INTRODUCTION
I didn't take any notes. It wasn't my intention to write a trip report about this tourney, and, quite frankly, I didn't really think that I would make the final table. When I got there, I was focusing my attention on the play, so all of this is strictly from memory. As it turns out, this is really a classic story. Let me tell it to you.
Throughout the past year, the Tropicana has held a series of qualification tourneys on Saturdays. All players at the final table of each qualifying tourney received from 1 to 10 points, depending upon how high they finished. Since the final event was to be a "HOSE" tourney (including Hold 'em, Omaha/8, Stud and Stud/8), the qualifying tourney
each weekend rotated among those games. At the end of each three-month quarter, the qualifying tourney was a "HOSE" game.
I had only played in one qualifying tourney, and busted out. I wasn't planning to play in any more. However, this story begins in late September, when my buddy Larry
convinced me to enter just one more of the qualifying tourneys. I agreed to meet him by 10 am at the registration desk; I would get up early and he would play all night. I got there in time. He didn't. It was an Omaha/8 tourney that weekend, and there were only
50 entrants. They paid five places that day, and I made it to 7th place. I didn't get a payday, but I received 4 qualification points.
Although I started this year as hot as the veritable firecracker, I've been running bad recently. I was actually reluctant to pony up the $330 entry fee. Larry worked on me for weeks. He wanted me to enter the tourney, and even offered to back me. I wasn't sure. I had received an offer from the Tropicana to announce and comment upon the
action at the final table of the tourney. Larry kept after me. I finally made my decision. I was going to play. I agreed to sell one-sixth of my action to Larry and he jumped at it!
My decision was based on several factors. This was the most important: few players play all four games, and even fewer play all four games well. Most play at least one
game badly. Most of the self-styled expert and professional players don't play Omaha/8 or stud/8 very well. And most of those who can play split games can't play stud and hold 'em. My records show that I play all four games well enough to make money at each of them. I have to have some kind of advantage for that! Another big factor was the $40,000 in bonus money added by the Tropicana! Talk about an overlay!
I even developed a plan: I was going to win at stud/8; I figured to win a little or to break
even at stud and hold 'em; I planned to do my best to avoid Omaha/8 due to the
variance.
Thursday 10/25
I have a hard day in court on Thursday. At the end of the day, I contact my principals, and learn that they have no work for me on Friday. Great! I'm outta here! I leave my apartment in New York around 7 pm, and arrive in Atlantic City around 10 pm. I drive directly to the Taj Mahal. I don't like the lineup at my regular 10/20 hold 'em, and the 10/20 stud is even worse. I sit down at a 5/10 hold 'em game. I play for an hour or two,
win a stack of reds, and book it. Yes! The weekend is off to a winning start!
Friday 10/26
On Friday, I spend the entire day writing my report about the work I did on Thursday. I don't get to the Tropicana until 5 pm. The Trop's regular Friday limit hold 'em tourney is already underway. I've got a couple friends in the tourney, and wish them well. I greet
some other friends, and sit next to a friend in a 3/6 hold 'em game. We play for about an hour, until Margie's husband, Lou, comes to the table. They leave for the Taj Mahal.
I return to the tourney area. Two of my friends are still alive. DaveF and ActionBob are still in play, and are nearing the final table. I sweat Dave to a 3rd place finish, and ActionBob and the other guy chop up the top two slots! All right!
And Bob buys dinner for us all! :)
Dave and I agree to meet for breakfast the next morning. Bob isn't staying - he was just
too foolish and got married exactly one year ago. He's going to have to spend the day
with Donna! :)
On my way back to my apartment in Brigantine, I stop at the Wawa store to buy some
Nutri-grain bars (apple and blueberry), a chocolate Gatorade bar, and a bag of "gorp"
(good old raisins and peanuts). I'm now well-stocked with energy food!
I use some of my poker winnings to rent an apartment in nearby Brigantine. That's
where I keep my collection of single malt scotches and other liquors. I carefully limit my
alcohol intake on Friday night to one wee dram of single malt scotch....okokok...two single malt scotches....well, in all honesty, one-and-a-half scotches. I want to be
together for the next day's tourney.
Saturday 10/27
I sleep for about seven hours, and feel quite refreshed when I awake. I very carefully select my apparel: I'm going to have to wear my personalized embroidered "A.D.B.
