Having spent more time than I would have wished at work, I wandered down to the local Pokertorium last Sunday for some tournament action. An hour prior I sat outside in the mountain sun enjoying the view as I came up with a plan* for the coming fracas. What that was I hesitate to mention, for everyone must see their own weaknesses and develop ways to strengthen their play. Everyone must realistically assess their own strengths and determine ways to capitalize on them. I came up with my own. And then the tournament began…*
Things went well through the first break [four rounds] with me adding about 50 percent to my starting stack. The next segment found me at the second break with a little over double my starting stack. Then the following hand occurred: As the small blind [SB] in an unraised pot looking down at Q-6 of clubs, I completed the bet and four of us saw the flop. Pretty good for my hand…A-10-8 of clubs; I had flopped the second-nut flush. I made a probing bet of half the pot to see where I was and got two callers. The turn brought the 8 of spades; not a good card but still, after my next bet of half the pot again, receiving no resistance or aggression from the others. One opponent mucked his cards and one called. The river card was the deuce of spades – now how, I ask, could that possibly hurt me?
I made a pot-sized bet, the opponent went all-in and I called: He turned over a pair of red twos for runner-runner full house. As this ‘Gee-nee-yus’ is pulling in the chips, I couldn’t help wondering just what he saw on the flop that kept him in the hand? Even the turn where he made two pair – in the face of a flush or even full house on the board – would not have me excited to call the last bet. He needed one of the two remaining eights or one of the two other twos to win; four cards out of 46 to win. The phrase we’ve all heard, that of a ‘blind dog finds a bone once in a while’ certainly applies here, but makes taking the loss no easier to bear.
And to top things off, a fellow I’ve played with for years began repeating “Quack-Quack” for the next 10 minutes, thinking he was being funny. Now, I realize you can’t take things like this personally in poker, but you surely would like to see them get their come-upance. Sometimes it occurs sooner, sometimes later, and sometimes you’re not around to witness it when it does. As the events unfolded, I was there to witness it; it happened sooner than later and I was the one to deal out the retribution. I had Pocket Kings, made a medium-sized raise and he called. The flop was K-Q-6 offsuit: I bet about half the pot, he raised, I went all-in and he just about beat me into the pot. His K-Q for two pair did not improve and my trips put me back close to where I was before Mr. ‘Gee-nee-yus’ zapped me. Mr. ‘Quack-Quack’ was crippled and departed shortly thereafter.
There is a slogan in one of my favorite films “Galaxy Quest” [a fun take-off on the original ‘Star Trek’ television series] whereby, faced with difficulties and opposition, the group says to themselves and each other: “Never give up. Never surrender.” That was now my mantra for this tournament; I had played well not making a single mistake, had taken a bad beat and yet had stayed alert enough to overcome those horrible feelings of ‘Tiltedness’ to regain my original position in the game. An Up, a Down, then Up again.
As we know, Mother Nature does not like imbalances and in the sentence above there are two Ups but only one Down. [You know what’s coming, don’t you?] With three partial tables remaining and the money just down the way apiece, I found myself in the small blind again against a friend with whom I’ve played for years. He said “Hey Drew, we haven’t had a walk at this table all day.” Looking down at Pocket Rockets I couldn’t help myself; friend or no friend, he was another player standing between me and the prize. When I raised, the dealer said the chip touched the table before I said raise and therefore was merely a call of the BB. OK, OK…what harm, right?
My friend turned over Q-2 and stood up to leave when he saw my hand. A Queen on the flop and a Queen on the river crippled me once again. I was blown out of the tournament a few hands later when my pocket 6’s fell to pocket Kings. What a ride. I think I played every hand the way I should have [except perhaps the flopped flush, perhaps I should have played it more aggressively] and yet was eliminated due to pure, dumb luck. Recalling the mantra from ‘Galaxy Quest’ however, were it not for the fickle finger of fate I likely would have ended the tournament with more to show than ideas for an article. Poker has its ups and downs – one must accept the fact these will happen. But until you are out: Never give up. Never surrender.
* Keep in mind one of the laws of combat: No plan survives first contact with the enemy.
