Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Lost survivor


I played in an interesting tournament tonight at the Venetian/Palazzo. Play would continue until 90% of the field was eliminated, then cease. In other words, they wouldn't play for first, second, etc. The players who were left would each get $2500. It was called a Survivor Tournament and cost $300 to enter, so the house kept $50 from each player.

The structure was good, and it was an interesting concept, so I was keen to try it. I'm not sure what the best strategy is, so tried to play my normal game. I was eliminated, however, before the first break.

My bust-out hand was typical of tournament poker. I held A 8 and called when there were three limpers to me. The guy behind me called as did both blinds -- a juicy pot for a limped hand.

The flop was rather good for me: 8 8 6. It checked to me, I checked and the guy behind me fired out a big bet. This folded back to me and I moved all in. Now the guy started shaking his head, but finally called and showed: 3 2. Notice that he can hit his flush and still lose if the board pairs.

No, he didn't hit his flush, but the last two cards dealt were a 5 and a 4 giving him a straight. Good game, MOJO.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention there were 91 runners. Nine collected $2500 and tenth-place got their money back.

Above: Part of the Palazzo Poker room before players took their seats.

Above: The Venetian/Palazzo is a beautiful property.


Photos taken with my P&S.

6 comments:

  1. Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
    Runner Runner Beans and Franks
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like the idea of that tournament. Sounds interesting, they should try that in Tunica for something different. Nice pics!

    ReplyDelete
  3. @jusdealem: That style tournament would work well for cautious players like us. When I make the final table, I'm often short-stacked.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey MOJO, sorry if I gave you the impression I was going to join you at the Golden Nugget on Sunday, never my intention. I meant to text back that I was playing at Caesars.

    I've blogged about the Survivor tournament and also mentioned it in my Ante Up column a few times. I like the format but haven't been able to cash there yet. Waiting for the special events season to be over so I can play one for "only" $200.

    Since you're a such a good tournament player, I have a question for you. When you had Ace-8 soooted and there were already three limpers, did you consider raising instead of limping also? I'm thinking that you had a pretty good such to steal those limps and the blinds, and you did have a hand that had some value if you got called. And instead, by limping, you made it even more likely someone would come over the top and you'd be out your bet.

    I'm not sure I would have done anything differently, but when I read it in cold hard print it sounds like an opportunity there to make a move there that wouldn't have been all that risky.

    Note, my question is not at all based on knowing the guy behind you caught his hand and won the pot. You would assume that he might have folded to your raise instead of calling with his crappy hand, but you never know. As I analyze my tournament play, that seems like a good move no matter what the outcome. But then, you have a lot more tournament success than me.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I didn't realize that you were a cautious tourney player also - that's how I get deep into tournaments (as a short-stack)... BRUTAL runner-runner (in case you didn't know) - Keep your chin up!

    ReplyDelete
  6. LOL getting it all in with the nut low flush draw... Whaddanidiot...

    ReplyDelete