Team Poker" shirt. Shall I also wear my "A.D.B. TIGER" baseball cap? No. That's overkill. I want some extra-good vibes. Aha! My "Scotch Malt Whiskey Society"
baseball cap will be perfect!
I drive back to the Tropicana, and get in the registration line. I'm surrounded by a number of local pros, who are bragging to each other about how many registration points they have earned during the last year. ("Sorry, boys. I only played in two qualifiers. I've got four points, and I'm standing in the very same registration line as you!"). As it turned out, anyone with any points at all was eligible for the final event.
The final event was limited to 200 entrants, and there were about 300 people who had won points during the year. However, only 151 of those qualified showed up for the
final.
The buy-in is $300, plus a $30 entry fee. The prize pool was $45,300, and the Tropicana added an additional $40,000 to the pool! I pay my money and am assigned
seat 3, table 10.
I meet my buddy Ray, and we are joined by DaveF, Jazbo and a guy named Nick. We have breakfast at the buffet downstairs. I pocket a very bright green "Granny Smith"
apple for future use.
Back upstairs to the tourney area. Kickoff time is scheduled for 11:00 am. I make a $1 early/late tourney start bet with Herbie Allen. He's sure that they will get the 11:00 game off by 11:10. Tom "TK" Krauss and Joe Luca, the Tropicana's excellent tourney directors, finally get the cards in the air about 11:15, and I win one buck. The dollar sits in front of me, the solid foundation for my stack of chips.
We start with 1000 in chips, and the limits start at 15/30. We play 20 minutes of hold 'em, 25 minutes of Omaha/8, 20 minutes of stud and 25 minutes of stud/8. The next level is 25/50.
I'm seated next to Matt Matros. I tell him that we're going to have a lot of fun in the tourney. On my left is George, a local pro whom I know to be a pretty good all-around player.
I don't do much in the first two levels (that's already three hours of play). I win a nice pot in hold 'em in the first round where I have a high pair in late position and two people had limped. Both of the blinds called and my pair held up. I lose some chips in Omaha/8, where I called a raise in the big blind and got involved in the hand. At 25/50, I'm under the gun rolled up with kings in the stud/8 round. I call the bring-in and two limp. There were no threatening cards on 4th street, and my bet gets all thee callers. By fifth street, the bring-in has only two low cards, and we were now head-to-head. He pairs a board card on 6th and checks. For some indescribable reason, I know that it would be a mistake to bet my unimproved trips at this point. I check, and make my full on the river. He bets into me, I raise, he makes it three bets and I go to four. He calls. He, too, was rolled up and slow-played a little full house on 6th street. I'm up to close to 2000.
Matt busts out. I sit tight in the 50/100 round, and my winning scoop in Omaha/8 is wiped out when I get scooped in the stud/8. I'm still around 1800.
Dave busts out and goes home to watch the Yankee game. Jazbo also busts out around this time. George busts out just before dinner.
I have some big swings in the 75/150 round, and I have only 2300 when we break for dinner after six hours of play. There are about 70 players still alive.
I take the dinner break with Ray at a pizza joint on the boardwalk. I have an eggplant parmigiana sub and a root beer. The Fishmans, "Chip", a few other tourney players are
stocking up on pizza and subs. Steve Eisenstein wanders in and wolfs down a platter of spaghetti and meatballs.
When we return from dinner break, we find that the Tropicana has distributed baseball caps to everyone who still had chips. After the break, at 100/200 I make some money in hold 'em, Omaha/8 and stud. I play the stud/8 round even.
In the next round or two, I make a lot of money at Omaha/8. Earlier I've written that most players play at least one game very badly. In the Omaha/8 session, I am the big blind with a suited A235. Three players call the blind and I raise. They all call. The flop is A K 2 rainbow. I grit my teeth and bet. Two callers. The turn is a nine. I bet and get raised. Huh??? Does he have three deuces? I'm the only caller. The turn is a
ten. I check and make a crying call. He rolls over (are you ready for this?) a four...and a six... and a pair of jacks!!! My aces up scoop. I then lose a big pot at stud/8.
At 150/300, I win two scoops in Omaha/8, lose a big pot in stud, and win one in stud/8.
