed a decent percent of his stack. So from my seat in the world's largest poker room my implied odds appear to be approximately 1300...to win his stack.
Moments like these are known in poker as a good time to flop a monster.
Flop comes queen, 8, 2.
I check.
He pushes all in.
Wow.
Hmmm.
Damn.
All legitimate reactions.
Later on I spoke to a rocket scientist about this hand and it was his belief that the villain either holds a big pair or is completely bluffing. It's analysis like this that earns guys like that the big bucks.
Why did the villain push all in? Plenty of folks play their monsters this way on the internet. They over bet and hope their bully move subtly taunts you into making a bad call. These players try to get paid off by casting you as the unbelieving table cop in the independent film that doubles as their life.
Me? I think he has ace king. If he really has a monster there's no need to force me out of the hand. This guy doesn't want to bet the flop and risk giving me the chance to raise. So he pushes all in to take away any response on my part. Other than my calling all in for most of my stack. And who likes to do that?
If I am correct that he has ace king then math loudly says I should call. Oh sure I will have to survive the turn and river but there are great benefits if my hand holds. My stack will be up over 20k and have enough chips to start snowballing. I can fulfill my destiny and upset people by playing too many hands. In fact making this call is exactly how I hyped "myself to myself" driving to Vegas. I told myself I would play fearlessly, trust my gut and build up my stack or be done. Well here's the moment big shot poker player. Here's my chance to show everyone how good I am by calling this all in with middle pair after my opponent's actions have done nothing but insist that he has the best hand.
If I am wrong I will needlessly give away most of my chips during level 100/200. If I call and he turns over pocket kings boy will I feel silly. An aura of shame will surround me. I will be forced into drastic life changes. I will obviously have to change my name. Plastic surgery will be a consideration. I probably won't have to fake my death again but minimally I will have to move a few thousand miles away and start a new blog. I will miss playing poker but maybe I can start playing bridge?
I absolutely struggle with the decision. Do I really want to move again?
If this was the river I think I trust my read and call.
If the question is simply "am I ahead right now?" I would take the chance.
However I can't get past the consideration that if he is bluffing with ace king this villain still has a 25% chance of winning the hand. The universe will still reward his awesome playing style 1 out of every 4 times he does this. Even when I make the correct call. And something in me feels this coming.
I suppose this is where poker becomes so tough mentally. To get oneself ahead in a hand 75%-25% is a dream. It's more than ideal. Yet 25% happens all the time. There are 250 hitters in baseball. People also usually aren't rushing into having an operation that has a 25% fatality rate.
And yet the way gambling works, anytime you can have disaster occur only 25% of the time you jump at the chance.
So if I am ahead I can call and my hand holds up 75% of the time. Or I am behind, call and probably give away most of my stack which I am lucky and grateful to have accumulated.
It's a 3 day tournament.
I fold.
Villain flashes me a king as he mucks, purposely showing me a card that did not connect. He wants me to believe he didn't have it. That he folded ace king. So perhaps he did have kings the whole time and was doing the internet over bet discussed above. Or he got his chips in with ace king and got me to fold. King queen would certainly be another option. He could have raised with it preflop. Lots of players do that to find out if the other has ace king. Then he got lucky hitting the queen and tried to make it seem like he was stealing. All 3 scenarios are possible. That's why we have rocket scientists. And hole cams. So we can figure this stuff out.
In life sometimes our orbitofrontal cortex makes decisions for us.
Mine told me to fold.
Even though my ego really wanted to gamble.
Loose aggressive player to my left makes it 1800.
It gets folded back around to me.
1300 to win 2600 but more importantly the villain began the hand with approximately 10k. We expect him to continue bet the flop at which point he will have committed a decent percent of his stack. So from my seat in the world's largest poker room my implied odds appear to be approximately 1300...to win his stack.
Moments like these are known in poker as a good time to flop a monster.
Flop comes queen, 8, 2.
I check.
He pushes all in.
Wow.
Hmmm.
Damn.
All legitimate reactions.
Later on I spoke to a rocket scientist about this hand and it was his belief that the villain either holds a big pair or is completely bluffing. It's analysis like this that earns guys like that the big bucks.
Why did the villain push all in? Plenty of folks play their monsters this way on the internet. They over bet and hope their bully move subtly taunts you into making a bad call. These players try to get paid off by casting you as the unbelieving table cop in the independent film that doubles as their life.
Me? I think he has ace king. If he really has a monster there's no need to force me out of the hand. This guy doesn't want to bet the flop and risk giving me the chance to raise. So he pushes all in to take away any response on my part. Other than my calling all in for most of my stack. And who likes to do that?
If I am correct that he has ace king then math loudly says I should call. Oh sure I will have to survive the turn and river but there are great benefits if my hand holds. My stack will be up over 20k and have enough chips to start snowballing. I can fulfill my destiny and upset people by playing too many hands. In fact making this call is exactly how I hyped "myself to myself" driving to Vegas. I told myself I would play fearlessly, trust my gut and build up my stack or be done. Well here's the moment big shot poker player. Here's my chance to show everyone how good I am by calling this all in with middle pair after my opponent's actions have done nothing but insist that he has the best hand.
If I am wrong I will needlessly give away most of my chips during level 100/200. If I call and he turns over pocket kings boy will I feel silly. An aura of shame will surround me. I will be forced into drastic life changes. I will obviously have to change my name. Plastic surgery will be a consideration. I probably won't have to fake my death again but minimally I will have to move a few thousand miles away and start a new blog. I will miss playing poker but maybe I can start playing bridge?
I absolutely struggle with the decision. Do I really want to move again?
If this was the river I think I trust my read and call.
If the question is simply "am I ahead right now?" I would take the chance.
However I can't get past the consideration that if he is bluffing with ace king this villain still has a 25% chance of winning the hand. The universe will still reward his awesome playing style 1 out of every 4 times he does this. Even when I make the correct call. And something in me feels this coming.
I suppose this is where poker becomes so tough mentally. To get oneself ahead in a hand 75%-25% is a dream. It's more than ideal. Yet 25% happens all the time. There are 250 hitters in baseball. People also usually aren't rushing into having an operation that has a 25% fatality rate.
And yet the way gambling works, anytime you can have disaster occur only 25% of the time you jump at the chance.
So if I am ahead I can call and my hand holds up 75% of the time. Or I am behind, call and probably give away most of my stack which I am lucky and grateful to have accumulated.
It's a 3 day tournament.
I fold.
Villain flashes me a king as he mucks, purposely showing me a card that did not connect. He wants me to believe he didn't have it. That he folded ace king. So perhaps he did have kings the whole time and was doing the internet over bet discussed above. Or he got his chips in with ace king and got me to fold. King queen would certainly be another option. He could have raised with it preflop. Lots of players do that to find out if the other has ace king. Then he got lucky hitting the queen and tried to make it seem like he was stealing. All 3 scenarios are possible. That's why we have rocket scientists. And hole cams. So we can figure this stuff out.
In life sometimes our orbitofrontal cortex makes decisions for us.
Mine told me to fold.
Even though my ego really wanted to gamble.
Monday, September 20, 2010
50/100
Guy raises in early position to 300. He's the same human who pushed all in holding ace 8 in the hand I described in my prior entry.
My pocket queens inspire and require an immediate response, so I bump it up to 850.
As I wait for his next move it becomes apparent that this time around he's much stronger. From across the table I can see a vein pulsating in his neck. If he's acting, then this guy has talent. I am fully convinced he has a top 5 hand. I am desperately hoping it is ace king. Unfortunately his aura may also indicate kings or aces. Yes I have queens. However I may need to get out of his way.
