The Universe Has Finally Realigned, Part 2

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

Today was Day 2 of the Venetian MonsterStack tournament (not to be confused with the UltimateStack tournament going on simultaneously). We started with 36 players out of 292 entries in the tournament.

After schmoozing with my favorite dealer Lisa (we share political ideology), I took my seat at the same table as my friend and famous poker announcer Jeff Platt! He announced on X that he was playing, and I responded, “I’d wish you luck, but…” He replied that he understood.

Early on, I got A♠K♠ and raised from $5K to $15K. The aggressive chip leader reached for chips, hesitated, and then to my disappointment he folded. The big blind called. The flop was Q♠9♠8♦, pretty good for me. The other player checked. I bet $20K. He folded. A good start!

Shortly after that, I got AQ in the big blind. The player on the button tried to steal the blinds with a min raise from $6K to $13K. I reraised to $25K. He folded. I'd played two hands and won both.

I got AK again in the big blind. One player min raised. I called. The flop was Q 10 8. I checked; he checked. The turn was Q. I bet, he folded. I was 3 for 3!

I then had another win: 4 for 4!

I lost a small pot but then won 3 big pots, the last one with AA. My stack was about average. Note: I had posted this on Facebook and had tagged Jeff in an earlier post. I realized that he could read my posts and know my hands, so maybe I needed to be more discrete. But right about then, Jeff busted out. There were 29 players left.

Then I saw Adam Walton bust out.

The player who came in with the chip lead was losing chips. He was playing really aggressively, so only players with great hands called his large raises. Fortunately, I'd gotten some great hands, so I took some of his chips.

Then a player moved to my table on my left who had about ten times my stack! That made things much harder for me.

I got A♣10♣. I raised from $8K to $20K and two players called. The flop was K♣9♣4♦. I checked. One player bet $24K. The other player called. I called. The flop was A♦. One player bet $25K. With my pair of aces and a draw to the nut flush, I shoved. They both folded. My stack was suddenly above average. Plus another player had busted, so I made the first pay jump, followed by making the next pay jump shortly after that.

Then I had Q5 in the big blind. The tournament chip leader to my left had min-raised under the gun. I called and flopped two pair, the board being QJ5. I checked. He bet. I raised. He called. The turn was A, which I really didn’t like. I bet big and he called. The river was 4. I checked, he bet $100K, about 1/3 of my remaining stack. His stack was so big, over $1 million left, that he might have just had a pair of aces or a complete bluff. I had already put so much into the pot that I felt I had to call rather than fold and lose all of it. I called and he showed AJ for a better two pair than me. I lost about ¾ of my stack and was down to 15 big blinds. Damn!

The blinds went up about 15 minutes later, effectively reducing my stack to 12 big blinds. I was now the short stack at the table but not the shortest in the tournament. Do I just try to outlast the shorter stacks, or do I risk it all to get back into the competition? But I’m here to win not just survive, so I decided to hold out until I got a pair or a big ace and then shove. And pray.

I didn’t have to wait long. I shoved with pocket 9s. I got called by pocket Ks. To add insult, he rivered a K. I busted out at #23.

Still, it was a fun 3-hour day, my table had some good people and fun conversation, I did well and even made a profit. Looking forward now to 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.