The Last Binion's Tournament (Part 2)

This is the second of three parts, (see here for part 1) and we pick up right we left off....

Level 8 (100/600/1200) $40,300.  I opened to $3K with pocket 9's and took it.  Later, it folded to me on the button with 9-5 of spades.  I made it $3K and both blinds folded.  Yes, 9-5 of spades.  Hey, who says I'm a nit?

It folded to me on the button with King-Jack off.  I made it $3K and the small blind called.  The flop was very low, I c-bet $4,500.  He tanked for a long time but finally folded.

The very next hand I had King-Jack again, this time they were both diamonds.  I opened to $3K and one of the blinds called. The flop was Queen-Jack-x, two clubs.  He donk-shoved $14,500.  I tanked but eventually folded.  He showed one card, a Queen.

Level 9 (200/800/1600) $42K.  It folded to the small blind who completed. I was the big blind with Jack-3 off.  I checked.  The flop was low and missed me completely.  But when he checked it, I bet $3K and stole it.

Then I made what I referred to in my notes as a "dumb ass" move.  I limped in with 8-7 of hearts, then called a raise to $3,500.  I had to fold on a flop that totally missed me.

I opened to $4K with 10-9 of diamonds and didn't get a call.

Level 10 (300/1000/2000) $32,700.  That put me pretty close to shove-or-fold mode.  So, after one limper, I shoved with King-Jack of spades.  I took it, but the limper showed his hand—Ace-10 off! 

There was a guy at this table who was from out of town and had mentioned repeatedly that he was fairly new to tournament poker and maybe even poker in general.  I didn't see any obvious mistakes, although perhaps he was shoving a bit much and too early.  Anyway, sometimes when he didn't need to, he would show his cards (usually after he took the pot without a call).  So on one of the breaks, he asked me if I thought it was a good idea for him to show his hand like that.  Boy, I didn't really want to answer that one! I mean the honest answer is, "Yes, it's a very good idea...for me.  For you, not so much."  I kind of hemmed and hawed and luckily the waitress came around with his drink just then and distracted him.  By the time she moved on, the tournament had resumed and he never got his answer.

Soon after that last hand, they broke our table and we were down to 18 players (because of the light turnout, we had been playing 9-handed tables pretty much the whole way).

Soon thereafter, desperate, I had Ace-4 of spades and open shoved.  One guy called.  It was the kid who had been sitting on my immediate right most of the time I was at the previous table.  I'm going to call him Mike since he told us that was his name (and I later found out it wasn't his name).  Mike came to that table with a huge stack and was likely the chip leader of the tournament when I first encountered him.  He tried to explain that he had just gotten lucky to have gotten all those chips when someone went on tilt against him.  Now, he hadn't been the most aggressive player I'd ever seen but he was pretty tough to play against and I was glad that he was on my right.

At this new table he was still on my right, but a few spots away from me.  He still had a ton of chips although he was no longer the chip leader (either at our table or for the tournament). Anyway, he flipped over King-Queen.  The flop had an Ace, but the turn had a Queen. The river was a sweet looking Ace and I had my first double up of the tournament.  As I started stacking my chips, Mike said to me, "Sir, you're supposed to have like 10's or Jack's there."  I laughed and said, "You know the river card could have just as easily been a Queen—or a King—as an Ace."  I'm sure that had already occurred to him.  That got me to $59K and I was breathing a little easier.

The next hand I was in the big blind with King-Queen.  Mike made a big raise.  I wondered if that was a "tilt-raise."  I could have called or even come over the top, but I decided to fold.  Good thing, Mike had a couple of Aces (sorry, my notes don't indicate if he won it preflop and decided to show his hand, or if he had to show to win the pot).

On the button, with Ace-3 off, I opened to $5,500 and took it.

Level 11 (400/1200/2400) $61K.

I won uncontested pots by raising to $6,500 with Ace-Jack of diamonds and 8-7 of spades. 

With Ace-King I raised and a guy with a fairly big stack shoved. I had more chips than him but not that much.  I figured this was a good time to roll the dice.  I called.  He had Ace-King too, but his was sooooted (hearts).  The flop was all black and we chopped it.

