Poker tournaments can be the most trying experiences.
Variance — a euphemism for luck — plays a huge factor. Winning one, particularly one with a large field, is akin to winning a lottery.
And even good, battle-tested tournament players may cash in tournaments only 10 percent to 15 percent of the time.
Knowing all that, we entered a low-stakes tournament at wsop.com.
The field started with maybe 15-20 players but kept adding new entrants. By the time entries were cut off, there were 39.
So hardly a megafield you’d find at a live WSOP event, but enough to make it interesting. And let’s assume this is a fairly flat structure that will pay the top four or five.
Our tournament strategy early was to behave and not get out of line — but at the same time to be situationally aware and try to chip up whenever possible.
And we largely accomplished that mission. At the first break, one hour into the event, our chip position was about average. Perhaps 10 players had bit the dust by that time.
But the blinds increased every 20 minutes. There were some classic confrontations — A-A took out K-K. And some classic suckouts, too, as a straight draw got there on the river to eliminate a big pair.
Poker happens.
We were thinking a deep run into this tournament might take us two hours. And as we rolled up to the two-hour level, we were still alive and kicking. And so were maybe 18-20 other players.
But we gritted our teeth, looked for spots to pick up chips and avoided the minefields.
After the two-hour level, our table began losing a few people. I noticed a couple of players that we had started the first table with were still kicking with about average chip levels. Would have been a great time for a “last longer” side bet, but that’s tough to do in cyberspace.
But shortly thereafter the last two tables were combined. There were some virtual fancy lights and special effects — but we were at the final table.
Looking around, we were not in great shape chipwise. But we weren’t the short stack either.
It seemed like forever before the first player at the final table was busted. Now we were maybe only five players away from actually cashing.
With our chip stack still about average, we found Ad-8d and really liked the flop of J-10-7 with two diamonds. We made a sizable bet — only to be greeted by an all-in push. After briefly deliberating and noting that we had this guy covered with a great chance to double up, we called. The turn and river were no help, however, and his pair of jacks took the pot.
And for the first time, we were the short stack with maybe 10 big blinds left.
But we dodged bullet after bullet, the virtual rounds whizzing by our ears with every lap, and managed to steal some small pots.
Finally, with 6-6 we knew it was time to do or die. We pushed our last chips in, hoping for one caller — and one only.
We got it from the big stack, who flipped up A-7 suited.
It was your classic coin flip and we were slightly ahead, winning about 53 percent of the time.
The board ran out with an underpair — and we lived to play another day.
Still our chip position was not great so we played the game of attrition, waiting for the bigger stacks to take out the smaller stakes and get us closer to payday.
We caught a break when one guy pulled off a double elimination.
And then there were five.
We managed to win some hands here, and watched as one of the early big stacks slowly faded. In fact, we finally took him out and added a little to our stack.
We lost another and then there were three.
The chip leader had amassed a huge stack by this time. That left us in second and the third player’s hold was tenuous.
At this point, considering the jump in prize money from third to second, our strategy was clear: Wait for the chip leader to take out No. 3.
He had a shot early but No. 3 made a hand on the river and the cat-and-mouse game went on. But the blinds were massive at this level. Within minutes, he was gone.
Of course, this is when they bring the money out — both in live play and at wsop.com
We were also at hour No. 3 and time for another break.
When we came back from the break, the money was still on the table and we were the heavy underdog — about 6 to 1 at one point. We made one early dent, but that was it.
On a board of 6-7-8, all the remaining chips went in — we were holding A-5 for a straight draw and an overcard, the big stack was holding K-10 for a gunshot straight draw and an overlord. The 9 on the turn sealed our fate.
Three hours later, we had survived a field of 39 to finish second.
That was a 750 percent return on investment so respectable in that sense.
We reviewed a few things along the way, but basically thought we had played well — aggressive where merited and only all-in twice, once where we held the nuts.
Three hours of challenges and decision-making and a respectable ROI.
Yeah, poker happens.
