Chief Dan George played an aging Cherokee warrior in Clint Eastwood’s The Outlaw Josie Wales. His character survived the despicable treatment of the “civilized tribes” during the 1840’s ‘Trail of Tears’ forced relocation from ancestral homes in the central eastern U.S. to the Oklahoma territory. The old chief relates asking Indian agents how they will survive, to which he received the reply, “endeavor to persevere.” The chief said, “So we went the way the whites had shown us, all the time we ‘endeavored to persevere.’ I still don’t understand what he meant by that.”
Nowadays one might paraphrase that by saying, “Try to hang on.” Meaning, you’ll get no help from us, but keep on trying to keep on. Relating that to poker – which these articles ostensibly are about – I submit the poker axiom: “Never give up while you have a chip and a chair.” An early poker great (Sailor Roberts) had been beaten down to a single chip in one of the first WSOP’s, yet he turned that ‘chip and a chair’ around to then win the tournament.
I entered the Sunday tournament in which there was a buy-in and two optional rebuys. My plan – recall that old law of combat, “No plan survives first contact with the enemy” – was to enter the tournament keeping the rebuys in reserve. Well, I needed both of them before the first break. I played tight and strong yet was defeated time and again by a dark horse coming out of nowhere, catching miracle card(s), sending me in search of my rebuy tickets. With all rebuys made, I should have had 30,000 chips; at the break I had less than 5,000. A long, long way to go to just catch up.
I then endeavored to persevere and did so for the next four hours. Up a little, down a little, then up a little more; by the time of the third break – six hours into the tournament – I had 27,500 and oh-so-close to my should-have-been starting stack. Trouble was, by that time, two-thirds the starting field had been eliminated putting the average stack size close to 70,000. For the entire tournament I felt I was the runt of the litter and relegated to hind…well, I wasn’t getting much and let’s leave it at that.
“And then,” to use Salieri’s phrase from Amadeus, “A miracle occurred.” In early position I found two red Aces. I made a standard raise getting two callers; fearing crackage, I forlornly took in the flop: A-ten-9. Hmmm…things are looking up. Thinking about it for a minute I bet half the pot and they both called. The turn delivered the second black Ace: Now all the Aces were accounted for and they were all in my hand.
I thought some more, then checked; the second player went all-in and the third folded. I thought some more, then tossed in the remainder of my stash. He turned over pocket tens for a full house, performing a classic double take when I revealed quads: “I put you on one Ace, but not two.” In that hand I almost tripled up and was within reach of an average stack size. A second miracle materialized when, calling from the small blind with “Cheryl Big-Slick” (the dreaded 3-2 – ask me about that hand sometime) I flopped an open-ender getting there on the turn. Now I was a chip contender.
The third miracle that night occurred after raising with Ah-9h, getting a caller, then flopping a heart draw; I bet again and was called. The turn was no help – all little cards – so I bet again, was called again, and when the river blanked I decide to bet again (Stu Unger once told Mike Sexton that “…some players can take two shots, few can take three”), my opponent reluctantly folded. Later he said he had a flush draw; I told him I had the nut draw and even if he hit he still would have lost. He felt no better after hearing that.
I now made the final table: Five and a half hours – closer to six – of hanging on, making moves whenever I could, surviving, thinking that one-in-a-million odds of success are better than none at all. Seven hours into the tournament I was the chip leader and we agreed to chop the pot. From a dismal beginning through long hours of boredom, torment and misery, to final table and a respectable cash.
While you are still in the game, while you hold that chip and a chair, while there is yet a chance of survival and thus an opportunity for victory, endeavor to persevere.
Drew Chitiea is a semi-pro poker player living in Colorado. His tournament wins are over $500,000 with 4th place at a WPT event and 2nd place at Binion’s WPC.
