Stairway to Millions
On Wednesday, I started playing in the Stairway to Millions poker tournament put on by PokerGo. It’s a unique series of tournaments where the buy-ins start out small and get larger for the subsequent tournaments. Cashing in one tournament not only gets you a cash prize, but an automatic buy-in to the next tournament. The entry fees start at $460 for the first tournament and increases to $52,000 for the last one, which has a guaranteed prize pool of $600,000 (not actually millions, but who’s counting?).
I haven’t been doing particularly well, getting closer to the money each day but never quite making it. Until today! I made it to the final table of 6 players that starts tomorrow at noon at the Venetian Resort. I’m in the money, I have a free play in the next tournament, and I’m vying for the championship. Here are a few pivotal hands from today’s game.
With about 35 players left, the short stack at the table shoved. He had about one-third my stack, and I had pocket 7s, so I thought it was worth the risk, To avoid a later player raising me, I shoved. Unfortunately another player with a big stack called me. The short stack showed K3, and the big stack showed AJ. I was ahead of both, but just barely. The flop was KJ5, which put both players ahead of me. But my luck had finally changed when the turn card was a 7. I gave out a quiet “yahoo!”, but another player pointed out that the big stack had a flush draw. He needed a diamond, but fortunately he didn’t get it, and I nearly tripled up, giving me one of the largest stacks in the tournament.
On the bubble (when everyone but one player left will get paid), the big stack on the button did a min raise. I was in the big blind with pocket 6s, so it was an easy call. I’m trying to stay in the game, increase my chip stack, if possible, but most importantly not bust out so that I can get paid. The flop was 357. The big stack shoved. I figure if he had a big pair, he would have raised more pre-flop. If he had just hit a set, he might be shoving, but I had a pair plus a straight draw. I called. He showed A 10. The next cards were two more 7s, giving me a full house to double up. I then knew I just had to play very tight and wait for one of the short stacks to bust out so I could be in the money. That took 1 to 1.5 hours for the bubble to burst. Chips kept switching between players as all the short stacks won their shoves. Eventually two players busted out at the same time—one at each table—and split the min cash.
At the final table of nine players, I got pocket 8s under the gun. I shoved. The small stack to my left also shoved. Everyone else folded. If he won, I would still be in the tournament, but with a very small stack. My odds looked pretty bad when he showed pocket As, and I mentally got ready to leave. However, today’s luck held strong as an 8 showed on the flop, giving me a set. He couldn’t catch up with the next two cards, so he busted out and I doubled up again.
We got down to six players before the game was called for the day, to resume tomorrow at noon. I’m happy with my chip stack, right in the middle.
I came home mentally exhausted tonight. I “only” played for about 7 hours. I’ve played longer days than that, but the bubble took a long time to burst. Playing for a long time trying not to bust out but also trying to keep enough chips to keep going on Day 2 is mentally challenging. Also, now that surviving means more actual money in my pocket, my strategy changes, and I need to be more focused on details.
I won’t be live posting during the game because with 6 people, the hands will go fast, and I need to keep focused. You can see the official live posts here.
I’ll definitely let you know how I finish. Keep your fingers crossed!