I opened to $6,500 with pocket deuces and didn't get a call.

That took us to the 30-minute dinner break.  Right before the break a funny thing happened—not with me, but with the guy on my right.  He was all-in and lost and he had just a few chips left, basically the ante and not the entire big blind—he was the big blind on this hand.  So he was all in and just heads up against somebody and he had 10-5 and the flop came 10-10-5.  He shoved about two more hands and won them both and thus had a working stack going to the dinner break.  He won a couple more like that before busting out.

Level 12 (500/1500/3000) $62.5K.    First hand I opened to $7,200 with King-10 of hearts, no call.

Then I messed up.  I was in the big blind with Ace-rag and just checked.  No one bet on the flop or the turn.  Someone bet the river for $5K.  Yeah, I saw a possible straight but I thought it was more likely he was trying to steal it and I reasoned my Ace-high might be good.  So I called.  Unfortunately, he did indeed have the straight.

Then I opened to $7,500 with Jack-10 off and a guy shoved behind me—probably slightly smaller stack than mine.  I let it go and he showed Ace-Queen.

With Ace-Jack, I decided it was time to shove.  No call.  A bit later I got pocket Aces.  I probably should have just raised but I decided to shove.  No call.

It folded to me in the small blind with Ace-10 and I shoved.  The big blind folded.

Well with that we were suddenly down to 10 so they assembled the final table.  But we were still three from the money since they were only paying seven.

I had about $53K when we got to the final table.

Made it to level 13 (500/2K/4K) with $51K.  That's shove-or-fold territory.

Mike was still around, still had a lot of chips, and now was on my left.  Not my immediate left, a few spots away from me.  But the chip leader was the oldest player at the table (I knew because he told us his age—he looked at least 10 years younger than he was).  He wasn't at my previous table and I'm not sure if he was at the one before that.  But I had definitely played with him that day so I guess he was at the second table I was at (or maybe the third too).  Also, I was sure I'd played with him around town before. He was definitely a tough player.  Although he limped in a lot, he also raised a lot and wasn't afraid to call a raise or three-bet. Several times during the day I had heard him tell the story of how, playing at one of the Binion's Classic events some time back, he and two others finally agreed to a three-way chop for $4K each at 4AM  Let's call this fellow Cliff.

I open shoved with Ace-10 of hearts and didn't get a call.  Then this Swedish fellow (who I had played with earlier) raised to $10K and I shoved with pocket Jacks.  He let it go.

I felt I had enough chips to play a little poker so I opened to $10K with King-10 of spades.  Only Cliff called.  The flop was King-high, two spades.  I shoved and he folded.

Once I got to the final table I found it harder to keep up with my notes.  My notes say here, "might have left out a hand."  In fact, I definitely missed recording a hand or two at this point.  I think those last two hands were close together and then there must have been another hand where I picked up some chips....and before I had a chance to record that one, this big hand I'm about to describe came along, and shoved the memory of that other good hand right out of my brain.  I just couldn't recall a thing about that other hand after I recorded the next hand.  But I'm sure it wasn't an all-in where I was at risk of busting, and I'm sure I didn't bust anyone out.  But somehow, my stack for the next hand I'm about to discuss was in the vicinity of $120K-$125K.  But whatever the hand that got me there was it is lost for all-time.  But I'm sure that it was brilliant play on my part that got me those chips, of course.

So yeah, I must have had around $120K when the big hand of the tournament—for me—came along.

I had Ace-King of spades and Mike had raised. I dunno if he was the chip-leader (that might have been Cliff) but he still had a lot of chips and was no worse than second place. I three-bet (sorry, I didn't record the amounts).  He called.  The flop was King-4-2. I made a bet and Mike called.  The turn was the 6 of clubs (no flush possible).  I shoved.  Mike went into the tank.  But after a long time, he finally said, "Ah, f**k it, I've gone too far to fold now."  He called and said, "I need a 5, a 4 or a 3," and flipped over 5-4 of spades.  The river could have knocked me out.  But instead, the river was an Ace and I was now swimming in chips.

