Taking it to the Bank

#43 - I'll raise you $100
While the intent of this item on the list was to play in a casino-hosted poker tournament, I'm going to count this illegal-gambling-den-hosted poker tournament as acceptable.

I'm on a bit of a natural high. My brother, and his dog Arby, came to town today and we ventured outside of our normal activities. Rather than just play some more computer games, we went out and played in a Texas Hold 'Em No-Limit tournament. It was a simple structure, $20 buy-in and unlimited re-buys for the first session (90 minutes). Out of 26 players, I came in third! Yes, that's right, I came in third. Which, since the payout for third place was $240, is great!

Honestly, I had some average cards, played fairly tight through most of the night, and got lucky a couple times when it counted. I lost big with a Queen high flush to someone's full house draw on fifth street. And the last few hands may have been played a bit too loose, but I was short stack with a King-xxx off-suit. Not great, but the blinds were so high, and the stack of chips so low, I didn't have too many choices. And besides, I came home in the money!

Unfortunately for Tony, he was out rather early. Another player at his table told me, "He was just beaten up." Not that he played bad, but sometimes the cards don't fall your way and those nights hurt. Like when he went all-in with a nut straight on the turn, and lost to a boat on the river. Ouch.

For well written articles about Poker (much better than the rambling I just wrote), I recommend Daniel Negreanu's Full Contact Poker.