He asks the dealer for time, then sits in silence with his arms crossed. I'm not sure what I've looked like when making important decisions in my life, but I cannot confirm that I have ever thought as hard as this guy is thinking right now.
I take in the behavior and decide if he comes back over the top with a reraise, I will fold. I've seen this display of adrenaline at the table before. The guy is nervous because he anticipates he is about to experience action. Not because he is bluffing. I am watching a civilized version of fight or flight.
He apologizes to me for taking so long. I try to help him work through his decision by encouraging him to take as much time as he needs. By now I figure he is going to raise. Any second I expect to hear the magic words "I'm all in." Yet for whatever reason he does not say them. For some reason he just calls. Maybe he is trapping me. Looking ahead, I am not sure what I will do if he checks to me post flop.
The universe bails me out with a queen high flop.
Then, as if things couldn't get any better, the gentleman across from me acts first and pushes all in.
See how EASY poker is?
People saying you need to read books and practice playing the game to get better. Not true at all. All you need to be successful at poker is to flop top set every time.
I call and turn over my cards so the table can see what a luck box I am.
Mr. Ace 8 turns over his hand as well.
Pocket kings.
Well at least he bought himself a good bad beat story to tell everyone back home.
My set holds and my stack grows to somewhere in the 10k range.
Have I mentioned how well I've been running lately?
Friday, September 10, 2010
Random Hand From Level 2
Guy in early position raises to 150.
Action folds around to me in middle position where I appear to have ace jack.
(How are you ever really sure?)
If you're familiar with any of my poker books then you already know pretty much any response is defensible here.
Folding is acceptable. It's a three day long tournament and all I have is ace jack facing an early position raise. If I were a betting man I'm not sure I would bet I have the best hand at the moment.
Raising is acceptable. I would quickly find out where I stand. Perhaps I can get ace queen to lay down or ace king to shove. Either of these actions by my opponent could benefit my ace jack.
Calling is....well it's probably the worst of the three options.
Lets consider the positives to calling:
-I am in position. I will get to act last throughout the hand. Always a good thing.
-I can get away cheap later on if I don't flop well. 150 chips means very little to me with a slightly over 6k stack.
-I might flop lucky. Not a very good reason to call. But I'd be lying to you if I said I've never thought this way.
Okay. You talked me into it. I'd much rather fold or raise but since you guys play such loose poker I will call and risk 150 chips to see if I can flop ace, jack, jack.
The big blind joins our dance party. Damn. Maybe I should have raised to get him out of the picture.
Remember how I wanted to raise but you wouldn't let me?
You know what? It doesn't matter.
Forget about it.
I'm not sure how it benefits us now for me to blame you the reader for this call.
Even if it was your fault.
The three of us see an ace, rag, rag flop.
I told you I've been running well.
At least that's what I thought until the big blind led out for 300 followed by the early position raiser pushing all in for around 1500 more.
Action returns to me. Suddenly I have absolutely no idea where I stand in this hand.
I guess this is why you don't call raises preflop with ace jack.
Now it wouldn't be a disaster if I call the all in here and double up the early position guy. I'd still be above average in chips and I may actually have the best hand. I am here to accumulate chips and heads up I probably talk myself into making this call.
However when I look to my left I really have no clue at all what the big blind has. And unfortunately he has a healthy stack. What if I call here and he pushes behind me?
While mulling this over I also recall it was the early position guy who raised preflop. He could have ace king or ace queen. Nothing he has done in this hand suggests otherwise. If he has a pocket pair he probably folds to the blinds bet. Instead he raised. With two other players in the hand. He must have an ace.
I chastise myself one last time for calling the raise preflop with ace jack and fold.
The big blind calls the all in.
Whew. I am glad I folded!
I've obviously got mad skills, laying down ace jack on an ace high flop.
Where is ESPN when you need them?
The cards are turned over.
Big Blind has..................................middle pair. Wow.
Early position raiser has.................... ace 8 off. Ouch.
I folded the best hand. The hand that someone thought was good enough to call 150 with preflop, yet not good enough to stick around with after hitting top pair.
What kind of hand is that?
There was a point in time when I wasn't a good enough poker player to lay down top pair.
Have I mentioned lately how good I am?
Action folds around to me in middle position where I appear to have ace jack.
(How are you ever really sure?)
If you're familiar with any of my poker books then you already know pretty much any response is defensible here.
Folding is acceptable. It's a three day long tournament and all I have is ace jack facing an early position raise. If I were a betting man I'm not sure I would bet I have the best hand at the moment.
Raising is acceptable. I would quickly find out where I stand. Perhaps I can get ace queen to lay down or ace king to shove. Either of these actions by my opponent could benefit my ace jack.
Calling is....well it's probably the worst of the three options.
Lets consider the positives to calling:
-I am in position. I will get to act last throughout the hand. Always a good thing.
-I can get away cheap later on if I don't flop well. 150 chips means very little to me with a slightly over 6k stack.
-I might flop lucky. Not a very good reason to call. But I'd be lying to you if I said I've never thought this way.
Okay. You talked me into it. I'd much rather fold or raise but since you guys play such loose poker I will call and risk 150 chips to see if I can flop ace, jack, jack.
The big blind joins our dance party. Damn. Maybe I should have raised to get him out of the picture.
Remember how I wanted to raise but you wouldn't let me?
You know what? It doesn't matter.
Forget about it.
I'm not sure how it benefits us now for me to blame you the reader for this call.
Even if it was your fault.
The three of us see an ace, rag, rag flop.
I told you I've been running well.
At least that's what I thought until the big blind led out for 300 followed by the early position raiser pushing all in for around 1500 more.
Action returns to me. Suddenly I have absolutely no idea where I stand in this hand.
I guess this is why you don't call raises preflop with ace jack.
Now it wouldn't be a disaster if I call the all in here and double up the early position guy. I'd still be above average in chips and I may actually have the best hand. I am here to accumulate chips and heads up I probably talk myself into making this call.
However when I look to my left I really have no clue at all what the big blind has. And unfortunately he has a healthy stack. What if I call here and he pushes behind me?
While mulling this over I also recall it was the early position guy who raised preflop. He could have ace king or ace queen. Nothing he has done in this hand suggests otherwise. If he has a pocket pair he probably folds to the blinds bet. Instead he raised. With two other players in the hand. He must have an ace.
I chastise myself one last time for calling the raise preflop with ace jack and fold.
The big blind calls the all in.
Whew. I am glad I folded!
I've obviously got mad skills, laying down ace jack on an ace high flop.
Where is ESPN when you need them?
The cards are turned over.
Big Blind has..................................middle pair. Wow.
Early position raiser has.................... ace 8 off. Ouch.
I folded the best hand. The hand that someone thought was good enough to call 150 with preflop, yet not good enough to stick around with after hitting top pair.
What kind of hand is that?
There was a point in time when I wasn't a good enough poker player to lay down top pair.
Have I mentioned lately how good I am?
Monday, July 19, 2010
The Long and Winding Recap
WSOP Event 54. $1000 No Limit Hold 'em Tournament. 3,844 players entered.
First hand. Human being under the gun raises to 75. Everyone sitting between us folds. I look down at pocket kings.
Most folks probably raise here.
I call.
Mostly to annoy my readers.
You know.
In case I ever get to write about this.
I also want the raiser to bet again on the flop.
Oh sure this sort of greed has gotten me into trouble before. Particularly when said opponent flops a set.
I will give you that.
That I will concede.
You are correct indeed.
All I ask for in return is you to acknowledge the war crimes of your nation and admit that my opponent will not put me on pocket kings later on in the hand.
And as long as we're talking openly here, can we also discuss the elephant in the room?
