Play a Tournament With Me

In my efforts to prove my critics wrong, I had made it to the finals of the Holland Casino Poker Championships. I already had made the money, but I knew there would be a lot more for winning the whole thing. Yet, during the entire finals, that never crossed my mind. I had just one goal in mind: proving my critics wrong, and showing them that just because I hardly ever play tournaments, it didn't mean I'm no good at them.



Bad draw and a bad table image; prospects don't look good

The night before this event started, I had made an appearance on a nationwide TV show and had been asked about my prospects for success. I had answered, "Well, there are 18 finalists, including some very good ones. Still, my guess is that I should be able to win this about one time in 10." Little did I know that the draw would not exactly favor me. I was seated to the immediate right of four young no-limit hold'em sit-and-go specialists, all of whom were very good and aggressive players. What's more, these players were fully aware that I had made it to this final in a bullying type of manner, and by being very aggressive with hands that didn't warrant it. So, I was faced with four good and aggressive players with position on me. They all were unafraid to play back at me, and without exception viewed me as a maniac – a dangerous and skillful maniac, perhaps, but a maniac nonetheless. All in all, it was not an enviable position for me to be in.



Everyone began with €5,000 in chips, and the blinds started out very low. On one of the very first hands, I was stupid enough to get involved with a very marginal hand against someone I knew was incapable of laying down any decent but not great holding. Having bluffed off €1,000 with a mere K-3, I had reinforced my opponents' analysis of my play. Knowing that even more than before I would not get any respect from my opponents to my left, I knew I needed to pick up a few good hands, as it would not be easy for me to make them lay down any hand.



I didn't catch any cards, though. With 13 players left, the average stack was €6,500, and I was down to less than half that. But then, I caught a lucky break. At the other table, play had become fivehanded, and as the big blind, I needed to move over there in order to balance the tables. This new table had, for me, a great combination of people who were playing scared and two experienced players who know me from our regular cash game and who both fear and respect me for my extremely tight but winning play there. I was able to steal four or five pots uncontested within just half an hour. When both tables were combined into the ninehanded final table, I was suddenly carrying €8,500 in chips again.



A crucial pot

Despite the fact that I had accumulated quite a bit of chips, I was still a bit below the average stack size of €10,000. What's more, I knew that while the blinds in this event had started out fairly small, they were now starting to rise at a rapid pace. It was clear that with the money and the trophy within reach, and the final table and the many spectators, there would be quite a bit of pressure on at least some of the youngsters. Knowing that some of these good players would not want to be caught playing crummy cards in front of this audience, I decided to go for the kill.



On the first hand of the final table, two relatively tight players were in the blinds, and I won that pot uncontested by making a massive preflop overbet. Then, on the very next hand, I found A-K. Again, everyone folded to me, and again, I made the same massive overbet. I was hoping that one of the young guys would think: "Look, Rolf is doing the same bullying as last time again," and then call me with a hand that was clearly dominated. One of them, in fact, reraised me; he was the chip leader. Frankly, I didn't sense that much strength in him, despite his all-in reraise, and had figured him for something like A-J. As it turned out, he had J-J. I was lucky to catch not just one, but two kings on the flop and became the chip leader of the event.



I had almost €20,000, out of the €80,000 total. With €200-€400 blinds and a €50 ante, the dead money accounted for more than 1 percent of the total chips in play. Inasmuch as I was in exactly the position I wanted to be, I knew I could now use my bullying approach to perfection. After a young guy had busted two players in a single hand when his kings held up, I continued to put the pressure on. Even though my opponents knew I could not hold a premium or even decent hand all the time, they knew that if they called me and were either wrong or unlucky, they would be out. I was in position to bust them, and was not willing to give them any kind of breathing room. After making a great call with a mere Q-7 offsuit against an all-in raise by an otherwise tight player (whom I caught with his pants down, holding 10-2), I was fortunate to end up in a heads-up situation against someone who played a bit too tight and would not play back at me unless he had a real hand. With blinds of €600-€1,200 now, I was able to rob him blind. On the first stand that he made, he doubled through me (with A-5 offsuit against my 8 5), but on his second attempt, it was over. I had the best hand (Q-J versus Q-8), and it held up.



Dutch Champion!
Phew! I had done it after all. In an extremely difficult situation, with a combination of a bad draw, bad position, and bad table image, I had been forced to plod on for hours in order to stay alive. Once the blinds started increasing and I was up against at least some people who respected me, I instantly changed gears and was able to steal my way back into the event. And then, finally, once I had won that all-important coin flip for almost 25 percent of the chips in play, I was able to bully my way to victory. I didn't win by getting lucky, because at the entire final table, I won just three showdowns. I won by making strategic aggressive moves, by avoiding the good and aggressive players, and also the big stacks when it appeared they were about to make a stand, and ultimately by taking advantage of the specific weaknesses of my opponents. In the end, I was rewarded with a €16,284 first prize, the trophy, a €5,000 buy-in for the main event of the Master Classics, and, more important than anything to me, the semiofficial title "Dutch Champion." I had shown all tournament players in the Netherlands what the people in Austria already knew: that they should be happy my focus is solely on cash games and not on tournaments.



So, having earned the Dutch Champion title and the bragging rights to go with it, I was as proud and happy as a poker player can be. And my critics? I haven't heard from them since.



Rolf Slotboom is a longtime professional, specializing in limit hold'em, pot-limit Omaha, and, more recently, no-limit hold'em ring games. He is the co-author of Hold'em on the Come, the author of the upcoming book Pot-Limit Omaha My Way, the commentator for the Eurosport EPT broadcasts, and the Card Player Europe bureau chief. He is the semiofficial 2005 Dutch Champion, and maintains his own site at http://www.rolfslotboom.com/.