'I Lost a Coin Flip to a Former World Champion'
By Adam Shrager

I met Adam Shrager at a recent World Poker Tour tournament. As we talked for a while, I instantly liked his enthusiasm, demeanor, and passion for poker. Adam told me he was planning to write about his first experience playing in a major poker tournament. I asked him to send me a copy of his story, and I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to share it with you.

I am not a professional poker player; I am a successful amateur. Poker, to me, is a profitable and extremely enjoyable hobby. When people ask what I do for a living, I tell them I am a teacher, writer, and former Wall Street executive. My hobbies: I coach my 6-year-old son's tee-ball team. I read, I have a weakness for reality television, and I play poker.

Playing an $80 online satellite, I won entry into a World Poker Tour event. I was off to my first major event with my wife, my son, and my homemade cheat sheets encapsulating the no-limit wisdom of Cloutier, Brunson, Sklansky, and others. My biggest live tournament prior to this one was a $300 event at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.

A total of 219 players started the main event, each with $7,500 in chips. All around me sat recognizable faces from poker books, magazines, and television. There were, however, no recognizable faces at my first tournament table. No matter – I stunk it up, made ill-fated, weak, and unnecessary bluff attempts, and bet too heavily into pots that I had "locked up." My seat was moved once, then again, and with $5,450 remaining at the start of level two, I was now two seats to Erik Seidel's left. As they called for the dinner break, Erik raised from under the gun. I looked down and saw 8-8, and mucked them without a second thought. It was time to eat.

After the dinner break, the cards improved. I was moved to another table with Andy Bloch to my immediate right. Bloch was the chip leader by a mile, and was clearly pushing everyone around. Still, the cards came my way, and when I cracked a limped-in A-A with a set of eights, I realized I had a decent-sized stack. I got tired of Bloch raising every single button and stealing my blinds, so when I was dealt A-8 offsuit in the small blind and Bloch raised, I smooth-called. The big blind folded and Bloch (he of WPT final tables) was heads up with me (the school teacher). The flop came K-8-3 rainbow. Without hesitation, I bet three purple $500 chips with middle pair, top kicker. Andy laid his hand down. Suddenly, I felt like I belonged here. Day one ended shortly after that hand, and I had $16,875. A total of 125 players remained: 27 places would get paid, and six would make the WPT final-table telecast.

We had new table assignments on day two. I learned that McEvoy, Ivey, Seidel, Moneymaker, Brenes, Fitoussi, and Darden were all gone. I was still there. I was second in chips at my table, but with no recognizable pros there, the play was very fast and loose, except for me. I didn't see one flop at all during level five, and when I did raise preflop, I got a lot of respect and no callers. The level ended and I had $17,500.

During level six, I won a $10,000 pot with a flopped set of threes, having seen the flop for free from the big blind. I was moved again. I took my $28,100 to another table devoid of any "big names." I was able to build up my stack to $31,000 when a kid tried to defend his big blind a bit too aggressively against my button raise. On the river, he bet a rainbow of chips – a couple of each color, for a total of $3,625 – which I correctly read as a bad bluff into a busted draw. My ace-bad kicker (ace on the flop, another on the river) held up against his nothing hand. The "Rainbow Chip Kid" was hurt badly by the play, and was down to less than $6,000. My $31,000 made me the chip leader at the table.

After the dinner break, Brad Daugherty was moved to the empty seat on my left; Brad Daugherty, former World Champion Brad Daugherty, with World Series of Poker bracelet and all. He was short-stacked with about $8,000.

I started level eight, blinds of $400-$800 with $100 antes, roughly where I started level seven, at around $31,000. It dawned on me that I would be playing on day three. There were fewer than 60 players remaining. I wondered if the WPT television cameras really add pounds as they say they do.

I chased a draw far too long and lost about $8,000. I had to concentrate and shake it off. "Draws are death," I reminded myself for the hundredth time, quoting T.J. Cloutier. I glanced over at short-stacked Brad Daugherty and realized that he hadn't played a hand since he sat down. He hadn't yet pushed even one of his dwindling stacks of chips into the pot.

