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Five Diamonds |
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My final tournament for the
year was the $15,000 entry Five Diamonds
Main Event at the Bellagio, Las Vegas.
Finding the full 15 big ones for the entry
fee, was a dent in my bankroll. In the past,
I have always done remarkably well in
satellites or super satellites, and have nearly
always won a seat in US main events. If
anyone were visiting a US festival, I would
highly recommend playing in as many super
satellites as possible. The standard of play
is usually the easiest that you will find
anywhere, and they are often played in a
much more jovial atmosphere.
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Almost 400 dreamers
coughed up this huge entry fee to battle for
a first prize of over $1.8 million. Now,
that's life changing! And anyone can win, or
so they say. Not this time. The best all
round tournament player in the world, Daniel
Negranau, added the loot to his petty cash
account. Daniel also secured the US Player
of the Year title at the same time, whilst I
finished a threatening 200th or so.
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I had been having a good
first day, building my chips up to 60,000,
before slipping back to 50,000. Daniel
neatly extracted 10,000 chips from me,
having turned a 'set'* of twos. Calling
Daniel for 6,000 on the river was one of
possibly three mistakes I made in this
event. The other two mistakes were not
winning enough chips when I had the best
hand.
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When I am not producing regular good results
I get very analytical of my play, and very
critical. I believe these attributes are
vital to remain a profitable player. Since
winning the £100,000 event at the London
Victoria in July, I have only made 2 final
tables in almost 70 events, compared to a
25% average in the first half of the this
year, and an incredible 33% average last
year. Keeping records is also mandatory in
my book. These tell me something is clearly
going wrong.
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It would be easy to say I was just running
unlucky, having finished just outside the
final table in around 15 of these recent
events. A little bad luck usually leads to a
few minor mistakes as well though. It is
important to recognise and minimise these
before they lead to regular and bigger
mistakes. You would be amazed at how many
full time professionals, or
ex-professionals, declare that they were
unlucky every single time they are knocked
out of a tournament. Devilfish, possibly the
best tournament player in Europe, is
actually a prime example of this. It is
never his mistake.
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Anyway, at the end of the first day I am sat
with around 50,000 chips and looking at Aces
in my big blind. David Chui raises in late
position and Kido calls. I re-raise three
times the previous bet, and they both pass
after long dwell ups. The very next hand, I
look at two Queens on the small blind, and
Kido raises in late position.
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It's late in the day, I
was comfortable, Kido has more chips than
me, and had position. So, I don't really
want to play a flop. (If an Ace or a King
hits the flop, I would have to check giving
him opportunity to steal). So I decided to
over raise almost 5 times his raise, hoping
he will pass, and I will just pick up the
chips in the middle. He thinks for a long
time (so I assume he doesn't have Aces or
Kings) and then calls. The flop appeared
9,9,3 and looked relatively safe. Surely he
wouldn't call with a pair as small as threes
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He had called me pre-flop
believing I didn't have a second,
consecutive big hand. So, I decide to trap
check him. He obliged by betting 13,000;
something close to the pot. So I now move my
whole stack in, to be immediately called by
his 9,10 of diamonds. This hand I do
consider unlucky. It wasn't a bad beat. The
majority of the chips went in when my
opponent had the best hand. However, it was
an unlucky sequence of events that allowed
me to lose all my chips.
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The reason for mentioning Kido, who owns
a dental empire in Texas, and Devilfish in
the same article though, was so that I could
recall one of those funny poker moments that
seem to follow Mr.Ulliot about. It happened
in the early hours of the morning in a huge
Omaha cash game. Kido and Devilfish were the
two big winners in the game, and both had
over $30,000 in front of them. They are both
very out-going characters that had been
enjoying the banter all night.
A huge pot developed where Devilfish had
raised Kido $20,000 with 'the nuts'**. Kido
though, had a huge flush and straight draw.
Devilfish started to goad Kido, “go on
call, if you lose I will give you half
back”. I assume Devilfish was doing this
because he thought that he was a huge
favourite, with one card to come. Kido
though, was not to be out done, “I'll call
for sure, under one condition. If I win the
pot, every time you meet me in the card
room, you have to say 'Hi Kido, you are the
daddy,' and he picked up his chips ready to
call, if he got Devilfish's nod. After 30
seconds of thought, Devilfish decided the
risk of humiliation wasn't worth 20 large.
It was only dollars anyway. And he told Kido
to pass his hand... I guess money isn't
everything, even at the biggest poker
tables. |
'a set' is an oft used
American term. If you sit with a pair in
your hand and the flop shows a third, then
you have 'a set'.
**'the nuts' is the best possible hand at
that time.
See you next week folks,
Dave |