Tonight was the second annual Poker Tournament for the Green Tie Ball.
I did not make the Final Table.
I won every single pot I entered, except my last.
Why did I lose? Many reasons:
-nobody called my continuation bets
-maybe I didn't play enough hands
-time eventually run out on me
At least I made it to the break. That was two hours into the tournament. By the time we started again we were left with 6 tables and 55 players total. Blinds were at 1000 - 2000 and I had 12,000. (Starting chips was 10,000)
In the first hand from the break a large stack made a standard raised and everybody folded.
The second hand, in which I was on the button, the same large stack makes the same standard raise and the small blind shoves all in. The large stack calls. The shover shows the Ace of Hearts and the King of Diamonds. The large stack shows Ace of Diamonds and the 10 of diamonds. The AK was a 68.06% favorite, but loses as the large stack rivered a 10 high straight.
Someone raised the 3rd hand to 4,000 when I was in the big blind. Having Ace-9 unsuited I decide to fold my hand and pick a better spot. The large stack again calls. The hand is checked down and when they both reveal their hands, I see that I would have lost.
In the next hand, only the button limped.
From the small blind, I rose All-In.
The Big Blind, who is the same large stack, folds.
The button (a mid-forties woman) thinks a while, and finally calls the 8,000 more (she only had me covered by 4,000)
I show King of Clubs and Jack of Hearts.
She shows the Queen of Clubs and the Jack of Clubs.
According to the Card Player Odds Calculator, I am all in as a 69.54% favorite (2.51% chance to tie).
This was great news to me.
The flop was 6 of clubs, 6 of diamonds, 10 of clubs.
With her now on a flush draw, she improves, but I am still in the lead and a 56.46% favorite to win the hand.
The turn is a 3 of clubs. She hits her flush and takes a commanding 84.09% chance to win.
That leaves me with 15.91% chance of getting a club on the river to catch a higher flush.
The River brought a 9 of hearts, and I was eliminated.
Looking back, I'm surprised how little emotion I displayed. I shook her hand, calmly walked away, and reconstructed the hand in my mind. Half of that was shock, the other half is that I can not fault myself for having all the chips in with the better hand.
I expect to see pictures of me with my Lucky Charms watch and Wynn Visor to hit the Internet soon. Another cool pick of me in a tournament will be my only victory.
BONUS NOTES:
The first place winner from last year was the FIRST person eliminated. That was earth-shatteringly shocking to me.
The fourth place finisher from last year was busted before level two (less than 20 minutes)
The second place finisher from last year was not in attendance.
I thought I saw Richard Roeper (last year's 6th place finisher), but he must've been bounced EARLY.
And me, last year's 3rd place finisher, finished somewhere in the low 50s out of a much smaller than last year's tournament size of just over 100.
There's a long time for me to rethink every single hand I played.
Good Night Green Tie Ball, I'll try it again next year.
