Tuesday, May 09, 2006
At the tables
After much anticipation and some trepidation, I played in my first live No Limit Hold'em poker tournament on Friday the 5th: the Degree Poker Championship, at the Niagara Fallsview Casino - actually held in the Avalon Ballroom, not the casino proper.
I was in a group of about 240, the total number of entrants in the tourney being about 2,500. From this group, the top 20 would advance to the next round. We were in tables of 10. The action started at 1:00 p.m.
I knew that it would be tough to advance because of the blind structure. Each player received $2,000 in chips, and the opening round blinds were $25/$50. The blinds doubled every 20 minutes, with a $25 ante kicking in on the third level. This is a fast pace. If you don't build your chips up quickly, by round three the blinds are going to start eating away at your stack fast.
It's not in my nature to play loose, though. My watchwords coming in were Patience and Courage. I was pretty patient, all right. But playing K,10, for example, is not brave; it's just stupid.
I only played one hand during Levels 1 and 2. I raised with Ax and scared out the opener. Not much money there. I got moved to a different table during Level 2. The first hand after I sat down, the guy in Seat 10 hit quad Kings, eliminating another player. But this guy did not have pocket Kings - he called an all-in bet with K,Q! According to the guy next to me, he was doing this all day.
The next deal I finally got a hand - A,Ks. Big slick. The shooter opened with a big raise and I called him. He had K,Q again and this time it did not hold up, and I won a good pot. But then I was whisked away to yet another table.
By now it was Level 4. The blinds were $200/$400 and the ante $50. I was pretty short stacked, and knew I had to make some moves. When the deal came around to me on the button, I raised to $800 with A,5ns. The small blind folded, but the big blind called. The flop came K,Q,x - all Hearts. My 5 was a Heart, but I folded to his bet, which I think was definitely the right move. If I'd had a big stack, I might have come back over the top, but I didn't.
At the end of Level 4, there was a break. When we returned, it was now Level 5. The blinds were up to $400/$800 and the ante $75. My stack was down to $1,175. In other words, I had only one round to make a move, no matter what I had, and I started under the gun. I had Ax, but wasn't prepared to take a shot. It turns out that was a misdeal, but the second deal was something like 6,2.
So next deal, I put in $875 (as big blind) and obviously I had to play. The first two seats folded, then the third guy pondered for a very long time - he was put on the clock - before deciding to go all in with his also fairly short stack. The next seat folded, then a big stack called. Everyone else folded, and I put in the rest of my chips. I was sitting with J,6ns. Yecch. We flipped. First guy had Kx. Buddy had rockets. Yup, A,A. Ouch.
But ... the flop paired my 6. And then the turn paired my Jack! I slammed the table in excitement. The two pair stood up and I won the hand, staying alive.
Such are the vagaries of poker, however, that my joy was shortlived. The very next hand I was dealt A,Kns and decided to make a move. At this point I had about $3,500 in chips, which would probably last only to the end of this level if I didn't play a hand. Two players limped in, including the guy I just beat in the last hand. I raised $1,200. I would have been content to win the pot; but if either of them called, I was confident I was ahead. In fact, the first player folded the raise, and the other guy put me all-in. I called. I knew when I raised that if the play of the hand continued, I would have to be prepared to go all-in.
So what did this shmuck have? K,Jns! I don't know if he was mad at me for stealing the last hand; or if he was feeling he was due because of it; or if he thought I was bluffing after winning a pot; or if he was simply a bad player. But he made, in my opinion, a terrible bet. Of course, he flopped a Jack and it held up to win the pot and put me out of the tournament.
Consider that if I had won the hand, I would then have been sitting around $7,000 in chips and in very good shape.
Oh well. I was pleased with my play overall. The cards weren't there, and you can't force them. I had fun. It was exciting.
Two things surprised me. One was that it was not as hard as I expected. Of course, I didn't play very long, so I didn't have to worry about getting tired. And I played so few hands, I didn't have to make any really hard decisions. No one got under my skin. There was one very odd man sitting right next to me at the first table - a twitchy, mumbling, Gyro Gearloose sort of fellow; but actually I found him more amusing than annoying. Actually, I wish I could have stayed at that table longer. I felt I knew what he was up to, and the same for the other chip leader. That is one of the things that's hard in this kind of a tournament - you get moved before you can get a read on the other players, and you end up having to play a big hand against players whose moves you haven't seen yet.
The other surprise was that I felt I got no value from having read Mike Caro's book on tells. When I read it, I thought it was brilliant, and would be extremely useful. It may still be, but it will take a lot more practice on my part. The fact is, most players don't have obvious tells. They're certainly not twisting the tops of their Oreo cookies when they're bluffing. (The reference is to John Malkovich's character in Rounders, in case you didn't get it.) On the other hand, most players do have tells. Perhaps it is more a matter of developing your instincts to sense them. I did think that I had a read on a few guys. I certainly was right when I recognized that Gyro had a strong hand when he stalled before betting. On the other hand, I also made that read based on his check-raise. In other words, paying attention to betting patterns gives you a better read on a player than looking for physical tells. Of course, if you could do both, you'd be in really good shape.
So, back to online. See if I can win a satellite and get into another live tournament. I'm ready to go.
I was in a group of about 240, the total number of entrants in the tourney being about 2,500. From this group, the top 20 would advance to the next round. We were in tables of 10. The action started at 1:00 p.m.