When I finished counting, it was around $250K sitting in front of me.  And I think I was now probably the chip-leader, with Cliff in second place. Mike was short stacked but still alive.  I started eyeing the payout schedule and was having fantasies of taking home the first place money.  Or at least making a very favorable deal when we got down to the final three or so.

And that's where I'll leave it.  The final chapter is now posted and can be found here.

The Last Binion's Tournament (Part 1)

Note:  This is the first of three parts.

Originally, this was going to be one of my all-time favorite blog posts.  But a few weeks ago, before I had a chance to write it up, it became bittersweet.  I thought I was going to be blogging about my latest tournament at Binion's.  But now it looks like this will be the story of my last ever Binion's tournament.

You see, about a month ago, while I was in the middle of writing up the story of my two-day Venetian tournament experience, I was notified that Binion's had changed their tournament schedule again (they'd been doing that a lot lately).  The change that affected me personally was that they changed the Saturday Deepstack, reducing the buy-in from $175 to $150 but more importantly, taking away the $10K guarantee.  There is now no guarantee for the Saturday tournament.

Although it is still a player-friendly structure (though not as good as the version I played in early  September), I just can't see them attracting a big enough crowd to make it worth it for me personally to play there anymore.  If I am going to invest $150 in a tournament, I'd like to be reasonable certain that the prize pool would be close to $10K or better.  I hope I'm wrong, but without the guarantee, I don't see them getting anywhere near that. 

It's a shame.  They just completed the room's relocation to the other side of the casino, an area in the pit where they will at least get a lot more pedestrian traffic than the old (but iconic) location, which was basically a cave. If you didn't know to look for it, you'd never come across it.  Now it has visibility.  I'm sure that was the reason for the relocation.  But I guess they had missed enough guarantees for management to lose patience and just put a stop to any more potential overlays by withdrawing the guarantee.

I will definitely miss Binion's.  This is the room where I got my very first decent tournament score, a story I told you back in the early days of the blog (here).  Back then it was a $105 tournament and I don't think they had a guarantee.  The tournament has gone through several incarnations since then. From a $125 buy-in to a $140 buy-in to a $175 buy-in.  All of those had $10K guarantees.  When they went to $125 they threw in a few random $160 versions, called "Super Saturday," that had a $25K guarantee.  When they first went to $125, they did the exact same tournament on Sundays, also with the guarantee.  But they had to discontinue that a few years ago because they weren't making the guarantee on Sundays.

Some of my best and favorite blog posts came out of my Binion's tournaments.  Those involved both poker and a colorful cast of characters.  But most of those colorful characters are gone now, I didn't see any of them when I played in September.  Also, I recognized very few of the players—two or three, tops.  In the old days I'd see many, many familiar opponents. 

It turned out to be a last minute decision to even go to Binion's on this Saturday, towards the end of my early September Vegas visit. As I explained at the end of my Venetian tournament write-up (here), I originally thought I'd play the $250, two-day tournament at the V instead.  But the experience cashing in that Venetian tournament soured me on playing another two-day tournament (at least so soon).  So I decided it was time to head back to my perennial favorite tourney at Binions. It turned out to be a great decision for more than one reason.

They had fairly recently restructured the tournament and this version was one I'd never played before.  The buy-in was now $175 and the time of the levels increased as the tournament went on.  The first eight levels were 30-minutes, the next six levels were 40-minutes and then it went to 60-minute levels for the duration. The starting stack was still $20K.  Oh, and they added a 30-minute dinner break in it.  That was sure a nice touch that I definitely appreciated, but actually it was more of a necessity than it used to be because of the relocation of the poker room.  It was now on the other side of the casino and thus far away from the Deli, the most convenient, quickest place for a meal.  It would take too much of the normal 15-minute break to walk over there, eat, and walk back.

And it had the $10K guarantee.  That meant that they need 72 players to make the guarantee.  Well, as it turned out, they only got 57 players.  That's important for two reasons.  One, it helps explain the subsequent decision by Binion's to change the tournament and get rid of the guarantee.  I'm sure that this wasn't the only time in recent weeks they missed the guarantee.  Second, the shortage of players and the overlay provided by Binion's (a bit more than $2K) affected the payout structure of course, to my benefit.

