My Experience of the third Welsh Poker Series
10 Oct
So anyway, the end of Level 6 came, and I had made it. This came as something of a relief. All players still in at this stage were awarded a Grosvenor Swansea card protector chip – we had something for our £165 after all! There were a total of around 18 rebuys, and there had been 88 buy-ins in total – including some players who’d made the trip across following Cardiff’s defeat to Newcastle – so there was in fact no overlay and the guaranteed prize pool of £15,000 had in fact been exceeded. I had just around 10,000 chips, a lot less than I’d started with, but still, enough to give me some leeway – the blinds were still not that high after all, given the structure of the tournament.
Soon after, I scooped a reasonably big pot and at last, I was back above my starting stack again with around 30,000. Now at last, I felt, I could start to play some poker. There were now 61 players remaining of the original 88. I was well behind the leaders, but I could start to feel a little bit more optimistic about my situation in general. I was still not about to announce to facebook friends living in Swansea that they should come down to enjoy my success – I was going to have to wait a lot longer before considering doing this, not really wanting anyone to know about my considerable investment unless it was definitely going to pay off! But I was feeling ok.
I lost a small amount, and then I had my nightmare hand. I picked up a pair of 10s, with a stack of around 26,000. This is considered to be a pretty premium hand. There was a small-ish raise by the guy who I previously referred to as “the bluffer”. I asked how many chips he had – I believe, at that stage, around 35,000. Re-raising, perhaps even going all-in (something I was very reluctant to do) was an option, but instead I decided just to call. There was one additional caller from the dealer button. The cards were all low, an 8 and a 9, and a 2, I believe. Low cards should usually be considered manna for anyone holding an over pair. “The bluffer” checked. An obvious opportunity for me to put in a large-ish bet, one might think. I’m not sure what it was, but something stopped me from betting. Whether it was the recollection that I’d gone out of the last WPS with pocket 10s when there had been 3 undercards, and I’d bet, I don’t know. Whether it was the fact that I considered the bluffer’s check to be slightly suspicious, given that he was want to bet most flops, I’m not sure either. Perhaps it was due to the number of times recently where I’d had an over pair and bet big, only to be out-done by someone who’d flopped a set. Whatever it was, checking here proved to be a fatal error.
The turn card was yet another low card, but there were now 2 hearts on the board. Now the bluffer bets 6,000. This is obviously quite a large bet. I feel almost as if I’m being punished for not betting the flop. I can still be fairly confident that I’m ahead, and I expect that he is betting here with a flush draw. But too many times recently, I’ve been put out to someone who’s flopped a set, and this is what I’m most wary of. Let’s face it, in a tournament like this, unless you’re coming along with some nice suited cards, in most cases, if you are playing a hand, it will be two large cards, or a pair. So there is a reasonable chance that the bluffer bet initially with a pair, and he has now got a set – killing my pair of 10s. Well, anyway, again, I have the option of raising – although this will pretty much put me all-in, so instead, I just call.
The river card is yet another low card, and it’s not a heart. I should have won the hand, as long as the bluffer does not have a set, or a pretty peculiar two-pair. The problem is, I know he is going to bet. I decide I am calling another bet of around 6,000. Instead, of course he bets 17,000. I’m guessing he has made a quick count of my chips and has seen this almost puts me all-in. We had got past the re-buy stage, but I was still determined to at least make it to the end of day one. In spite of the fact that I was fairly sure I had the better hand, I did something which I would not normally do – perhaps have never done! – and that was, I folded an over-pair. The bluffer showed queen/jack of hearts – my suspicion that he had a flush draw proved correct (and in fact, also a straight draw – if he had hit a 10, which would also have given me a set, that really would have been a nightmare for me), and if I’d only made the call, I’d have been up to over 50,000, and back into serious contention.
Well, that was the killer for me. I would compare it thus. Imagine sitting in a train station waiting for your train to come along. You wait patiently all day as several other trains go past, other people getting on and off. Finally your train comes along. You can see it’s your train. But something stops you from getting on it! And instead, you decide to wait, in the hope of another train then coming along. That’s how it was really.
The patience that’s required, especially when your short-stacked in a tournament of this nature, really is incredible. It really is an endurance test, as it still requires you to keep up your concentration. I can fully understand why in 3 or 4 day tournaments, people feel the need to have head and shoulder massages. Your brain starts to become numb, and the Grosvenor’s in house crooner was not helping!
It was getting towards the end of Day One, and I was down to around 5,000. I managed to double up, all in from the dealer button with k/9. The big blind made a reluctant call with 2/3, but with his stack size, it would have been foolish not to. He actually hit a 3 on the turn, but a king on the river kept me in it. A little later, with just over 10,000, I doubled up again with ace/king, as it happens against the guy I’m still referring to as the bluffer (I’m sure there was more to his game than just bluffing – struck me as quite a good player in fact) and I was up to around 20,000. I ended Day One with 21,000 chips. The chip leader had around 250,000, but 10th place was only around 60,000, so I wasn’t that far behind, although pretty sure I was in the bottom five of the 38 remaining.
We placed our chips in bags – it’s a bit like bagging up your needles this procedure, certainly has a surgical feel to it – and each went to get some rest. So back I returned the following day. This time, as it was a Sunday, I managed to get a free park. I may have paid £165 (admittedly, not of my money), but I was still after a free parking space if I could get one.
My plan today was basically to wait for a premium hand, donk it all in, and hope to double up. The other short stack at my table, who had around 6,000, was out first hand, so I hope he hadn’t had to travel far (and I hope he got a free parking space). As it turned out, I didn’t quite stick to my plan. I called with a jack/nine suited, and then put it down to an all-in bet from the big blind. I called to a min-raise in the big blind, along with 2 other callers, with 6/8 off suit, just because, along with the antes, it seemed to be good value. Then next hand, now with a total of just around 8,000, I had queen/nine suited in the small blind. This is quite a nice hand. A much better than middling hand, at any rate. “The bluffer” – as stated, I’m sure there is more to his game than that! – raised, and I felt that my hand was sufficiently good to make a slightly optimistic call (or in fact, a small re-raise all-in).
Well, the guy had queen/jack, so I was way behind. As it happened, there was a queen on the river, so if he’d just had king/jack, or obviously, just about any other hand, I’d have won it, but his jack kicker played, and I was, to quote one of the more well-known poker commentators, whamboozled.
I shook the hand of my nemesis, hoping in fact that he might go on to win the tournament, so I could at least say I’d lost to the eventual winner. I’m not sure where he did end up – certainly higher than my 34th place. The eventual winner was someone who had been sitting at my table, not from the start, but for the previous 3 hours or so. He seemed to be a pretty consistent, solid player. Nothing fancy, no theatrics, seemed generally a nice guy, so I’m happy he won. Of course I’d be happier if I’d won. I’d have been happier if I’d at least made the cash, and proved my worth to my Uncle and the many friends I have who know me as a poker player. But, apart from the one killer hand, I actually felt I played reasonably well generally. I had been short-stacked for so long, which had been incredibly frustrating, but I felt I dealt with this quite well. I had definitely enjoyed playing in this tournament. £165 may seem like quite a large sum to invest to get this kind of enjoyment – let’s face it, if you just want an enjoyable game of poker, you can pay just £5 for a night’s entertainment at the local pub – but surely a little bit of craziness is allowed sometimes?!