The fact that the man sitting to my left has raised preflop from first position.
Back when I played poker in Texas in the late 20th century this could only mean one thing:
He has aces.
Have I mentioned this is the first hand of the tournament?
I have?
Then why do I need to play a big pot against him right now with one pair?
Why can't I see the flop and rely on my alleged experience?
Doesn't anyone slow play anymore?
You would have raised?
Okay.
That's fine.
Nothing wrong with raising here.
However at this point I would just like to move on and talk about the rest of the hand.
Can't we move on?
Seriously.
Why can't we get to the flop of the first hand of the tournament without having a complete meltdown?
I know. I get it.
You would have raised and I called.
We all get it.
What can't you let this call go?
Why is it such a big deal that I didn't raise preflop from the blinds with kings?
Why are you doing this?
I just spent 5 nights in Vegas. I've got hours of stories.
If you're going to be this difficult about how I handled the first decision on the first hand we'll never get through them.
Actually you know what? Forget I said anything.
I don't mind waiting.
I don't care if this takes months.
Ask the other readers.
Patience is my virtue.
Unfortunately the way life works, all of you have to suffer through this delay just because a few people don't get it.
Well one in particular.
Okay. Lets try to keep this going.
So I call and the flop comes out king,8,2. All hearts.
I've hit top set but live in a world where I have no flush draw.
I check and let villain bet. He obliges by sliding out 450. More than twice the pot.
We started with 3000 chips. I raise to 1450 total.
He pushes all in.
Time to double up or go to lunch.
I don't think he's flopped the flush.
He must have a heart though right?
Actually if he doesn't have a heart then this gentleman really has heart.
I obviously call. Worse case scenario, I'll have to hit my full house.
He turns over pocket aces, one of which appears to be the ace of hearts.
Wow I'm happy I didn't raise him pre-flop.
Lets take a moment to pause and discuss how good I am.
All of you hacks....pushing all in preflop with your pocket kings and running into aces.
Oh sure it's a great story. But why get all your chips in around 20%?
Why not be like Robert and wait a street to get your chips in when you're ahead 66% to 34%?
That's the difference between good and great players.
Good players run kings into aces. Great players flop sets.
Incredibly my 66% holds and I win the pot and double up on my first hand.
Before I could even stack my new chips a group of young ladies walked over to ask if I was a male model.
An older couple (who looked like the folks that rail Ivey) inquired to see if they could get me any fresh fruit to eat.
The tournament director then tapped me on the shoulder to check if my seat was comfortable enough.
This is what life is like when you're running well.
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Cliff Notes Version
I came in 217th of the 3844 players who entered event 54.
I came in 16th of the 246 players in a main event satellite that awarded 12 seats.
In a parallel universe I am still there playing.
In this one I am content to come home and wait till 2011.
I came in 16th of the 246 players in a main event satellite that awarded 12 seats.
In a parallel universe I am still there playing.
In this one I am content to come home and wait till 2011.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
One More Lottery Ticket Please
I am going to play a WSOP event in the next week.
My loose aggressive character, the maniac who appears to play too many hands is well rehearsed. He's almost too believable. Like an undercover cop who has become what he was impersonating.
I've also been running well lately.
Hopefully it will last another week.
Or two.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Human Zoo Part II
My wife and I saw another house for rent this past weekend.
Strangely enough when we met the owner outside he warned us that inside the place was a complete mess.
The excuse this time?
Professional slot players.
Strangely enough when we met the owner outside he warned us that inside the place was a complete mess.
The excuse this time?
Professional slot players.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Human Zoo
Last month my wife and I drove up into one of the beautiful canyons that surrounds LA to see a house for lease. As we pulled into the driveway the rental agent came over to warn us that inside the place was a mess.
Then with a slight smirk she added:
"Two professional poker players live here."
Just imagine the thrill for my wife and I to be in the presence of professional poker players.
Normally one might have to move to Vegas, or at least visit the Rio during June to experience such variance. And here it was happening to us, just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean.
I can't help it if I'm lucky.
Inside the living room were two desks, each with a computer monitor on top. Both screens displayed a certain popular online poker site. It was a Thursday morning and apparently the gentlemen who lived here were hard at work.
For those who have taken safari rides through African jungles, perhaps you can explain to the other folks reading this the richness of observing bohemian tournament poker specialists in their natural yet evolving E-habitat.
I didn't recognize the first guy but the second gentleman definitely looked familiar. And not only because he looked like a young Eric Bogosian. No, I was sure I had seen this guy before.
Thanks to the World Wide Web ("WWW" as I commonly abbreviate it) I would later figure out that I had unintentionally visited the home of Shane Schleger.
Sorry for the inconvenience dude.
Then with a slight smirk she added:
"Two professional poker players live here."
Just imagine the thrill for my wife and I to be in the presence of professional poker players.
Normally one might have to move to Vegas, or at least visit the Rio during June to experience such variance. And here it was happening to us, just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean.
I can't help it if I'm lucky.
Inside the living room were two desks, each with a computer monitor on top. Both screens displayed a certain popular online poker site. It was a Thursday morning and apparently the gentlemen who lived here were hard at work.
For those who have taken safari rides through African jungles, perhaps you can explain to the other folks reading this the richness of observing bohemian tournament poker specialists in their natural yet evolving E-habitat.
I didn't recognize the first guy but the second gentleman definitely looked familiar. And not only because he looked like a young Eric Bogosian. No, I was sure I had seen this guy before.
Thanks to the World Wide Web ("WWW" as I commonly abbreviate it) I would later figure out that I had unintentionally visited the home of Shane Schleger.
Sorry for the inconvenience dude.
Friday, October 02, 2009
One Lottery Ticket Please Part VI
The prerequisite reading:
part I part II part III part IV part V
And now presented without further commercial interruption: the final installment of my award winning recap of playing in World Series of Poker Event #51.
PART VI
9:30 PM. I finish level 7 with 6650 chips. 780 players remain. Blinds are at 300/600/75. That's 1650 an orbit. Some nights I might be worried to have so few chips, yet here I feel strangely comfortable. Dare I say healthy? Wealthy? Wise?
Well at least wealthy and wise. I'm not too sure about my health. I'm feeling a sharp pain in my lower back. Am I having internal organ issues or have I just been sitting for too much of the past 24 hours? In these situations you should always ask yourself "What would Eskimo Clark do?"
9:43 PM. I fold the unbeatable king queen from under the gun with 6125 chips. That's how much of a slave to instinct I am. Oh sure she's pretty, but I'm just not feeling it from first position. I know that king queen is strongest hand preflop in poker. It's a monster. Even Rex Reed loves it. But I can't follow through at this moment.
And if you really want to debate this what are my options?
I push all in and hope (pray) that no one wakes up with a hand? I don't like that choice. If I'm gonna make that move I don't need king queen to do it. I can push all in under the gun any time I want with any two cards.
I mini-raise to 1200 and pretend I have aces. This I sort of like because who doesn't like having aces? The fantasy is fun. But the problem is if I get raised I'm pot committed and definitely trailing whatever hand has raised me. Why voluntarily choose to take the worst of it?
I go out of too many tournaments making moves from under the gun. I plan at some point tonight to pick up a real hand. Or at least apply pressure to the blinds from late position. My preference here is to pay the blinds and give myself some hands in better position to find something I can make some noise with. This option sounds better to me than the under the gun push with king queen. At least that's what my appendix tells me.
9:44 PM. My appendix is right. Same hand. Guy in middle position bets. Big blind raises all in. Guy in middle position calls and turns over kings. Big Blind shows queens. Obviously the appendix is a very important organ, with poker foreshadowing skills only matched by the bladder.
