Scared money don’t make money.

That’s was the first mantra I adopted when I begin playing cards seriously and competively nearly four years ago. No person, not just in poker, can make any money if they are scared to invest it. Poker is not gambling. It is a game that has statistics and skill, but most of all, the room for imagination and creative play. Any hand can potentially win. It’s just how you choose to play it.

I’d been logging in a few hours online here and there and I’ve been playing a lot more aggressively then usual in tournaments. And it’s been paying off significantly. I was already aggressive in play by nature, constantly betting and re-raising without fear, but I found myself playing hyper-aggressively, playing great position poker and picking my spots wisely. This month was the best month I’ve had in tournament play, and it was the type of poker I’d missed. I started off as a tournament player “touring” the Maryland scene and taking down tournaments. Then I discovered the quicker pace and higher adreneline filled cash games and I loved it. In 30 seconds, I could make as much as I did playing six hours winning a tournament. Granted there are higher risks, but to players on a more advanced level, risk is nothing more then calculations. 

I had cashed in about 13 tournaments this month, mostly sit and go’s, but a few of the larger money ones and I was itching to play live. I took my usual every-two-weeks trip down to Atlantic City and I was feeling really good about my game. My card sense hasn’t been this strong in a while and I was looking to get a nice pay day. Although I didn’t win as much as I had wanted to (I was aiming huge this weekend), I did walk away with a nice score, but ultimately really happy with the way I played. I went solo this time as Brendan couldn’t make it, but I played in the Saturday evening tournament and placed 7th. I was really dissapointed with the way that ended, but I’ll talk about that later. Instead, I want to highlight a few hands that paid me off.

I arrived in AC around 11 PM, and after checking into my room and settling in, I went straight into the poker room. As usual, all of the pit and floor managers greeted me personally and were excited to see me back. I said hi to all my favorite cocktail waitresses. I chatted with all of them for a few minutes seeing how their kids were doing. I did a quick round around the room to say hi to all the dealers. I waited for the ones who would wink at me, or give me some indication that the table was loose. I talked to the ones who were on break, or the ones in rotation asking them which table I should play at. They all said the same one. I went to the registration lobby and requested a seat at table 27. I guess as was normal at that table, a guy had just busted and I took his seat. Sitting down, within minutes I saw what the dealers were talking about. I noticed one regular there and gave him a wink and a nod, and we both silently understood that we would remain out of eachother’s way. The other 8 players at the table were fair game.  This table was ridiculously loose, very friendly, and there was a lot of action. Just the way I liked it. 

Slowing playing AQ and Doubling Up on my first hand.

As usual, I sat out on the first few hands I was dealt. This is so I could get a feel for the table and see how everyone else was playing. I’d only play the first few hands if I was dealt a premium, or some medium suited connectors. On my 7th hand with my initial buy in of $200 in front of me, I was dealt  AQ in middle position. It folded around to the woman in front of me who made it $15. I thought about raising, but figured I didn’t want to get caught up in too big of pot on my first hand so I just flat called. It folded around to the big blind who called as well bringing the pot to $46. 

The flop came:
 

I spiked top pair on a rainbow board. Usually, I would raise once the continuation bet came from either the big blind or the woman in front of me, but the action went check-check. Now, usually I would bet about half the pot here, in this case $25, and see if anyone came along for the ride. But the rainbow board provided me with much more  creative and imaginative options. Because there are no flush draws, and no playable draws (someone would have a gut shot if they played any sort of low connectors here, and in a raised flop, I doubted that). Because the action went check-check, I figured that one of them was holding AK, which means that they were drawing only to a K to beat me. The other person probably had a medium pair such as 77 or 99 and if any of those cards came and someone moved all in on me, I’d be able to get away from the hand for cheaper. However, with top pair and top kicker in my hand, and a chance to trap someone, I decided to simply check behind the other two, hoping an A would pop up on the turn and allow me to extract as much money as possible. If the card was not a K, I’d play it significantly hard. 

The turn brought the beautiful:
 

This gave me top 2 pair, a power house of a hand, and since the board was now completely rainbow, there were no chances for a flush draw. The big blind opened for $25. The woman in front of me raised it to $75, and I was faced with a decision. Having one of them bet, followed by a re-raise told me that one of, if not both of them was holding an Ace in the hole. This was beautiful news for me because the only hand that beats me at this point is a set on the flop, or pocket aces. Both of these are possible, but holding top two, I was willing to lose my entire stack if that was the case. There would just be nothing I could do in that spot. I could smooth call, which would leave me with $110 behind. Or I could move all in here and most likely take down the pot here if anyone was holding something weaker then AK. If there was AK out there, I would win all their money on the river unless a K came on the river, and I would be able to get out of the hand with a large hit, but nothing I can’t recover from. AK would not lay down their hand here to an all in. I elected to smooth call. 

