Play a Tournament With Me

The columns I have written that have received the most reader feedback throughout the years have been "Play a Tournament With Me," so I decided to record my hands during the inaugural Professional Poker Tour (PPT) event held recently at Foxwoods Resort Casino and write a column about how it all came down. In reviewing my play, I can see where I made some good plays and some errors, as well. I will put my thoughts in italics as I go about writing this column.

There was a real sense of excitement in the air as 134 players gathered for a historical photo of the players participating in the first PPT event. After a few brief welcome speeches, play began with the following structure: The game was no-limit hold'em. Each player started with $10,000 in chips, and each level lasted one hour. There were nine levels of play scheduled for the first day, with the remaining players coming back on day two to play until only six remained. These six would return eight days later for the television taping of the final table. There was a featured "television table" that would change a few times during the tournament so that the television audience would be privy to seeing much of the play leading up to the final table.

As I looked around, I realized that this collection of players truly was the greatest field of all-star players ever assembled. There will be no easy tables today. I wasn't thrilled with my starting table, which consisted of Chip Reese, Spiro Mitrokostas, Huck Seed, Ron Rose, Can Kim Hua, Brad Daugherty, Steve Zolotow, and Mimi Tran. Great, there are two world champions at my table, plus the WPT Battle of Champions winner. The worst part is that Huck Seed has the big blind when I am on the button, so it will be hard to steal his blind.

The PPT had come up with a unique concept called the "all-in flag." Anytime a player went all in and got called, the dealer would hold up a flag that was in the dealer's rack that read "All in" on it. This would be a signal for the camera crew to rush to the table to capture the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat as players either doubled up or busted out. Kay, the PPT hostess, would then describe the hand and do a short exit interview if the player went broke. This should be interesting. I want to see how many smiling faces there are when the microphone gets stuck in their faces as soon as they go broke.

The first level of blinds was $25-$50. My general strategy is not to gamble too much, since we have lots of chips in relation to the blinds. Try to see a few cheap flops with some speculative hands that might enable me to double up early … things like small pairs.

On the fourth hand, I was dealt 9-8 suited and raised to $150. Brad called from the big blind. The flop came K-9-3. He checked, I bet $225, and he folded. OK, I won the first hand I played. I'm happy.

In early position, I limped in with the A 3. Two others limped in behind me, the small blind called, and the big blind checked. The flop was A-8-5. Everyone checked. The turn card was a deuce, I bet $200, and everyone folded. OK, I won the first two hands I played without having to show my cards. Good start.

I folded my ragged blind hands to raises, then picked up 9-9 under the gun and raised to $150. Two players called, and when the flop came K-J-5, I checked and folded when facing a $200 bet.

In the big blind, I picked up 9-6 offsuit and folded to Chip Reese's button raise. Looks like Chip is going to be raising from the button every time I am in the big blind. I won't play back this round without a big hand, but I wouldn't mind getting something to call with to try to win a few chips.

In the small blind, I was dealt A-8 offsuit and two players limped in. I called $25 more and check-folded when the flop came 10-9-6 and someone bet.

On the button, I looked down to see two red fives. Spiro raised to $150 in front of me, and I just called. I like getting to see flops with pairs, just in case I can spike a set and win a big one. The blinds also called the raise. The flop came J-5-3, all clubs. Spiro bet $450 and I decided not to slow-play my set. I raised to $1,000 and Spiro quickly called. I think he has the A, and possibly two aces. The A came on the turn. Spiro checked, I bet $1,500, and he called again. I definitely don't want to see a club on the river. I am pretty sure he has one of two hands, the lone A or trip aces, but if he has trip aces, he probably would have played back at me despite the three clubs on board. The last card was the Q. He checked, and I considered the possibilities. I don't think he will call me without a very big hand. I don't think he will call with just an ace in his hand, because I have shown such strength along the way. If he has trip aces, or even trip queens or trip jacks, I'm beat. I decided to check. He turned up the A 8 and I won the pot. I wish I had bet something, although I am sure he would not have called. But that way, I would not have had to show my hand. Bad check!

In middle position, I raised to $150 with the 10 8 and got no callers.

In the big blind, I got A-K offsuit. Mimi raised to $150 and got called in two places. I decided to just call. The flop came 10-8-3, and I checked and folded to a bet and a call. In the small blind, I had Q-9 offsuit. Steve raised to $200, I folded, and he showed pocket nines.

The clock rang and round one was over. I had managed to get my chip count to $13,000, which was good for second place at the table. Eight players had busted out during level one. Well, at least I wasn't the first one out!

I will continue this tournament in the next issue.

Now, let's play poker!

Linda is available to host poker events and seminars. You can contact her at www.cardplayercruises.com.