When we are down to two tables, the Tropicana awards each of us "New Jersey State Poker Championship Series" jackets.
Steve "Ice" Eisenstein busts out around 19th. My buddy Bert busts out around 15th.
When we were down to less than two tables, Tropicana regular Joan held on to a single chip for two full rounds. She actually got through the blinds twice before busting out!
I've had pretty good chip position all game, but have taken a couple hits at stud and stud/8. At this point I am a small stack with only 1500 with limits of 1000/2000, and
average chip stack at my table is 20000. Terry has at least 40000. I get through the blinds. It's hold 'em and I'm on the button with big slick. I have twenty gold $100 chips, and a few odd green $25s. There's an early limper; I raise and win the pot. For the next four hands in a row, it's folded to me. Each time, I pick up twenty gold $100 chips, cut them off in four neat stacks of five, and flick my forefinger against the center-most stack, showing that there are five chips per stack. Each time, my raise wins the pot! Hey! Suddenly, I've got some chips!
Karen, a local rock, who is the only woman remaining in the tourney, wants to "save" the entry fee for all remaining players. Everyone at our table agrees; but two players at the other table veto. Karen soon busts out, as does another player at the other table. Several players there are short stacked. We're playing hand for hand. Someone at the other table busts out and we're all in the money! Nine players get paid, but only eight
will play at the final table - A New Jersey Casino Control Commission regulation prohibits nine players from playing in a stud game. Local player Dave "Whiz" Kopp busts out in 9th, in the money but not the final table.
We re-draw for seats. After coming back from the shadow of the ignominy of "ighn" ("ighn" = "I go home now." that acronym is internet pokerspeak for "Rats! I got beat!
it's time to leave."), I've made it to about 10000, where average stack is almost 20000. A couple players have less than me. I take my apple out from my bag, and place it
adjacent to my stack (which itself is placed upon Herbie Allen's dollar). Hey! If Johnny Chan can use a lucky orange, I can use a lucky apple! :) I recognize only two players at the final table. One is Jeff, on my left, whom I know to be a very good all-around player. I also recognize Zeke, on my right, who is badly short-stacked. Nick, who had breakfast with us, also makes the final table with little more than a few chips and a chair.
I screw it down to the maximum. I finally win a nice stud pot when I re-raise a queen raiser with split kings. Terry decides to play against me and I stack a bunch of chips when we both make two pair. The short stacks bust out one after the other.
We're now down to five. Frank, Tiger, Jeff, Dan, and Terry. Dan has the most chips; Terry is a close second. The rest of us are roughly equal. Somebody brings up the
possibility of a deal. We actually work out a structure which is very roughly in proportion to stack size. My buddy Ray has busted out, but he has hung around to sweat me. I consult with him away from the table. He tells me, "Tiger, don't you dare make a deal! You're better than these guys! You can out-play these guys! You're fresher than these guys! Don't chop it!"
Nevertheless, we're close to an agreement. However, Dan. (who'd get about 25K under the structure) says, "I'm the chip leader, and I want more."
OK. No deal. I say, "Let's play a little poker."
It is said that revenge is a dish that tastes all the sweeter when it is served cold. We didn't have to wait very long. It took about an hour, when our erstwhile greedy chip leader Dan. busts out in fifth and takes $4700 prize money.
We all laugh after Dan leaves to cash in. And we're down to four.
We play for at least three hours. At one point or another, each of us was the chip leader, and each of us had a real chance to win. It was a super-competitive game and
we were all having fun. When we were four-handed, a pot developed between all three of my opponents. I was feeling great! I looked at Ray, and silently mouthed, "I'm going
to win this!" As the pot was being pushed, I took a tremendous bite out of my apple. The crunch could be heard throughout the entire room!
I surely did have fun playing in this tourney. At various times, many of my friends stopped by to wish me well. Arthur Reber (who's a professor of psychology and a poker writer) stopped by about every two hours, just to make sure that I was still playing. My buddy Dick (known as "Fishhat" since he always wears one) came by a few times, and simply nodded and smiled. Trop regular Neil Stoloff had busted out, but he kept a close watch for most of the night.
Terry is tiring. He has been pounding on everyone with his big stack all night. but he
get beaten a few times, and his game completely disintegrates. 4th place pays him
almost $6000.
