Damn River! ⇒
So I got invited to only my second Texas Hold'em poker tournament yesterday. It was put on by a friend of Dave P's out in Coquitlam. Turns out that Ian hadn't ever organized a tournament before and most of the people there had never been in one so it took about an hour to work out all the details. 32 of us each put in $50 and split into 3 tables. I was a little worried about this competition because, Doug, Dave and Dwayne were all there and they are all generally better than me so I wasn't sure how long I would last. That plus I hadn't been in many tournaments and you have to play them differently than you do with normal ring games.
So I played alright for a while but then my fortunes took a turn for the worse. I lasted until there were 9 of us left and 8 make the final table and their money back. So we were all playing conservative with a few of us playing extra conservative to try to outlast the other. But, you don't get ahead by playing conservatively, and I had a decent hand A-10 off suit. So I go all in hoping that everyone will fold and I will steal the blinds plus a little. But the bastard Dwayne, who knows that the next person out doesn't win a thing calls me!! He flips over K-7 off suit, which means that I am way ahead, probablility-wise. Then flop comes and he pairs up his 7! Yikes...not good. A blank on turn.....and then a 10 on the river!! Woo hoo! Still alive. Then I get pocket 5s and go all in again and the guy that is the short stack calls me. Lucky for me I get a five on the flop to give my trip 5s and I push Glen out of the tournament in 9th place. Sorry Glen. This means, that I made the final table and I am guarenteed to get my money back!
Once we rearrange everyone and combine two tables into one, we get going with the final 8. I am definately short stack (again) so I have my work cut out for me. I play tight for while to try to wait out a few people, with surprisingly, works. Then I decide that in order to win I need to start playing a little more aggressively. And wouldn't you know it, I start to hit some cards at the same time. And wouldn't ya know it I work my way back into the game and the other 5 people go out. By this time I am actually in 2nd place and quite proud of myself. After all, my goal was only to make the final table and here I am in second place.
And then, THE HAND came. I have K-7 off suit and Dave bets into me. Now, he has been pushing me around for years, but I think am finally starting to figure him out, so I call his bet. The flop comes and I have second pair and I think he is chasing a flush so to try to scare him away I move all in (I must have done this 6 times already...kinda fun) and I guess he figures either I am bluffing or figures what the heck, it won't cost him more than half his money. We flip over our cards and he was chasing that spade flush. I am ahead in the hand and all I need is two non-spades and I will be the new chip leader. The turn is a blank but unfortunately the river was a spade and I am out of the game. Damn river.
Anyway, I was quite pleased with my play (except for the colossal, near fatal call I made earlier in the night that almost cost me all my chips) and I came home up $150 ($200 minus my $50 buy-in). Not bad for a night's work.