Player's Stories

The Education of a PokerSchool Online Player: Part 9

By Randy Glover

Sun Cruz NLHE, 3rd Week of May:

The nice thing about playing in a poker tournament on a cruise ship is that all the winnings are yours. You win a big amount in Tunica or Las Vegas you will likely be subject to an Internal Revenue Form 1099 and then have to declare your gambling winnings. No 1099s in international waters. I think about this during my drive up A1A to Port Canaveral.

As I pull into the cruise terminal parking lot with a light drizzle falling, I also think about my last two trips on the Sun Cruz. Trip one, horrible seasickness; trip two, getting called for a string bet that I thought wasn't, pretty much knocking me out of the tournament just before the final table. I hope this trip brings neither seasickness nor a questionable play on my part.

The drizzle is not a good sign.

The buy-in has gone up since my last trip: $100 now, $90 of which goes into the prize pool. The $100 gets you $3,000 Tournament Chips. Unlimited rebuys in the first hour are $25 each, which gets you $1,000 TCs. A one-time add-on of $50 gets you $5,000 TCs.

I eat dinner with a poker player who says he knew Phil Hellmuth in Wisconsin before his WSOP win in 1989. He tells an interesting story about how Phil told him he knew he was going to get head-to-head with Johnny Chan and then win it.

The structure of the tournament is as follows: Blinds go up every fifteen minutes and start at $100/$100. Then $100/$200, $100/$300, $200/$400, Break. After the break they are $300/$600, $500/$1000, $1/$2K, $2/$4K, $3/$6K, $4/$8K, $5/$10K.

If you noticed that the starting blind structures are odd, you are a very observant reader. They don't want to mess with $50 chips so they have odd starting blinds. Also, the blinds escalate rapidly.

They are trying to get this tournament over in 3 and 1/2 hours - the amount of time the ship is in international waters.

I catch only one hand prior to break: AA. I put in a 3X the big blind (BB) raise of $1200 and net out the small blind (SB) and BB: $600. I also win a small pot from my BB a few hands later.

About 45 minutes into the tournament a familiar feeling comes over me. And it is not good. I chart out the shortest short to the ship's rails. Mind over matter, I think. Mind over matter.

After the break I count my chips: $6400 in TCs. The queasy feeling gets more intense, and it is not due to lack of chips. I order a ginger ale and slowly, very slowly, my seasickness eases.

I pass on the Vienna sausages wrapped in bacon they are serving in the poker room.

[I do want to compliment Chuck Delyea and his staff on their hospitality and on a very well run tournament. Great job.]

Back to the tournament. The 92, 64, J3 hands come relentlessly. When the blinds reach $500/$1000 I am in trouble. I've got to pick a hand. I have K3 of spades in the SB. This is not a powerful hand. But it is the right situation. All fold to me in the SB. The BB is a fairly tight player. I go all in with my last $2500. He calls. We both flip over our hands. He has 77. I need a King. When the board hit 3AQJ I stand to leave. A Ten falls on the river and the BB says sit back down.

This buys me some time. I now have $6,500 and can actually make it through a couple of rounds of blinds.

The BB turns out to be a great guy. I find out his name is Manuel and he is in his early 30s. He seems fairly new to poker, though he plays a pretty decent No Limit game. After the tournament he tells me about his dream of one day entering the World Series of Poker (my dream also). I tell him about PokerSchool Online. I write the web site down for him and he says he is going to check it out

The lack of NLHE experience by some of the other players comes into play shortly after my K3s hand. The player in seat 7 has been raising all evening and stealing the blinds. Everyone knows this, but no one has had a hand to go up against him. This time he gets over eager with his raise and pops it $1500 before seat 6 has acted. When Mr. OverEager finds out that Seat 6 wants to play he wants to call his bet back. To Mr. Seat 6: This should be a big clue - Mr. Overeager DOES NOT have a hand. But Mr. Seat 6 meekly raises 1X the BB. A floor ruling by Chuck was that the raise by Mr. Overeager has to stand. Seat 6 should have pushed all in to induce a fold.

The flop is rags with a 10. Seat 6 meekly bets out a minimum bet again. OverEagar calls. Another rag on the turn and again: Small bet, call. On the river an 8 comes. Weak Bet puts out another weak bet and this time he is raised all in. Weak Bet has maybe $1,000 left and he meekly calls. OverEagar flips over a 10,8. Weak Bet, a pocket pair of Jacks.

The pivotal hand for me comes when I have $4,000 in chips left. I am on the button with 10,10. Two players are all in ahead of me and I join them. One of the players has been playing a lot of AJ, AQ type hands. The other all in has a shorter stack than me so I figure he is desperate also.