They were paying seven, with the min-cash being $455. The next prize was $555, the $715, $990 and $1,455 for third.  The top two payouts were somewhere in the neighborhood of $3,700 and $2,100.  So I couldn't complain about the size of the min-cash, it was quite a bit more than $350 (double the buy-in, my "requirement"). Presumably that was due to the overlay. Of course, the other side of the coin was that they were only paying seven.  Most of the tournaments I play, you are usually in the money if you get to the final table (if not before).

With that, we begin the recap, level 1 the blinds are 50/100.  I opened to $250 with Queen-9 of clubs, one caller.  I flopped a flush draw and took it with a c-bet of $350.

In the big blind I had King-3 off.  No raise and it was five-way.  The flop was Ace-King-x, two clubs, including the Ace.  My King was a club.  I called $600 and it was three-way. I called $1K on the turn, another club, still three of us.  The river was another club giving me the nuts. I led out for $3K and didn't get a call.

Level 2 (100/200) $22K.  From the big blind with Ace-Queen of hearts, I called $600.  The flop was Queen-high, one heart.  We were heads up and I called $900.  The turn was a blank and I called $2,100.  No betting on a blank river and he mucked when he saw my hand.

In the small blind with King-4, I completed and five of us saw a King-high flop, no one bet. I bet $500 on a blank turn and had one call.  I bet $1K on a blank river and didn't get a call.

I limped in with pocket 3' s and five of us saw a flop of Ace-King-3, two spades.  I bet $500 and had two callers.  I bet $1K on the turn, a blank, and got one call.  I bet $3K on the river, a King, but didn't get a call.

Level 3 (150/300) $31K.  In the small blind I had Ace-Queen,  I called $1,100 and it was four to the flop. The flop was Ace-Jack-x and it checked around.  I bet $2,500 on a blank and took it.

Level 4 (200/400) $33K.  After halfway through this level they broke our table (which was never full) and I moved next store.  In the big blind I checked with King-10 off, it was three-way.  The flop was King-high, I bet $700, one call.  I bet $1K on a blank and didn't get a call.

The guy on my immediate right shoved his last $3,300.  I had Ace-King off and wanted to raise.  I didn't want my Ace-King up against a bunch of players.  While I was thinking about how much to make it, the girl on my immediate left folded out of turn, triggering a bunch of follow up out-of-turn folds.  By the time the dealer had put a stop to all the folding there was only one other player left to act, a reg I've played with many times.  I ended up raising to $10K and she folded.  The guy who shoved showed King-Queen.  A King hit the board, nothing else and I got some chips.

Level 5 (300/600) $34K.  I know, that chip count seems way off.  I noted it at the time, on my contemporaneous notes that it seemed too low.  I think I considered that some of my chips somehow went missing.  I wondered if I had lost some chips in the move from one table to another.  I dunno what happened, perhaps one of my chip counts earlier was wrong.  Whatever.

First hand of the level I had pocket Queens and opened to $1,600.  There was one call and the flop was 10-high.  I lead out for $2,800 and took it.

I had Ace-6 of hearts in the big blind and it folded to the small blind who completed.  I checked behind.  The flop was all low cards, giving me a gut-shot.  I bet $1K and he didn't call.

Level 6 (100/400/800) / $30,600.  I opened to $2K with Ace-Queen and took it.

I opened to $2K with 9-8 of diamonds and the lady on my left called.  The flop was 9-8-7.  I led out for $2,500 and she shoved.  I didn't even ask for a count, I wasn't going anywhere with two pair.  I had her covered.  She showed pocket 10's. She missed her straight and my two pair was good.  That brought me up to almost $44K.

As soon as that hand was completed, they broke our table.  It was still too early for me to be paying attention to how many players or tables were left, we were a long way from the money.  But I guess the table they sent me to this time was the one I was at for the longest time. 

Level 7 (100/500/1000)  $41,500.  Early in the level I opened to $2K with Ace-Queen of spades.  That was too low, I must have forgotten the blinds had just increased.  The big blind called.  I flopped the nut flush, which was nice.  After the big blind checked, I decided to check behind and see if I could get the big blind to bet.  But she checked the turn as well (it was not a spade and it didn't pair the board).  So I bet $2K and didn't get a call.  Not much value there for a great flop.

