When First is Not a Good Thing

This column is not about bad beats, it is about what can happen to even the best of us (or the worst of us) in a poker tournament. Actually, these stories are kind of humorous if you ask me, even though I was the victim in one tournament and one cash game. My co-author T.J. Cloutier was the victim in two tournaments. In the tournaments, all three occurred on the first hand dealt. In my case it was the first two hands dealt. I am sure many of you faithful readers have had similar experiences.

The first situation I am going to describe occurred in the mid-1980s at the Stardust Hotel and Casino's Stairway to the Stars tournament. It was directed by the "Silver Eagle" Bob Thompson. It was a $1,000 buy-in pot limit Omaha tournament that allowed one and only one rebuy. A friend of mine by the name of Fred Merker took half of me in this tournament, and right before it started he wandered off to the nearby sports book to bet a horse race. On the first hand dealt I had one of those monster straight and flush draws that was a big wrap-around and was the favorite over any hand, including top set. My opponent, a player I had never seen before or since, decided to bet, I raised, he reraised, and I put the rest of my money in. Sure enough he had his set. I immediately made my flush, but unfortunately the board paired and I was broke. Naturally I was not going to let that little misfortune deter me, so I immediately re-bought. The very next hand, I entered the pot, and flopped a set. After some spirited betting on the flop, I was again headsup against the very same guy that busted me the first time. We got the rest of the money in on fourth street, and sure enough he made his flush at the river. Ouch! Two hands, two losses, and I was out of the tournament. I said "nice hand," and vacated my seat. Meanwhile my friend Fred, who was only in the sports book for about five minutes, came back to the tournament area. He went to where I was seated, looked around, saw the empty chair, and asked Bob Thompson what had happened. After getting the sad news, he found me sitting rather dejectedly nearby and just shook his head. As a postscript to the story, the man I lost all my chips to and was the early tournament leader, came nowhere near the money.

One other time, in a pot-limit Omaha cash game I had a somewhat similar experience. I had flopped top set, which was the nuts at the time. I was headsup up with my old friend Bob Ciaffone. We got all the money in on the flop, and I made some silly remark that I wish I had more money on the table. Bob generously suggested that if I wanted to reach into my pocket for another $500 I could add that to the pot and he would match it. I said sure, after all I did have the nuts at the time. We turned the hands faceup, and he had one of those big wraparound straight and flush draws that was the clear favorite over my set. First card off he made his hand. The board forgot to pair at the river, and I was out an additional $500 and felt very foolish. I realized after counting the outs Bob had that he "snookered me". He knew what I had and that he was the favorite. I learned a valuable lesson there. Greed is not good.

Now on to my first T.J. story. Again this goes back several years to when Binion's Horseshoe was still holding the Hall of Fame Poker Tournament. It was the second biggest tournament in the world at that time. It was the first hand dealt in the $5,000 buy-in championship event. I had a firsthand view, since I was also seated at the same table. T.J. was in the big blind with the K 8. One player limped in under the gun, as did a few other players. It was an unraised pot. The flop came with three nonconnecting diamonds. Since the blinds were only $25-$50 with $5,000 in starting chips, T.J. led off with a $250 bet to test the waters. The under-the-gun limper raised. Everybody else folded, T.J. reraised and the other player immediately moved in. T.J. did not like his hand very much, but he did not know the player, who was a total stranger. He also was not sure his opponent had the nut flush that he was representing. He could have limped in with two aces, including the A, so he decided to make the call. Sure enough his opponent had flopped the nut flush. Another postscript to the story. The stranger was now the chip leader in the tournament, as well as at our table. Guess who was the next player eliminated. Right again, he was.

Our final story occurred at the Caesars Palace World Series of Poker Circuit event this year. On the first hand dealt, T.J. was in the big blind with the A 6. Everyone had $10,000 in chips with $25-$50 blinds. Five players limped in, including Erick Lindgren, the villain in this case. The flop came Q 10 3. T.J. checked his nut flush and Erick bet $2,200 into a $250 pot. He had grabbed the wrong color chips and had accidently overbet the pot. T.J. decided to flat-call. The turn card brought another queen. T.J. put Erick on trip queens, and decided to win it right there and bet $6,500. Erick quickly moved-in, and T.J. had no choice but to call his last $1,250. Erick had flopped a set of threes and now had a full house. T.J. told me that if Erick had not accidently overbet the pot, he might have lost about $1,000 on the hand, but certainly would not have gotten broke to it. Sometimes it's just not your day.

Assuming we do not get our big hands cracked, I hope to see you one day soon in the winner's circle.

Tom McEvoy is a representative of PokerStars. He is also the voice of ProPlay, a new and innovative way to learn winning poker strategy. Find out more at ProPlayLive.com/tommcevoy.