9:49 PM. Two hands later I use my tight image to win a pot. The action is folded around to me in the small blind. I raise 3x the blinds to 1800 which is almost 1/3rd my stack. I'm pot committed. The big blind hems and haws and then folds. My 10,4 takes down the pot. Puts me back up to 6950. And yes I was prepared to call here if he raised me all in.
9:54 PM. 690 players remain. Average is 18137. I have 6350. Funny to think that six hours ago I had over 12k. You know. Tragedy plus time. Other players who are not named Robert keep raising from under the gun and putting pressure on the whole table.
On a recent hand a gentleman who has me covered pushes all in from under the gun. I fold king queen from middle position. The blind calls and turns over King Jack.
Obviously this guy in the blinds has lower standards than I do.
He must be staying over at Circus Circus.
The under the gun player shows his cards.
Queen jack. Double damn.
This guy is probably still pissed off The New Frontier closed down and is sleeping in his car to protest.
My King Queen would be way ahead here. Don't make me get out my poker calculator.
I have that wonderful moment that occurs at the poker table where I feel sorry for myself for folding the best hand.
And then dealer turns over a jack high flop!
Which allows me to have that even better moment at the poker table where I get to feel great about myself for having averted disaster!
I would have lost the hand.
But I didn't!
Why?
Because I folded the best hand!
I'm the man.
I can dodge jack high flops baby!
This doesn't happen overnight.
The skill you are reading about here takes years to develop.
10:05 PM. 680 players remain at the party. Average stack is 18,404. I've got 5075 chips after paying the rent.
10:14 PM. Concerts were held. Passive resistance occurred. Amnesty International got involved. And you know what? It worked! They finally broke my table! I've had that nemesis guy to my left for six hours and now I'm finally free! I might get to play poker again tonight. A new table!
10:15 PM. Like Pete Rose receiving a base on balls, I hustle my way across the room to find my new seat. There are 640 players left. 297 get paid. I started this tournament with 4500 chips. As I sit down for my first hand at this new table I have 4775. I don't want to brag but I think that's what you call winning poker. There's no denying it. I'm up 275 chips in only 10 hours of play. I'm winning 27.5 chips per hour hour. At this pace I should win the tournament by February 2091.
10:17 PM. I'm taking in the sounds and smells of my new table. What a different vibe! It's a bunch of polite nerdy looking guys. Probably earned their tourney buy ins from the tech start ups they were involved in back in the late 90s. My other table was full of dudes who peaked in junior high school. I recognize one tight aggressive pro sitting two seats to my right but otherwise it all looks good. Much less ego going on here.
10:18 PM. Under the gun. I look down at ace 9. It's 1650 a round. I have no image. I push all in. Everyone folds. It's no accident. People get out of your way when you're an Aqua Velva man. Finally the respect I was looking for.
10:20 PM. Very next hand I'm the big blind. Guy in late position raises to 2000. I look down at ace king. Has there been a mistake? Have I accidentally taken the wrong seat?
Ace king? Me? It's looking so beautiful at this moment in time.
Meanwhile I'm the same guy who just pushed with ace 9. How does one play ace king after this occurs? Are there books I can read?
Unfortunately I don't have enough chips to get clever. Come to think of it, maybe I am fortunate. I do recall the last time I had ace king in the blinds it ended poorly.
For the second hand in a row I push all in, satisfied to win the blinds, yet not disturbed by the opportunity to double up. It's gotta happen at some point.
Mostly I'm happy not to have to make a decision with a small stack out of position on the flop. I'm easy like that.
Mr. Position raiser folds and after paying my small blind the next hand I have 8400 chips.
10:29 PM. The last hand of level 8. Guy in early position raises. I look down at ace queen. Where are these cards coming from?
I ride the rush of brainless poker and push all in, again. I'm that guy. Sometimes it's fun to disrespect the game by reducing it to preflop poker.
Calling my all in will cost this other fellow around half his stack. He had around 17k at start of hand. He hems and haws. It's the second time today someone has hemmed and hawed in my presence, which incidentally is an expression I use all the time in my sewing blog "The Denim Year."
I sit in silence. Looking back on it now, I wish I had done me some talking and shown him how comfortable I was. Cause the reality is if he has ace king he would have already called. And if he has a pair, I'm behind and technically want the fold. The only hand I want a call from here is ace jack or worse.
After what felt like hundreds of seconds, he calls and turns over ace queen.
Yawn.
We chop up the blinds and antes.
This sure would have been a nice hand to have had ace king.
I end level 8 with 9400. I'm a rich man.
10:31 PM. We take a half hour break while the poker authorities remove the 25 value chips from play. Our new blinds in level 9 will be 400/800/100. 2100 a round. 590 players remain. Roughly half the players remaining will make the money.
At this point in my life, and by life I mean poker career, I'm not focused on cashing and winning $2733 which is what they're paying places 253 to 297. The $2733 figure is actually misleading. It's really only a $1233 profit since we bought in for $1500.
(Well $1243 profit if you include the turkey sandwich.)
I've driven to Vegas this weekend to come in first place and win $664,426. That's not always the case. When I came out to play in 2006 WSOP my goal was to cash. I needed to achieve that milestone to feel good about my poker career. Rationalize how I was spending my time.
But not now. Not this year. In 2009 I don't need to convince anyone of anything.
All I want is to win six figures so I can buy me some Nikes and stay in town for the Main Event.
The phone lines are open and it looks like we got a caller from NYC.
Hello you're on the air.
Hey Robert. First time, long time. I'm enjoying your recap and got a quick question. Why would you play so tight for the past six hours and fold hands like king queen multiple times if your goal wasn't just to cash? It seems like there have been plenty of opportunities to either double up or go home and you've passed on them.
Good question. Excellent point. I'm especially impressed by your ability to get a phone call into written text format. As for your question I fold some of these hands because I need to get to this point. I need to get myself close to the bubble. Then I can take chances. Now is the time to build my stack and start getting chips. Lots of these players will tighten up to protect their stacks because they really want to make it to day two. They've come this far and they want to make the money. I want to make day three.
11:00 PM. Level 9. I take out a piece of paper before I sit back down and write "Boy would this would be a good time to go on a rush." The 9400 chips sitting in front of me are the most I've had since that ace king versus pocket 5's hand back in level 4. The average is 21211.
My plan is to double up and go to sleep tonight with 20k. Accomplishing this would be pretty amazing. To get myself back on track and suddenly make the struggle of the whole day disappear.
At some point I'm gonna pick up a big pair again.
Right?
Although part of me thinks (knows) that maybe it's better this way.
Maybe not getting too many big hands keeps me out of trouble.
11:03 PM. Early position raise. I fold king jack and feel real good about it.
11:07 PM. I fold king ten from early position. And yes I want a cookie.
11:10 PM. Guy at my table in late position looks at his cards and announces to the table "I fold." However he takes no action in terms of returning his cards to the dealer.
Why do people do this? How does this speed up the game? Do they expect action to continue beyond them without them returning their cards?
Actually the better question here is why does this behavior drive me so nuts?
11:14 PM. I'm under the gun and see pocket tens. I'm 0-1-1 today with this hand. I chopped with the lady to my right at the last table when she had the same hand. And I lost calling an all in from a smaller stack who held pocket jacks.
I'm not going to fold but how do I play it here?
All of the usual under the gun problems exist.
-I push all in and just hope no one has a bigger hand.
-I mini raise but that's sort of silly because I'm not going to fold if it gets raised behind me and mini raising gives the blinds a cheap look at the flop.
-I raise a healthier amount.
How would I play it if I really had aces?
