My recent post about investments made me think of another one of my forays into gambling – gambling. Specifically, Texas Hold’em poker. I tried (pushed) my luck in a local satellite tournament for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) back in April of this year.
I had the narrative already written in my head as I traveled south toward Treasure Island Resort & Casino in the ironically named Welch, MN. The Cinderella story, coming out of nowhere, suffering through the effects of the flu and denied the chance to practice when the DOJ shut down the US operations of PokerStars.com and FullTiltPoker.com to win a spot at the Main Event in Las Vegas.
A couple years ago, I had attended an annual sales meeting and the award dinner entertainment was a motivational speaker named Dan Thurmon. Through the course of my professional career, I have attended several business meetings and have endured the bromides of just as many hired speakers, but I really enjoyed Dan Thurmon’s presentation. One of his calls to action was to write down a list of everything you want to do in your life, no matter how seemingly impossible they are to achieve. His point is, once you create your list, you will then start to develop ways to accomplish those goals.
I imagine my boss thought I established goals like “grow sales by 20 percent” or “close a million dollar deal” or “win 'Distribution Manager of the Year' award," but I wrote down “bowl over 200 in a game” and “get under 100 in a round of golf” and “do stand-up comedy during open mike night.” One other goal I had was to participate in a WSOP tournament in Vegas. When I saw Treasure Island had a satellite tournament, I thought it would be my opportunity.
There were a total of five sessions that allowed for 100 people each. I was in one of the first sessions and only 77 people had registered. You can imagine it was a pretty mixed bag of people. There were the regulars of the poker room, the dealers knowing their names, and nerdy know-it-alls who, like me, played poker almost exclusively online and used the colloquialisms found in books about Texas Hold’em. I saw a couple wannabe “playahs” and Federline idolizers. Of course, there were a number of down-on-their luck people hoping the tournament was a Lotto ticket to a better life to round out the group. Later in the tournament, a young Derek Jeter look-alike with lots of bling joined my table. I guessed he pulled Corneila Marie loads of tail and about the same amount of crabs.
The total prize pool was $15,400 ($200 buy in) and every $1000 was an entry in the finale on Saturday. The player in 16th place would take home $400; not a bad payday for about three and a half hours work. I was in the second seat, the first one not being filled at my table. Before the tournament started, the rules of conduct were reviewed. There would be no smoking, spitting, swearing, threats or negative comments towards other players or the dealer, or excessive celebration. I wondered, with these rules, how were there so many gunfights during the Wild West. Once the ground rules were in place, we were ready to begin.
My first hand of the tournament was pocket Kings. I didn’t want to be “that guy” who goes all-in early and often to steal blinds and possibly doubling up on an unsuspecting player. I didn’t go over the top but made some strong bets after the flop, turn, and river. Fortunately, my pair of Kings carried the round. I was off to a good start, but didn’t get anything promising for a long time. In one hand, I was a card shy of getting an Ace high flush, but had to bet all rounds before folding at the river.
My best hand of the round was when I had pocket fours. I limped into the pot and the flop came up King, seven, four. I had my trips and bet pretty big with $1000. Most of the remaining players folded, but one player called my bet. The turn card was another seven and I was sitting on a full boat, fours over sevens. I bet big again and the other player raised me to $3000, which I called. One of the weaknesses of my game is I play the relative strength of my hand while making very little consideration on what other players might have. I knew a full house was strong, but if the other guy had a pair of Kings or a King-seven, his full house would have beaten mine. If I had that thought at the time, I might not have pushed as hard as I did. The river card was no help and it was at this point I wondered if the other guy had a hand that could beat me. My next bet was probably my best, but not for the right reason. I bet really big at $5000. If he raised me, I would assume he would have the pocket Kings and would fold. After a long deliberation, he folded and I took the pot. Whew! Most likely, the guy only had the one King and paired it on the board.
I mucked several hands after that one. I believe it was Phil Hellmuth who said a player shouldn’t play more than 20% of the hands dealt and I think I was just in that range. Players were starting to get eliminated from the tournament and the tables were consolidating. The Jeter look-a-like and I were locked in a pitched battle during the final hand of our table before we were consolidated. We showed each other a lot of “friendliness” (checking after each card) until the river card. Both of us had nothing, but his nothing was better than mine and he took the pot.
I hustled over to my new table in time to be dealt into the next hand. I had a suited Queen-Nine and decided to limp. Another Queen showed on the flop and I felt I had the high pair. I bet $1000 in an effort to drive the action. The guy next to me raised the bet to $5000 and I was stunned. Foolishly, I called. I checked on the turn and the big better went big again. I figured he had pocket Queens and had the decided feeling I was out of my league, so I folded. The remaining players did, too, and he took the pot without revealing his hand.
I was shell-shocked and needed a moment to collect myself. My next hand was a Queen-Jack off-suit, which I would have played normally with the two face cards, but I immediately folded. I kept my eye on the clock as my chip stack slowly diminished. I wanted to make at least the first break at the one hour mark. Fortunately, I didn’t have any good cards I would have considered playing. I reached the break with the shortest stack at the table.
One of my early hands out of the break was pocket Jacks. I bet pretty big and only one player called me. The flop held a King. I bet pretty big in an effort to chase the other player away, in case he didn’t have a King in his hand. He called, but never raised. I checked at the turn and the river and he did the same. We showed our hands and sure enough he had another King and his pair beat mine. I suffered some more self-doubt and wondered if I should have gone all-in. The guy had a bigger stack than I did, so he probably would have called me and I would have lost anyway. At least I was able to play for a little while longer.
More and more players were leaving the tournament and my chip stack wasn’t growing. We were approaching the next round when the antes and blinds would increase again. I did a quick calculation and realized I would be out of chips by the time the dealer button got to me. I needed a hand good enough for me to go all-in. Eventually, I had pocket Sixes and went for it. I was called by another player and when we revealed our cards, he had pocket Queens. I needed another six, but never got it and I was eliminated. I finished at about 45th place out of 77 players, almost in the upper 50th percentile. I was disappointed where I finished, but really enjoyed the experience.
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