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It’s the dinner break in Day 1 of the WSOP Circuit Main Event at the Grand Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, and I am being interviewed by the media as the apparent chipleader. This is the last place I ever imagined I’d be, so I’m enjoying every moment of what I expect will be my fi fteen minutes of poker fame. A reporter asks, “How did you get here?” and I tell him.
I had been playing for challenge and recreation for about three years, starting with Limit Hold’em, then No Limit Hold’em and on to multi-table and single-table tournaments, all at low limits. Cautious by nature, I only moved up limits as I proved a consistent win rate, and it was in January of 2007 that I fi rst played $2/$5 NLHE ring games.
I went to visit the 2008 WSOP Circuit Main Event and the WPT event at the Gold Strike Casino. I played a few $125 singletable tournaments and $2/$5 NLHE on Thursday and made $1,100, so I decided to invest $550 to enter a Mega Satellite. This was the largest buy-in tournament I had ever entered, but after eleven hours I won a seat into the Main Event…
I arrive early the next day to scope out the tournament area. I am excited to play but have no expectations; I am on a freeroll as I won the entry fee and then a seat worth $7,700! I play straightforward, tight-aggressive poker and, after six hours of play, I grow my starting stack of 20,000 to 109,200.
I fi nish the interview and thank the reporters, as I am grateful for the coverage. I return to Level Seven committed to play well, but not expecting anything beyond the experience of playing and learning.
The cards are kind to me before the break, but they are cold thereafter. I play six hours and fi nish almost where I started - 111,500. I’ve played no big pots, either good or bad. I am frustrated, but surprised to discover that due to my hot start, I am 16th of the remaining 29 players, and 18 will make the money. I stagger off to bed after 14.5 hours of poker, the most I have ever played in one day.
I jolt awake after only four hours — trying to sleep is fruitless — so I get up, exercise, and grab brunch before heading to the poker area. My butterfl ies disappear as soon as play starts. We lose two players quickly and we redraw for three tables. At my new table I am excited to play with some big names: Jordan Rich is two seats to my right, Vanessa Rousso two to my left, and Tom Schneider four to my left. I continue to be card dead, and survive only by stealing three pots.
The money bubble breaks with me in 16th place, and I am severely short stacked. We redraw for two tables, and I end up with Tom Schneider (2007 WSOP Player of the Year) on my immediate right. Tom proceeds to raise every hand when it is folded to him in late position. With blinds at 3000/6000 and an ante of 500, I am down to 35,000 chips in the SB, when Tom raises from the button. I look down at 2-2, and think briefly before pushing all in. The bigblind folds and Tom calls with Q-10 (he has ten times my chip stack). I win the race and more than double up, but I am still very short. The pattern of Tom brutalizing me continues until this hand: He raises from the SB, and I look down at A-9 off-suit. I push, and Tom calls saying, “I am getting the right odds.” He turns over 4d 6d. I win that race and double up again.
Soon we are down to ten players. We redraw for the fi nal table and play only a few hands before we are at the offi cial nine-handed “Final Table.” I have 164,000 chips, far less than the 400,000 average, and I am in 8th place.
Since I am guaranteed almost $26,000, I get on the phone and buy tickets for my wife, Leslieann, and poker buddy, Terry Ferentinos, to fl y up from Atlanta. Terry introduced me to the game and has had made several fi nal tables in circuit events, so I value his advice; and having Leslieann there will provide tremendous comfort.
The WSOP wanted to give players a chance to play in Day 1 of the WPT event, so we have an unusual day off before the Final Table. The waiting is tough and again I get only four hours sleep, but I wake up excited. During the day I solicit input from Terry and other experienced tournament players, and I settle on my strategy for the Final Table:
1. Play to win — the prizes are heavily weighted to the top positions. It is unlikely I will be in this position again, so I won’t try and fold my way up a spot or two. 2. Being so short-stacked, when I play a hand I’ve got to raise pre-fl op — I can’t play passively and bleed chips by limping and folding. 3. Reinforce my image as an inexperienced and tight player — after all, it’s what I am. I can hope that my opponents will think I am weak-tight and underestimate me.
Harrah’s hosts a wonderful dinner for the Final Table and their guests at the Grand Casino — a good opportunity to work on my table image. I happily tell everyone “how excited I am to just be here” and “what an unlikely thing to happen” and talk about my “success playing $2/$5 NLHE!” I am a “businessman who got lucky.”
When we return to the room I am pretty jacked up. I’ve had little sleep over the last four days so I take a sleep aid, yet I still wake up at 4am. After some exercise and a light breakfast, we head over to the Final Table area, which is set up arena-style with lights, TV cameras, and microphones. We are miked up and shown how to hold our cards for the “hole cam.” The show starts and we are introduced.
On only the second hand, I have the opportunity to apply my strategy; I have Q-10 off-suit in middle position (a decidedly marginal hand), but I do a standard raise and take down the pot and increase my stack by 21,000 chips. Over the next four hours, I play very few hands strongly and more than triple my chip stack without going to showdown! I am fourth of the remaining seven players, and I have an average stack of 512,000.
A short time later, I raise with J-J in the SB, and Donald Nicholson in the BB goes all in. I felt Donald was the best player at the table once we got down to seven players. He won a few pots early, became very active and was chipleader when this hand started. I think briefl y and call his push, believing I am ahead of his range. He turns over Ac Kc and I win that race, becoming chipleader with six players remaining.
Two hours later we are down to three, and I am still the chip leader. The button folds, I complete with 6c 4c, and Donald checks. The fl op brings Kd 9s 6d. Although I have only bottom pair, Donald probably has nothing, so I push out a half-pot sized bet of 100,000. When Donald calls, alarm bells go off. When the turn brings the Ks, I am certain he does not have a king; perhaps a nine? As I bet 200,000, I ask myself if I have the courage to fi re again on the river. The river is a very dangerous 8d. I mull it over, feeling that Donald has a weak holding. I had represented a king, and my image was very tight with big bets when I had a big hand. I decide to go for it and push all in. I stare at the “o” in poker in the middle of a chip while Donald thinks for three minutes… before folding. I now have half the chips in play.
During a break, we discuss a chop. I do not like the proposed deal since I feel that Donald is crippled and the third player, Giovanni Marcacci, is quite weak. I refuse to chop and, as we return to the table, both players are still after me to reconsider, even during the play of the fi rst hand (the Tournament Director tells us to stop the discussion).
On this fi rst hand, Gio raises on the button. I look down at Ah 8c. My read on Gio is that while he is weak, he could be raising with virtually anything. He has second place locked up while pleading for a chop. I decide to reraise him; when he calls, I fi gure he has a real hand. The fl op is a dream: 9s 7c 6c, giving me an open-ended straight draw and an overcard. I decide to push, given my read and my pre- fl op reraise representing a big hand. Gio goes into the tank while I focus on the “o” on a chip. He eventually calls, turning over 10h 10c, one of the worst hands for me — taking away two of my outs. I sit passively as Gio happily paces about… until the turn brings a 5d! After a harmless river, Gio storms off exhorting Donald to “Take him out!”
Now with 83% of the chips in play, it takes only two hands for me to win. During the post-game interview I learned that Donald held 8s 7s in our earlier critical hand; he had fl opped a straight draw; the turn added a fl ush draw; and the river paired his eight. Donald later told me, “I didn’t think you had the heart” to make that play. It turned out a little image building paid off!
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