And that's the end of part 1.  Part 2 can now be found here.

Finding Royalty at the Venetian

Special Guest Post by @AvoidOddLaw

“A simple ‘hello’ could lead to a million things.” – Unknown

I just met Rob in person, for the first time, a couple days ago. I have been a long time, avid reader of his blog and aficionado of the pictures he posted. We have corresponded through Twitter many times, so when I told him I was going to be in Vegas the weekend before Halloween, he readily agreed to meet.  It was a quick meet-and-greet, as he and I were playing in the Aria tournament for that day. Not much to report since we both busted it half-way through. However, the plan was to try to get together for a game before I flew out of town.

I texted him that I was about to play in the Venetian noon tournament and that if I busted early would like to try to meet again.  Coincidently, he was on his way there himself to play as well. So while we were never at the same table, we updated each other during breaks on our progress (or lack of).

Also to my delight, Rob introduced me to the famous (or “infamous” as Lightning would say) Alysia Chang.  I was always curious to see if she would live up to her reputation of being a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Unfortunately, we never sat at the same table either so I couldn’t witness the whirling dervish in action myself. But Pepé Le Pew next to her sure did (check her tweets to fully understand)!

When Rob asked if I would be interested in writing about my escapades in this tournament, I was actually a bit apprehensive. I wasn't sure I could live up to his ability to paint a picture.  And compared to me, Rob tells tales in brevity (keep reading and you will see I am not joking). And now, without further ado, here’s my adventure with the $340 Venetian DoubleStack $25K GTD:

“Do not be distracted by the beautiful celebrities…” – Zoolander

I knew I should be focused on the game in front of me instead of the last few minutes of the Razorbacks - Ole Miss game.  I aspire to be more like Phil Ivey and pierce my opponent’s soul with an unwavering stare. I wanted to watch their every move, looking for the signs that give away the strength of their hands.  But alas, at that moment, I was just another recreational player with the attention span of a goldfish.  And like a teenage boy in the prime of his puberty, I was easily swayed when the attractive Samantha Abernathy sat down across the felt from me.  She is easily recognizable and although I am old enough to be her father, young uncle, I could not help but admire her beauty.

At that moment, my wife’s radar must have been working overtime from 1,300 miles away and it was as if she called the floor herself because within a few minutes of Samantha’s arrival, I felt a tap on my shoulder.  Looming over me was a floor person with a rack in his hand.  With a sigh I took the rack, put my tongue back in, and followed him begrudgingly to another table. And to punish my transgression of the eyes further, I was seated facing away from my original table.  My only consolation was the Penn State – Ohio State game was just starting on the TV.

“Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.” –Charles M. Schulz

I started off slow, playing very passively.  So passive, you would have thought I was hiding from the monsters under the bed or skeletons in the closet.  I was in the small blind with AK after it was limped 3-ways to me.  With the intent to punish the limpers and to exert my dominance over the game, while not wanting to play out of position, I reached for chips and…called.  WTF?!!

To be honest, I really don’t know why I did that at the time. But the big blind offered me redemption and raised the pot for me. There was only one caller when it got back to me. Now was my chance to spring the trap that I unknowingly set, so I grabbed more chips and…called again. OH HELL NO?!!

Who was this passive fish that looked a lot like me?  At least the board was a King high flop. I checked, he bet, the other player folded, and I called. Turn, I checked, he bet, I called. River, I checked, he bet, I called. Do you sense a pattern forming here?  He showed a better played AK and we chopped the pot with my lifeless, timid, amateurish style of play in full view of everyone at the table (and probably the next table over too).

I wish I could say that was the only passive play I had in my arsenal but it seems like I would stay in first gear until break.  At least I ended only down to 20k from my starting stack of 24k.

“I guess it comes down to a simple choice: Get busy living, or get busy dying” – The Shawshank Redemption

During break I finally located the cojones that I lost and came back to the table determined that it was time to get busy playing.  The table I was at had an eclectic group of players ranging from your soft rec player (myself included), all the way up to the tough semi-pro player, and everything in between.  One such player was more focused on the football games and monitoring his sports betting than playing poker.  However, when he did enter a hand, he would bet 7x – 10x the blinds and then bomb the flop with 2x – 3x pot size bets. Unfortunately I never found myself in a situation to take advantage of his bet sizing.  Instead, I went after an easier target: The semi-pro.

