Revisiting an Old Mistress (Poker) Part 2

As the Dunn game grew in popularity kids started identifying who the players were and this led to several games in the common area. These games were generally cash games run at a table. Most of the games were no limit though toward the end of the run Kevin B. and me started cycling in Omaha in order to make easier money. This was finally ended when one of the guys flipped out over a hand and broke a window.

Probably one of the largest off campus tournaments was a 20 buy in tourney every wednesday at a guys house about 4 miles from campus. I only played in this tournament four times, but played my best poker ever at this place. The tourney was roughly about 20 people big and I just did not hit hands all night. I'm talking that I think I had one winning hand the whole night. I advanced to the top 6 and finished with my buy in having showed down 1 hand. The rest of the time I didn't even have a pair. That's not easy in a home game where you have to be on point with your play and in guys heads. I still look at this as my greatest victory even though I won $20 I really won so much more in terms of confidence and know how.

There was actually an illegal poker hall run in an abandoned garage right off of Texas near the Dairy Queen. A few guys played there, and I knew a few of them that got busted. I never played in this game because the smallest limit was $5/ 10 and I wouldn't play a game unless my roll was at least 500 times the small blind. I was operating with about $1500. More importantly, was that there were alot of soft games around town that were easier.

The last tournament I ever played at was a tournamnet I got invited too at a guys house after placing 6th in the tourney above. It was at a guys house and was a $40 tourney with about 10 guys. At this point I was paying out of my mind poker and didn't even really have to play cards. A guy that was known as a "good player" showed up with his glasses, hat, and card players magazine. These guys are usually never good because they are advertising too much. They try to make alot of moves and often the small fries will relent to them out of intimidation. I used these guys to make lots of money. This day it was the same way as he tried alot of post oak bluffs (betting less than the pot in hopes of taking it) and playing hard on the button (the guy to bet last in most rounds). I got a solid read on his mannerisms and just started taking pots from him over and over. He eventually lost after playing into one too many hit hands and I hadn't helped the situation either by taking him out.

I lost a few hands to a guy that just was hitting all day and the finally three were me, some other guy, and the chip leader. The chip leader had more than the two of us combined. At this point "good player" offers to pay $100 for the chip leaders stack. He owed him some money or something and takes it. We start playing and the "good player" is doing a decent job of forcing us on hands. I have just enough to make an all in a risky adventure and buy a few pots when I can tell he has crap. The other guy eventually blinds himself out more or less and I'm now heads up with the "good player". I now have about half of his stack. I start making plays off my reads and he starts getting more and more angry. He asks me "Dude, what the hell I can't hit anything this is buls***t." I hadn't hit anything either. He starts assuming I'm making hands since I'm buying pots and that means I've already won the tournament. I eventually win and he is really angry and he has now paid $140 bucks and walked away with about $80. I wasn't asked to play in that tournament again.

A week later I would get accepted into the professional program and abandoned playing poker. It didn't matter much as the game got boring because I felt I always made the right play and it wasn't very mentally challenging anymore. Fast forward to today and that tournament at the casino was only the second game I have played in 4 years. For a brief second I thought about where I would be if I had stuck with and perhaps getting back into it. I can't though, I've got too much I want to acccomplish. And o ya the Coushatta tournament. I didn't win. I made one bad play costing me about $4000 in chips and then walked into a KK on the button. It was fun though and brought back some good memories.