Well, I didn’t win the tourney. I also didn’t like the format at all. It wasn’t what I was told it was going to be, and I should have left when I got there. But I didn’t, and I learned my lesson. I made it down till about 18 people. Down till we broke to 3 tables. The winners there would move on the the final table. The problem is, all of this happened in 1.5 hours.

It was like speed poker. They raised the blinds every 20 minutes, instead of the half hour I thought it was going to be. This wouldn’t have been that bad, if they didn’t have people there that didn’t really know how to play. What I mean is, a poker game takes 3 times as long to play, if 4 out of 7 hands, you have to explain how to deal to someone. That was the case at the first table I played at. We played about 3-4 hands, in between blind raises. It sucked.

I played one hand wrong, which would have made a big difference, and I played one hand really well. Then caught a bad beat to get knocked out.

The first hand of the tourney, I was dealt Ace, 9 off suit. I called the blinds and the flop was 7, 8, 10 off. One guy bet big. I mucked my hand. It was the first hand, and I wanted to feel out the table first. This ended up costing me. The turn card was a J, which would have given me the straight. The guy that was betting big, had pocket J’s. He had three of a kind, and had I stayed in I could have doubled up the very first hand. I feel like I played it wrong, I should’ve called him. I played too conservative and it cost me.

The hand I played well, I played perfectly. I had A, 10 off suit. Called the blinds, and the flop came A, 8, 9. I bet the flop, and got a couple guys out of the hand. The turn card was a 7. I bet again, and only one guy called me. The river was a 10, which made a straight draw on the board. This got a little scary. I checked, and the guy I was up against went all-in. This is the only time I slowed the game down to a pace, where I could assess what was happening. I sat back in my chair, and thought about what had transpired to this point. After all was said and done, I called him. He flipped over A-8, which gave him two pair, and I showed A-10, which gave me a higher two pair. It was the best call I made.

After the table break and redraw for new position, I landed in the worst palce you could….the big blind. The blinds had double 4 times already, and if you didn’t rake 1 out of every 4 pots you played, you were losing fast. So it cost me $80.00 to NOT play the first hand, then it cost me $40 to see the second. One guy raised pre-flop, about half my chips, so I went all-in. I had Ace/King. Big slick. A really good opening hand for hold em. At this point I’m hoping that the guy that called me has a smaller pair. He does. Pocket Queens. I catch a King on the flop, and I’m feeling really good about this hand. Turn card is a rag. Then the worst thing happens. At this point I’m about an 87% favorite in the hand. There are only two cards in the deck that this guy can catch, to beat me. And the mother fucker caught one. A queen to beat me with 3 of a kind. So I lose on a bad beat.

The rest of the weekend was me reflecting on why I didn’t call that first bet the first hand, and me being pissed off that I caught a bad beat on that last hand. I would have had great position, and I would have tripled up.

Tripled up, and on the button. That would have given me 5 more times around the table where it would be my choice to play. Ah well, that’s poker.