At the end of March I was invited to play in a no-limit Texas hold'em tournament sponsored by Poker Player Newspaper. It was held at the Gold Coast and called "Beat the Pros." The pros consisted of columnists and others associated with the print industry. We all had $300 bounties on our heads and a free entry into the tournament. In addition to our starting tournament chips of $1500, we were given $300 in live $25 casino chips. For every level a pro survived he got to pocket a $25 chip to a max of $200. The bounty was larger the earlier the pro was knocked out. In fact the first player knocked out of the tournament was a pro and that lucky "bouncer" received the full $300 bounty. I didn't cash but at least survived seven levels to pocket $175 and come in a respectable 21st out of 84 starting players. I'd like to review the hand that sticks in my mind. It wasn't the one that knocked me out but it was the one that crippled me. The blinds had reached $400-$800 with a $100 ante. Even though I had built my stack from its original $1,500 to just under $10,000, at the current cost per orbit I needed to make some moves pretty quickly. The winner of the previous day's tournament went all-in and I had him covered, but if I lost I would be down to around $3,000. I peeled back the corners of my cards and looked at a pair of nines. There was nobody behind me and I felt it was a good time to gamble figuring my opponent had two over cards to my pair of nines. I called and we flipped over the cards. He held the A-6 of diamonds so I was better off than I had figured. Because he only held one over card I was almost a 70 percent favorite to add this hefty pot to my stack.
The dealer burned a card and counted out three cards for the flop but the last card was face up. The dealer called a floorman over who ruled that the boxed card did not exist and tossed it into the muck having the dealer add one more card to make the flop. The flop did not help either one of us and did not contain a diamond so I could breathe easier and avoid the worries of a flush running down my pocket nines. The turn was a harmless card as well. Now with one card to come and my opponent only possessing three outs I was a prohibitive favorite. I'm sure you've guessed what the river card was. Yeah, an Ace! But hey, that's Poker. The table then broke out into a discussion of how the boxed card had allowed the ace to surface. It was a tough pill to swallow but I smiled and said "Nice hand" to my opponent. With only $3,000 left and the blinds moving up to $600 and $1,200 with a $200 ante, the balance of my tournament play was short lived.
It was a fun day and there is never anything wrong with a free roll, especially since I did get to pocket $175 of my bounty money before awarding the last $125 to the player who knocked me out. Is there a goal to take away from this time together? Regular readers of Improving Performance know there is always a goal. Nobody likes to lose but nobody likes a sore loser or a gloating winner for that matter. So whether you win or lose make sure you handle the outcome with poise and dignity. Everyone at my table played like a pro in that regard so they don't need this lesson but someone reading this column might.
See you next "TIME"