I decide that anything more than 3x the blinds looks like a medium pair. So I slide out 2400. 3x the blinds. That feels right.
A big stack sitting directly to my left in second position raises to 5000.
Like Clay Davis on The Wire I can hear my appendix mutter "Sheeeeeet."
Action gets folded back around to me. What to do?
I don't think he has aces or kings. I think he would have raised more. His mini raise smells like ace king to me. Or perhaps a smaller pair.
With multiple big stacks at my table, I think the purpose of his bet was to give himself room to fold if the wrong player (bigger stack) came over the top of his bet. He wants to make it to day 2.
If my read is right and he has ace king I'm 57% to win this. I can get my remaining 7k in the middle and if my hand holds up there will be over 20k coming my way.
Or I can fold and eat the 2100 loss. Probably bad poker. But I'm mentioning it because I'd still have 7k in front of me and guarantee staying alive.
However if my tens hold up and I win this hand, I will most likely make day 2, hit the money with some chips, and put myself in a position to do some damage.
I trust my read.
Big stack does have ace king.
I got exactly what I wanted.
Right up until the ace, 9, 9 flop.
There's no miracle for me on the turn or river.
Just like that it's over.
At this point everything went black.
There was silence for a few seconds.
Then Journey's Don't Stop Believin' started playing.
part I part II part III part IV part V
And now presented without further commercial interruption: the final installment of my award winning recap of playing in World Series of Poker Event #51.
PART VI
9:30 PM. I finish level 7 with 6650 chips. 780 players remain. Blinds are at 300/600/75. That's 1650 an orbit. Some nights I might be worried to have so few chips, yet here I feel strangely comfortable. Dare I say healthy? Wealthy? Wise?
Well at least wealthy and wise. I'm not too sure about my health. I'm feeling a sharp pain in my lower back. Am I having internal organ issues or have I just been sitting for too much of the past 24 hours? In these situations you should always ask yourself "What would Eskimo Clark do?"
9:43 PM. I fold the unbeatable king queen from under the gun with 6125 chips. That's how much of a slave to instinct I am. Oh sure she's pretty, but I'm just not feeling it from first position. I know that king queen is strongest hand preflop in poker. It's a monster. Even Rex Reed loves it. But I can't follow through at this moment.
And if you really want to debate this what are my options?
I push all in and hope (pray) that no one wakes up with a hand? I don't like that choice. If I'm gonna make that move I don't need king queen to do it. I can push all in under the gun any time I want with any two cards.
I mini-raise to 1200 and pretend I have aces. This I sort of like because who doesn't like having aces? The fantasy is fun. But the problem is if I get raised I'm pot committed and definitely trailing whatever hand has raised me. Why voluntarily choose to take the worst of it?
I go out of too many tournaments making moves from under the gun. I plan at some point tonight to pick up a real hand. Or at least apply pressure to the blinds from late position. My preference here is to pay the blinds and give myself some hands in better position to find something I can make some noise with. This option sounds better to me than the under the gun push with king queen. At least that's what my appendix tells me.
9:44 PM. My appendix is right. Same hand. Guy in middle position bets. Big blind raises all in. Guy in middle position calls and turns over kings. Big Blind shows queens. Obviously the appendix is a very important organ, with poker foreshadowing skills only matched by the bladder.
9:49 PM. Two hands later I use my tight image to win a pot. The action is folded around to me in the small blind. I raise 3x the blinds to 1800 which is almost 1/3rd my stack. I'm pot committed. The big blind hems and haws and then folds. My 10,4 takes down the pot. Puts me back up to 6950. And yes I was prepared to call here if he raised me all in.
9:54 PM. 690 players remain. Average is 18137. I have 6350. Funny to think that six hours ago I had over 12k. You know. Tragedy plus time. Other players who are not named Robert keep raising from under the gun and putting pressure on the whole table.
On a recent hand a gentleman who has me covered pushes all in from under the gun. I fold king queen from middle position. The blind calls and turns over King Jack.
Obviously this guy in the blinds has lower standards than I do.
He must be staying over at Circus Circus.
The under the gun player shows his cards.
Queen jack. Double damn.
This guy is probably still pissed off The New Frontier closed down and is sleeping in his car to protest.
My King Queen would be way ahead here. Don't make me get out my poker calculator.
I have that wonderful moment that occurs at the poker table where I feel sorry for myself for folding the best hand.
And then dealer turns over a jack high flop!
Which allows me to have that even better moment at the poker table where I get to feel great about myself for having averted disaster!
I would have lost the hand.
But I didn't!
Why?
Because I folded the best hand!
I'm the man.
I can dodge jack high flops baby!
This doesn't happen overnight.
The skill you are reading about here takes years to develop.
10:05 PM. 680 players remain at the party. Average stack is 18,404. I've got 5075 chips after paying the rent.
10:14 PM. Concerts were held. Passive resistance occurred. Amnesty International got involved. And you know what? It worked! They finally broke my table! I've had that nemesis guy to my left for six hours and now I'm finally free! I might get to play poker again tonight. A new table!
10:15 PM. Like Pete Rose receiving a base on balls, I hustle my way across the room to find my new seat. There are 640 players left. 297 get paid. I started this tournament with 4500 chips. As I sit down for my first hand at this new table I have 4775. I don't want to brag but I think that's what you call winning poker. There's no denying it. I'm up 275 chips in only 10 hours of play. I'm winning 27.5 chips per hour hour. At this pace I should win the tournament by February 2091.
10:17 PM. I'm taking in the sounds and smells of my new table. What a different vibe! It's a bunch of polite nerdy looking guys. Probably earned their tourney buy ins from the tech start ups they were involved in back in the late 90s. My other table was full of dudes who peaked in junior high school. I recognize one tight aggressive pro sitting two seats to my right but otherwise it all looks good. Much less ego going on here.
10:18 PM. Under the gun. I look down at ace 9. It's 1650 a round. I have no image. I push all in. Everyone folds. It's no accident. People get out of your way when you're an Aqua Velva man. Finally the respect I was looking for.
10:20 PM. Very next hand I'm the big blind. Guy in late position raises to 2000. I look down at ace king. Has there been a mistake? Have I accidentally taken the wrong seat?
Ace king? Me? It's looking so beautiful at this moment in time.
Meanwhile I'm the same guy who just pushed with ace 9. How does one play ace king after this occurs? Are there books I can read?
Unfortunately I don't have enough chips to get clever. Come to think of it, maybe I am fortunate. I do recall the last time I had ace king in the blinds it ended poorly.
For the second hand in a row I push all in, satisfied to win the blinds, yet not disturbed by the opportunity to double up. It's gotta happen at some point.
Mostly I'm happy not to have to make a decision with a small stack out of position on the flop. I'm easy like that.
Mr. Position raiser folds and after paying my small blind the next hand I have 8400 chips.
10:29 PM. The last hand of level 8. Guy in early position raises. I look down at ace queen. Where are these cards coming from?
I ride the rush of brainless poker and push all in, again. I'm that guy. Sometimes it's fun to disrespect the game by reducing it to preflop poker.
Calling my all in will cost this other fellow around half his stack. He had around 17k at start of hand. He hems and haws. It's the second time today someone has hemmed and hawed in my presence, which incidentally is an expression I use all the time in my sewing blog "The Denim Year."
I sit in silence. Looking back on it now, I wish I had done me some talking and shown him how comfortable I was. Cause the reality is if he has ace king he would have already called. And if he has a pair, I'm behind and technically want the fold. The only hand I want a call from here is ace jack or worse.
After what felt like hundreds of seconds, he calls and turns over ace queen.
Yawn.
We chop up the blinds and antes.
This sure would have been a nice hand to have had ace king.