Second to act after the big blind, I looked at my cards and saw the A K. A monster! With $2,100 in blinds and antes already in the pot, I raised the $800 big blind to $2,000, hoping silently to win it right there. Brad Daugherty – former World Champion Brad Daugherty – glanced at his cards, and, for a split second, at me.

"All in," announced Daugherty. He pushed in $7,300 in chips, and when the other seven players at the table folded faster than Einstein ever considered possible when formulating his theory of relativity, it was now $5,300 to me. I had "suited slick." I had about $21,000 in chips. I called. Since we were all in preflop, we turned our cards up on the table: Brad Daugherty, former world champion, Q-Q (all in); Adam Shrager, schoolteacher in his first major poker tourney, A K. The pot was more than $16,500.

"I don't usually like coin flips," Daugherty said to me. I was unable to respond. This was the biggest pot I had been involved in thus far … my biggest pot of the tourney … perhaps the biggest pot going on at that moment in the entire universe.

The flop was dealt: A-J-2 (no spades). I broke uncontrollably into a broad smile. It was a near-perfect flop for me. This pot would atone for the few mistakes I had made in the tourney thus far, including that dumb draw. No-limit is a relentless mistress who does not allow mistakes. She does, however, require that you win a coin flip or two. Brad Daugherty – former World Champion Brad Daugherty – needed a queen or an unlikely straight to win this hand.

The turn card was a beautiful jack. Daugherty got up out of his seat. Time came to a halt. I was aware of the muscles in my arms, ready to scoop this pot. I was aware of my eyes, locked on the deck in the dealer's left hand. I was aware of Brad Daugherty – no-limit hold'em book author Brad Daugherty – having pushed his chair aside and standing, ready to depart, a resigned look on his face. The dealer burned and turned the final card: queen!

Brad Daugherty – my sworn nemesis for life Brad Daugherty – sat back down and began stacking his newly acquired chips. I was stunned and literally shaking, and hoped it didn't show. Could I shake this beat off? T.J. Cloutier's words rang out in my head, verbatim: "Any player should be able to take any kind of a beat and not let it change his style one iota." Easy for him to say.

With less than $16,000 in chips, I was alive, but no longer really healthy. For the next 30 minutes, the poker gods decided to punish me for all of my wrongdoing in 37 years on the planet. A mere two hands or so later, I was dealt A-A, my first pocket rockets in 11 hours of tourney play. I misplayed them as poorly as they can be misplayed. I was forced to muck them after the flop, and was down below $9,000. With 45 minutes to go in the evening, I realized I might not survive the night.

One round later, everyone mucked to me in the cutoff seat, and I had the A J. I hate A-J (as does Cloutier), but this was a perfect opportunity in late position to steal the blinds and antes. I pushed all in for $7,200. On the button, Brad Daugherty – the one-and-only Brad Daugherty – called me immediately, while the small blind, the Rainbow Chip Kid, almost beat him into the pot with all of his chips (about $5,000). After the big blind folded and with two of us all in, we turned our cards up. I acknowledged to myself that my A-J suited looked pretty pitiful against Brad Daugherty's – former World Champion Brad Daugherty's – K-K and the Rainbow Chip Kid's A-A. It was all over in seconds: no diamonds at all, no improbable flurry of jacks. The Rainbow Chip Kid tripled up, and Brad Daugherty, you know the guy, collected the remainder of my chips that the Rainbow Chip Kid did not have covered.

I was out, done. My first major event concluded with a 49th-place finish.

Thus it was that I experienced my first major poker tourney. I learned a lot, had a great time, and lost a coin flip to a former world champion. As for my nemesis, Brad Daugherty – former World Champion Brad Daugherty – again playing a short stack, was eliminated on day three, short of the money. The Rainbow Chip Kid? He stuck around and finished in 22nd place, for a not-so-shabby prize of $11,605.

Great story, Adam! Now, let's play poker!

Editor's note: To find out more about 2004 poker cruises, please see Linda's website at www.cardplayercruises.com.