Angels and Demons

So I just got back to the pad in Minneapolis a little bit ago after a very enjoyable airport pickup. The events of yesterday have been rushing in and out of my head all day, hard to believe it wasn't even 24 hours ago that I was still playing. I'm in a far better place now, was able to get some distance and perspective... but it wouldn't be right if I didn't dish out the blow by blow account of the action. Ding. Ding.

Starting time high noon, an absolute sea of humanity descending on the Rio. As I had mentioned to Kelly earlier, if there's an economic crisis going on, you would never know it from the masses of people who swarmed to the Series. I had a giant thing of fruit and a croissant beforehand...waaay too much fruit to eat in one sitting, but I think I did ok. Table 19, seat 5. That was me.

We started with 3000 in chips with the blinds at 25/25 and increasing every 60 minutes. So while not as great a structure as the main event, it was really pretty good. And I would certainly need it to be. The first level was really about what almost was.... One guy raised to 75, one caller, I called with 55, the big blind called also. The flop came out 532, it got checked to me, I bet 125 and everyone folded. That's no fun. Not too long after that, dude from the East coast with a "Vince" shirt on raised to 125 and I called in the big blind with 33. J 9 3 on the flop, I check-raised his 250 bet to 550, hoping it looked like I was stealing, but he folded. Shoot! So I was up to around 3600 when I raised with A10 to 75 and got three callers, including a nice gentleman to my left from South America. The flop came A Q J with two hearts, didn't love it but had to bet, I went with 150 and only my SA friend called. The turn was an offsuit 2, I bet 250 and he went all-in for 800 total. Ugh. I was getting 3 to 1 on my money but was clearly behind... it was a really close line but figured I had outs... which I did when I called and he showed A2 for two pair on the turn. A king or ten would win it, a queen or jack would split it, but the river was a 3 and I was down to 2500. Shortly after at the 25/50 level, I raised with AJ and two people called, including my SA buddy again. The flop was AQ3 with two clubs, I bet 250, he made it 600, and I thought for quite a while before folding, and he was nice and showed 33. So minimal damage...but damage nonetheless.

A couple of side notes, the dude who came in a couple hours in to fill the 9 seat at my table was apparently good buddies with Shawn Sheikhan, who kept coming over to check on his status. Sheikhan is the guy who had the verbal wars with Mike Matusow late in the main event four years back, for those who have followed on ESPN.

A guy came by and was taking pictures of our table at one point, and even though I wasn't involved the hand, I decided to put on my "I'm thinking really hard right now in a deep and mysterious way" look just for the hell of it. And yes, I have problems.

Really for the first six levels of the tourney, there were very few hands of consequence. I was up to 4500 at one point after making two pair from the big blind, then I would drop back down around 3k, up to 4400, down to 3100. During this time, Sheiky's friend, who was the chipleader, raised and a guy who was short stacked moved all in. I looked at my K8 and folded. Sheiky's friend called and showed KK... and the other guy had 88. Funny. I didn't mention this to the table.....until the board came X X X X.....8. The old one outer to stay alive. Crazy...

The 100/200 and 100/200 25 ante levels were some of the most boring and annoying I've ever experienced playing poker. I think I went 10 straight hands holding either a 2 or a 3. I picked a semi-playable hand in Q10, raised, got re-raised, and folded. My stack was slowly, slowly, tipping the opposite direction. It's hard to get bored playing at the World Series of Poker, but I was pretty fricking close to bored somewhere in there. It was a funny little joke that I wasn't in on. With each passing hand, the voice of "Really?? Really????" got a little bit louder in my head. With 10 minutes to go before dinner break, I had 1800 in chips and was silently begging for something playable to try and double up. A loose kid raised to 700 and I found KQ in late position and knew I had to go with it so I shoved in my last 1675. He gave the whole, "Well you caught me stealing but I have to call" spiel and called with 6 10 offsuit. There was no way 610 (the address of the house I grew up in) would knock me out, right? Hell no, the flop came KK3, and I had some breathing room going into dinner.

Fish, pizza, spaghetti, veggies, ribs, baked beans, mountain dew, cake... the buffet at the Rio. It's faaaaantastic.

I was told to kick Vegas' arse over dinner break via text.... and that's exactly what happened shortly after I sat back down at the table.

1. New girl raises up front to 900 with a ton of chips, I look down at AK of hearts from the button and ship it in for 3700. She calls and shows AQ. My hand is good the whole way and I river a king for good measure. 8K in chips.

