Player's Stories

40,000 Feet Below Binion's: Low-Rolling Near the World Series of Poker
By Ken Goldstein

The World Series of Poker, held each year at Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas, is gambling's premier event, attracting thousands of the world's best players and wannabes. The World Series features dozens of events in games like Stud and Omaha, culminating in the $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold 'Em Championship, with a grand prize of $2,000,000. For those players who can't afford the big-ticket buy-ins there are nightly 11:00 p.m. $225 no-limit Hold 'Em "consolation" events as well as smaller, one-table "satellite" tournaments to raise bucks for the big ones.

And then there was us.

Whether it was small bankrolls, tight schedules, or weak knees that brought us here, 30 hearty souls gathered around three Mandalay Bay tables at 10:00 a.m. Thursday morning for a $25-entry Hold-Em tournament. I couldn't help but feel like a tennis pro who had traveled all the way to Wimbledon in June only to hit balls against a brick wall for a few hours. Still, if I couldn't beat these guys then I shouldn't be taking on the big boys, and if I could … well, there's always next year. How's about grabbing a drink, pulling up a chair and sweating my action for some of the most exciting high-stakes wagerin' since The Cincinnati Kid?

Round One: 10/20 Limits; 5/10 Blinds. I, along with everybody else, start with 300.

With all of us starting with so few chips and the blinds going up so fast, it's obvious that Mandalay Bay has designed this to be a quick tournament, and it isn't gonna do me any good to sit around and wait. This 300 in tourney chips will look mighty small once those limits are 25-50. The top four places pay in this tournament: $300 for the winner, followed by $150, $90 and $60. Plenty of folks to beat to get there, though …

I'm sitting at the third table, in the #10 seat next to the dealer. The player to my right is an older gentleman, a nice guy named Phil; I can't really see the player to my left, blocked as he is by the dealer.

After a few folds I pick up Ace-King, a darn nice hand and raise it to 20, getting one caller. The flop comes 346 with two spades (I have no spades in my hand). Not a great flop, but not too bad if my opponent has something like Queen-Jack. I bet and damn, he calls. The turn is a 7, meaning that if he has a 5 in his hand he has a straight and the best I can do is a pair of Aces or Kings. Even if he has a 3, 4, 6, or 7 I'm behind, and if he has something like A7 I?m dead to a King. I check and he checks. The river is the 10 of spades, the third spade. If he was going for spades, well, he made them. I check, he bets, I fold my nothing. Down to 255.

I'm not involved in the next big hand, but Phil's pocket 7's get run down by a player with T (ten)-9. The flop is 578, giving Phil a monster three-of-a-kind but his opponent an open-ended straight draw. The turn is the 6, and when the board doesn't pair (which would have given him a full house) Phil is out a bunch of chips.

An amusing/disappointing hand comes soon when my pocket Aces go up against my opponent's … pocket Aces. I was sure I had this one won, but all of my raising and re-raising just makes it take longer for the dealer to split up the chips.

Round Two: 15/30 Limits; 10/15 Blinds. I am down to 255.

A nice gift on my next hand. I'm in the big blind with T8, so when nobody raises I see the flop for no additional chips. Of course, the flop of Q55 isn't really what I wanted to see, so I check (the betting after the flop starts from the blinds and moves clockwise). It is checked around and the turn is a Ten. I'm worried that somebody might be slow playing a big 5, so I check and it's checked around again. The river is another Ten, giving me a full house and some easy chips, back up to 300.

Lots of folding now... Q9, 82, T5. Easy folds, but as I said I can't wait too long to build my stack. I finally find a worthy hand: AT of clubs. I raise it up and everybody folds except the small blind. The flop is AJ7 with two diamonds. The SB checks, I bet, he calls. The turn is the 4 of diamonds. I'm worried about a flush, but again the SB checks, I bet, he just calls. The river is an 8. He checks and I decide to just turn over my hand. He looks for a second and then turns over his 87, a winning two-pair suckout. As he stacks my chips he mentions that he was worried about the diamonds, leaving me to wonder why he wasn't worried about the Ace or Jack, or worried enough to fold his lousy pair of 7s. Anyway, I lose a quarter of my chips and am down to 225.

Round Three: 25/50 Limits; 15/25 Blinds. I have 225 in chips.

225 is basically enough to play out one big hand at these limits, so I better pick one up quick. I fold a few 54s and 93s as players begin to bust out. An AQ takes out a KQ when a Queen flops, and I can see players at the other tables walk out of the poker room. I pick up 87h in an unraised big blind, flop an 8, and pick up a few chips. I win some more chips with my small blind, a KQ that flops a Queen and gets a caller all the way down. I'm up to 375, then it's more fold fold fold.

We're losing a player every two or three hands when the following occurs: a short-stacked K9 goes all in against Phil's AQ and QJ, then stays alive when the flop comes 996. The turn is a Queen causing the QJ to go all-in and then all-out to the AQ. I fold a few more hands as the round ends.

Round Four: 50/100 Limits; 25/50 Blinds. I have 375 in chips.

It's back around to my big blind, a stack-swallowing 50 that I lose when my 98 is raised twice before it gets back to me. Phil has pocket Kings and takes down a monster, one of a couple he'll win over the next round. We're down to two tables when something odd happens: for my small blind hand I accidentally get dealt three cards, and don't realize it until after the betting gets back around to me. Now, the cards were J65, so no matter which two were really mine I would have folded anyway, especially since it was raised, but in any case the hand is declared "dead" (a standard casino rule) and I automatically lose my small blind bet. The dealer felt awful about it and apologized throughout the next few hands, so I finally had to tell him that I would have folded my lousy hands anyway.

