A Sweet Victory

I used to write a lot about poker on my old blog. Like many people, I was bitten by the Texas Hold 'em bug several years ago, when Chris Moneymaker came out of nowhere to win the main event of the World Series of Poker. Since then, I have played in many poker tournaments in casinos and countless hours online. I won a poker tournament in Las Vegas back in September, '05, and have had some success since then, but no outright wins. I even played in one of the early events of the 2006 World Series of Poker, but I was knocked out in the first twenty minutes. And, since then, despite some near misses and a ton of bad beats, I had yet to win another tournament.

That is, until yesterday. I played in a noon tournament yesterday at one of the local casinos. There were 75 people signed up for the tourney, and I have played in this tournament before. Considering the slump I've been in lately, and the dissipation of my confidence, I was not expecting much. Perhaps that's the best way to go into one of these things.

The tournament was pretty uneventful for most of the first three rounds. I was pretty much holding my own, never dipping below what I started with, but never accumulating very much, either. Then, for the last hand before the first break, a guy down at the other end of the table jumped up with his cellphone in his hand, pushed all his chips in, and then took off running, never to return. We had started the tournament with 5,000 chips, and this guy pushed in almost that amount. I was last to act. Everyone folded to me, and I looked down at pocket aces. I couldn't believe it. I pushed all in, the other guy had A-3 suited in hearts, no flush came on the board, and I doubled up right before the break.

For the next hour and a half, I held my own. I never got a big stack, and I managed to avoid getting blinded out by taking a few chances, making a couple of bluffs, and getting lucky. One time I was in the big blind with 9-10, suited in clubs, a suited connector. One player went all in, and I called, since I already had the big blind posted, and it was less than double the big blind to make the call. The pros say that the price was right, I had the correct odds to make the call, so I did. And sure enough, I ended up with a flush, the other poor dude had A-Q, and I knocked him out.

A little later on, there were 12 players left and I was short stacked. I had managed to hold on, but I was in danger of being blinded out. The blinds were 2000/4000 and I had about 13,000 in chips. I looked down at pocket 8's and went all in. Another guy called me with A-J. The 8's held up, I had doubled up, and that set me up to get to the final table, the first time I ever made a final table in that particular casino.

The tournament was paying only the top six places, and I was determined to be one of them. Three players got knocked out pretty quickly, and then there was seven. We played for about a half hour and I continued to hold my own, with neither a big stack or a small stack, right about the middle. Finally, the bubble boy was knocked out and I had made it into the money.

Ten minutes later, there were four of us left. And that's when I started to make my move. I won a major pot with A-K suited, and a couple of hands later, I won a big pot with a big raise when I looked down at pocket tens. We continued to play and I continued to accumulate a bigger and bigger stack, while the other three guys traded chips back and forth. Finally, the other players proposed that those three would tie for second place, and I would be the winner. We all agreed, the prize pool was distributed, and I was declared the winner of the tournament, complete with the monthy points that go along with winning, the placing of my name in the winner's book, and the satisfaction of knowing that I had finally won a tournament.

Looking back, I think I played one of the best tournaments of my poker career, if not the best. I wasn't perfect, but I made some critical, big-time laydowns that I might not have made in tournaments past, I played aggressively when I had big hands, and I showed the proper patience and discipline. And, for one Saturday at least, I tasted the sweet victory of winning a no-limit Texas Hold 'em tournament and I'm on top of the world. I'll be sad to see April go, it's been a good month.