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That is right… The insanity continues. Full Tilt Poker, in conjunction with ABC, decided it was time to give away $750,000. Sick. So very sick. Before I ramble on about this event, I am going to give you the Reader’s Digest compressed history on some of the sick freerolls poker has seen.
ESPN / Harrah’s gave away $2 million. Eight people were invited. Bodog gave away $750,000. Forty people were invited. The W Hotel gave away an $800,000 condo / hotel unit in their new W property being built in Vegas. Fifty people were invited. And then this one. ABC / Full Tilt gave away 750k and 36 people were invited.
God exists and does not exist from flop to flop and from person to person. The Zoroastrians, Hindus, Muslims, and Christians are all right. Whatever you believe is true. I will show why some other time. The point I am trying to make is this: I got invited to this thing and that is proof enough for me. God is real.
The event was set up so that if you won two six-handed tables, you would be $500,000 richer. Second place got $150,000 and third, fourth, fifth, and sixth places all won $25,000. It was called the Pro Am Equalizer because each table started with four pros and two amateurs. The equalizer aspect was that the amateurs all started with more chips, 100k versus 150k. Tough. Especially considering the fast(ish) structure and that over half of the amateurs were especially capable with chips. But when it is a freeroll, you don’t ask for rule changes; you just adapt. Don’t something to the horse, or maybe it was bring him to water or grab the horns or something. I don’t remember… But I am fairly sure that there is some saying that applies here.
The brutal part of this tournament was that by playing in it, Jennifer and I had to skip the UB Aruba tournament. That was tough. Aruba is a blast, and the side games are crazy popping. UBAruba also hosted another Ultimate Blackjack Tour Tournament and missing that just added to the pain. If I recall correctly, the term for this is “Approach – Approach.” Choosing between good things. A nice problem to have.
Harrington’s M’s and freerolls. Like oil and water. Freeroll structures always seem to be the same. Normal poker for about an hour and then the Mzone danger areas start crunching towards you faster than you’d like. Being lucky and aggressive is your best bet for doing well in these things.
Thankfully, I have always been lucky. And being aggressive is easy. Just bet and see what happens. If they call, try one more bullet most of the time. If they fold, the whole process just becomes that much easier. If they call, shut down and lick your wounds. If things start going against you early, then it is time to start getting lucky; you don’t have much time.
Jeremy Sisto is a friend, knows the game, started with more chips, and was at my table. Fun and brutal at the same time. He was aggressive and lucky. A-A for Sisto and Q-Q for Harman. Now he had even more chips. Belch… I saw where this was going. As my M got smaller, it became clear. Next raise from him and I was all in with any pair, any ace, or any two face-card combo. It was time to re-aggress.
A-3 off suit. Weeeeeee. I re-raise. Actually when I stuck it in, I was pretty sure that I was ahead. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I had just pulled one of my classic cherry bomber moves. Please fold, please fold. Some pushups, some stomach crunches and still no fold. He has pocket eights or A-10 or something. Whatever it is, I figure I am about 30%. He kept almost folding, but Cindy Margolis kept goading him on. “Be a man, call him. Call. Go all in.” I can’t come out from under the hood. If I do, he will know he is good and call. Why can’t she just stop selling him? Now the audience is adding their two cents. The energy is palpable and bad. Why did I have to go crazy with an A-3?
Call. He has As Js. I feel like a dummy. I spike a three. How did that three peel off? Oh yeah, that was the lucky thing I was talking about earlier. You have to be lucky and aggressive. Nice to be lucky.
When the dust settled, it was down to Lederer and me. Our M’s were decently comfortable. Time to play small ball poker. Not many know it, but I love headsup deep(ish) stack poker. And I love to look at flops. I would have preferred a different opponent, but this is what it was. I started with about 30% more chips. Off we go.
On the second hand of heads-up play, I was dealt 10- 8 off suit and limped on the button. The flop came 10- 8-5. Rainbow. Holy cow. Hopefully Howard has a piece of this flop. I was not surprised when he bet the flop. He could have just about anything. A bluff, a pair, or some sort of draw.
I raise. Top two is a monster heads up. When he went into the tank, I soon realized that he was thinking about raising. Holy cow. Could it really be? Two hands deep and we are having this potentially huge pot? From my point of view, it was a no brainer. If he raises, I will go all in; if he goes all in, insta-call. Against the straight draws I will be about 70%, and against any (non-set) made hand I will be a huge favorite.
He went all in and I insta-called. J-9. Have to fade a queen, seven, or some runner-runner combo, and I am home free. 68%/32%. I needed to be the first one to see the future. I took position behind the dealer. Blank, blank. Holy canolies. It happened. I won my first heat.
The final heat was me, Seed, Ivey, Cunningham, Bloch, and Nicholas Gonzales. Nicholas started with the chip lead as he was the “amateur.” Nick plays plenty and knew how to apply pressure to our smaller stacks. It was frustrating. Somewhere in the match he and Bloch got all their chips in preflop. Bloch made a great call with pocket tens against a huge re-raise from Nicholas’s pocket sevens.
I made some donkey plays that worked out, and some that didn’t. In one hand, Huck Seed pulled a Jedi mind trick on me and got me to call his all-in with a K-3 off suit. Of course, he had a middle pair and of course I hit the miracle 5-outer on the river. Sorry, Huck.
It got to heads up between Bloch and me. He was more aggressive and lucky. Q.E.D., he won. In one huge hand I dropped the ball. On the turn I made a bet and then had to call his all-in anyway. Horrible. If you are making a bet and you know you are going to call if your opponent goes all in (and you might be losing), then just go all in to start. I blew it. I bet and then ended up calling for the math. Of course I blanked off.
It was cool. Bloch is a great guy. He is smart, and he is compassionate. He donated $100,000 of his $500,000 win to the SaveDarfur.org foundation that is trying to put a stop to the horrors that are a part of daily life in Darfur, Africa. It was a great time and I was about as stoked as a guy could be for hauling in second place. I did after all uptick. And in the end… it is all about the uptick.
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