I end level 8 with 9400. I'm a rich man.
10:31 PM. We take a half hour break while the poker authorities remove the 25 value chips from play. Our new blinds in level 9 will be 400/800/100. 2100 a round. 590 players remain. Roughly half the players remaining will make the money.
At this point in my life, and by life I mean poker career, I'm not focused on cashing and winning $2733 which is what they're paying places 253 to 297. The $2733 figure is actually misleading. It's really only a $1233 profit since we bought in for $1500.
(Well $1243 profit if you include the turkey sandwich.)
I've driven to Vegas this weekend to come in first place and win $664,426. That's not always the case. When I came out to play in 2006 WSOP my goal was to cash. I needed to achieve that milestone to feel good about my poker career. Rationalize how I was spending my time.
But not now. Not this year. In 2009 I don't need to convince anyone of anything.
All I want is to win six figures so I can buy me some Nikes and stay in town for the Main Event.
The phone lines are open and it looks like we got a caller from NYC.
Hello you're on the air.
Hey Robert. First time, long time. I'm enjoying your recap and got a quick question. Why would you play so tight for the past six hours and fold hands like king queen multiple times if your goal wasn't just to cash? It seems like there have been plenty of opportunities to either double up or go home and you've passed on them.
Good question. Excellent point. I'm especially impressed by your ability to get a phone call into written text format. As for your question I fold some of these hands because I need to get to this point. I need to get myself close to the bubble. Then I can take chances. Now is the time to build my stack and start getting chips. Lots of these players will tighten up to protect their stacks because they really want to make it to day two. They've come this far and they want to make the money. I want to make day three.
11:00 PM. Level 9. I take out a piece of paper before I sit back down and write "Boy would this would be a good time to go on a rush." The 9400 chips sitting in front of me are the most I've had since that ace king versus pocket 5's hand back in level 4. The average is 21211.
My plan is to double up and go to sleep tonight with 20k. Accomplishing this would be pretty amazing. To get myself back on track and suddenly make the struggle of the whole day disappear.
At some point I'm gonna pick up a big pair again.
Right?
Although part of me thinks (knows) that maybe it's better this way.
Maybe not getting too many big hands keeps me out of trouble.
11:03 PM. Early position raise. I fold king jack and feel real good about it.
11:07 PM. I fold king ten from early position. And yes I want a cookie.
11:10 PM. Guy at my table in late position looks at his cards and announces to the table "I fold." However he takes no action in terms of returning his cards to the dealer.
Why do people do this? How does this speed up the game? Do they expect action to continue beyond them without them returning their cards?
Actually the better question here is why does this behavior drive me so nuts?
11:14 PM. I'm under the gun and see pocket tens. I'm 0-1-1 today with this hand. I chopped with the lady to my right at the last table when she had the same hand. And I lost calling an all in from a smaller stack who held pocket jacks.
I'm not going to fold but how do I play it here?
All of the usual under the gun problems exist.
-I push all in and just hope no one has a bigger hand.
-I mini raise but that's sort of silly because I'm not going to fold if it gets raised behind me and mini raising gives the blinds a cheap look at the flop.
-I raise a healthier amount.
How would I play it if I really had aces?
I decide that anything more than 3x the blinds looks like a medium pair. So I slide out 2400. 3x the blinds. That feels right.
A big stack sitting directly to my left in second position raises to 5000.
Like Clay Davis on The Wire I can hear my appendix mutter "Sheeeeeet."
Action gets folded back around to me. What to do?
I don't think he has aces or kings. I think he would have raised more. His mini raise smells like ace king to me. Or perhaps a smaller pair.
With multiple big stacks at my table, I think the purpose of his bet was to give himself room to fold if the wrong player (bigger stack) came over the top of his bet. He wants to make it to day 2.
If my read is right and he has ace king I'm 57% to win this. I can get my remaining 7k in the middle and if my hand holds up there will be over 20k coming my way.
Or I can fold and eat the 2100 loss. Probably bad poker. But I'm mentioning it because I'd still have 7k in front of me and guarantee staying alive.
However if my tens hold up and I win this hand, I will most likely make day 2, hit the money with some chips, and put myself in a position to do some damage.
I trust my read.
Big stack does have ace king.
I got exactly what I wanted.
Right up until the ace, 9, 9 flop.
There's no miracle for me on the turn or river.
Just like that it's over.
At this point everything went black.
There was silence for a few seconds.
Then Journey's Don't Stop Believin' started playing.
Monday, September 07, 2009
One Lottery Ticket Please Part V
I gotta finish this story at some point. Right?
For my own sanity.
If you're late to the party there's
part 1
part 2.
part 3
part 4
and now part 5 below.
Enjoy.
6:24 PM. The good news is only 1170 of the 2781 players that started the day with us still remain. The bad news is I've only got 1825 chips and 3 hands to push. I fold 2,6 off from 3rd position.
6:26 PM. I fold 3,9 off from 2nd position.
6:29 PM. I throw my 25 ante out for the dealer to grab. This transaction leaves me with 1750 chips. I peak down at my first card and it's an ace. Good enough. I make the executive decision that I'm better off not looking at the second card. Instead I slide my 1750 out there. Much better this way.
I may have looked around the table and shrugged my shoulders. The kind of shrug that says "I got aces here but I'm going to act like I'm just going all in because I'm so low on chips and about to be the big blind, so maybe you'll fold and save yourself 1750 chips."
You know. That shrug. Come on. You know you've seen it.
My subtle Jedi mind trick makes no difference. One gentleman calls. Then so does another. I got action. If you're an optimist, you're excited by the fact that if I'm gonna win the hand, I'm gonna triple up. Who needs to go through all the trouble of winning a hand like this and only doubling ones chips?
Flop is 2,3,4. There's a pot size bet and the other guy is small so he calls all in. First gentleman turns over pocket queens. The other pocket tens. Unfortunately this forces me to look at my second card.
I turn over a 4. And feel strangely good about it. I got 9 outs! Kind of like I'm on a flush draw.
There's two more 4's in the deck, Four 5's for the straight. And three more aces.
And if you know me well you know I always hit my flush draws, mostly just to see the other players reactions.
I don't even need to look at the turn and river. I start counting the chips in the middle. I'll have 5850 after my hand hits.
The earth spins. Across the table I hear the guy with queens gasp. Apparently the dealer turned over another 4 on the river.
People saying I can't suck out anymore.
I still got it.
No matter what they say.
6:35 PM. 1130 players remain. Average chips is 11075. I got 5350 if you're keeping score at home. And the best part is suddenly I feel like a monster stack.
6:42 PM. With blinds at 150/300/25 I raise in middle position to 750 with ace 9 suited. My nemesis from a couple of hours ago (the guy who raised me all in with pocket 5's) calls. So does the big blind. The 3 of us see a king 2,2, flop. I don't continue bet and we check it around.
A second of my suit hits on the turn. I'm ready to start throwing some chips around but before I can act the big blind bets out 1650. I wouldn't mind getting my chips in as the aggressor but I'm not in love with calling off my stack here on the draw. I keep running the math. There's around 2500 out there...but calling 1650 to win 4200 doesn't make no sense on a 4 to 1 dog.
My better option is to raise. However I don't think I have enough chips to get him to fold a king or worse a deuce. And I believe he has something. Doubling up here won't win me the tourney. But getting knocked out will lose it. I fold.
Nemesis calls behind me. I am able to maintain my calm when a diamond doesn't come on the river. They check it down. Nemesis wins with king 10 of diamonds. Damn that guy has my number. Why couldn't we have flopped 3 diamonds? Not even for the chips I'd win. Just for my ego.
