Reeses Pieces: I did "ok"

Yesterday I was struck by an urge. I don't know where is came from exactly (perhaps my addiction?), or why, but I really wanted to play poker. And given that Arin and I didn't have plans until the afternoon and our Fourth of July plans were, well, on the Fourth of July, I figured I would try one last time to get into a tournament at Casino San Pablo. I had been twice before and twice I only made it into the tournament as an alternate and when my name came up and I sat down at the table, I was so far behind the other players that I quickly got trounced. But this time I arrived to a very empty casino and there was plenty of room in the tourney.

So while I waited for the tourney sign up, and because you must be seated at a table to enter, I sat down at the cheapest Texas Hold'm table I could find. It was a limit game. I absolutely despise Limit Hold'm, as it like playing video poker, mindless and completely mechanical for all involved. Because you are "limited" in how much you can raise at any given point it is almost impossible to pressure people out of a pot. As a result everyone ends up chasing down the stupidest hands. It is pure gambling. Plain and simple. Of course many would argue that poker is just "gambling," but I beg to differ. But don't get me started.

So I played just a few hands while I waited and as luck would have it, I picked just the right hands to play - I won about forty bucks at the table, and I essentially just got myself a free roll for the tourney.

I paid my $25 entry fee, drew seat 9 at table 2 where I got my $500 in chips. The first couple of rounds in a tournament are the hardest as people play very erratically, and it is impossible to put people on a hand. Plus with only $500 in chips divided into 2 $100 chips and 12 $25 chips, it is very difficult to go in on a hand without going all in. As a result it wasn't long before someone backed me into a corner, I made a bad call and then boom: I was busted.

"Re-buy!"

God, I hate the re-buy. If you bust someone and they re-buy, it is the most anti-climactic victory ever. But if you get busted and you re-buy, it is heavenly.

My re-buy of $20 got me $1000 in chips: 1 $500 chip and 5 $100 chips. For the next couple rounds I could not get a good starting hand to save my life. My stack was getting chipped away at. And then the antes kicked in. Now I was losing chips every single hand whether I bet or not.

Looking back I think my turning point was when I had about $600 in chips, I was first to act with an Ace-Six and I just figured, "screw it, I'm dead."

"All in."

Everyone folder behind me and I picked up the blinds and the antes. My $600 turned into about $1000 without barely lifting a finger. Then several hands later, I got dealt:

This was the best hand I had seen in a while. I raised. I didn't want to scare anyone away, except the gamblers, so I bet a little less than half my chips. Two people called. Which had me a little worried. The flop came:

There were only two pairs out there that could beat me, so I felt pretty good. But the king scared me. I was first to act and I checked. The next guy bet $400, and then the following guy folded. I figured he was trying to muscle the pot because I acted weak. His tactic was working. But I figured, "what if I went over the top and went all in? If he is bluffing, which I was sure he was, I might scare him away."

"All in."

He called quickly. Shit. We showed our hands. He had a king-jack in his hand. The flopped two pair. I was dead. I started getting my stuff together. The next card came, I wasn't even paying attention.

I still wasn't paying attention when the last card came:

Miracle card. I could hear my opponent, "can you believe this guy? I flop top two pair and he hits runner-runner-straight!"

And that is when things really turned around for me. I never lost a hand after that. I folded some hands, but never lost.

The final pivotal hand is when I when I was in the big blind for $2000 with a $400 ante. There were 4 people left. The chip leader started with a $6000 bet. He never played without having something, and right now we are fighting over who gets $100 and who gets $600. So this is a relatively big deal. The guy right before me went all in but he had to, he had almost nothing left. I thought, awesome, just sit back and let the chip leader take out one more person, and we all move up in the rankings. I look at my cards: pocket jacks.

"All in."

The chip leader quickly called, and showed two sixes. The jacks held against the chip leader. I lost the main pot, but had won a huge side pot. Three hands later I had won. I bought in with $45, and won $595.

I called Arin as I left the casino, "how did you do?" "I did ok." I said. "I took first."

Now to go buy Arin those shoes she's always wanted...