I recently participated in the
Fall Poker Roundup at the Wildhorse Resort and Casino in Pendleton, Oregon. The Wildhorse is on an Indian Reservation owned and operated by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla. This tournament is the biggest by far in the Pacific Northwest. The buy-ins ranged from $200 to $250, except for the $500 championship event. The entry fee was only $10 per event, and there was no juice on the satellites. In addition to that, there was added money in each event - a total of $70,000 for all 10 tournaments. This tournament is a great value for the players in that buy-in range.
In the first event, $200 no-limit hold'em, a record 742 players participated. I finished 42nd, which was good enough for a $400 payday. I made a royal flush in spades the next day in a cash game, and was feeling lucky. The second event was a $250 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament with 727 players. Unfortunately, my pocket kings were cracked when I ran into a set, so I went down in flames right before the dinner break. In the third event, I made a king-high straight flush - also in spades. That was the highlight of my tournament, because I could not win another hand after that and was soon knocked out.
Things were not going as I had hoped. In fact, they got a lot worse. I did make a run at the money in the Omaha eight-or-better event, turning $175 in chips into more than $10,000 at one point, but saw my aces and open-end straight draw lose to a flush on the river for my case chips. We were playing $800-$1,600 at the time and were just two tables away from the money. Aaarrrggghhh!
My next near miss came a few days later in the no-limit hold'em shootout. In a shootout, you have to win your table to advance, similar to a winner-take-all one-table satellite. I got down to three players and had a slight chip lead. Since only one player advanced, the strategywas to go for the win and not just try to survive. A very aggressive player with a slightly lower chip count than mine kept raising every time he had the button. The third player was very short-stacked, so he was going to have to win a hand very soon in order to survive. The blindshad just gone up to $200-$400, and sure enough, the aggressive player again raised from the button, making it $1,400 to go. I looked down and saw pocket fives. This is not normally the type of hand with which I want to take a stand, but with the higher blinds and an opponent who did not necessarily need a big hand to raise, I decided to play back at him for all of my chips. I barely had him covered, so if he called, this hand would most likely decide the table winner. He did not even hardly hesitate to call my raise with K-J. A king hit on the flop and I was crippled. I would not have put my tournament life on the line when I didn't have to by calling an all-in reraise with K-J. This player paid me a compliment of sorts after he won the pot. He said, "Tom, I know I can't outplay you." He did out-gamble me, however, and soon thereafter won the table.
Well, with one money finish and two near misses, I thought I had a real chance in the final event. Alas, it was not to be. I went out in the third round when I flopped the nut-flush draw and moved in on the flop. I was short-stacked, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Unfortunately, my opponent had made a small raise preflop with pocket kings, and then flopped quads. My move-in timing was slightlyoff.
My friends Susie Isaacs and Marsha Waggoner did well, with several money finishes between them. They both made the final table of the ladies event, and Susie finished fourth in another event for $11,665. It was good to spend some time with some of my old friends, such as Vince Burgio, Chuck Thompson, and Howard "Tahoe" Andrew. The funniest thing I heard during the entire tournament was when Chuck, Howard, and I were at the same starting table. Chuck said he would rather spend three days in jail than give Howard any of his chips. Poor Howard, he just doesn't get any respect. The biggest comeback in the entire tournament was performed by Ralph Morton. He made the final table of the Omaha eight-or-better tournament with only two chips. He wound up winning the event, to once again prove the old adage about a chip and a chair. Nice going, Ralph.
Tom McEvoy is a representative of PokerStars.com. He is also the voice of ProPlay, a new and innovative way to learn winning poker strategy. Find out more at ProPlayLive.com/tommcevoys.