To my delight, the big blind announced a raised, and pushed his stack into the middle of the pot, which was about $400. If he had a set of 2’s, or 6’s, then there was nothing I could do here, but I had him pegged on AK at this point, a very legimate play with that holding. The woman in front of me went into the think tank. About two minutes passed (an enternity to poker players), and she finally folded. That scared me for a second because she could be the one with AK, and she was folding here scared for a set. She had about $250 behind and didn’t want to lose her stack. But like I said earlier, if there was a set, there was nothing I could do. 

I immediately announced a call pushing my stack into the middle, and the big blind stood up and flipped over AK, certain he had the winning hand. I flipped over my AQ, and he groaned. “Nice play” he said across the table. I tapped the table in recognition and waited for the dealer to continue on the river. The woman in front of me clapped and “patted herself on the back” when she said she folded AJ. 

The river brought a blank, and I took down the almost $500 pot. 

I played a few hands here and there for the rest of the next few hours building my stack up to about $700 before calling it a night around 3 AM. I went down to high limit room down stairs and sat down at the Pai Gow table and bought in for $100 just to sit back and relax and play a few hands. The real entertainment was watching the high roller next to me who was playing two hands of Pai Gow, betting out $1,000 each hand. The black and purple chips made my dinky little green chip look like candy, but oh well. He was super friendly and gave me advice whenever I needed it. Pai Gow was nice to me, and I doubled my money in about 30 minutes. I should’ve walked away, but instead I stayed around since I was willing to lose the $100. I told myself if I got another $50 that I’d walk away up $150, but instead, over the next 30 minutes, the dealer was ridiculously hot and even with my strong hands I lost my entire stack. Oh well. Down $100. In that same run, the high roller next to me lost about $20,000, showing no emotion whatsoever, and was just laughing all the way through. He had about another $75,000 behind him. Jesus. Why was he at the $25 table? lol. 

I went to sleep and after a nice hearty lunch at the Bistro, the room and food all comp’ed thanks to Harrah’s awesome rewards program, I arrived at the tables at 1. I did my usual rounds again to say hi and see if I could get any inside information on the tables, but didn’t get any advice. No problem. I put my name on the list and took the first available seat. I bought in for $200 again. 

My golden hand – hitting the 4 figure mark with KJ.

I played a few hands, taking down some decent pots, and playing really aggressive, getting paid off on my stronger hands of sets and such. I was simply building my stack until I hit my golden hand so I could get paid big. After about 6 hours of playing and a stack of about $550, I found myself in the big blind with KJo. It was raised to $15 by the super stack at the table who had about $2,000 behind him. I was going to be very cautious here as he was the only one at the table who could bust me. When it was folded all around to me, I called. The pot was $31.

Then came the golden flop:

I had flopped the absolute nuts on the flop. Save for runner runner, there was no way I could lose this hand. I could possibly tie it if an A hit, but if the board didn’t pair, or flush out, I was going to get paid. Big time. The obvious play here is to slow play it because if my opponent didn’t hit, even a continuation bet of $15 would make him fold. He lead out with a huge over bet of $25. My curiosity sparked, and I was a little let down because this told me he didn’t want a call, and that if I did call here, he would be slow throughout the rest of the hand. He may be holding something such as AT and didn’t want any action. If I raised here, or if I smooth called and bet on the turn, he would immediately fold. My hopes of a golden hand had momentarily faded. My only option here to extract as much money as possible was to just smooth call and hope he caught something on the turn. The pot was now at $81. 

