Thursday, March 18, 2004

"When you get a flop that you should like and still can't bet, it probably means that you should have folded before the flop." --Mason Malmuth

I was very confident after my win on Tuesday. I felt in control, even about Omaha, which no one has much control over, lol.

Darren was in the poker room for the tournament. You'll have to read the archives to find out more about Darren, but I'll give you a little teaser. Darren is the player who won over 100k in an Orleans Open event last year.

Once again, Darren lifted up a $1 chip to see if I wanted to do a last longer bet. This is my tenth or so LL bet with Darren, and he has won all but one! It is kind of funny because Darren is a much more volatile player than I am.

Anyway, I played in the tourney and had a fun time. My table was mostly tourists, and I got to know quite a bit of them. We chatted it up, since there was nothing better to do.

After a couple of hours, I started getting some super crummy hands. I got blinded down and had almost no chance of winning. I hate it when the tourneys get to this point. It gives me that awful, dreadful feeling of helplessness that I despise.

Finally, with just two chips left, I went all-in with A55Ks. I was only against the blinds. Naturally neither my high, nor my low were good enough.

Ironically, I went out at the same time as another player. We were 21st and 20th to go out. He had more chips than me, but is not involved in the WPT challenge. I went over to sign the form for points, and the whole table started screaming at Doug about how the other man had more chips than me, and technically I was 21st, so therefore I should not receive points.

This really hurt me. I mean, NONE of those people were even IN the WPT Challenge! The only reason they even knew it was going on is because Doc Campbell and I had talked about it at the table before he got eliminated.

They were so bitter and mean that they had to make sure to tell Doug that technically I was 21st. That is true, I'm not disputing that at all. Doug said that he would have had me sign for points, because Mr. 21 wasn't in the challenge, nor was anyone else at my table, but because the whole table started screaming at him about it, he had to sign me off as 21st.

I'm certainly no cheat, as I think I have proven time and again in the past, but this really stung. Who are these people? What consequence to they have in the WPT challenge that would make them yell and scream to Doug about my position?

At first I was completely baffled, but then I quickly realized why people are always so ready to stick their necks into my business. Tourists don't like a serious, confident player at the table with them. Tourists don't like someone who is "not" playing for fun. They hate having their blinds raised, they hate someone raising them all-in. They want to play kitchen table poker, and I am preventing them from that.

So they are happy to see me knocked out, and cheer, and make sure that I don't get any points, even though they aren't even in the competition.

I have always tried to get to know the tourists, make friends with them, make them as comfortable at the table as possible. Maybe I'm just wasting breath. They hate me anyway. What's new!

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Remodeling of the poker room has begun and is in full force! We will be putting in two new tables. Maybe three, if James can rearrange things and squeeze more in.

He had initially said the addition would be non-smoking, but has now changed his mind and decided to let players smoke in the new area, which is nuts, since the ceiling is lower.

Something is going to have to give with the smoking issue. It is one of the few things that doesn't bother me, but even I know that it is ridiculous to have a smoking poker room in an area where there are about five regular smokers and 90 non-smokers. Almost no one smokes in Laughlin! Most of the locals are senior citizens and can't smoke. Sometimes we have a jam packed poker room, almost 100 people crowded into this tiny room, and only about five, on average, are smoking.

James said he has gone to the management of the Belle about the issue, even presenting them with a petition, but they will not budge.

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There is a new promotion being offered as soon as we finish this WPT challenge on March 31. I was hoping for a bit of a respite between promotions. I wanted a break. Playing four tourneys per week for FUN and money is fine. Playing four tourneys per week for an ongoing competition is like WORK. Bleeech, yes, I said it, the nasty four-letter word.

Anyway, I found out we won't even get a week before the next competition. But at least the next competition is better than this one. James learned from that mistake!

This next competition is as follows:

Points will be given for final table appearances only. First through tenth place (this will prevent Betty from winning again, by folding her way into the top 20 every tourney). This will reward aggressive play, not timid, passive play.

The top twenty point leaders will have a tournament on May 16, 2004 for a $5000 prize pool.

First: $1900, second: $1000, third: $600, fourth: $375, fifth: $250, sixth: $225, seventh: $200, eighth: $175, ninth, $150, tenth, $125. 11th-15th, $50 gift certificate. 16th-20th, $25 gift certificate.

As you can see, this is a much better promotion. First of all, it only lasts six weeks. No four month competition. Second, only the final table gets points, so passive, timid play will not be rewarded. Third, we win real money, not a tournament seat at a bigger tournament.

The only disappointing thing about the whole setup is that I wanted a vacation when the current one was over, which is next Tuesday. Now they are throwing us right back into another competition. Blah!