At least, I thought he behaved like a semi-pro with his consistent bet sizing and aggressive action when needed.  He showed knowledge of when to throttle back at times and he was building his stack with very little show-downs.  So in one hand, when he raised from middle position, I decided to call from the button with AsTx.

The flop was Ks6x3x. He c-bet as expected and I decided to float. The turn was a Qs.  He checked to me and not liking that either the K or Q could be in his range I opted to see a free card. The river was 9s and he lead out with a small value looking bet. I picked this moment to make a move.

Because of my limp fish image, I felt this was the right time to bluff him off his hand.  I had blockers to the nut flush, to a straight, and to AK/AQ.  So I chambered the revolver and pulled the trigger. I just wasn’t sure if I had the barrel pointed in the right direction.

He tanked for an eternity (at least he didn’t snap call). And when I was starting to think this may work… he made the hero call with QxTs. *Bam!*

“A mighty flame followeth a tiny spark.” – Dante Alighieri

Needless to say, I was starting to feel frustrated and a bit down on how awful a start I was having in this tournament.  And it was entirely my fault. But the reason I picked this tourney was because of its deep stacks and structure. I can make mistakes and still have plenty of time to recover. And the best way to recover from a rough start is to find the spark that lights my heater.

The semi-pro raised to 1.5k from early position and it was called by another player before it came to me. I looked down and found the silver bullets, AA. At this time I was down to 17k with blinds at 300/600/75. I re-raised him to 5k.

He stared at me (and my stack) and after a quick glanced at the player between us he said those magical words, “All-in”. The other player snapped folded and I quickly tossed in a chip and turned over my cards. He shook his head and showed AK. The board ran out and I got my first double-up with the added benefit of putting a big dent into his well-earned stack.

And with that, the furnace kicked on full blast. I called a preflop raise with AJ and flopped AAx. I checked to the preflop raiser, she bet, I called. Turn was A. I check, she checked. River blank and I set the lure and checked. She took the bait and bet. I raised and she folded asking if I had quads. I don’t usually show and just shook my head not wanting to give the table any free information.

There was a raise and a call in front of me when I called with QsJs. Flop was AsKs9x. Bet, call, call. Turn was a 6. Bet and then a raise. I saw that the initial bettor had already cut out chips for a call.  I made the call and he did call as expected. The river was the most beautiful card in the deck. No, Norman Chad it couldn’t be the Ace of Spades (that was already on the flop).  To me the most beautiful card is the Ten of Spades!  Holy Royal Flush Batman!!!

First player checked and second player bet.  Again, the first player gave off a tell, and this time he was telling me he was going to fold so I raised. He folded as expected and the second player…folded (Damn!). This one I had to show. Unfortunately, I was so deeply enthralled with the beauty of it that it was only later I realized I didn’t snap a picture of it. My stack was now at 69.8k with blinds 400/800/100.

I had AcKc in the cutoff and re-raised a middle position raiser, he called. Flop KsQcQs, he led into me and I called. Turn 9c. He bet again and I shoved. He tanked and I was worried that I overplayed my hand when he eventually found a call.  He showed AhKh and I was free-rolling. He shouted no clubs and on the river came the second most beautiful card in the deck Norman, the Jc! My stack was now at 120k with blinds at 600/1200/200. I was on fire!

“I’m on a roller coaster that only goes up, my friend.” - The Fault in Our Stars

The nice thing about having a deep stack in a good structure like this tournament is that now I could play the game I should have done at the very beginning. The heater got my juices flowing.  I picked my spots, being aggressive when in a hand, and maximizing pressure on the other players. I finally found my stride. I played good poker and try to avoid the minefields.  At first, my roller coaster kept climbing the hill.

• ·       At 142k. Blinds 600/1200/200. 71 left.
• ·       At 154k. Blinds 800/1600/200. 58 left.
• ·       At 175k. Blinds 1.2k/2.4k/400. 39 left.

