I Drove 800 Miles to Play One Hand of Poker

Six years ago, I drove 800 miles to play one hand of poker in a tournament. Commerce Casino and the World Poker Tour jointly sponsored a media tournament for the purpose of publicizing the LA Poker Classic to the general public. Most big ticket tournaments have a media event, to which newspaper and magazine writers are invited, generally with a prize pool supplied by the hosting casino. Sometimes cash prizes are awarded to the winners; sometimes the winners designate a favorite charity. In both cases, the competition is usually of mixed caliber, with a real challenge being provided by those who write for poker publications.

The winner of this media tournament was to get a coveted seat in the upcoming WPT Invitational along with 75 celebrities and 200 top pros and a chance for fame and glory in the form of a television appearance plus a share of a $200,000 prize pool, with $100,000 for first place. You can’t buy your way into the event, but Commerce and the WPT were giving away one seat to the best — and luckiest — member of the invited media.
So, naturally, I was pleased to be asked to participate. I drove down from the Bay Area planning to confer, converse, and otherwise hobnob with my fellow media wizards. Among the invited guests were poker writers for major magazines and websites plus media representatives who had little, if any, poker experience. The latter included producers and hosts from Southern California television and radio stations.

This contest turned out to be a good opportunity, because there were only 24 participants. That figured to be a nice overlay, considering there was no cost to participate in the media event. None of this wading through hundreds of satellite participants, as pokeristas had already been doing to win their buy-ins to the $10,000 main event of the LA Poker Classic, a World Poker Tour event.

Prior to the tournament, I checked out the action at the LA Poker Classic. I saw many well-known pros, including Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, Michael Mizrachi, David Plastik, and Barbara Enright. She, it turned out, was there for the media event, along with her sweetie, Max Shapiro, who was doing the official reportage. Max told me he was exhausted, doing a month of reportorial duties, including having had recently to cover two final tables simultaneously.

Commerce Casino Poker Tournament Director Cheri Dokken, a protégée of Jack McClelland, seated the participants at three tables. I knew no one at my table. In fact, of the 24 guests, I knew only two. Before cards were in the air, we were brought salads, part of an excellent meal that was included. It’s a good thing I had the salad, because the rest of the meal was not to be mine.

Each player started with a stack of 800 in tournament chips. There were to be 20 minute rounds, with blinds starting at 25 and 50, and generally doubling until about the fourth round. This is what would be termed a fast structure, certainly.

For the first deal, I drew seat 9, the button, and the first cards went to seat 1. The dealer put out the first hand. I watched to see how all these strangers reacted to their cards before looking at mine. All folded to seat 8, who studied his cards for a moment before opening for the minimum. I looked at my cards and found a pair of deuces. I called, thinking the first few rounds likely would not see aggressive play from these mostly beginners and this was a good speculative hand at this juncture. It did not occur to me to raise, because anyone who called would be at worst very close to a coin flip, and maybe have me badly beat. I hoped to hit the flop and otherwise be able to get out cheaply and easily.

The small blind called and the big blind, probably happy to get in for free, did not raise.

The flop was a thing of beauty, 2-4-4. I had hit a full house. The first two players checked and the opener looked at this cards again, hesitated, and then bet 50. I got the distinct impression that he didn’t have much and would quickly fold for a raise. I hoped something would come to improve his hand so that I could win something substantial. I called. The small blind folded and the big blind called.

An offsuit jack appeared on the turn. One of the 4s was the same suit as the deuce. The big blind checked. The opener hesitated a moment, and checked. I didn’t want to have to get nothing for my flopped full house, so I bet 200, a bit more than half the pot. The big blind called and the opener folded.

An offsuit queen came on the river. I was disappointed that there were not three cards of the same suit, in case the big blind had been going for a flush. I didn’t think I’d win any more on the hand. I was right, but not in the way I expected. The big blind checked. I said, “600,” wanting to look like I was overbetting. I counted my remaining chips out, 500, less than the size of the pot. The big blind, who had exactly as many chips as I had, quickly called.

I turned over my 2-2 and he turned over 2-4, for a bigger full house. That had completely blindsided me. The fellow had never once initiated a bet, just called all the way. Well, why should he, when some sucker seemed determined to get all his chips in? There was no point in berating myself, though. He likely would have played an overpair to the original board or a bare 4 exactly the same way. Two full houses flopping at the same time is an unlikely event, but, as players are fond of saying, that’s poker.
So I didn’t even wait for the remainder of the meal, which was just arriving as I got up from the table, telling the remaining 23 players, “That was fun. Good luck all.” The meal looked good, actually, but I just wanted to leave. I didn’t feel like hanging around, so drove straight back to the Bay Area. So I can report that I drove 800 miles to play one hand of poker.

Five places were paid. First place got the entry to the WPT Invitational. Second and third received Commerce jackets, and fourth and fifth got recognition. Barbara Enright, representing Women’s Poker Magazine, came in second. ♠

Michael Wiesenberg has been a columnist for Card Player since 1988. He has written or edited many books about poker, and has also written extensively about computers. His crossword puzzles are syndicated in newspapers and magazines. Send assessments, admonitions, and advice to [email protected].