My First Live Tourney - Part 1: The Beginning

2005 Newberry Elks Holdem Tournament – 4/16/05

I found my notes so I figured that I would pass it on to my fellow bloggers. Now that I have read HOH Vol. 1 and half of Vol.2, I would have played it differently. Of course I wouldn’t likely have done as well if I would have played it differently. I can tell how much I have grown just by some of the things in my old notes. I didn’t know a lot of the slang and some of the slang that I did write was out of context. Plus once I just limped PF with less than 2 BB’s.

63 entrants. $50 buyin. 15 or so places paid out. Top 5 paid most of the prize pool, then it drastically dropped off, with the last 10 places not even paying half the buyin. Top prize was $360 and a trophy. Not much of a payday for the buyin, but it was a Little League fundraiser. I don’t remember what the starting stack was. Each round was 20 min. 100/200 starting blinds. You could only raise a SB PF and on the flop. On the turn and river you could bet double. Plus they started with 7 at each table. Just a nutty set-up all around. Weird set-up due to the inexperience of a lot of the players. Some of the entrants were Elks club patrons with little or no experience. There were also some players with as much experience as me, or more. [My experience level: At this point I had put in a year or so playing online poker and most of this time being at Free Money. I was probably at the Penny tables or possibly at the $5NL stakes at this point in my poker career. The only poker book so far would have been Phil’s 1st book.] Level 1 – 3 would be limit, to allow the inexperienced to get in some quality time at the table. Starting the 2nd hr and at level 4 and on would be NL.

My Bro, his wife, and I all played in the tourney. They also played online as long as me. Most of the other players at the tourney were the big names in town. (You know the kind.) The Preppies from school that think they are better than everyone. The people that walk around with their noses in the air and would return a wave if their live depended upon it.

I didn’t have many hands the 1st hr. Pocket 8’s once, 2 pr once, and pocket T’s once. I might have seen 5 hands to showdown in that 1st hr. I played very tight due to my inexperience at limit and the fact that people wouldn’t drop to a raise. My stack was small at the start of level 4. Quick recap of the 3 key hands from the 1st hr.

2 callers of my PF raise with my 88. I bet the flop. The lady stayed and the guy dropped. She was a loose calling-station. It was her 1st time playing and she saw every flop and then called down most hands. She hit some lucky rivers and was up. I bet the full amount on the turn and she folded. I got some much needed chips. This was in level 2 or 3; I think it was 3.

I get A4 in the blinds. Flop brings me 2 pr. Guy bet and I put him allin. He calls and turns over QQ that he didn’t raise PF with. I don’t know if this guy is good enough to even try a slowplay. (Not that it is a good idea with QQ, playing NL or limit.) The runner-runner puts 2 more diamonds on the board, which matches the guy’s Q, and I am almost out.

This is still level 3 and just a few hands later. I get TT in the hole. There really should have been no thinking here with the stack that I had. I should have just pushed with my small-stack. But hey, I was a rook, who thought that would never have folded Big Slick PF, no matter ring or tourney. (OK, maybe sometimes.) I just limped from early position. Someone raised 300. Then the QQ Guy reraises 300 more. I think ok this guy just limped with QQ, he must be really packing now. I drop. Flop comes T77 and my heart sinks and I die inside. I would’ve tripled up. What a sap.

Break comes and I am hurting. Due to being card dead, crazy high blinds, short tables, and limit structure, I have a small stack at the end of level 3. The blinds are now 400/800. I have 1300 in chips. Slightly more than 3xBB. I’m sweating the whole 20 min. break. I walk around to see how the Fam is faring. Bro was one of the current chipleaders if not the leader. Sis is middle of the pack. And you already see that I am one of the small-stacks.

I start in the SB. I have shit. I fold and decide that all of my chips are going in at some point in the next cycle. I have 5 or 6 looks before the Big gets to me. No paint at all, so I keep holding out. Finally UTG I find 55. I limp hoping for a few callers so I can more than double. This is totally stupid, but I was pretty green. Flop comes 8-high. I push. 2 callers and while I wait to see my fate, they raise the side pot up every street. Showdown one guy turns over AT and the other KT, to which neither paired the board. I more than triple-up. I have around 4000 in chips.

People start dropping like flies in the tourney. They consolidate my table and put me right to the left of my bro. He is sitting on 40,000 in chips and I am milking out my 4000 or so.

Soon I look down at AA from UTG. I need some chips so I decide to just min-raise. I think I get a caller or 2 before my Bro in the Big. He reraises. I pretend to give it some thought, then reluctantly push, hoping for a few calls. All fold back around to my Bro, who says, “Sorry but I have to call. I have AK.” I say, “I’m sorry too, ‘cause I have bullets.” I have him dominated and my stack ends up at around 10,000.

They put it down to 3 tables with 18 left. 6 at a table. This structure truly sucks for my conservative style. The short tables are killing me, with the blinds eating me alive. Bro, Sis, and I are all still in. I was playing tight because it was bubble time, with the $24 payout starting at the 15th spot. I really should have loosened up at this point, but this is another account of my inexperience. Then they quickly consolidated again down to 2 with everyone in the money. Sis went out on the bubble. Bro still faring well.

The blinds were at 1000/2000. I blinded down big-time because I was card dead. I mean totally dead. Plus there were only 5 people at my table. I was UTG with 3000 in chips and about to be put to the decision. It was about to hit the 2 hr mark when someone at the other table dropped. They called break and moved 9 people to the Final Table in the center of the room. The blinds go up to 1500/3000. Lots of claps from the spectators as everyone sat down at the final table.

I sit down at the final table in the BB with 3000 in chips. The blinds at 1500/3000.

Next - The Final Table.