Some Good News
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Today I have some good news. I cashed in the Mystery Bounty Tournament at the Wynn Casino. In a bounty tournament, you win a cash “bounty” when you knock someone out of the tournament. In a mystery bounty tournament, you spin a wheel to determine whether the bounty is $500 or $100,000 or somewhere in between. I didn’t get a bounty because I was knocked out at the start of Day 2 today when the bounties kicked in. I cashed, though, at number 100 out of 864 players.
I entered Day 2 at noon with only 8 big blinds. I had built up a very good stack late yesterday until my pocket Js ran into pocket Ks. I struggled after that, but was able to keep a few chips to take with me into Day 2.
Today, I waited patiently for three hands. The player to my right started out with a small stack of about 12 big blinds. He shoved on the first hand and got called. He had pocket Js versus AK, and he flopped to set to double up. Then he shoved on the second hand and got called with pocket Qs versus AQ. His queens held up to double up yet again. Then came the third hand. I got A♦J♦ and shoved under the gun. Everyone folded to the player to my right who said, “Okay, I’ll gamble with you,” as he called my bet, eased his chips beyond the betting line, and turned over pocket 3s. And they held up as he won yet again to knock me out and claim a bounty.
It was fun. I played all day yesterday only to last 15 minutes today. But I cashed. Which is far from how I’ve been doing in the last few weeks. Several times I got the second nuts (second best possible hand) only to be beaten by the nuts (the best possible hand). One time at the Venetian Casino, I busted out and bought back in for the second or third time, late in the day so my starting stack was already a bit short. As was my temperament. To my right was Jeremy Becker, a young, up-and-coming player who has won a huge number of low stakes tournaments. He caught the attention of poker superstar Daniel Negreanu, who now backs Jeremy in tournaments.
Jeremy’s a nice “kid,” but can sometimes be cocky and annoying, especially when I’m grumpy after a string of losses. Jeremy’s winning strategy seems to be to bet, bet, bet, bet, shove as much as he can early on. If he busts out, he buys back in. But one success can bring him a big stack. It’s not a great way to make money, but it’s a great way to eventually get far in the tournament. I saw him also bust out several times and buy back in that day. I noticed that he was min-raising every hand. When I sat down, as usual, he min-raised under the gun. I got A♦J♦ and called his bet. Everyone else folded. The flop was 3♥5♦7♣. I had flopped top pair with an A kicker. Jeremy bet. I figured he could have any two cards, and there was a good chance my pair of 7s was good. Also, if I were to be the aggressor, he’d have to think hard about calling me. So I shoved…
And Jeremey said, “I was hoping you’d do that” as he pushed his chips into the center and showed 4♠6♣ for the nuts, a straight. First, what were the odds? Second, what was he doing raising, in early position, with an incredibly crappy hand of 46 off suit?
So that’s how my luck ran in the last few weeks until today. Once again, I’m hoping to keep up the momentum, but it will have to wait for a few weeks because family is visiting, and I won’t have time to play until late March or early April.
Until then, as the late, great Mike Sexton would say “May all of your cards be live and may all of your pots be monsters.”
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.