The Poker Masters: How Did It Go?

And what is my future in poker?

The Poker Masters tournament started late, as usual, because most players get here right before the start. Some come late to make an entrance. And some believe, as I’m beginning to believe, that what happens early in the tournament has little to do with what happens at the end because as the blinds increase every level (every 30 minutes in this case), chips start flying around the table. I keep meaning to do a mathematical analysis of the optimal time to join a tournament, but I never get around to it.

Anyway, I got there 45 minutes early. I registered right away and then had a relaxed lunch at Starbucks.

Maybe not relaxed. I was feeling slightly anxious. For years, I've been trying to prove myself at poker on a national or international scale. I think I play well, and the dealers tell me I do, and I have a few wins and some good cashes, but, nothing noteworthy. No wins or big cashes in any major tournaments. Yesterday was yet one more chance. But, as you readers know, my luck has been running bad. And truth be told, I don't believe in luck so either I'm having an increasingly improbable streak or I just play poorly. I keep analyzing my losses and finding a few hands I misplayed, but not many. Or maybe I'm so bad at poker that I can't recognize my mistakes. A famous study by David Dunning and Justin Kruger at my alma mater Cornell shows that the least competent people also rate their abilities the most highly. Could that be me? I doubt it, but then again, that's what incompetent people say...

When the tournament began, Bill Klein sat down to my right, earbuds in and looking downward silently. He's in his mid 70s, a rich, retired businessman. I played at his table at the WSOP and tried to make conversation with him, but he was rude to me. Then he busted out. I was curious to find out if that was just a bad day or if that’s the way he is.

Well, I won the first hand I played and immediately became the table chip leader! By a tiny amount.

Then I won the second hand I played. A great start!

Sam Soverel was also at my table. If you read my last blog, you know he was the one who took down my giant stack at the first Poker Masters I played. Can I get revenge for 4 years ago?

Then I won the 3rd hand I played. Things were looking good.

Bill Klein and another player got into in a massive hand. Both shoved on the river. Klein had pocket As plus an A on the board. The other player was just bluffing. Klein doubled up and the other player busted out. Crazy action for so early in a high-stakes tournament.

I had AJ. An A came on the river. I bet big; the other player called. Turns out the A on the river had given him a flush. Sigh...

I started climbing back slowly from that big loss with little wins. I eventually got back to starting stack! Actually a little above.

Then I began losing small hands. My stack was going lower and lower. I was hardly playing any hands as I couldn’t get dealt any playable cards and no one was letting me see the flop.

Bill Klein had been somewhat friendly this time. Then again, he had a big stack this time. I got the impression that he’s reasonably friendly when he’s doing well and not very friendly when doing badly.

I had A♠6♣. The flop was A♦5♦7♣. I bet and got 2 callers including Bill Klein. The turn was an A♣, giving me trip aces. I bet, Klein called, the other player folded. The river was 3♦, putting the third diamond on the board. Klein bet about 3/4 of my stack. I was scared of the diamond flush. It made sense that he had stayed in from the beginning, calling my bets, if he had two diamonds in his hand, so I folded. No other combination made much sense. He showed J♣8♣. Nice bluff. I lost a lot.

I got AA followed by AQ and took chips away from Bill Klein each time. I took some comfort that I was getting my chips back from him slowly.

My friend Mitch Halverson called a shove by short-stacked Sam Soverel. Mitch had AQ. Soverel had A10. The board ran out QK74J giving a straight to Soverel. Mitch lost half his stack and though he almost always has a smile and a pleasant attitude, not this time. He obviously wasn’t happy.

Player Tony Lin sat down at the table. He's loud and takes big gambles. He like to shout at everyone around the room and sing songs out loud. Mitch shoved with A♠J♠. Tony called with 6♥4♥. That’s right, 6♥4♥. The board ran out 4♣4♥7♠9♥J♦, turning Tony’s lousy hand into trip 4s. Mitch busted out, slapped his hand on the table, muttered something, and walked out. I know how he felt.

I was randomly moved to a new table. Eric Afriat and Dan Shak were at my new table. It was kind of good to get away from Tony Lim because he's so unpredictable. And so loud.

I couldn’t seem to hit anything for a while and, as typical, became short stacked, eventually getting down to 10 big blinds. There were two equally short stacks at the table.

The player under the gun (i.e. first to act) raised. I had A♠K♠. I didn't like that he raised under the gun because that typically means your hand is so good that you’re not afraid of all the players to bet after you. But I had no choice, being short stacked with cards that are good to shove with. So I shoved and he called. He had A♥K♥. Two hearts came on the flop, which made my own heart stop temporarily, but luckily no other hearts came, so we chopped the pot. I was back where I started before the hand.

