Everyone who knows anything about me knows I am a huge poker fan. Most of those people also know I have been fortunate to have had the chance to play poker super stars such as Chris Ferguson, Chloe Gowan, and Daniel Negranu. Now, I am not disillusioned enough to think I am the best player, but I DO know what I am doing for the most part (even if I do make stupid bets out of nervousness like my all-in diabolical against the Kid himself. Well last night, I proved my talents true.
There was a charity poker tournament here in San Antonio last night. Since I had been neglecting my husband here recently with a pretty busy schedule, I decided to go along with him for some quality time (he loves poker even more then I). I did not go in thinking I would win; actually I thought I would be home by 10PM.
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More then 200 people signed up for the event with a $200 buy-in...and UNLIMTED re-buys for the first 2 hours. As I played my first hand and almost tripled up off two amature players (who immediately re-bought in, lol), I am already getting nervous. Within a couple of hands, I take one of my former knock-outs to the curb again (yes, he re-bought in again, lmao). Within the first 20 minutes of the game, I am a sure leader. Hmmmm, maybe I CAN do this!
I start doing what I almost always say I am going to do, but almost always never do...I sit back and start playing mostly only power hands while watching the other's moves. There are allot of armatures who are staying in on high card, low kickers, and it is almost impossible to bully as most of them stay on pretty much nothing (Ace-9 rings any bells?). Some of the hands are hard for me to throw down, but in the infamous words of Gears of War, I "Nut the hell up" and continue being patient. It worked. When the smoke clears and my patients outlast the luckiest-SOB-alive in the final two, I rise a winner of a $10k ticket into the WSOP main event!!!! This is one of my happiest days EVER!!!
Now, the only issue is that WSOP main event starts on the weekend of WSVG!! World Series of Videogames, or World Series of Poker??? What does a girl like me do??? Well, my friends, I am going to throw my luck out to the fates to decide! I am going to sell my ticket, and the three of us that went to the tournament (me, my hubby, and our friend Don) are going to go play in an earlier WSOP event in June instead. IF I make it again, then the fate gods have determined I need to be there for the final event, and I will follow their orders!! I don't know much, but I DO know that bracelet would look mighty fine on my wrist! Can you say Bling-Bling, baby!?! Wish me luck! 
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The Event!
OK, so I made it to Vegas in one piece, I had to leave WSVG late Saturday night. We get out of the airport really late…why, you might ask? Because the airline LOST my luggage! That's right...over 2 years of living in hotels and airports, and this was the FIRST time my luggage was ever lost. Go figure. We go to the hotel after filling out the lost luggage forms, and my night gets even better. I was given the 13th floor at the RIO. Yup, you heard right, THE 13TH FLOOR. What kind of hotel has a 13th floors?!? I thought they were non-existent! And I certainly never expected one to be in Vegas. Sheesh...I might as well sign my death warrant then, 'cuz I knew the Devil was on the hunt for me!
After we get checked in and I calm myself a little by crying to my husband over the bad luck I was having. We went downstairs to check-in to the Main Event. My luck started to change when the very nice teller let me switch to day 1D instead of 1C...which meant I had a whole day to wait for my luggage to be found! Thank god, I am sure none of the players would want to see me without makeup and clean clothes across the table!
The next day, my luck continues to grow as my luggage is delivered…until I find out a carton of cigarettes, my cell phone charger, and my hubby's cologne are all missing. Mother &*!@*($. Does anyone realize that cigarettes are $7.00 each at Vegas hotels? Holy sweet Virgin Mary…if you want to help me quit, stop the urges!! My addiction will just make me pay the $7, LAMO. Also, I could not find a cell phone charger ANYWHERE on the strip. I was beginning to think the world is going mad, until I realized I could just put my SIM card in my husband's phone and dial away. Whew.
When morning came, I went down to the poker room while my hubby was off in some tournament. The Games Convention was going on, so I got to walk around and meet some of the pros. As I stop at a booth to meet Devil Fish, I start talking with Miami John.
I have to say, Miami John was one of the biggest highlights of my entire trip! He is an amazing person, and I spent allot of time with him over the next few days getting to know him further. He even came and sweated me like 4 times on Day 1! How cool was that of him?!? I plan on staying in touch with him in the future and really feel I amd e good new friend!