6:47 PM. 1060 players left. Unfortunately I'm sitting right next to a monitor showing this statistic so I can't help but to keep looking at it between hands. Because obviously it makes a big difference to my small stack how many players are left.
7:00 PM. I end level 6 with 3900 chips after folding from the small blind. Dinner break. Cards back in the air at 8:30 PM. Blinds will be 200/400/50. That's 1100 a round but at least I'm starting on the button so I'll have the maximum number of looks to make my move.
7:05 PM. I stand on line for a sandwich and use my 10 dollar voucher. People saying this event costs 1500 bucks. According to my accountant it's $1490 baby!
7:09 PM. Much like Felix Unger at the start the Odd Couple I have no where else to go. Unlike Felix Unger I can't return to the home of child hood friend Oscar Madison. If I had planned this trip well I'd be going upstairs to my room at the Rio. But since I'm not staying here I do the next best thing. I walk out to my car in the parking lot, turn on the A.C. and eat dinner.
7:23 PM. I know I've bragged in the past about how I never need to use the bathroom. Well guess what? I gotta go. At least my body is so advanced aerodynamically that it waits until breaks to get the urge.
I take the long walk back across the parking lot to inside the Rio to use the restroom. When we make a movie of this day we'll have me just pee into a cup. Much more memorable.
7:35 PM. I'm back in the car and between the past 24 hours, and the turkey sandwich I just ate, I gotta admit I'm feeling tired. I decide to take a nap. I put my seat back and set the alarm on my phone.
8:15 PM. The alarm goes off on my phone. I think I feel worse than before. Lets play poker!
8:27 PM. Back at my seat. My favorite monitor says there are 975 players remaining of the 2781 that started the day. Average stack is 12835.
8:31 PM. First hand after the break. New guy at our table limps under the gun for 400. What the hell does this mean? Two more people smooth call behind him. Action gets to me on the button. I look down at 5,6 suited. Damn it. I can't fold the Lawrence Taylor.
I am tempted to push but to be honest I'm not feeling it. I look at the guy under the gun and he's looking around the room, as if he's not involved in the hand. I take the safe route and just call. So do both blinds.
Flop comes king, queen, jack. One of my suit. Incredibly it gets checked around.
Turn brings a second of my suit. And the gentleman under the gun bets half the pot.
Damn. I'm in the same spot as that ace, 9 hand before the break. I'm not getting the right odds to chase the flush. And I'm not getting my money in first.
What kills me is I think it's coming. I am convinced another diamond is going to come on the river. That's what intuition tells me. I've seen this hand before. It comes on the river and it's really unfair to the guy sitting across from me with a real hand.
However my way too logical math brain steps in and points out that if it doesn't come, I can't beat any hand. I don't even have enough chips to bluff.
Damn it. I'm getting swift-boated by my math head.
I fold.
8:50 PM. Another hand against that same new player. He opens in early position for 1200. It gets folded to me in late position. I only have 3000 chips left. Ace jack is more than good enough. In fact it's the best hand I can ever remember seeing in my 5 years of playing poker. I shove my chips out there. And stare at him calmly. Whatever happens happens. No need to act strong or weak. He has to call. And hopefully I'm not dominated. As they say in track and field, I'm ready to race.
He folds. For 1800 more.
Huh? What just happened? Sure doesn't make a ton of sense mathematically.
Psychologically I understand it. But not mathematically. Mathematically he's risking an additional 1800 to win 5300. That's almost 3 to 1 odds. And he wasn't a small stack.
I suppose he was playing something he considered to be junk and didn't want to show the table his range of hands. Personally speaking, I think it's good advertising to show the table you play lousy hands. But that's just me.
And last time I checked there were 930 players remaining.
9:01 PM. 870 players left. Average stack is 14384. I got 4400.
9:13 PM. 850 players remain. They're dropping like...things that drop. I pick up queen jack suited in the cut off seat. It's a hand I've had a crush on since high school and I'm excited to raise with it. Unfortunately some bully in middle position gets in my way and moves all in. I fold.
9:18 PM. I got 3 hands till I'm in the blinds. I'm down to 3400 and starting to feel desperate again. I got ace jack that one hand but otherwise it's all 2,9 and 2,7.
9:20 PM. Under the gun I pick up Ten, Jack suited. Gold in this economy. Seriously. Ten Jack suited? Are you kidding me? I love overplaying that hand.
I shove my 3300 out there and feel really good about it. I know I'm exuding confidence. Everyone is looking at me differently. I don't give them eye contact but I can feel them staring. My theme song from that pilot I did for a sitcom that never made it to television starts to play over the sound system. Lets just say that if I get called here it's gonna be because I'm behind. Not because someone dares to challenge my mojo. Who would have the nerve?
A dude in the blinds, the kind of character that Sacha Baron Cohen might play in a movie, looks at his cards and decides to get cute. He shrugs his shoulders at me and asks me how much I bet.
Damn him. Shrugging shoulders is my move! These freaking hacks stealing my act.
I shrug my shoulders right back at him and gesture for the dealer to count.
How in the world could I possibly be expected to ball park such a large stack.
There were at least 6 chips on the table in front of me.
My indiscriminate stack doesn't slow him down. He calls me and turns over king queen. Whew. No problem. No problem at all. We all know my Ten Jack is a coin flip against any over pair. But in this spot against king queen I'm at least a 4 to 1 favorite.
I've never played dungeons and dragons but I suppose this is similar to situations in that game where someone has "hit points."
The only question is how I'm gonna beat him. Will he completely whiff and I'll pair my jack? Will he flop trips and I'll go runner runner for a straight? Or will I hit trips on the river to take out his over pair?
Dealer turns over a queen ten rag flop. Okay. So trips it will be.
I do the math and get excited about the 7500 chips I'm about to watch the dealer shove my way.
Did I mention that that a few hands earlier this same tool called over a reporter from Poker News to give his chip update?
Who does that? Who needs press that badly? This isn't your movie opening buddy. This is a poker tournament.
The universe responds with a ten on the river.
Dude looks across the table at me like he'd never been sucked out on before.
I shrug my shoulders.
To be continued.
For my own sanity.
If you're late to the party there's
part 1
part 2.
part 3
part 4
and now part 5 below.
Enjoy.
6:24 PM. The good news is only 1170 of the 2781 players that started the day with us still remain. The bad news is I've only got 1825 chips and 3 hands to push. I fold 2,6 off from 3rd position.
6:26 PM. I fold 3,9 off from 2nd position.
6:29 PM. I throw my 25 ante out for the dealer to grab. This transaction leaves me with 1750 chips. I peak down at my first card and it's an ace. Good enough. I make the executive decision that I'm better off not looking at the second card. Instead I slide my 1750 out there. Much better this way.
I may have looked around the table and shrugged my shoulders. The kind of shrug that says "I got aces here but I'm going to act like I'm just going all in because I'm so low on chips and about to be the big blind, so maybe you'll fold and save yourself 1750 chips."
You know. That shrug. Come on. You know you've seen it.
My subtle Jedi mind trick makes no difference. One gentleman calls. Then so does another. I got action. If you're an optimist, you're excited by the fact that if I'm gonna win the hand, I'm gonna triple up. Who needs to go through all the trouble of winning a hand like this and only doubling ones chips?
Flop is 2,3,4. There's a pot size bet and the other guy is small so he calls all in. First gentleman turns over pocket queens. The other pocket tens. Unfortunately this forces me to look at my second card.
I turn over a 4. And feel strangely good about it. I got 9 outs! Kind of like I'm on a flush draw.
There's two more 4's in the deck, Four 5's for the straight. And three more aces.
