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A Chip and a Chair
By Mark Napolitano

Paris September 1997, on the most beautiful avenue in the world, Avenue Des Champs Elysée. Oh yes, I remember it well... (I think that reminds me of a song). One of the most elegant cardrooms in the world was the venue ACF (Aviation Club de France). First of all, let me explain to those of you that have not had the pleasure of playing poker in this cardroom. It is probably the only place where you might still have a happy experience even if you end the trip broke. In Paris, eating is much more important than playing poker, and the Aviation Club is well aware of this. You almost feel spoiled after a trip there. During their tournaments, play stops every night around 9:00 p.m. for about one and a half hours purely for everyone to eat. Their restaurant is first class, and it's all complimentary.

In September 1997, I found myself on a one-week trip to Paris trying to get my unhealthy bankroll back into shape. The main event at the end of the festival was a 10,000ff ($1600) buy-in No Limit Hold 'em tournament. I wanted to get into this tournament but only arrived in Paris with a bankroll of around $3,000. The first decision I needed to make was whether to play in any of the other tournaments or just wait for the main event. I decided to go for it and play all of the hold 'em tournaments. I didn't get in the money in any of them and on the day of the big one I only had $700 left. Good money management, Mark! My only chance was to win a satellite. I played my first one and won it. Great, why didn't I just wait until today to start playing?

7:00 p.m. soon arrived, and it turned out that there were 140 entries ($225,000 in prize money), by far the biggest tournament I had played in to date. I played very conservatively for the first two hours and managed to double my stack. Then it was time for the famous dinner break. The wine flows very freely during this time and I somehow forgot I was in a very big tournament. By 10:30 p.m. we had to restart and I realized I was a little worse for the wine. I made a few mistakes almost immediately and suddenly I was short-stacked. This was a great way to get sober but it would have been much more productive to have drunk water during the dinner break, not to mention cheaper! I started to nurse my stack without too much success. At 1:30 a.m. there were 13 players left, and I was one of them but I had no stack. I had one 500 chip, and the blinds were 500-1000. Rather bad shape I thought. At this point, I jokingly called over to Bruno Fitoussi, "Bruno, how much does the winner get?" Bruno is a director of the club and also a poker player. He knows how to look after his customers. He told me the winner would get $80,000, but that it didn't look too good for me. I told him "A chip and a chair, Bruno, that's all I need."

Two hands later I had to put my chip in the pot for the big blind and there were four callers. I won the pot. Don't write me off just yet! On the next hand, I found a pair of queens in the small blind and raised it 2,000 all-in. Only the big blind called and my queens stood up. Now I had 5,000 and could afford to wait a few hands before panicking. I steadily built my stack as other players started to get knocked out. I was very happy to make the final table and the money, even though I was still the smallest stack.

When we resumed play after the break, I was amazed how quickly players were being knocked out. It was very exciting as my guaranteed prize money escalated without me having to do anything. 3,000... 4,000... 6,000... 8,000. Now there were five players left and I hadn't played a pot at the final table. My stack was 30,000 out of a total of 420,000. My nearest rival on chip count was Ofer Ovadia from France with 65,000, then Howard Lipman of South Africa with 80,000, then Tibor Tolnai from Hungary with 110,000, and the chip leader with 135,000 was Michel Cordier of Belgium. The prize for fifth spot was $10,000ff.

Considering my chip position with 13 players left, I was delighted to still be in there with a guaranteed 10,000. Maybe that is why a few minutes later I was involved in a pot with Howard Lipman where I was trying to steal. I bet 20,000 on the turn all-in on a stone cold bluff, and after a minute or so Howard called me. I needed a middle pin jack to stay alive, and... Bam! The jack fell on the river to keep me alive. Now I had 65,000 and suddenly the onlookers started to check out this English guy in seat six.

I fear I may have put poor Howard on tilt, as the very next hand he was all-in against Michel with a weak hand... and then there were four. The next one out would receive 13,000. At this stage I started to feel very comfortable. I actually believed I could win this thing. For the first time at the final table I had a fraction more than one of the other players. Ofer had 63,000 and I had 65,000. We were playing 3000-6000 blinds and I was on the big blind. Michel passed, Tibor passed and Ofer just called to my surprise. I looked down and saw the 8-10 diamonds. I checked and the dealer turned the flop... 9-J-Q all diamonds! I flopped a straight flush that could not lose, no matter what cards came on the turn and river.

Ofer was first to act and checked, I checked, too, praying for him to improve. The turn was another queen. He bet 12,000, the size of the pot, and I called. Now there was 36,000 in the pot. The river was the two of spades. He checked and I bet all my chips, trying to convince him I was trying to steal the pot. He thought for a good three minutes and eventually called for all of his chips. He turned over Q-5 spades for three queens. I showed him the straight flush and he said "well-played." Now I had almost one third of the chips and the three of us made a deal some 20 minutes later when I was a slight chip leader. I received $50,000 and learned a very important lesson...

As long as you have a chip and a chair, you have a chance.

I collected my money at the cash desk all in 500ff notes. It was like two bricks that I somehow managed to fit in my pockets, one in each. I went out and got straight into a taxi. "Rue de Washington Hotel, please," I said. "But Monsieur, it is around the corner 100 yards," he replied. I had forgotten my hotel was about a 1 minute walk. "Oh well, show me Paris in a taxi for 500ff, including tip."

It was the sweetest sight-seeing trip I have ever taken.

Until Next Time...

Be Lucky,
Mark Napolitano