Going back to Devilfish, what a character. I have not met someone that nuts in my entire life! He was an obvious Mack-daddy, and I had to protect myself from getting my butt grabbed at every possible moment, LMAO. I was kind flattered at first, until I realized he groped EVERY girl he could get his hands on! Still, he was harmless and he made me laugh allot, so all was well. Especially after he mooned me…how could you ever hate on a guy that has the courage to moon you in public!! ROFL!
So, there I was walking with Miami John and I see these 2 pixie-looking blonds staring at me. As I hear "Athena Twin!" I realize it is 2 of my very own Counterstrike girlies, Crofty and Lisa! Holy man! Crofty had recently had a kydney transplant (which went very well, thank the good lord), and had got to go to WSOP for a Make-A-Wish Foundation trip!
I introduce them to Miami, and he gets them a pass to the poker VIP Party that night. I also took them to dinner with me and my wonderful own H2O, Chris Ferguson...which was totally cool for them since they had already got to play with Chris on Counter Strike and had wanted to meet him. Who could pass up dinner with the smartest, nicest, as sweetest poker player alive? How do I know this? Because I have the distinct pleasure of calling him a friend.
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Since I met Chris over a year ago, we have played vidoegames together, he taught me a few moves about poker on his site, FullTiltPoker, gave me advice, sent me the FullTilt Strategy Guide to get ready for WSOP, and just been there to chat with and have fun! Also, I have never heard so many good things about a player before, anyone who knew Chris even a little said he was the best person in poker all-around. And he is! I love nice guys!
After Sushi and some good conversation with Chris, the girls and I moved on to the VIP Poker party which had poker celebrities such as Miami John, Devilfish, Johnny Chan, Robert Williamson, and Blaire Rodman, etc. Chris could not come because he was playing that day, which made me sad. Anyway, Devilfish gave one of the guys in our group his own VIP bracelet to get free drinks, and we continued to party it down! Devilfish ended up licking Crofty's neck, which is an experience I am sure she will remember for a lifetime!! I spent most of my time talking to Clarky and Miami and hanging with the girls. My husband continued on for the night with Clarky, and I went back to the hotel to sleep and get ready for the big day tomorrow!
AT THE TABLES!
I awake at 9AM, and I am getting butterflies in my stomach. This is big, REAL big, for a poker player…and I know I am not quite ready. I have spent the last two days reading poker books, particularly the one Chris sent me, the FULL TILT strategy guide. Also, many of the pros I have met are more then willing to give me advice, all which I am trying to soak in. I just wanted to make it through Day1.
I go sit down at my table, put on my sunglasses, and turn on my iPOD…just like most of them advised me. I hear their voices in my head the nigh before…."DON'T TALK TO ANYONE, DON'T GIVE THEM ANYTHING! And, whatever you do…DON"T TELL THEM YOU JUST WANT TO MAKE IT THROUGH DAY 1!" Yeah, that "no talking stuff" did not last long, lol. In fact, the first time Miami came up to the table, he said "Dang it, the first thing I see is you WITHOUT your sunglasses and you are TALKING to the guy on your right!" Busted, lol. I can't help it, I am a social butterfly!! Can you keep a butterfly caged for long? For a bracelet, yes I decide. Dutifully, I put back on the glasses and iPOD and get back to work.
I am down. Way down. And not because I am making mistakes! My table is tight, so tight, that no one even got knocked out until after dinner at 7PM. We started at noon! The guy too my right said if he had know his first table was going to be this good of players, he never would have signed up. That comment kinda made me happy; after all he said the "table" was good…which meant I was included, right! YES! I did not nub out (like I was scared I was doing)! I am not really getting bullied, but players are letting me lead into pots with 2nd best hands. It is starting to take a toll on my chip stack. After dinner, I realize I needed to make a move. 3 hands after dinner I make my first all-in move with about 4k in chips. I have pocket Q's, and I get called by A-Q off-suit. That was sweet! Needless to say, I double my chip stake. I take a bad beat later when I lost a lot of chips with pocket Jacks, but make another all-in win with A-Q suited. 3 Hours after dinner, I am moved to a new table. A table with a PRO!
