Since the day I started really playing poker, I've dreamt about sitting beside the world class players at the table. And thanks to some really good people in the poker blogger community, that dream came true on Saturday. I only wish I could have played better... but that's getting ahead of myself.
For those who don't know, the Italian Pirate is Max Pescatori (that's my back in the picture and Max is on my right, picture courtesy the PokerProf). He was one of two world-class players (along with Charlie Shoten) who sat down with us for the World Poker Bloggers Tour Las Vegas Holiday Classic. And, to my dismay, they were both at my table. Lucky me...
Perhaps I should start that morning. I woke up (on the floor, remember) at about 8:30am. That's about an hour and a half after I went to sleep. I grabbed a quick shower and headed downstairs. I expected to find a group at the poker tables... but I was very wrong.
A large (and boisterous) group was already gathered at the bar. Al Can't Hang was holding court and Iggy was living up to his Guinness reputation. Soon word spread of a stretch Excursion that would take us to Sam's Town. That seemed to get everyone even more rowdy and the liquor flowed.
(edited for content, sorry)
The Excursion pulled up to Sam's Town and we rolled out onto the street and into Sam's Town. It took us all a few minutes to find the conference room for the breakfast and meet-and-greet and we were a little late (sorry PokerProf), but we made it.
I walked in the door and froze. Standing inside were Marcel Luske, Tom McEvoy, Charlie Shoten, Ron Rose, and Kirill Gerasimov. These men have collectively won millions of dollars playing tournament poker, and they were willing to spend their morning talking with a bunch of amateur online poker players (some a little toasted). It was all a little overwhleming, especially when the beautiful Evelyn Ng stopped in.
Soon, it was tournament time. I think by then, a few players had sobered up, others (um... Iggy?) never made it.
We drew for seat and I landed on table 4, seat 8. It seemed like a good enough seat until I found Max Pescatori on my right and Felicia Lee on my left. Then Charlie Shoten sat down in seat 2. That meant the three most experienced tournament players in the field were at my table and I was stuck between two people I considered the favorites.
To say I was intimidated would be an understatement. Really, I just didn't want to make a fool out of myself.
The first hand is dealt, and before I get a chance to look, the first roar of "the HAMMER" erupts from talbe 1. It seems that GRob managed to drop it on the first hand of the tourney. Congrats to him.
That's when I look down at my cards and see 72 offsuit. I really think had I been at any other table, I would have played this hand. I was even in the small blind (of T25) so I already had money in the pot. Charlie raised from early position to T100. The minimum raise and I still ended up folding.
I think you know what came on the flop: 7-2-x. I wanted to kick myself. I would have gotten off to a pretty solid start, but it wasn't going to happen.
Charlie was quickly working up a big stack, but Max wasn't going to let him run away. When Max turned the nut flush against Pocket Rockets, he knocked the first player out from our table and built himself a hefty stack.
I limped into a pot on the button with K8s and when the flop came A-A-x, I threw enough into the pot to take it down. It wasn't much, but it was nice to win a pot.
Soon after I caught my only slightly premium hand, AQs. I raised to 450T (3x BB) from MP and Charlie called me with his big stack. The flop a rainbow of under cards. At that point, I was down to about 1400T, but I figured I should make a play at the pot. I figured I had Charlie beat at that point so I tossed another 600T into the middle and got called.
I think my problem was the bet wasn't big enough. But if I bet anymore, I was virtually comitting myself to the pot, so I guess I should have pushed all in, right? I don't know. Anyway, a K came on the flop, I checked, Charlie bet, I folded and Charlie showed KJ offsuit. My read after the flop was right and now I wonder if I had pushed if he would have folded or if he would have called an busted me.
That was the last hand I would play before the first break. I know I'm a tight player, but I would have played marginal hands if I would have seen anything. Every time I caught something I thought about playing, a huge raise came in front of me.
By the time I hit the first break, I was down to just 425T and the blinds were about to go up to 150T/300T. When we sat down, I was resigned to going all in, especially considering I was the big blind. Amazingly, it was folded all the way around to Max, who apologetically raised me all in without looking at his cards. I figured it was getting any better than that and called blind.
Max flipped over 8-4 offsuit. That made me very happy. My first card was a 10, to which I said, "Well I'm ahead." Then I flipped an 8, to which much of the table said in unison, "No, you've got him dominated!" The flop didn't help Max and I doubled up on a world class pro.
Unfortunately, it wouldn't mean that much. I was up to 850T before losing another 150T in the small blind, leaving me at just 700T. A few hands later, I saw my first, and only, pocket pair of the tournament: 7's. Then I watched it get raised in front of me, then raised all in. I still didn't have much choice, I had to make a move.
I put my money in and got called by the other raiser. That meant I had a chance to actually triple up. When the cards were flipped, I was way behind. It was my 77 vs. KQ offsuit vs. pocket 10's. Ouch. The handy Hand Analyzer says I had an 18% pre-flop chance of winning.
When the flop came 4-7-8, I came out of my chair. Suddenly, I'm an 85% favorite! The KQ is dead, and it's just me and the Genius of the Poker. The turn is a J, no harm, right? I'm still an 85% favorite and the "Genius" has just 6 outs. That's right, just 6 outs.
Just 6 outs, right?
The 9 on the river was like a punch to the gut. It hurt. I kept telling myself, "Well, you were behind at the beginning, right?" But that didn't help. It was a bad beat. So instead of getting back up to about 2200T, I was uncerimoniously out in 23rd place. Dammit.
GRob was the unfortunate soul to land in my seat, and we was out soon after me. Otis lasted a little longer, but his coin flip failed and he was gone, and the Up For Poker crew was out. I have a feeling we'll do much better in the next event.
In the end, it came down to the two people I thought might get there: Max and Felicia. They agreed to a chop and on the last hand, Felicia sucked out on Max to take the title. I guess we were happy a blogger outlasted the pro in the end.
I've got to say the tournament, despite the bad cards, was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life. I can't thank Max and Felicia enough for talking with me through the tournament. For an hour, I got to sit beside a player who is usually sitting beside players like Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. It was amazing.
Think about it. Max spent more than 3 hours playing with a bunch of rank amatuers and talking poker. How many pros would really do that? Max did, and I can't thank him enough. I only wish I had played better!
Coming Up:
Gawking at World Class Players
My Worst Beat and then Revenge
Sports Betting is Evil
The Aladdin: Bring Your Rod and Reel