I was looking back at some of my old posts recently and I noticed all the ones about my results in poker tournaments have been about losses. You all must think I'm pretty bad at poker because my tournament finishes have been fairly disappointing. True, I only play a handful per year, but its been over 4 years since I've cashed. This past Sunday would change all that.
Berkshire Poker's latest stop was at the Polish Community Center in Pittsfield. Buy-in was $85 (I forgot to pre-register) and had about 30 players. We started with 12,000 in chips. The first hour started slow. The dealer at my table had never played cards in his life and he couldn't shuffle. His girlfriend stood behind him and shuffled a 2nd deck while he dealt. He was a good guy though and he caught on quickly. The only hand I had in the first hour of play worth talking about was when I had A-K. Blinds were 100/200 and I made a raise to 1000. The guy to my left called and we saw a flop of 2-4-5. I bet 2000 and after thinking for a minute or two, he folded K-K face up. I literally almost shat myself. He had somehow convinced himself that I had Aces and declared it was too early to start messing around with K-K. I said nothing.
At the first break I had 14,400 in chips and a new table with an extremely competent dealer who knew how to move the game along. Hour 2 wasn't much different from Hour 1. I held my own and continued to be patient. I sat at 16,900 going into the 2nd break.
Hour 3 was insane. Sitting on about 16,000 I picked up A-Q offsuit in the big blind. There were 2 limpers in for 1000 each. I moved all-in and was promptly called by both players! Crap! I thought. Here we go again right? Imagine my surprise when they both turned over the same hand: A-J. Boom! After that hand I was sitting on 45,000 and into the driver's seat I went.
A few hands later the guy who laid down K-K to me busted out and begged me to tell him what I had. "You had Aces right?", he asked. "No.", I replied/lied. "I had 4-4 for a set. You made a good laydown." There was no way in hell I was telling this kid the truth about what I had. Courtesy or no courtesy, I may have to play with him again someday. (More on this coming up in future posts). Hopefully he's not reading my blog. Ha! If so, sorry kid. Now ya know though. ;)
I made the final table somewhat comfortably. I think I was running 3rd or 4th in chips with 10 to go and 4 people paid. Then, it happened. The ultimate suckout. Once again I had A-Q and moved all-in for about 45,000. I was called by a gentlemen two seats to my left who only had about 14 or 15000 so I had him covered in chips, but not in cards as he held the deadly A-A. Ouch! Flop was K-4-J. The 10 hit the turn giving me broadway. A meaningless 7 hit the river and he was busto. Terrible I know. I've had that type of thing happen to me many times (see previous posts) and I felt his pain. Still, I couldn't help but grin. Break 3 arrived shortly after and my stack sat at 53,500.
We decided when we got to 6 handed that 5th place would get $50 back. A nice gesture and I gladly contributed. 6 players left and 5th would be considered a cash. My stack was modest and there was no need to rush things. I eventually grinded down to 3 handed play. Sweet eh? Only problem was I only had 30,000 chips left and blinds were 5000/10000. I was already thinking about what I was gonna have for dinner to celebrate my 3rd place finish when I went all-in with A-2 and was called by the kid on my left with A-9. Board ran out 6-10-4-2-4. 60,000 now. A couple hands later I moved with K-9 and was called by the same kid with J-10. K-9 held and now I was over 100,000 and very much back in it. I eventually got heads-up and was behind in chips. Before the first hand was even dealt, the guy offered to split the remaining money evenly and I gladly accepted. He got credit for 1st place, but I didn't care. Not like we get a trophy, or better yet, a gold bracelet. $490 was a nice payout. I threw Barry The Dealer a 10 spot and out the door I went. The monkey (or APE as I like to refer to him) was finally off my back. Not only was it a cash, but first place money! See? I DO know how to play.
One interesting footnote: I was not dealt A-A, K-K, or Q-Q the entire tournament. Who needs good cards to win?