2. A few orbits later, I feast my eyes on two black aces in the cutoff and raise it to 1200 (blinds were 200/400 now) and both the small blind and the big blind call with big stacks. Buckle up. The flop hits 10 9 7 rainbow, not exactly the prettiest of flops for aces. I expect it to get checked to me and am already mentally contemplating how much to bet.. but wait.... the small blind leads out for 2000... and the girl in the big blind calls!! Wow... well I really didn't have much of a choice here. I clearly wasn't just calling... and I clearly wasn't folding.... so I went with door 3 after about 30 seconds and shoved my chips in for 6900 total. The small blind folded quickly, but the girl asked for a chip count and starting doing some mental computations. She was pretty clearly drawing, and while I wouldn't have minded a fold, I would take my chances with a call too... although of course that was more dangerous. She finally pushed out a call, I turned up my aces and she showed KJ for a bellybuster straight draw. I needed to dodge a queen or an eight..... turn 7 (too close!!), river 5... and we're home. I let myself emit the tiniest of "Yes!" sounds as my heart rate slowly dropped back to normal. 20k in chips.

3. Not long after, I raise with 88 in early position and the deep stack two to my left is the only caller. I see an 8 in the window and love it... I see the 9 10 that follow it and don't. My hand figured to be good, but I decided to play it slow and checked. Dude bet 2500 and I called. The turn was a beautiful 10... and it went check check. The river was a queen, which I absolutely loved since it potentially made him a straight. 4500 was the amount I chose to bet, and he commented "I've got bad feeling about this" before calling with AJ. 29k in chips.

At long last, I had some chips. I'm not saying those were exceptionally played hands, the first two completely played themselves.... it's just that it had been so long since I'd made some hands and gotten actions, I was way past due. I had weathered the storm, been tossed into the ocean and treaded water for long enough. It was my time. As I was stacking the latest pot, my end of the table was marveling at the run I'd been on, going from 1700 before the break to 29k now. I told them it was like when a pitcher was throwing a no-hitter... I'd rather not talk about it. Outwardly I was playing it cool but inwardly I was beaming. I had arrived.

The last break hit and I was on cloud nine. Gone were the breaks of "Man, I've gotta figure out a way to get some chips!!", replaced by "Hell yes, I've finally got some chips!!" The final table of the $40k was going on, there was a tournament of main event champions going on, with Doyle, Hellmuth, Scotty Nguyen and others playing... I ran into a really nice guy who plays at Canterbury and chatted with him for a while... it was a cautious contentedness. I was really happy with where I was. But there was a long way to go.

I won a couple of pots with pre-flop raises to climb over the 30k mark with the blinds at 300/600 75 before I found JJ and made it 1800 from late position. The girl, who had doubled me up twice now, called from the small blind and we went the flop heads up. It came 664 with two diamonds. She check called my bet of 2500. Which I didn't mind. The turn was an offuit 2. She check called my bet of 4000, which I minded some. The river was the 3 of diamonds, and she went all-in, which I really didn't like one bit. I didn't think too long, just said, "If you bluffed me, nice play" and tossed my hand into the muck. She told me later that she had 44 and flopped a full house, so the river might have saved me money.

So I still had 22k in chips, quite alright. I laid low for a bit before finding 10 10 under the gun and raising to 1800. One guy called, and the guy on my right called, a new guy at the table from New York who was very friendly and we had been chatting for the last hour or so. He had mulled the call for a bit, it seemed like he had some semblance of a hand. The flop was great for my hand... 7 5 3 with two spades. Aaaaand my buddy shoved his 7100 in chips in from the big blind. Whoa. I was definitely not expecting that... he had been playing awfully tight at the table, and the shove caught me off guard. Plus I still had the guy behind me to worry about. I started ruling out hands, and knew he would have moved in before the flop with pocket pairs jacks or better. It seemed like he would check a set too... just to ensure he got some action. It just seemed like he had a flush draw or a small pair, like 44 or 66. Obviously 88 and 99 would be the best for my hand.... the signs pointed to a call, so I closed my eyes and pushed the chips out, hoping the other guy didn't flop a monster.

He folded, so he didn't, and my buddy turned over the loveliest of sights.... 99. He was drawing at two cards in the deck. Fist pump. Yes!! I tabled my 10 10 in restrained jubilation. It was a big call, and I was thrilled I had been right. There was 21k in the pot... just had to dodge an.... Ace on the turn.... and a ...........no.......that's not....... 9 on the river.