And I found the peak when I had pocket 6’s and busted a player with a flopped set against his overpair. 

• ·       At 250k. Blinds 1.5k/3k/500. 38 left.

 “I didn’t come this far, to only come this far.” – Unknown

But eventually, like all good rides, it descended into a death spiral!  The very next hand I get my AA shoved on by KK just to watch them get cracked with a Turn K.

• ·       At 194k. Blinds 1.5k/3k/500. 37 left.

And it showed no signs of slowing down.  My KK lost to AQ followed by A9 losing to KQ.

• ·       At 130k. Blinds 2k/4k/500. 30 left.

Determined to fight like a cornered badger, I pulled off a bluff with A5 on the button against a player that really didn’t want to fold at first.

• ·       At 176k. Blinds 3k/6k/1k. 27 left.

After giving up some chips on a river shove that I couldn’t call, I found JJ.  Yes, the hand that most recs hate! Young hooded player with ear buds, 3-bet my raise and I decided to play back at him with a 4-bet. Don’t try this at home kids! He eventually found a fold, not willing to commit his stack yet.

• ·       At 210k. Blinds 3k/6k/1k. 27 left.

And when it looked like I was starting back in the right direction, I got blind-sided. Short stack went all in with QT and I called with AA. Board ran out AKJxx.

• ·       At 110k. Blinds 4k/8k/1k. 22 left.

 It was hard to fathom that with only 4 spots away from the bubble that I could be out soon.  I didn’t want to end it like this. The final countdown began:

21 left.

20 left.

19 left.

We went to hand-for-hand. A proposal was made to pay the bubble to speed it up but a couple of the other players shot it down. Each hand played was torturous, like a slow drip down on the forehead.  I was able to get a couple of walks and even stole a blind or two to stay alive. Eventually the bubble burst.

“Everything is negotiable. Whether or not the negotiation is easy is another thing.” –Carrie Fisher

18 left.

17 left.

I was sitting on a stack of 140k with blinds at 6k/12k/2k.  The even chop value was $2,452 which was equivalent to between 5^th and 6^th place.  It was proposed to do an even chop by several players at my table.  I doubted that 17 players would agree.  Nevertheless, they voted on it using red cards for “Yes” and black cards for “No”. 

Our table was all red; the other table had a couple black cards.  No surprise there so play continued. I already accepted my fate that I was on borrowed time and was hoping the poker gods would give me their blessing.

I guess they granted me a partial wish because somehow I managed to win just enough to stay afloat.  Players were dropping like flies:

16 left.

15 left.

14 left.

13 left.

12 left.

I was the shortest stack (106k with blinds 8k/16k/2k) when a new chop was proposed.  This time instead of an even chop, it was suggested to do a chip chop. Someone else suggested an ICM chop but Venetian shot that down. After some discussions, eventually everyone agreed to stop the clock and see what would be the payouts. 

It took the floor some time to count everyone chips, enter it into a spreadsheet, double/triple check the numbers before they told us the amounts.  I already decided that if it wasn’t much more than 12^th place money I would be voting it down since I had nothing to lose.

But when they told me as shortest stack I would receive $1,645, which was equivalent to 7^th place money and doubled what I could get for finishing 12^th, I readily agreed.  Fortunately, everyone else also agreed.  We all shook hands and congratulated each other like we won the World Series (mainly because I think we were all exhausted and relieved it was finally over). 

“All good things must come to an end” – Geoffrey Chaucer

The tournament started at noon and by the time I was out of there, it was almost 2 am. Exhausted but thrilled to cash after a hard fought day, I made my way back to the hotel and crashed. This was the icing on the cake as I had a great Vegas trip and much needed break from reality.  Maybe one day I will tell you about the overall trip and how I got assaulted by a female cop (dressed like the picture shown here).  ;)

About the Author:

My Twitter profile (@AvoidOddLaw) basically describes me in a nutshell:  “Weekend Recreational Poker Player, Weekday Senior Business Analyst, and Everyday Husband & Dad.” I play for the fun and the challenge of it. While I always wanted to become a great poker player, reality dictates otherwise. One day I hope I can elevate my game but until then, I just play the small cash tables and tournaments.