Venice — Part V

I showed up for the main-event final table a few minutes late, but I might as well have been a few hours late. I guess they have production problems in every country. If I had a nickel for every hour I’ve had to wait for a film crew to get ready … well, I guess I’d have a bunch of freakin’ nickels.

Before play began, we did a ton of interviews, and they took us out in a nice yacht on the river behind the casino and staged a grand entrance for us with some hot models. They were hot, but still the ugliest girls I had made my casino appearances with yet. You see, up until that day, my wife had accompanied me to the casino every day. But, our tickets had us leaving for London on the day of the final table, and it was extremely expensive to change the dates, so she went on ahead of me.

Finally, we got down to business. We were playing the final table outside the casino in a side courtyard next to the river. They had built a beautiful set, and cameras were everywhere. As the sun began to set, it was a magical atmosphere to play in.

I only wish that I could have played longer. As I said in my last column, I was the official short stack going to the final table. I was ready to shove with any old ace if I was the first one to enter the pot. Fortunately, it looked like several other guys had the same game plan, and before I knew it, two players had been eliminated.

I had almost doubled my payday from ninth place to seventh by not playing a hand, and I may have been able to move up a few more spots if I had continued to do the same, but that’s just not my style. I always want to go for the win, so when this hand came up, I tried to get lucky and double or triple up.

A somewhat loose player raised from up front, and the small blind (Lorenzo Lagana) called. I looked down at the 9 7, which is not a great hand, but certainly is not a bad one to play when you’re getting laid a little more than 3-1 to see the flop. If you’re wondering about those odds, here’s the breakdown: The blinds are 20,000-40,000, and the ante is 3,000. The opening raise is to 150,000, the small blind calls 150,000, the antes are 21,000 (3,000 × 7), and my big blind is 40,000, which all adds up to 361,000. And it costs me 110,000 to call.

The flop comes down bittersweet, A-10-6; that’s the bitter part. The sweet part? It contained two clubs, giving me a flush draw to go with my gutshot. Lorenzo checks, and since I don’t have enough chips to go for a check-raise, I just move all in here. I don’t want to let the original raiser bluff with something like K-Q when he could never call with such a hand.

That part worked well enough, as the opening raiser mucked his hand, but when Lorenzo asked the dealer how much my bet was, I knew I was in trouble. He called, and showed A-J, making him a very slight favorite.

I’m usually pretty lucky with these types of hands, but not that day. I got knocked out in seventh place and sent to the rail. I did a long interview with Max Pescatori for TV (I did tell you that it was a televised final table, didn’t I?), and then was stuck with nothing to do for 24 hours until my plane left for London the next evening. Max was busy with production, my wife was already in London, and there were no other Americans there for the tournament except Liz Lieu, and I didn’t see her around.

I wandered the streets for a while before I found the coolest bar in Venice. It was near a canal and a major shopping area, so there were tons of tourists and locals walking past the outdoor lanai. (No, lanai is not Layne Flack’s drag queen name, it’s an outdoor patio.) I had a drink and people-watched for an hour or so, but hanging out alone was a little boring. So, I hit the sack to rest up for the World Series of Poker Europe in London, which was only a few days away.

Todd Brunson has been a professional poker player for more than 20 years. While primarily a cash-game player, he still has managed to win 18 major tournaments, for more than $3.5 million. He has won one bracelet and cashed 25 times at the World Series of Poker. You can play with Todd online at DoylesRoom.com or live at his tournament, The Todd Brunson Montana Poker Challenge, in Big Fork, Montana. Check his website, ToddBrunson.com, for details.