OMFG. Sighs and gasps all around... before I realized it I had laid my arm on the table and my head was resting on it. Mumbles of "I'm sorry" from my buddy turned enemy. "It really is a sick game" came in a hushed tone from the guy on my left. It was all background noise. Static. My brain shut off for a few seconds. Not here... not now!! Everyone takes bad beats.... it just especially sucks when it happens in the $1k event at the World Series. Sigh.

I had to regroup though, still had 12k or so, and after winning a pot with AQ, I was just shy of 15k in chips with an hour to go for the night. It felt like I had righted the ship... I had lost those chips but it was time to go after some new ones.

Second hand of the new level.... blinds 400/800, girl limps in under the gun, friend turned enemy limps in, I am on with button with Q 10 of hearts and am just fine with limping in. We go to the flop 5-handed. And it hits J95 with two hearts. Oh doctor. The girl leads out for 2000, folded to me and the question begins... call or raise? Call or raise? Arguments could be made for either one, as I wouldn't be opposed to getting all my chips in the middle with that flop. I had position though, and decided to call and see what happened on the turn. It was an offsuit 3, total whiff for me... and the girl didn't slow down, making a big bet of 4500. Well then. She clearly had a hand... I didn't see any sense in moving in for 8k more as she had proven that all night that she would make big calls. Calling the 4500 was weaker, but smarter, and I stand by that play on the turn. The flop might be up for debate. All that is certain is that the river was another jack, she bet 8k and I flung my hand face up in disgust. 15 outs twice but no go..... that was a rough one.

So back down to short stack territory officially with only 10 big blinds. The next hand I played I raised with 77 to 2400. I'm not sure why I didn't just shove the whole 8k in, as the blinds and antes were 2200 now, and inviting people into a pot when I hold a medium pair is highly questionable. That sentence was weird but I'm leaving it. Anyway, guy two to my left calls, flop comes J 10 10, and I closed my eyes and pushed in my last 5600, hoping beyond hope that he couldn't call. Well he didn't... however he did fold 88 faceup on the table. Whew.....major bullet dodged there. Unfortunately the last one was all that mattered, and it struck me solid....

I had just over 11k in chips, when it was folded around to the guy on the button who open limped for 800. He had done that occasionally, and in the one hand I saw he had 66, so he probably had a medium strength hand, my friend turned enemy folded, and I looked down at KQ offsuit in the big blind. Check or raise? Check or raise? I remember my mindset exactly, it was to try to make a hand and double. So I checked.

And the flop came K J 9 with two diamonds. I enjoyed the sight, and checked. The limper bet 2500, almost the full pot, a very strong bet. I didn't see any point in getting fancy here. I had top pair, second best kicker, and straight draw. I was going with it. All in for 8100 more.

When he didn't call immediately, I was happy. When his pondering went past a minute, I felt great. At that point I had him on a hand kinda like QJ or J10, a pair and a straight draw. probably trying to figure out if I had a king. He only had about 11k left, so it was for most of his chips. I wanted him to call, and when he finally reluctantly pushed them in, I tabled my KQ confidently.

And he turned over K9. I was behind. And it surprised the hell out of me. Personally I would have called pretty quickly with that... I was mentally prepared for needing my hand to hold up... and I was the one trailing and needing help. Any Q, J or 10 would be the help I needed. 10 outs. Can I be the one to hit a lucky card please?

Nothing. Nothing. Done. I lose. Over. No more chips. Knocked out. Gone.

I wanted to tell a few of the guys good luck, how much I had enjoyed playing with them, etc. but I just wasn't in that frame of mind. There were mumbles, there were nods, there was me rising from my chair, walking painfully away, trying not to look as devastated outwardly as I was inwardly, and no doubt failing at that. Somehow getting outside the Amazon Room, rounding a corner, and half sitting, half collapsing onto a cushioned bench. There was nothing that could be done. It was over. The heavenly feeling of two hours prior was just a memory, and barely one at that. I was crushed. I wanted to turn it into a choose your own adventure book, where I turned to a new page and the 9 didn't hit on the river, then all the cards would have been different, and I would come back to play today, and still be playing right now....

But no. And I do know that getting knocked out of a poker tourney in a certain fashion is by no means life or death. There are countless things more important in life that completely dwarf the ramifications of a turn of the card. There is pain being felt by people all over the world that I'll never come close to knowing. But when you have a passion, something you love, that becomes a part of your being, and when you truly believe you have some sort of calling there.... it hurts when you come up short. That's all. I had it in the palm of my hand, and somehow it slipped out. There's nothing left to do.... except use both hands next time.