The Poker Masters: Third Time a Charm?

Plus more bad beat stories

I know I should be watching the presidential debates tomorrow, but I’m sure my watching the debates won’t change the outcome. Instead, I plan to enter Tournament 1 of the Poker Masters series of tournaments tomorrow. This is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, with only the best players playing. Plus me. I played a few years ago before COVID, and shortly before the payout, and after registration was closed, I held the biggest stack in the tournament until… I got dealt A♦K♥. I had raised, and only Sam Soverel called my bet. The flop was A♠K♠9♦. I had a darned good top two pair. He checked, which gave me the feeling I was ahead. So I jammed my whole stack. He used up three or four of his time chips. These higher stakes tournaments have time limits to act. You get a certain number of time chips for the entire tournament that each gives you more time to think. If he was thinking, I was definitely ahead. After using most, if not all, of his time chips, he called my bet and showed Q♠J♠. He had a royal flush draw! The next card was a low spade, giving him a flush. I needed an A or K to win, but neither came. My stack was crushed, and I lasted only a few more hands after that to finish just two out of the money. Sam ended up taking all those chips to the #1 spot in the tournament. It still hurts when I think about it.

When the pandemic was over and poker resumed, I played again in the Poker Masters. My first hand was heads up against Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu. I had J♠K♠. The flop was 2♠7♠10♠, giving me a flush. I bet and Negreanu called. This is great, I thought. I’m going to bleed chips away from one of the greatest players in poker history for a big win on the first hand. The turn card was Q♣. I bet bigger this time, and Negreanu called again. What a way to start the tournament! The river card was 10♦. I was getting suspicious at this point and so I checked. Negreanu put out a very big bet. I thought about it. Was he bluffing? What could he have at the beginning of the hand that got better at the end of the hand? There were a few possibilities, but I felt that I couldn’t fold my flush, so I called. He showed Q10 for a full house. When he saw my flush, one of the greatest players in poker history said to me, “yeah, you had to call that bet.” But it was little consolation as he scooped up my chips.

I’m determined to last longer tomorrow.

More bad beats

I haven’t had much time to play in the last month because business has been so hectic. Damn those paying clients! In the last week or so, I entered a number of small tournaments to get back into practice.

Last week I played at the Republican Jewish Coalition annual poker tournament, along with my friend Matt Brooks, who runs the organization, and invited guest poker pro Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. This is the tournament that got me into professional poker about 10 years ago when I entered and, surprisingly won, playing against pros Barry Greenstein (also one of the first employees at Symantec) and Daniel Negreanu.

I don’t know if the type of player has changed or I’ve changed, but this year the RJC tournament was very difficult to play, primarily because most of the players knew little about poker and just acted randomly. One young lady, and I’m not making this up, was moved to my table with a stack at least 5 times the size of the second largest stack. Her friends were waiting to go to dinner, and she kept apologizing, so she kept shoving without looking at her cards. No one wanted to risk all those chips until finally someone did and beat her. Then she only had twice the size of the next largest stack, so she asked the floor manager if she could just leave, and they said OK, taking her chips out of the tournament. Other players had commitments and also left. I made it to the final table, but only 3 players would cash. With 4 players left, my stack was short, so I shoved with A5. I got called by J10. It was about 55:45 in my favor, but a 10 showed up to bust me out on the bubble, my usual spot.

On Saturday I played in a satellite tournament for the Poker Masters. In a satellite, you pay a small fee, play against a small number of players, and the top 10% get a ticket to the main tournament. They needed 10 entries to give out one ticket and after a few hours, there were only 9 players. Luckily for everyone else, I busted out and bought back in to make the tenth entry, and then busted out again.

The first time I busted, I got dealt pocket Ks. One very aggressive player raised pre-flop. I reraised by a lot. He raised me again. I shoved and he called with… pocket 7s! Really? That was a bad call on his part. Odds were 4:1 in my favor. But of course, a 7 came on the flop to bust me out.

The next time, I got dealt pocket Ks and another player shoved. I can’t fold the second-best hand in poker, so of course I called. He had AK. I was pretty happy. Odds were better than 2:1 in my favor. But an A showed up to bust me out.

Today I played in a tournament at the South Point Casino south of the Las Vegas Strip. They hold some small buy-in tournaments that pay pretty well because they attract a lot of people. My stack was going up and down the entire time, but I made it to the final two tables with a very big stack. Only 8 players would be paid. As each player was eliminated, my stack started getting lower and lower. We were seeing a lot of pocket As, and I kept joking about when it would be my turn when… I got pocket As with a short stack and only 13 players left. I shoved. The player to my left called and said, “bad timing.” He said it softly and I didn’t realize he was sincerely trying to console me when he showed his pocket Ks, but then he saw my pocket As. I just said, “yeah, bad timing.” Odds were over 4:1 in my favor… until a K showed on the flop and I was out.

I’m wondering how to play tomorrow in the Poker Masters. Maybe in my universe, mathematics works differently. Maybe my odds are about 25% of mathematical odds. In other words, if I calculate 4:1 odds in the normal universe, it’s only 1:1 odds in my universe. Or maybe I should swap the odds, so 4:1 in my favor is really 4:1 against me. Maybe I should see my poker as an opportunity to create a whole new field of mathematics: The Mathematics of Bob.

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.