Tournament Poker - Entry Level

     I came to Vegas to work and I also came to Vegas to play some Poker. I really don’t want to play against the best in the world because I know that my game is simply not tough enough. I need a little softer competition. Unlike the compulsive gambler, I get a high from winning rather than losing. This makes the Stratosphere well suited to the game I am looking for in Vegas. The Stratosphere Poker Room has a mixture of tough local players and tourists with the occasional WSOP player taking advantage of the Stratosphere’s inexpensive room rates. Some of the tourists really play well and some are beginners. This is a good mix for me. The hard line Poker professionals don’t waste their time playing $60 tournaments and $1-$2 No Limit Hold’em. That suits me just fine. My Poker bankroll insists that I play at these levels until I can win enough to play at higher limits.

     The Tuesday 8 PM $60 tournament at the Stratosphere was just one table of ten players when I signed up, but they got a few more entries and we had 19 on two tables by the end of the first level. Each player starts with 4000 in chips. With the blinds set at 25 and 50, this gives the player 80 Big Blinds (BBs) to work with. After 20 minutes the blinds go up to 50 and 100 and up from there every 20 minutes.

     My cards simply didn’t have any rhythm for the first few levels. My raises were called and my “Continuation” bets were met with check-raises forcing me to fold. At the 100-200 level I had 1800 left, only 9 BBs. I always have a sense of desperation whenever I have less than 10 BBs. I needed to start accumulating some chips or risk being blinded into oblivion.

     I was on the button and it was folded around to me. Nine BBs is enough to make the blinds fold unless they have a real hand. In fact the guy in the Big Blind had a stack slightly smaller than mine. To me that made the 6-5 off suit I was holding a power hand worth shoving with. I pushed my stack forward and announced, “All in.” The lady in the Small Blind folded and after some painful soul searching, the young buck in the Big Blind decided to put his tournament life at risk with an ace and a ten. Well, at least I had two “live” cards. I spiked a five on the flop and the board ran out favorably giving me a 3500 chip pot. After that pot, the rhythm of the game changed. The under-the-gun player, a burly, savvy tournament player called Big John, limped in for 200 and from late position with pocket nines I raised it to 800.

     He said, “Is it just me?” and folded his cards, giving me the small pot.

     I was pleased he didn’t come over the top because I would not have been able to continue. As I raked in the chips he said, “Five-six again?”

     “Are you kidding?” I replied, “I’d have gone all in with five-six!”

     The player to my right was dressed in all black with dark sunglasses. He was quiet and as expected played tight and aggressive. He had lost a few pots and was left with a medium-small stack. Big John raised and after some thought, the man in black, leaning on his right elbow and gesturing with his open hand asked the dealer, “How much is it?”

     Then he pushed his chips forward announcing, “All in.” Big John called and when the cards were turned up we saw the man in black’s pocket aces. The Aces held up. The man in black doubled up and Big John took a hit to his stack.

     Big John said, “So that’s your tell, huh? The ‘How much is it?’ That’s your Aces tell, huh?”

     We laughed.

     Next hand Big John was at it again, limping in. I had a strong Ace so I leaned over on my right elbow, gestured with my right hand and trying to match the man in black’s serious tone said, “How much is it?”

     The table erupted with laughter.

     “Aces?”

     “No, Five-six!” I lied with false sincerity. Then I raised and everyone folded. I smiled and traded the dealer my face down cards for the small pot.

     I worked my way up to a larger than average stack when with ten players remaining, we consolidated the tables. Then came a card rush. Five hands in a row: AK, KK, AK, QQ (no callers), AQ big pot. There may have been a few smaller hands in between that I folded but it felt like I was playing and winning every hand. In the second AK hand, after two callers, I simply limped and won a nice pot when I flopped a King and got a caller for my small bets all the way to the river. The AQ hand was one limper plus Blind versus Blind. I was in the Small Blind. I made a small raise. The Big Blind called and the limper folded. I checked in the blind before the dealer acted and I watched my opponent watch the dealer put out the flop. My opponent seemed unsure, picked up some chips, thought better of it, put them back on his stack and checked. The dealer put out the Turn card and I looked at the board for the first time. It was 10-6-Q-Q giving me trip Queens. I bet 3000 and got a call. The River was an Ace giving me the Queens full of Aces Full House. I bet 12000 which was about three quarters of my opponent’s stack. He called and showed A-10, his pair of tens counterfeited by the pair of queens on the board.

     At this point I had amassed about 39000 chips. This was over half of the chips in play in the entire tournament. If my friends Barry or Tim were here they would tell me to take a walk and come back when I reached the money. The cards helped. The rush was over as I looked at a string of hands where no card was higher than a seven. Twice I folded the Small Blind when it was folded around to me. I let them knock each other out. The few times I raised or re-raised I got no callers and won small pots without a fight.

     This tournament paid three players. We were now down to four. The Frenchman (who was not French but French Canadian) who had busted Barry the other night with pocket aces suggested we each put something up for the bubble boy. That way the player busting out on the money bubble wouldn’t go away empty handed. They all agreed on $20 per player giving the bubble boy an $80 prize for his efforts. I couldn’t in good conscience say no. A little voice in my head was saying, “Yes, it’s a lousy bet because there is no way you will be next to go out but if you’re an arrogant ass and say, ‘No,’ the poker gods will make you lose every hand from now on.” On the other hand, agreeing to donate $20 to pay the bubble was like taking an umbrella on a cloudy day. If you take it, it won’t rain. It was also an opportunity to be a “Great Guy”. One of my philosophies for living is that when you get that occasional opportunity to be a really great guy, you should take advantage of it.

     I pulled out a twenty and told everyone I would hold the money being the least likely player to win it.

     The next hand I busted the Frenchman. He had the smallest stack and having successfully negotiated a safety net for himself pushed all in. I was on the button with K-10 suited. I called. The Big Blind also called. There was a king on the flop and we went check-check. Another king hit the Turn and I couldn’t check anymore. The Big folded and when the cards were turned up I was shocked to see the case king in the Frenchman’s hand. I had him outkicked with my ten to his nine. The river was a blank and my ten kicker held up to get me into the money, the top three, with a dominating chip stack.

     A few hands later I found a pair of nines in my hand and called an all in raise. My 9-9 was a 70% favorite against my opponent’s A-7 and it held up when the board ran out without an ace. This put me in the top two with a 9 to 1 chip lead.

     The heads up session was pretty short. 3 small pots with no calls, then I raised with J-10, both hearts. He re-raised and I called. He had A-10 off suit, both black. It was literally a coin flip. I haven’t run the exact hand on pokercalc.com but if it is not 50-50, it’s only 55-45 in favor of the A-10. Small cards flop but I catch a Jack on the Turn and when the board paired on the River it was all over.

     First place paid $418 less a $25 dealer tip, less $20 for the bubble boy. My miniscule Poker bankroll is very happy.