And if you know me well you know I always hit my flush draws, mostly just to see the other players reactions.
I don't even need to look at the turn and river. I start counting the chips in the middle. I'll have 5850 after my hand hits.
The earth spins. Across the table I hear the guy with queens gasp. Apparently the dealer turned over another 4 on the river.
People saying I can't suck out anymore.
I still got it.
No matter what they say.
6:35 PM. 1130 players remain. Average chips is 11075. I got 5350 if you're keeping score at home. And the best part is suddenly I feel like a monster stack.
6:42 PM. With blinds at 150/300/25 I raise in middle position to 750 with ace 9 suited. My nemesis from a couple of hours ago (the guy who raised me all in with pocket 5's) calls. So does the big blind. The 3 of us see a king 2,2, flop. I don't continue bet and we check it around.
A second of my suit hits on the turn. I'm ready to start throwing some chips around but before I can act the big blind bets out 1650. I wouldn't mind getting my chips in as the aggressor but I'm not in love with calling off my stack here on the draw. I keep running the math. There's around 2500 out there...but calling 1650 to win 4200 doesn't make no sense on a 4 to 1 dog.
My better option is to raise. However I don't think I have enough chips to get him to fold a king or worse a deuce. And I believe he has something. Doubling up here won't win me the tourney. But getting knocked out will lose it. I fold.
Nemesis calls behind me. I am able to maintain my calm when a diamond doesn't come on the river. They check it down. Nemesis wins with king 10 of diamonds. Damn that guy has my number. Why couldn't we have flopped 3 diamonds? Not even for the chips I'd win. Just for my ego.
6:47 PM. 1060 players left. Unfortunately I'm sitting right next to a monitor showing this statistic so I can't help but to keep looking at it between hands. Because obviously it makes a big difference to my small stack how many players are left.
7:00 PM. I end level 6 with 3900 chips after folding from the small blind. Dinner break. Cards back in the air at 8:30 PM. Blinds will be 200/400/50. That's 1100 a round but at least I'm starting on the button so I'll have the maximum number of looks to make my move.
7:05 PM. I stand on line for a sandwich and use my 10 dollar voucher. People saying this event costs 1500 bucks. According to my accountant it's $1490 baby!
7:09 PM. Much like Felix Unger at the start the Odd Couple I have no where else to go. Unlike Felix Unger I can't return to the home of child hood friend Oscar Madison. If I had planned this trip well I'd be going upstairs to my room at the Rio. But since I'm not staying here I do the next best thing. I walk out to my car in the parking lot, turn on the A.C. and eat dinner.
7:23 PM. I know I've bragged in the past about how I never need to use the bathroom. Well guess what? I gotta go. At least my body is so advanced aerodynamically that it waits until breaks to get the urge.
I take the long walk back across the parking lot to inside the Rio to use the restroom. When we make a movie of this day we'll have me just pee into a cup. Much more memorable.
7:35 PM. I'm back in the car and between the past 24 hours, and the turkey sandwich I just ate, I gotta admit I'm feeling tired. I decide to take a nap. I put my seat back and set the alarm on my phone.
8:15 PM. The alarm goes off on my phone. I think I feel worse than before. Lets play poker!
8:27 PM. Back at my seat. My favorite monitor says there are 975 players remaining of the 2781 that started the day. Average stack is 12835.
8:31 PM. First hand after the break. New guy at our table limps under the gun for 400. What the hell does this mean? Two more people smooth call behind him. Action gets to me on the button. I look down at 5,6 suited. Damn it. I can't fold the Lawrence Taylor.
I am tempted to push but to be honest I'm not feeling it. I look at the guy under the gun and he's looking around the room, as if he's not involved in the hand. I take the safe route and just call. So do both blinds.
Flop comes king, queen, jack. One of my suit. Incredibly it gets checked around.
Turn brings a second of my suit. And the gentleman under the gun bets half the pot.
Damn. I'm in the same spot as that ace, 9 hand before the break. I'm not getting the right odds to chase the flush. And I'm not getting my money in first.
What kills me is I think it's coming. I am convinced another diamond is going to come on the river. That's what intuition tells me. I've seen this hand before. It comes on the river and it's really unfair to the guy sitting across from me with a real hand.
However my way too logical math brain steps in and points out that if it doesn't come, I can't beat any hand. I don't even have enough chips to bluff.
Damn it. I'm getting swift-boated by my math head.
I fold.
8:50 PM. Another hand against that same new player. He opens in early position for 1200. It gets folded to me in late position. I only have 3000 chips left. Ace jack is more than good enough. In fact it's the best hand I can ever remember seeing in my 5 years of playing poker. I shove my chips out there. And stare at him calmly. Whatever happens happens. No need to act strong or weak. He has to call. And hopefully I'm not dominated. As they say in track and field, I'm ready to race.
He folds. For 1800 more.
Huh? What just happened? Sure doesn't make a ton of sense mathematically.
Psychologically I understand it. But not mathematically. Mathematically he's risking an additional 1800 to win 5300. That's almost 3 to 1 odds. And he wasn't a small stack.
I suppose he was playing something he considered to be junk and didn't want to show the table his range of hands. Personally speaking, I think it's good advertising to show the table you play lousy hands. But that's just me.
And last time I checked there were 930 players remaining.
9:01 PM. 870 players left. Average stack is 14384. I got 4400.
9:13 PM. 850 players remain. They're dropping like...things that drop. I pick up queen jack suited in the cut off seat. It's a hand I've had a crush on since high school and I'm excited to raise with it. Unfortunately some bully in middle position gets in my way and moves all in. I fold.
9:18 PM. I got 3 hands till I'm in the blinds. I'm down to 3400 and starting to feel desperate again. I got ace jack that one hand but otherwise it's all 2,9 and 2,7.
9:20 PM. Under the gun I pick up Ten, Jack suited. Gold in this economy. Seriously. Ten Jack suited? Are you kidding me? I love overplaying that hand.
I shove my 3300 out there and feel really good about it. I know I'm exuding confidence. Everyone is looking at me differently. I don't give them eye contact but I can feel them staring. My theme song from that pilot I did for a sitcom that never made it to television starts to play over the sound system. Lets just say that if I get called here it's gonna be because I'm behind. Not because someone dares to challenge my mojo. Who would have the nerve?
A dude in the blinds, the kind of character that Sacha Baron Cohen might play in a movie, looks at his cards and decides to get cute. He shrugs his shoulders at me and asks me how much I bet.
Damn him. Shrugging shoulders is my move! These freaking hacks stealing my act.
I shrug my shoulders right back at him and gesture for the dealer to count.
How in the world could I possibly be expected to ball park such a large stack.
There were at least 6 chips on the table in front of me.
My indiscriminate stack doesn't slow him down. He calls me and turns over king queen. Whew. No problem. No problem at all. We all know my Ten Jack is a coin flip against any over pair. But in this spot against king queen I'm at least a 4 to 1 favorite.
I've never played dungeons and dragons but I suppose this is similar to situations in that game where someone has "hit points."
The only question is how I'm gonna beat him. Will he completely whiff and I'll pair my jack? Will he flop trips and I'll go runner runner for a straight? Or will I hit trips on the river to take out his over pair?
Dealer turns over a queen ten rag flop. Okay. So trips it will be.
I do the math and get excited about the 7500 chips I'm about to watch the dealer shove my way.
Did I mention that that a few hands earlier this same tool called over a reporter from Poker News to give his chip update?
Who does that? Who needs press that badly? This isn't your movie opening buddy. This is a poker tournament.
The universe responds with a ten on the river.
Dude looks across the table at me like he'd never been sucked out on before.
I shrug my shoulders.
To be continued.
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