A Crazy Day of Quads

Note: if you want a reference for poker lingo, click here.

I decided to play in a tournament at the Wynn today because it fit into my schedule. This multi-day tournament has a buy-in of $1,100 with a $1.5 million prize pool guarantee, which means first place will get around $300K. Pretty tempting.

I sat down and played almost every hand I got for the first 20 minutes. The players must have thought I was just an aggressive player, raising and reraising almost every hand, but I was getting big aces and good pairs, and I was connecting on the flop. My opponents often folded, so I didn’t need to show them my hands, but sometimes I showed the great ones, like pocket As, just to convince them that I always had the goods. That way, I could also bluff more easily when I didn’t have the winning hand.

I built my stack up quickly to table leader, and possibly tournament leader, with about 120K in chips when the average was about 50K. Then I hit the wall that always seems to show up. My A♣K♣ ran into A♦A♥. I thought I was good when a K came on the turn, so I continued calling the other player’s big bets. I lost a big pot, but my stack was big enough to survive the damage, so I still had a lot of chips.

Fortunately that wall turned out to be just a speed bump as my winning streak started up again immediately. I knocked out a short stack. He shoved with 6,500 in chips. I called with A2. Another player also called. The flop was 7A8. I bet $5K. The other player folded. The short stack showed KQ. The next two cards were low cards, so my pair of aces held up.

James Calderero sat down at my table. Some allege that he has mob connections. He a muscly, broad-shouldered Italian New Yorker. And a good player. I’ve run into him a few times at the tables and never heard anything bad from him. But he does look imposing.

And just like that, I took half his stack. I had A♥Q♥. The board ran out A♠5♠4♦4♠7♣. I kept betting bigger, and he kept calling. I was afraid he had two spades, but he only had pocket 2s.

Then I got pocket As and won a big pot from another pro, a friend of James sitting to his right. The two had been talking and ribbing each other since James sat down. I didn’t recognize him.

And then I knocked another short stack out of the tournament. Too bad this wasn't a bounty tournament, where I would collect a real cash bounty for every person I knocked out. I had AQ. He had pocket 2s, which seemed to be a common hand today. I caught an A or the river.

And then I knocked out Calderero. One player did a small raise. Calderero called. I called with 92 in the big blind. I only called because I had already put in the big blind and ante, so with two other players in the pot, I was getting good “pot odds.” In other words, I only had to pay a little more for the chance to get a big pot. The flop was 92J, giving me a well-hidden two pair. Calderon bet $4K. I raised to $10K knowing he'd shove with his small stack. He did. The other player folded. Calderon had pocket Q. He needed a Q or a pair on the board but didn't get it.

But then I lost a big pot with A10. A short stack raised. I called and James’ friend called. The board ran out 10 8964. I kept betting and getting called by both players. The short stack said he had KK but James’ friend showed 10 8 for two pair. Maybe I should have folded, but I thought my top pair, top kicker was a winner. I still had a very big stack, though.

A short time later, I raised pre-flop with AQ. Another player reraised. I called. The flop was AK4. I checked. He bet. I just didn’t think he had pocket As, pocket Ks, or AK. So I shoved. Anyway, I could easily survive if he beat me, but he’d be out if I beat him. He hesitated and then called. And I was right. He only had A2. He said, “I need to outdraw you.” The turn card was 5. He simply said, “3” as if he were willing it to come, and the next card was… 3, giving him a straight. So I lost that one.

But shortly after that, I got pocket 2s under the gun. I limped in. A short stack raised a lot. I called the bet. I hit a set on the flop and quads on the river. He kept betting a lot and I kept calling. I shoved on the river, but he folded. I showed him the quads. That was my first encounter with quads today.

But then the real, solid wall appeared that seems to show up to block my path forward so often in tournaments. I had 5J in the big blind position. Four players limped in, so I did too. The flop was 533, giving me a nice two pair. One player checked. Another checked. I bet a lot. One player folded. Two players called. The turn was 5. I now had the “second nuts.” Only one hand beat me, and it was a rare one, pocket 3s. One player checked. Another did a big bet. I shoved. I figured in case he had a big pocket pair, I didn’t want him to see the last card and possibly get a better full house than me. The first player folded, but surprisingly, the second player called with... pocket 3s. The second time quads showed up, they did me in. I busted out.

So I bought back into the tournament and won my first hand. But right after that, I lost most of my stack with pocket 9s calling an all-in. I had seen the other player playing very loose with a lot of bluffing—he liked to show his bluffs. He had AK, so I was slightly ahead. But the picture at the top of this blog shows how the board ran out. I was done in by the third appearance of quads, quad kings. It’s rare to see quads once in a day. Maybe rare to see them once in a week. I saw them three times today. Unfortunately I won with one of them and lost terribly with the other two.

I still had some chips left, about 10 big blinds, so I shoved with A♣8♦. I got called by 6♥7♥. I hit an A and doubled up!

I immediately got Q♦Q♥ in the big blind. The player under the gun raised from 1200 to 4K. Two players called. I pretended to think about it, then shoved. I got one caller with A♠2♠. The flop was J♠10♠10♦ giving him a flush draw. The next cards were J♦... then 4♥. I doubled up again and had a very playable stack. I went to the dinner break with optimism.

After the break, I lost a few hands, but then I got AQ and raised under the gun. Another player reraised. I shoved. He called with AK. The board flop was 10 5K. He was ahead with a pair of Ks, but a J would give me a straight. I didn't get it; I busted out.

What a roller coaster of a day! I wish it had continued into the money, but it was fun and exciting. Still winning is much more fun than losing. Onto my next tournament.

About the author

Bob Zeidman is a high-stakes recreational poker player. He created Good Beat Poker, a free online poker site using patented technology for audio and video—see and hear the other players at the table if you choose.