Fall at Foxwoods

Early one brilliant morning in November, I drove the car I had rented at the Providence airport around a turn on Route 2 in rural Southeastern Connecticut and beheld several glistening fairy-tale castles almost filling the horizon ahead. Foxwoods, which I understand is the biggest casino in the world, was hosting its annual World Poker Finals tournament.

Due to conflicting bridge business, I was unable to defend my second-place finish in the opening media tournament, but I was able to play the last few days. However, in each of the three tournaments I played, although I managed to start well, my patiently awaited heavyweight hands (pocket kings and aces) seemed to perform more like the charge of the light brigade.

Perhaps the most interesting hand I played was the following "pressure cooker." In the HOSE tournament (hold'em, Omaha eight-or-better, seven-card stud, and seven-card stud eight-or-better), during the second round of seven-card stud eight-or-better, I had almost $4,000 in chips, a well-above average chip holding. (I had lost the chip lead when an opponent made a flush on the river against me in a big pot in the preceding seven-card stud round.)

Looking at my A 4 holecards and 6 doorcard, I called a $200 bet and was not unhappy when a king on my left made a big move by raising to $400. I called in the four-way action.

I really liked my fourth card, the 3. The K J on my left bet $200. The J 9 (also an obvious high) called. The new chip leader on my right (a loose player who had captured many of my chips in the hand mentioned above), showing the 2 5, raised. I thought about reraising, but this was already shaping up to be the biggest pot of the day, and I preferred to wait until I actually had a "bird in the hand" before committing all of my chips.

My fifth card was the bad news/good news 6. Although it didn't complete my low, it did give me a flush draw and a pair of sixes. I checked. The K-J-10 bet $400, and it was called by the J-9-8 and raised by the 2-5-8 on my right. We all called. Each of us now had about $1,600 invested (plus the antes).

Then came the real bad news on sixth street when I caught the 10. Again, I checked my pair of sixes. The K J 10 8 bet $400. The J 9 8 Q came to life and raised to $800 (with a probable straight). The 2 5 8 A raised to $1,200. And there I was with the A 4 6 3 6 10. If I called, it would probably get capped at $1,600. I had only about $2,300 left. If I called and lost $1,600, I would be hurting. What would you do in this position?

Of the 18 cards that I could see, there were five clubs and five of the 16 low cards that I needed (deuces, fives, sevens, and eights) to make a low. Plus, of the four doorcards folded on the first round, there had been one club and a 7. Thus, of 30 unseen cards, there were seven clubs and six nonclub low cards that would give me a flush or low; 13 out of 30 is less than half. But, the 2, 5, 7, or 8 might win the whole pot for me.

I finally decided that my overall chances of winning in this tournament were significantly better if I won lots of chips here almost half the time (if I won half the pot, I would have more than $7,000 in chips, and more than $13,000 if I won the whole pot) than if I folded and tried to rebuild on $2,300. So, I called the $1,200 and then called the expected $400 reraise.

Unfortunately, my all-important last card missed both the low and the flush! And it turned out that the opponent on my right had an 8-7 low, so any low card that hit for me would have won low.

There was a sequel to all of this that occurred a few hands later when, during the hold'em round, I defended my $300 blind (going all in) with a hand that I certainly would have folded (J-5) had I not called the $1,600 in the earlier hand (and hence would have had around $2,300). But, lo and behold, two fives graced the flop and I suddenly found myself looking at $2,500 in chips. So, at that point, I had actually benefited by making the $1,600 call.

In tournament play, you are often confronted with a situation in which you either have to put "all (or most) of your eggs in one basket" or back off and face the future with a medium or small amount of chips. Although in the above situation I decided to "go for it," it is generally wise to avoid these almost fifty-fifty life-or-death confrontations when you have a playable amount of chips. It is often a very close decision, and, of course, the quality of the players at your table is a prime consideration.