Manuel is to my left and has a pretty decent stack. He calls, figuring the rest of us to be on one last, desperate stand. The board is a lot of small cards but the turn is a Queen. I figure the guy at the far end of the table has AQ again and that I am out. He turns out to have AK this time. The other all in mucks his hand and leaves. Manuel turns over 55. There is no 5 on the board. I pull in a $22000 pot.

I now have a decent amount of time to catch a hand as the blinds have just gone to $1,000/$2,000.

I catch QQ, raise 3X BB and get no callers. I flip them over for the table to see.

Manuel takes two awful beats and is out at 17 or so.

A few hands later the blinds are up to $2/4K. I find A2 spades in the SB and put the BB all in for his last $2K. He has K7os, and catches a King on the river.

My 99 loses a bit of money when an all in catches a Jack to make a pair.

I find AQ hearts the next hand with the blinds still at $2,000/$4,000. There are only 6 people left at our table, and only 12 or so left in the tourney. I can play it safe here and limp, and if I miss I have done little harm to my stack; or I can be aggressive and try get to the final table with a decent stack.

I raise it up $10,000 and get called by BB. Wow, big surprise.

The board is all rags. I check and he bets out.

I know the flop could not have helped him, and I also know from his preflop call that he does not have a big pair. If he had a big pair he would have reraised me preflop. I figure I am still ahead at this point. The only possible way I am behind at this point is he has a medium pocket pair, and maybe, maybe, AK.

I call. When a Queen comes on the turn I put him in for the rest of his chips. I figure him to fold and save his last $6,000 or so but he calls. The river is another rag. He turns over an A10 spades. He had no flush possibilities, so I cannot figure out why he pushed the hand like he did. I am up to $50,000.

Wow. He just blew through $20,000 in chips with only 12 people left in the tournament. Why not hang on to them, make the final table and at least get paid $200 or so.

After the tournament this player came up to me and said he was just trying to amass a big chip lead for the final table. A10 suited is not a calling hand though in my opinion. If someone raises me in front, my A10, suited or not, is in the muck pretty quickly. I guess he thought I was on a pure steal.

Soon we are at the final table. I settle into seat number 7.

The chip leader I recognize from previous outings. A big guy with a Scottish brogue. Based on limited observation, I peg him as a good player. Watching him play this time I raise my estimation of him.

I catch no cards and I take no chances. I release two hands of A10 (one suited and one not) when there is significant action ahead of me.

I wait out 10th, 9th, 8th.

At the end of our table is a pretty poor player. He has a decent stack of chips, but insists on reraising the chip leader's limp of $8000 with an A10. The chip leader has not shown down a hand worse than AJ. The chip leader calls his raise. The flop, turn and river are checked down and the bad player turns over his A10. The chip leader, true to form, turns over AJ and pulls in a decent pot.

The very next hand the bad player raises 3X the BB. Everyone knows he likely doesn't have anything, so the BB takes him on. They end up getting all their chips in by the turn. The river makes a pair of kings for the BB and their stacks turn out to be one chip apart. The bad player turns over 22 and takes his one chip in his hand.

It is right back in the pot. He triples up. Twice. Then loses most of it. All in three hands. The fourth hand he is all in again.

I have A9os. I debate whether to call him, but finally decide I likely have the best hand. If raised from behind I will let it go. No raise, but a call from the SB, a lady in her forties, and a check from the BB, the chip leader. This is the reason I did not reraise. My puny stack is likely going to get called if he has anything decent. If I had a big stack I would have raised to isolate the poor player one on one.

On the flop: check, check, check.

On the turn: check, BET. Hey, wait a minute. Dry pot here. The BB folds and so do I.

The 40ish lady flips over J7 for a pair of 7s. She bet a dry pot with that?

But finally the 7th player is gone.

I have K7 os in the BB. The chip leader raises. I have $2,000 left after posting this blind. This is a no brainer. There is $24,000 already in the pot already, giving me 12 to 1 pot odds on my hand.

We both flip over our cards: the chip leader has, no surprise, AJ.

The board comes xxQK, giving me hope until a 10 lands on the river.

So I go out the same way I survived my first all in, an Ace high straight made on the river.

I collect $325 for 6th vs. $565 for 5th. [In actuality, 5th paid over $1,000 tonight. When the tournament hasn't ended when the ship leaves international waters to head back to port, all players get the prize amount awarded to the last position left at the table, in this case 5th, plus some dollar amount for each $1,000 chip. This week each chip in their stack gets $10 plus the $565 for fifth.]

I mention my seasickness to Manuel, who suggests Dramamine, and I definitely put it in my purchase plans.

Sun Cruz NLHE, May 26th:

A beautiful day. Low 80s and a clear sky. The seas are a little high - 3-4 feet -- but I have brought my secret weapon. Dramamine.