J5, 22, 93, J7 … I consider playing KT and decide against it, only to see the flop come KT4 and Phil eventually win the hand with AK. Dammit. I do get to see this amazing battle, though: everybody folds around to the small blind, who calls. The SB and BB both check all the way down, with the board showing AKQT2. The BB turns over 43 meaning that the SB's 76, with that monster 7 kicker, won the pot. Trust me, it was thrilling.

Round Five: No Limit; 50/100 Blinds. I have 300 in chips.

Anyway, the blinds are coming around to me, and with 150 in blinds against only 300 chips, my standards have just gotten pretty low. While pretty much anything would look good right about now, I fortunately start finding some cards. Under the gun (the first position after the blinds) I go all-in with KQ, everybody folds, and I pick up the blinds. I do the same with my KT of hearts in the small blind, then pick up pocket Kings on the button. Distracted by a cute waitress bringing me coffee I throw all my chips in, causing everybody to fold. Just like that I've doubled up to 600.

A couple hands later, while I'm wondering if I should have been a little slower with my Kings to try and lure some more chips in, I watch a player with pocket Aces do just that, enticing an opponent with A2 to go all-in. Unfortunately for the Aces, though, the board comes 43653, giving that lowly A2 a straight and sending the Aces muttering out onto the Strip. A few more quick hands, two lost blinds, and the round ends.

Round Six: No Limit; 100/200 Blinds. I have 450 in chips.

It's gonna cost 300 a round to just sit here, and with hands like Q2, 84 and T3 there isn't much else I can do. It could be worse, though. I can watch my pocket Jacks lose to both A7 and Q7 when a Queen flops and an Ace rivers, like my pal Phil. Fortunately, the other two players were all-in so it didn't cost him much.

I'm under the gun now, with the next hand my 200 big blind. I figure if I get anything I'll have to go all-in, and I look down to find … pocket 2s. Not the best hand, obviously, but dammit, it's a pair! All-in! I get one caller, a nice guy across the table who shows me … A6! Probably the best hand I could hope for (any pair beats 2s, obviously, and A6 can't make a two-card straight). The board comes T43 … 7 … 9! Yes! And I'm way up to 1200!

I lose my BB and win the SB to stay at 1200, then fold an A5h that would have been a big winner (my lack of no-limit experience is starting to hurt me here). I might be playing a bit too cautious, unlike Phil, who just took his QJ against an AK and flopped a Jack to take down another big one and bring us down to the final table of ten players. As for me, it's fold fold fold fold fold my big blind …

Round Seven: No Limit; 200/400 Blinds. I have 1000 in chips.

The blinds go up between my BB and SB, costing me an extra 100 when I fold my 74. I'm back to 800 a couple hands later when somebody goes in for a bit over 600, so when I look down to find AQ, both diamonds, I go over the top and throw all my chips in as well. It's just the two of us, and he looks nervous as hell as he turns over -- dammit! -- pocket Queens. I'm asking him why he's so nervous when a few seconds later we both get our answer, a flop of AJ9, with only one Queen left in the deck that can help him. It doesn't come, and I knock him out and now have over 2400 in chips!

A couple of hands later Phil has pocket Aces and raises somebody all-in with AQ … an ugly matchup until a Queen on the flop and another on the turn wins a big pot for AQ. He wins the next hand, though, to maintain his chip lead.

Meanwhile, I'm folding hands that would win big pots as we lose two more players. We're down to seven when somebody suggests a $25 save for fifth place, a pretty common deal. We all agree and continue on.

A few hands later we get a monster. Two of the smaller stacks at the table both end up going all-in with A9 and KT, leaving Phil to call all bets with his pocket Queens. The flop couldn't be worse for Phil (or for me either, since a Phil win would knock out two players): AT4. The 7 on the turn doesn't help anybody, leaving only the river … Queen! Phil's trip Queens take down a huge pot, giving him about as much as the rest of the table combined, and guaranteeing that I would at least break even. At this point my 2000 or so chips gave me the second or third-highest stack at the table.

Or at least it did for a few hands …

In late position with KT suited I throw in an 800 raise to try to win the blinds right there, but unfortunately the woman in the small blind didn't get my memo and calls. We both see the A84 flop, one that misses me entirely and that I can only hope missed her too. She checks, and I try and represent an Ace with a 500 bet; when she calls, I know I'm toast. I get nothing on the turn or river either and we both check down. She turns over K8 suited -- normally a hand I'd love to see play against my KT, but that 8 on the flop leaves me crippled.

Two hands later I'm under the gun with KQ and go all-in for my remaining 800 or so, a bet that my opponent with pocket Aces is too happy to call. No more miracles left in the deck, and after nearly two hours of play I finish in 5th place, winning me back the $25 I put in for some zero-sum fun. Well, it's the satisfaction of a money finish that counts. I stick around a little while longer to chat with a few other players and watch as Phil easily wins $300 for first place (my K8 nemesis took second). I'm happy with my solid, in-the-money performance, one that I hope serves notice up at Binion's that come 2004, there's gonna be a new player in town.

Ken Goldstein lives 120 miles away from Atlantic City and is feeling lucky.