I got Q♥J♥ in the big blind. Eric Afriat raised from $5K to$11K. Dan Shak called. I called. I already had $5K in, and this was a good hand with a decent amount of chips already in the pot. An A came on the flop. Eric checked. Dan bet. I had to fold.

In the small blind I got Q3. I shoved with about 4 big blinds left, almost nothing. The player in the big blind called with A9. I hit a Q on the river to double up!

I took a risk and shoved under the gun with J9. Everyone else folded. Whew!

I shoved with AK. Eric Afriat called with QQ. An A came on the river. Afriat was not happy when I doubled up and let everyone know it, especially me. Eric is known to be a really nice guy at the poker table... until he loses. A Jekyll and Hyde. He had previously been encouraging me about my very short stack that I had been joking about. There’s the famous saying that all you need in poker is a chip and a chair. I had the chair and multiple chips, he had told me. But after his loss to me, he started telling me I should stop griping about being short stacked and at least thank him. So I did thank him, but he still wasn’t happy. His stack was very short, and he busted out on the next hand. He stormed out of the room complaining about bad beats. This seems especially surprising to me since he just came off winning the U.S. Poker Open in April and has almost $6 million in lifetime winnings. Some people are just never happy.

I got J♦10♦ in the middle of the betting round. I min raised. Everyone folded around to the big blind who thought about it and said, "OK, I'll play" and called. He may have been bluffing but I didn't think so. He had three times my stack, so if he had something good, he'd probably raise. The flop was 3♦4♦8♦, giving me a high flush. I bet just twice the minimum bet and, as I'd hoped, he raised. I snap shoved and he folded. I was back up to starting stack.

I had K♦J♦ in the small blind position. Everyone folded to me. I min raised. The big blind shoved with a big stack. I decided I wasn’t going to see better cards for a while, so I called and took my chances. He showed A♠9♣. The board ran out 7♠8♣Q♦10♦3♦, giving me a king-high flush! I doubled up! My stack was suddenly about average!

But then I ran card dead and stopped getting decent cards for an hour or so and was once again, not surprisingly, short-stacked.

Then I got pocket As on the button. I raised from $10K to $25K. The player in the small blind position folded. The player in the big blind position called. The flop was J67. I hesitated then shoved. As I'd hoped, he called. He showed J9. The board ran out with 8Q. I doubled up!

But then I ran card dead for a while and as the blinds went up, I found myself short stacked again. I shoved with AJ and got called with AQ. A J came on the flop, and I more than doubled up!

There were 35 players left and 19 would get paid. I felt good and that I could definitely make the money. In fact, I had won every race so far. A race is where two players go all-in and there is a nearly 50-50 chance for each of them. Still, I wish I didn't need to keep racing.

Dan Smith sat down to my right. I believe he’s currently the largest money winner in poker history. The people at the very top keep changing, but with over $55 million in winnings, he’s near the top if not sitting on the top.

I beat Smith when I got 62 in the big blind and I caught a 2 on the board. Everyone had folded to him, and he just completed the bet. He had A6 in the small blind but ended up just an A high.

My stack was once again short, and I raised with KJ suited under the gun. Everyone folded except the big blind player who called. The flop was A3A. He checked, I checked. The next card was a K. He bet. I figured if he had an A before the flop, he would have raised me since my stack was short. So I shoved. He called. I had figured wrong—he had an A. I busted out at #31 out of 131 entries total, just 12 short of the money.

Epilogue

I felt like playing more poker, so I drove to the Orleans Casino nearby and entered a small buy-in tournament. I ran incredibly for the first few hours, winning almost every hand I played. I built up by far the biggest stack in the tournament. About two-thirds through, I figured if I didn’t play any hands, I might still make the money. But I did play hands. In the last hour, I lost every hand I played. Ten players would get paid out of 75 entrants. My giant stack had shrunk to about 6 big blinds in the big blind position, when I got pocket 4s. Everyone folded around to the drunk player to my right who was bragging about his sexual escapades around the world. He limped in. At this late stage of the tournament, if there are two players left, the larger stack will typically shove because 1) the small stack player will usually fold because he doesn’t want to bust out so close to the money and 2) if the small stack player calls and wins, the big stack player will still be in the tournament. So when he just limped, I figured he had a really bad hand. I shoved. But instead he called with… AQ! Anyway, I was still ahead with my small pair… until the flop was A7Q followed by 8 and then 3. I busted out at number 13, just 3 places out of the money, yet again.

Postscript

As before, I feel that maybe there’s a lesson here that I’m not getting. I should stop playing poker? I should take lessons from a pro? I should play less often? I should play more often? What do you think? Please leave your advice in the comments.

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.