I also eat a very light mid-afternoon meal: homemade vegetable soup. I bring a couple of chocolate bars to stave off the hunger pangs.

I'll soon see if it works.

I make my buy in and talk to Manny, whom I had met the previous week. He said he read some of my articles. Hey, I know I have a readership of at least one.

I take the number 6 seat at a stud table (built for 8), where ten people are squeezed in.

Play is erratic. Pocket tens going all in and called by A7, who hits his Ace on the river. Most of these players are not playing odds. They are hoping for luck. I rely on odds.

Not too much interesting happens before the break. A lady in seat 8 gets pocket Aces two hands in a row, resulting in one player having to rebuy twice in two hands.

The hand before the break I catch a full house in the SB, get all my chips in, only to be beaten by a higher full house made on the river. Luckily he was on his 5th rebuy or so and did not have but $600 in chips left.

The hand he played was Q4os. He was this kind of player: Any face card, he called with.

I do my add on without having to make a rebuy. Goal one accomplished. And, I have $6800 in TCs.

The food put out during the break looks good: coconut battered shrimp. I pass, not wanting to tempt fate.

I think I have the rhythm of this tournament figured out. Whether you have $6,000 or $10000, once the blinds get to $1000/$2000, you have to catch a hand in this round.

Now if you have built up a decent stack, say $20,000, you can make it easily to the next level of $2,000/$4,000.

Still, these are the two critical levels. Once it gets to $3000/$6000 you likely in the money. Then you take chances to try to move to the top 3 payouts.

At the $500/$1000 level, I catch AA, raise all in, and catch one limper's call.

Up to $8,000 or so.

I am blinded down to $5,000 and find 10,10. Blinds are now $1,000/$2,000. This is the hand. I push all in.

This hand was lucky for me last week and is this week again. It holds up against two callers and I have $18,000 or so.

I steal the blinds with AJs one hand later.

The next hand I have AJ again, but unsuited. One person limps ahead of me, I limp, and the BB raises $3,000. The first limper calls. With the reraise, there is $13,000 in the pot. This call will not devastate my stack. I call.

The flop is a dream: AJ.

The BB bets out, the other limper calls. I shove all in. The BB looks sick, but puts the rest of her chips in. (She should have shoved all in preflop; I would have folded to that.) The other limper says he thinks he sucking third teat and drops.

I tell the lady I think you were leading preflop. She flips over QQ and is gone.

I have $47,000 in chips.

I am in a good chip position, giving me the luxury of picking my spots.

A large plate glass window in the poker room breaks from the rolling seas. I don't hear it, nor do the rolling seas bothering me. I am totally focused on the game and the Dramamine is working.

The only reason I noticed the window is that another player pointed it out when they were putting plywood planks up. At some point I do notice sounds of hammering and drilling going on not 15 feet away.

Soon we are down to the final table.

I have a decent stack still: $36,000 with the blinds now at $2,000/$4000.

I sit back and move up the money ladder. Still, I figure I have to make a move soon.

I don't get any kind of opportunity to steal and I don't get any kind of reraising hands. Soon blinds are $3,000/$6,000.

Now I have to make a move. Unfortunately I get no hands and have to go with a K7 hand. I catch a King on the river and stay alive and buy more time.

I steal a couple of blinds and watch people get eliminated. I fold A10 to a big raise in front of me.

We are down to 5 players, then 4. I am amazed that I am still alive, because I have gotten no hands since the blinds went to $2/4K.

I make a move with K4 suited and catch a low straight.

Player 4 is eliminated when he stays in with a weak hand, catches middle pair, but finds he is against top pair.

With three people left, I am by far the short stack. But I start catching playable hands. The first is A9s and I put in all my chips in. (This is a good hand 3-way in my opinion).

The chip leader, a guy named David, has a mountain of chips and has been playing sheriff to all the short stacks. He calls with A7.

He is drawing dead to the 7. Both of us catch an Ace, but the board pairs and my 9 does not play.

The same thing happens a few hands later with my A7 vs. his A6 and we chop the blinds again.

Then my A8 holds against his A4 and I have a little breathing room.

In the meantime the player in second place has seen his chips dwindle due to a couple of skirmishes with the chip leader. I have a decent lead over him. Wow, could I end up in second without catching any big hands at the final table?

No, I won't.

Pocket Queens in two successive hands move this guy into almost a virtual tie with the chip leader.

The chip leader, David, says to me, "You won't die will you?"

I grin.

But I do die a few hands later, having to shove in my chips with K8. I find myself up against A3 and I am finally gone. The other two players chop it with David taking an extra $100.

One final note on this trip aboard the Sun Cruz. After the gambling stopped and we were headed back to shore, a very nice dealer (Cheryl) comes over and congratulates the money winners one by one. What a nice touch...