I played poker again tonight in the Poker Room at the Best Western in Keene. My initial thought was that I should buy 4,000 chips for $20 because I wanted to at least have as many chips as those at the table who had already done that; about two thirds of the players at my table had. After thinking about it a bit I decided against it, because I would really like to take down one of these for free.

The cards weren’t coming at all for me at first, but after reading Chapter 4 and 5 of The Poker Tournament Formula by Arnold Snyder, I’ve become much more aware of how important position is at the table and how you can bet your trash cards and still make money based upon the way people in front of you respond to the bet. I should note that the book is for fast tournaments, which is exactly what the Poker Room tournament is. I successfully stole some blinds and bets, especially after identifying a particularly tight player who would raise preflop, but then check and allow me to bet to take the pot.

There were somewhere around 72 players in attendance, and after playing through the first hour I was sitting at 13.5K in chips. Returning from break, the woman to my left who had been buying a lot of pots was the big blind. A few other people were in the pot, and I raised 3X the blind with my AK off suit. She was the only caller. I was first to act and I checked the flop of 10-K-4. She went all in with 5100 and I quickly called, thinking she had K-something. I had her on a pair, but not pocket 10s.

It took me awhile to battle back from that blow, but then I got my chance when I flopped a straight. Fortunately there were some faces involved, so the people who were in it with their big hole cards stayed right in with me. One guy had a flush possibility, but fortunately it did not come. We got moved to a different table not too long after that where I met a ‘talkative’ guy named Jack, a foreigner named Akmed (spelling?), and a couple players who appeared to be younger than me. I took a shot on Akmed with KJ off suit. JJ looked good, but then I saw the ace came and thought I was done. I knew he had paired up. Somehow, I caught a queen on the river and made a straight. After additional playing, it was again time for break. I apologized to him at the break, and with a big smile he said that’s OK, it’s poker my friend.

When I returned, I noticed that I had been “chipped up.” I played some additional hands and then the next thing I knew there were only three tables left. Two new comers and one of them had TWO 10K chips and a big slew of other 1K chips. Wow! My $19K was starting to look like chump change compared to the other stacks I was looking at. with the blinds at 1/2K, I took my shot on Akmed. I had 9/5 off suit, and was only in the pot because I was the blind. When I saw a 9-J-2 flop, I thought 9’s were weak but stood a chance. I gave it a shot and he called. Crap, he has jacks. The next card that came was a heart for 3 hearts on the board. I was the first to act and should have gone all in, but instead bet 8K. he thought a bit and called. Finally, the last card came and it was of no danger to me. I went all in for another 6500 more.

Akmed thought and thought about his decision. Said numerous times “I can’t call he has me beat.” Unfortunately, he did call his pair of jacks even though he thought I had a flush. He Turned over his jack and I turned over my 9. I finished in 26th place, which I consider a terrific accomplishment. Obviously it would be nice to place in the money, but I played poker for 2 and a half hours and didn’t spend a dime. I was very entertained, learned a lot, and met some very interesting people including a guy I went to school with named Mike Davis.

Lessons Learned:

*When trying to buy a pot against a guy with a bigger stack, push all in. All in has a much more threatening sound than “8,000.”
*Sometimes I do get lucky.
*Position is a very valuable tool, be aware of it.