I play a big stud pot against Jeff. I have a jack in the door and pocket kings. I raise. His upcard is a queen and he re-raises. I smooth call, because I plan to take him down on this one. Nothing remarkable happens on fourth street. He bets and I call. Nothing happens on fifth street, and I again just call his bet. He makes a running pair on sixth street, and suddenly I am kicking myself for not winning the pot earlier. But I make a second pair on the end, raise him, and stack a very big pot. Jeff didn't get much sleep last night and doesn't have many chips left. He is soon down to the felt, and takes third
place and about $9400.
I don't remember much about the end of the tourney. When we started head-to-head action, Frank had me out-chipped by about 60/40. I drew close to even, but Frank got
the cards and I didn't. I remember one hand of stud/8. I start with split aces and he starts with split fours. By sixth street, I've only got my aces and he's caught a few high cards. I check my unimproved aces on the river, and Frank bets into me. I call. Yes, he caught a four on the end to make trips.
Frank had been pretty quiet throughout the tourney and during the play at the final table. I tried to draw him into a little conversation, to see who he was and what made
him tick. Perhaps he sensed that I was trying to get a read on him, because he did his best to avoid talking to me.
Towards the end, I have KJo on the button/small blind. I call. Frank raises and I re-raise. He calls. I'm watching him carefully as the flop comes down. He likes it, but not all that much. He bets. I still haven't seen the flop. As I look down at my chips, I see that the flop is king-high. I raise. He calls. I continue to watch him as the turn comes down. He checks, looks up and realizes that I'm looking at him, not the board. "Aren't you watching the cards?" "Hell, no! I'm watching you!" I bet and he calls me. He checks the river. I check, too, and spread my hand. Uh oh. Frank has a slick, and was scared that I had pocket aces. He has me out-kicked and wins.
The end comes around 3:30 am when I decide to take a stand with pocket sevens. By the time we get to the river, there are only four overcards out there, and Frank has one
of them. So it goes. I get my receipt for my winnings of almost $20,000, and leave $700 for the dealers. Frank wins more than $34,000!
My friends Alan and "ADB No-No" Nanette accompany me to the main cage. I complete the paperwork and get my winnings, partly in cash and partly in check. What
a day!! I hug and kiss them, and drive to the Taj Mahal, to celebrate with Larry. But he's involved in his usual 100/200 game, so I go back to my apartment. Two or three
wee drams of single malt scotch and I'm done.
Conclusion
I had a wonderful time! And winning is a wonderful thing! I offer my congratulations to all those who won money in this tourney, and I thank the Tropicana for kicking in the extra $40,000. Tom "TK" Krauss and Joe Luca did a fabulous job running this very long event! Thanks to all the dealers, including Desiree, Jimmy, and Andrew at the final table. I thought that the tourney structure which was used gave the players ample opportunity to play. I never felt rushed at any time during the tourney. Many, many thanks to my buddy Ray for sweating me to the end.
I made some mistakes during the day, but also learned a great deal. The most important thing I learned is that, if you are going to play in a grueling, lengthy one-day
tourney, you don't have a chance unless you get a good night's sleep!
I've told Herbie Allen that he can have his dollar back, but only if he agrees to use it to the same end that I did.
Yes, it really was a classic story: Player is running bad. Player's friend urges him to play in tournament. Player is reluctant. Friend agrees to back and/or stake player in tourney. Player finally decides to play in tourney. Player gets second place, and wins $19,619 on an investment of $330. Thanks, Larry. :)
Here are the official stats:
Final of The NJ State Poker Championship Series - H.O.S.E.(Hold 'em, Omaha, 7-Card Stud, Eight or Better Stud)
October 27, 2001 at 11:00 AM
NJ State Poker Championship Series
Tropicana Casino & Resort
Buy-In $300 + $30
Entries 151 [no rebuys]
Tropicana added $40,000
Total Prize Pool $85,300
Place Name Prize
1 Frank Stenz $34,120
2 TIGER123 $19,619
3 Jeff Richman $ 9,383
4 Terry Beins $ 5,971
5 Dan. Yanofski $ 4,691
6 Steve Romano $ 3,838
7 Mark "Eke" McCabe $ 2,985
8 Nick Pompo $ 2,559
9 Dave "Whiz" Kopp $ 2,132
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