The turn brought:
 

An above average card. This would complete a smaller straight if he had any connectors, but I was still holding the absolute nuts with the K high straight. But now there was a flush draw, and I would have to bet it hard so that I would not get rivered. If a spade hit on the river, and he flushed out, there was no way I was going to get away from the hand. So I would have to take the pot down right now. I lead out with $50, a little more then half of the pot. The super stack thought for a few seconds, playing with his chips as if to contemplate a call. In my head, I was just yelling “CALL CALL!”. But even better, after thinking it through, he announced a raise. He commited the $50, before breaking down a double stack, and pushing them both in for a $200 raise, $150 on top of my bet. I almost instantly went all in, but I had to contain myself. If I did that, he would most likely fold. I faked a bewildered look and pretended to look “blown away” by the raise by slouching into my chair, widening my eyes, and turning my arms limp. After my little Hollywood act, I pretended to go into the think tank, when really all I was thinking about was whether or not he was going to call my all in. It would be an additional $375 for him to call. Enough for him to fold, but at this point, he could be holding something such as As Qs, and I didn’t want him to draw out to a flush. He may even have a set, and if the board paired on the river, I would lose my entire stack. I figured he would be a good enough player to lay down either of those hands if I moved all in for $375 on top. However, if he was holding the second nuts of J8, I was going to win. And there was no way he could get away. His $200 raise told me he was very, very strong, and playing J8 this way was the correct move. He would have flopped the second nuts, inferior only to KJ, my holding. 

I looked him dead in the eye and found him staring at me the entire time. I announced a raise very quietly. The entire table looked on as they were excited to see how large the pot was going to get. The dealer, a friend of mine, looked at me. She seemed a bit worried because she knew that the super stack was a very good player having seen him play. She didn’t want to see me get busted, and though she knew I was an excellent player, she didn’t want to break my heart. Hah! 

I broke down my stacks, and played with my chips for a few seconds before stacking them all up again and with both hands, moved my stack in slowly and cautiously. Before I could even make it all the way in, the super stack yelled “Call!”. My heart broke, because I thought he had KJ as well, and we would be splitting the pot after all of my Hollywood acting. But to my pleasure, he turned over the second nuts, J8 of clubs. I flipped over my KJ, and he closed his eyes and just dropped his head back looking at the ceiling again. Seems like everyone does that.

I was going to win the pot. His only hope was if a K came on the river and we would chop it. Fortunately, the Ace of Spades dropped on the river (Thank god he didn’t have spades!). The dealer looked super happy and she flashed me a huge grin. Later, when she was on break and I was taking a smoke break at the bar, she came up to me and told me she was really nervous. She knew I was very aggressive, and would not be scared to commit my entire stack on a huge bluff if I knew I could get someone to lay the hand down. She told me I acted really well because she put me on a set, and thought that I was going to lose all my chips. I asked her if she knew he had the straight, and she was like “Of course!”. We laughed. 

I took down the pot which was worth about $1,100. I tipped my dealer $40. 

Almost winning the tournament.

I played for another couple of hours, building my stack up to $1,300 before registering for the 8 o’clock tournament of $100+20. There was a bigger sign up then usual, and the tournament fielded about 65 players, for a prize pool of $6,500. Yum! Up about $1,500 in profits, I decided it’d probably be smart to just walk away from the tables, invest the $120 and play the tournament – keeping my bank roll nice and safe for a few hours before leaving and heading home. 

I was playing some of my best poker once the tournament started. I was playing hyper aggressive, taking down a lot of pots with weak and medium hands. When I made it to the show down, I made sure I had a strong showing. I didn’t want everyone to know that I was playing aggressive, and instead wanted them to think that I was catching cards. We started with about $10,000 in chips, and nearing the end of the 4th level and heading into the break, I had about $38,000 in chips when I was dealt AA. The blinds were 200/400 and I raised it to 1,200. I had two callers and one moved all in for 16,000. I instantly called, hoping someone else would move all in, but no one did. He flipped over KK, and I flipped over AA. If  I could take over 50,000 after the break, I knew I’d have a good shot at winning the tournament. I was already 6th in chips, and this would greatly increase my odds. Unfortunately the AA didn’t hold up as he hit a ridiculous 2 outer K on the river which dwindled my stack down to about 22,000. 

Thank goodness there was a break because I was steaming a bit. After the cigarette and break, I came back to the tables fresh and determined to win the whole thing. First place was going to pay $2,700. I returned to my aggressive nature, pulling off some huge bluffs, and building my stack up to over 50,000, knocking out 3 players on the way. Heading into the 8th level, and 2nd break, we were down to 3 tables of 7, and my 50,000 stack was placing about 9th in the tournament. The chip leader already had over 100k. Once the break resumed, the blinds were at 3,000/6,000 with 300 chip antes if I remember correctly. I stole and thieved my way into about the 90k range, when I won a huge pot with set over set and knocking a player out to reach the final table of 10 people with about 130k in front of me. 9th place paid, so we all put up $15 bucks as a “honorary” prize for the bubble, who would make his money back. 

