Life and Times of a Poker Addict

"I love you..."

"I think you're a really special person too..."


That's what getting knocked out of a poker tournament feels like.

I just had a good feeling all week. I knew I needed to get into this tournament and finally after much ado, I had qualified via satellite. I was in the Saturday $50K/Piece of the Pros $109 buy-in on Full Tilt for the whopping discount price of $6. I was already ahead of the game. I slept from 10am to 4pm when I had my alarm set for, hit snooze and promptly slept through my clock. I woke up at 6pm on the button, dashed downstairs and had missed the first five hands. No big deal.

I had decided I was gonna really work on tournament strategy and play super tight the first hour and play pretty much only the four premium hands: Aces, Kings, Queens and Ace-King.

Hand #6, my first in front of the computer, I got dealt AK. The flop came Ace high and this guy kept betting into me. I even raised him after the flop but he kept coming. I was still so bleary eyed from just waking up that when I tried to raise the turn I hit the wrong button and merely called. Then on the river when I went to raise him again, same thing. He turned over Ace-Jack and I took down a big pot. Missing those raises would prove costly.

Next hand I got pocket queens and I decided to put a little charm on the dealer and asked for a queen high flop. Flop: Queen high. Thank you, very much. Check it, get a bet from the cutoff, which I call. Turn is a brick and I check it again, getting another big bet from the cutoff. The river pairs the board and fills me up, this time I lead out, he raises all-in and I call. Two pair versus my boat. I started with T2000 and on hand seven I'm up to T6100 and in the top three. Stuck with my strategy for the most part, loosening up two times to trade on my table image and take down the blinds from middle position with hands like King-Jack. I took out another short stack on the table with A8 suited from the small blind and at the end of hour one, I was at T8160, good for 12th place. 269 of the original 450 players were left and I had more than met my original goal for the first hour.

Start out hour two and I am getting great cards again. Slowly building my stack up over 10K but I can't get too crazy because there are two decent sized stacks at the table with me. Then, on the second ante level, in the small blind I get dealt pocket Aces. There's a raise from under the gun, folds around to the cutoff (the second biggest stack on the table) who reraises to T1500 and then it's on me. Hold please. Let's make this look like I don't know what to do, when really on the inside I'm dancing a jig. Is there any possible way I can keep the first raiser in this, too? Don't get greedy, ass. Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered. I wait for the warning beep that I'm running out of time to go off and then I reraise to T3500. First raiser folds, cutoff moves all-in. JENGA! Aces versus Kings, please Jesus don't put a King on the board! Suddenly I'm at T21000 and in third place again.

I make a few position steals again and I'm talking to a buddy of mine on AIM, filling him in on the details. I'm in 6th place as the end of the second hour is approaching. I had called off some chips trying to take a shortstack out after a flop that left me open ended. We were both drawing, unfortunately his was the higher gutshot variety and he high carded to win. Four minutes before the break and I'm at T16000, exactly where I wanted to be, doubled up during hour two. Then I get dealt pocket tens. Under the gun makes a 3x the big blind raise to T1200, I figure him for a big Ace, and feeling invincible for some reason, I push my entire stack to the middle. Folds back around to him and he calls, showing Ace-King. Flops a king, turns a king and my miracle ten on the river didn't come. T8624; from 6th place to 40th place at the break.

Post game analysis: I'm not sure I ever psychologically got over that hand. This is something I believe I've written about before and have definitely been questioning in my game. I'm prone to being very aggressive with these high mid-pairs and even though my money got in with the best hand, I feel like it would have been smarter to call from such an early position so I could fold to a reraise or fold after the King high flop came. At hour two we were down to 88 players remaining, top 54 got paid. There were some decent stacks at my table and then to start hour three they moved two heavy stacks onto our table.

First hand out of the break I pick up pocket deuces and the flop comes A42 hearts. I check it, the guy in the cutoff moves all-in for his remaining 5000 in chips and I call. He shows pocket Kings, I turn quad deuces and it's over. Back up to T14000, back into the top ten. Playing it tight again and work my stack back up to around T16000 when I get dealt QJ in early position. I limp in along with three others and see a K 10 7 flop. I check, as does everyone else and a Queen comes on the turn. I check, two others check and then the guy who I had gotten into it with on my first hand of the tournament, bets out. I figure him for Ace-ten and call, the other two fold. The river was a nine, completing my bottom straight, I lead out, he raises and I put him all-in for his remaining 3000 in chips. He only too happily calls and turns over Ace Jack, Broadway. Ouch, that sucks.

Then they move the chip leader to my table and the previous top stack takes out another top stack, so in the two positions to my left are T28000 and T45000. Blinds are at 300/600/75 and I'm down to T7500. There are about 70 players left and I'm in 57th position, just out of the money. I'm able to steal a couple times to keep my head above water but the stacks at my table are so big that their raises are a third of my stack and I can't even play some of my more moderate hands. The level moves to 400/800/100, so now each orbit is going to cost T2000. I made a play at one hand with another shortstack but had to fold after the flop and I'm down to T4800.

I probably could have waited and blinded myself down and snuck into the top 54, but I felt like I needed to steal once more, and doubling up would definitely get me in, so when I got A9 diamonds under the gun, I moved all-in for my 4500. Folds around to the guy I was too bleary-eyed to take out on my first hand, that crippled me with his Broadway and he calls with Kings. No miracle Ace or diamonds and I was out. 64th of 450.