I knew that it would be tough to advance because of the blind structure. Each player received $2,000 in chips, and the opening round blinds were $25/$50. The blinds doubled every 20 minutes, with a $25 ante kicking in on the third level. This is a fast pace. If you don't build your chips up quickly, by round three the blinds are going to start eating away at your stack fast.
It's not in my nature to play loose, though. My watchwords coming in were Patience and Courage. I was pretty patient, all right. But playing K,10, for example, is not brave; it's just stupid.
I only played one hand during Levels 1 and 2. I raised with Ax and scared out the opener. Not much money there. I got moved to a different table during Level 2. The first hand after I sat down, the guy in Seat 10 hit quad Kings, eliminating another player. But this guy did not have pocket Kings - he called an all-in bet with K,Q! According to the guy next to me, he was doing this all day.
The next deal I finally got a hand - A,Ks. Big slick. The shooter opened with a big raise and I called him. He had K,Q again and this time it did not hold up, and I won a good pot. But then I was whisked away to yet another table.
By now it was Level 4. The blinds were $200/$400 and the ante $50. I was pretty short stacked, and knew I had to make some moves. When the deal came around to me on the button, I raised to $800 with A,5ns. The small blind folded, but the big blind called. The flop came K,Q,x - all Hearts. My 5 was a Heart, but I folded to his bet, which I think was definitely the right move. If I'd had a big stack, I might have come back over the top, but I didn't.
At the end of Level 4, there was a break. When we returned, it was now Level 5. The blinds were up to $400/$800 and the ante $75. My stack was down to $1,175. In other words, I had only one round to make a move, no matter what I had, and I started under the gun. I had Ax, but wasn't prepared to take a shot. It turns out that was a misdeal, but the second deal was something like 6,2.
So next deal, I put in $875 (as big blind) and obviously I had to play. The first two seats folded, then the third guy pondered for a very long time - he was put on the clock - before deciding to go all in with his also fairly short stack. The next seat folded, then a big stack called. Everyone else folded, and I put in the rest of my chips. I was sitting with J,6ns. Yecch. We flipped. First guy had Kx. Buddy had rockets. Yup, A,A. Ouch.
But ... the flop paired my 6. And then the turn paired my Jack! I slammed the table in excitement. The two pair stood up and I won the hand, staying alive.
Such are the vagaries of poker, however, that my joy was shortlived. The very next hand I was dealt A,Kns and decided to make a move. At this point I had about $3,500 in chips, which would probably last only to the end of this level if I didn't play a hand. Two players limped in, including the guy I just beat in the last hand. I raised $1,200. I would have been content to win the pot; but if either of them called, I was confident I was ahead. In fact, the first player folded the raise, and the other guy put me all-in. I called. I knew when I raised that if the play of the hand continued, I would have to be prepared to go all-in.
So what did this shmuck have? K,Jns! I don't know if he was mad at me for stealing the last hand; or if he was feeling he was due because of it; or if he thought I was bluffing after winning a pot; or if he was simply a bad player. But he made, in my opinion, a terrible bet. Of course, he flopped a Jack and it held up to win the pot and put me out of the tournament.
Consider that if I had won the hand, I would then have been sitting around $7,000 in chips and in very good shape.
Oh well. I was pleased with my play overall. The cards weren't there, and you can't force them. I had fun. It was exciting.
Two things surprised me. One was that it was not as hard as I expected. Of course, I didn't play very long, so I didn't have to worry about getting tired. And I played so few hands, I didn't have to make any really hard decisions. No one got under my skin. There was one very odd man sitting right next to me at the first table - a twitchy, mumbling, Gyro Gearloose sort of fellow; but actually I found him more amusing than annoying. Actually, I wish I could have stayed at that table longer. I felt I knew what he was up to, and the same for the other chip leader. That is one of the things that's hard in this kind of a tournament - you get moved before you can get a read on the other players, and you end up having to play a big hand against players whose moves you haven't seen yet.
The other surprise was that I felt I got no value from having read Mike Caro's book on tells. When I read it, I thought it was brilliant, and would be extremely useful. It may still be, but it will take a lot more practice on my part. The fact is, most players don't have obvious tells. They're certainly not twisting the tops of their Oreo cookies when they're bluffing. (The reference is to John Malkovich's character in Rounders, in case you didn't get it.) On the other hand, most players do have tells. Perhaps it is more a matter of developing your instincts to sense them. I did think that I had a read on a few guys. I certainly was right when I recognized that Gyro had a strong hand when he stalled before betting. On the other hand, I also made that read based on his check-raise. In other words, paying attention to betting patterns gives you a better read on a player than looking for physical tells. Of course, if you could do both, you'd be in really good shape.
So, back to online. See if I can win a satellite and get into another live tournament. I'm ready to go.
# posted by Stephen @ 1:06 a.m. 
Comments:
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I don't think I mentioned the prize money. Top prize, as I recall, was $100,000. There was also paid entry to the World Series of Poker, where the top prizes are astronomical. There were 2nd and 3rd place money in the Degree Poker Championship - maybe 4th too, but that's it. I was informed by a member of the staff running the tournament that deals were not allowed. In other words, if you got to the last table, you couldn't agree among yourselves to split the prize money in some fashion.
If I had won the $100,000? I would have put a down payment down on a townhouse. If less? Depends on the amount. There is no end of things I could use, or want - furniture, a proper stereo system, a better TV, CDs, a Vespa. We can dream, can't we?
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If I had won the $100,000? I would have put a down payment down on a townhouse. If less? Depends on the amount. There is no end of things I could use, or want - furniture, a proper stereo system, a better TV, CDs, a Vespa. We can dream, can't we?
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