Once the break resumed, and the final table commenced and the chips were colored up, I found myself 3rd in chips.  The chip leader had about 200k, and second place was barely in front of me with about 150k. The table took forever before we knocked out the first player. 9th would pay about $270. Now we had all made the money, and the table loosened up a bit. About 8 hands later, 9th place was knocked out, and the 3 chip leaders retained their positions. I was able to knock out the 8th place player who had a mini stack of about 20k. This brought me up to about 170k when I was dealt QQ. The blinds were at 5,000/10,000 now with 500 chip antes, and that was huge. The tournament was playing really fast, and it pretty much turned into a crap shoot. 

I raised it to 30k, content with taking down the preflop pot which was worth about 20k. Everyone folded around to the chip leader who raised. My heart sank because I didn’t want to tango with him, because once again, he was the only that could stack me. Furthermore, I didn’t want to finish in a stupid 7th, and see the short stack of 40k make it to 6th place. But, my eyes were fixed on first place, and if I could double up here, I would all but knock out the chip leader, and take a commanding chip lead of over 300k, and be in a good position to take down first place. His raise made it 60k to go. I figured him for AK, or a medium pocket pair. I wasn’t scared of KK or AA, but if he had it, then there was nothing I could do. At these levels, stealing raises and blinds were very typical, and I thought he may have figured me for stealing the blinds and was trying to shove me around because he knew I wouldn’t get involved with his super stack. 

I immediately announced all in once his chips were collected into the pot. On the rail, the floor and pit bosses and a few of the dealers were watching, quietly rooting for me because they wanted a regular to win. The dealers were also rooting for me because they knew if I won, that I’d leave a nice healthy tip, something none of the tournament players do unless they come here often. 10% is normal and average, and I leave about 12-15% depending on where I place. Anyways…

I immediately announced my all in hoping that he’d fold. I didn’t want to see AK and have a raise for the tournament, but at this point, I had no choice. He went into the think tank for what seemed an eternity. After about 30 seconds of thinking, someone called for the clock, because the next blind level was approaching, and having him sit there and think would end up costing everyone some more ante and blind money. But once the Boss announced that he had 30 seconds to think, he immediately called, and flipped over Ad Td. WHAT?!

The retard committed pretty much his entire stack with Ad Td. Why!? He couldn’t put me on anything better? I flipped over my QQ, and was a little worried because I felt the Ace was going to hit and put me out on the tournament. A lot of times, donkeys like that win the tournament because it’s just in the cards. My little “fan section” was happy to see me flip over QQ, and were excited to see me be way ahead. The dealer, another friend of mine, dealt the flop. He tapped the table, and as he was flipping over 4th street, he realized it was an A, and slowly, and reluctantly set it down onto the table. The donkey bastard slammed the table and shouted “That’s what I’m talking about baby!” and clapped his hands. All I could do was smile and let out a little laugh. Kenny, one of the dealers watching on the rail hit is forward and the Bosses just looked at eachother with a sarcastic smile blown away by the call of Ad Td. The little donkey danced as he collected the pot. Liang, the dealer who fucked me over (JK!) let out a hurt look. I told him it was all good. Everyone shook my hand, and some of the earlier players from the tournament who were watching and had played with me (or knocked out by me) told me they thought I was going to win it, and that they wanted me to win it as well. Seems like I got a nice little fan base molding. Hah.

Kenny walked me over to the cage so I could cash out 7th and I walked away with about $500, leaving a $50 tip for the dealers to split. He told me he wanted me to win and was sorry to see the Ace get dealt, then we laughed about what a donkey the player was for calling me with Ad Td. I stuck around for a little while longer before heading to down stairs to play some of the table games with my profits while waiting for my bus to leave. Turns out, the last three people chopped the pot and each walked away with about $1,500. Damn!

Oh well. Overall, I’m really satisfied with the trip and how things went and how I played. If only I had won that tournament, it would’ve been a huge pay day! Not record breaking, but damn near close. Instead, I walk away with almost $2,000 in profits, before winning $200 on Pai Gow, only to blow it on Roulette. I chatted it up with some really hot girls though, one of them giving me her number and asking if I’d be here later that night (since it was already close to 3 AM). I said no, and she oh… that’s just too bad and gave me a kiss on the cheek before I left.

Fuck man.