RR’s Poker Tournament

Listening to KISW this morning I heard about a poker tournament that I wanted to join. I thought Steve The Producer would be there and I wanted to say hi to him. It has been one year since I met him in person when I went for the Short Bus to the SuperBowl.

It was taking place about fifteen miles from work at twelve-thirty. So I went to work and at eleven I went to the casino and entered. Then I went back to work. I left to go back to the casino for the first round. All I had to do was be the top six on my table. I was doing very well. In fact by the time we were down four people I was the chip leader on my table, but that did not mean much as we will all start with the same number of chips at the finals. We were done in about forty-five minutes. The other table had not even eliminated anyone.

I went back to work until around three as the poker started at four o’clock pm. I got to the casino and saw Steve. He remembered me and knew that I was the same guy he had been e-mailing with about being a producer for a radio show.

We talked for about fifteen minutes and it was time to get ready to hit the table. I got my seat. BJ Shea was also on my table. I was doing okay. Not really up nor down much for a while. Then I found an Ace/King unsuited. I called someone who went all in. He flipped up pocket-bullets. So I knew I was hurting. I lost the hand and most of my chips. I think I had about seven hundred bucks left. So rather than looking to go all in on the next hand or when the blinds got to me. I waited until I found my cards.

I waited and waited. Soon I found what I was looking for and went all in. By that time I only had two-hundred left. I won. So I had a little bit of breathing room, but the blinds would be coming. At the point before my victory, I was looking to be the fifth guy out of the tournament. But I knew I had to hold on longer than Steve The Producer. I did not want to get out before him.

I was a battling man. Soon the people at my table were impressed with my ability to be patient and wait for the right cards. I kept winning and battling. Just before the break I was up to nearly ten-thousand. I was now nearly a chip leader on my table. I had taken some of the big guys down to nearly nothingness. The place where I once was. I went from two-hundred to ten-thousand. Because I played the right cards and was patient. I did not force anything. I see so many people get into my position and give up.

There was no give up. It was fight-fight-fight for me. And I fought hard and was patient. But then the dreaded Ace/King unsuited came again. I decided to play. One other guy went all in, and I called him. This time he had a small pair of eights. But it was big enough as I did not get any cards to help me and I lost my fortune… AGAIN!

Now I could quit there thinking I have no chance at coming back, or I could fight some more. I am a fighter so that is what I did. Back down to my final three-hundred bucks I fought. I won a small amount of money. Enough to cover a blind or two and keep me alive until I see my cards. Before long I ended up making it to the final table. I had been there for more than two hours by this time. And I was playing on borrowed time in some ways. I should have been gone thirty-minutes into the tournament. But here I am two hours later still in it.

I found my hand and put in my last seven-hundred bucks. I was only in because of the blind. I would not have played my King-Eight unsuited, but I had no choice. On the flop came a king and an eight. The turn brought another eight. I had a full boat and I won. I was making my come back. I had a long way to go, as the lady next to me was sitting with about thirty-thousand bucks and I just made it to three-thousand from my seven-hundred.

But the blinds kept going up. Quicker than I was getting wins. So my stack kept getting eaten away. But I found a good hand. I was in the big blind with one-thousand in the pot. It was raised to four-thousand. I only had two-thousand more. So I was all-in for three-thousand bucks. Our cards were flipped up and I watched as the flop and the turn came up. I was winning. I just needed to survive the river. I would double up and be sitting pretty for a little bit. But a nine came out. That is the card this guy needed for a straight. That beat me and sent me packing. But I had been in the tournament for a couple hours and it was a good time.

I made my way home on the rain-soaked freeway and got dinner with the rest of the family.