As I sit down, I realize Surrindar Sunar is 3 places over to my left. Wow, sitting with a real PRO! He only has about 4k in chips, which is even less then me. I quickly realize why when on the first hand at the table he goes all in and the guy to my right calls him. "Wow, that would be a great knock out for you if you win," I say to the gentleman. "Yeah," he says back, " I really want to knock him out!" That was when I realize that PROS are a target for the players…including me really. Of course I would have lasting memories of knocking out a PRO! However, it kind of reminds me how I am targeted on videogames because I am a girl. How, sometimes in games, everyone's bullets seem to be focusing on me because they don't want me to win! Now, in poker, this could be a good thing since that means the players might stay in with a slightly weaker hand in hopes to catch a PRO. Certainly Sunar took advantage of this as I witnessed 3 all-ins at my time on the table…all of which were called, and lost, by the gentleman to my right. I am not sure what happened after I got knocked out, but I sincerely hope Sunar was not knocked out by him!
Anyway, back to my own play. So, I love the new table that I am at! Everyone is nice, talkative, and friendly. Soooo my style. I manage to bring my chip stack up to 21k in just 40 minutes, and I am happy really for the first time of the day! In a grove, having fun, and playing some poker. Then the death hand comes for me, and I will explain it.
Blinds are $200-$400 with $75 antes. Guy on my right is under the gun, he raises $3k. I look down; I am holding an A-K suited. I have three options here…call, re-raise or go all-in. Folding is not an option as I am still lower ion chips then anyone at my table. This is where I made my mistake….I tried to be sneaky. All night, I never tried to trap really except with a few small pocket pairs in late position that were cheap enough for me to see a flop. I new the guy to my right probably had a hand if not similar, maybe even higher (like a small or mid pocket pair) himself. I figured, why not just call, get some others to join the actions…and if my flop hits I will destroy them. We get another mid-caller...but then the big blind re-raises to 9k, and he is also chip leader. @*@*&$!!
If I call this hand, I am pretty much pot committed. If I win, I would be up over $50k for day 2 (which you need to stay alive day 2); if I lose, I am out of the whole event. I doubt the chip leader would have made the raise on a bluff since there were 3 people still in the pot, but there is a chance he was being greedy. HOWEVER, style="mso-spacerun: yes" I also still have one other person before the chip leader to act however that could be bullied a bit...but it will take the rest of my 14k to stay in. A-K suited is a pretty powerful hand, so I did it…so I went all-in.
Next guy to act folds and chip leader calls. J-J. Ok, I got two live over-cards suited…this could be done! I was actually relieved I did not see K-K or A-A… and thought I was still going to do it! I was in my Zen, what could go wrong?!? How about a J on the flop? TRIPS! SHIT!!! Wait…there is a 10 too! "Come'on Queen!" several people at my table yelled, "Give her the Queen!"...they were cheering for me!! "Give me the Queen!" I think as I close my eyes. "Awwwwwwww" I hear the table say and my eyes pop open. No queen. My table actually looks sad as I say good game and leave. I really hate to leave them, even the guy that knocked me out who was the funniest one at the table. They felt bad too, because my hubby had left for a beer and went back to the table. "Tell me she got moved?" he said. The table groans and told him I lost with A-K suited. He said the guy that knocked me looked down shaking his head and mumbled sorry, lol.
Well, if you going to get beat, I much prefer to lose to a great person, at a great table, with great people, on a great beat! I played it right for the most part, with the exception of maybe not moving all-in after under-the-gun had raised (which MIGHT have induced the chip leader to fold, but somehow I doubt it). One never knows, but that is poker, baby!
On an off-note...
After I was out, I did go enter into a poker tournament at the Saharra the next day and placed 5th! I am not ready to move to high-stakes poker yet, but I am attempting to develope some skills to make a eventual move into semi-pro! I had the pleasure of being invited to gamble with Hoyt Corkins the next night at the Bellagio. He gave some great advice! He said if I wanted to make it in poker, I needed to set aside about about $10k to enter some events. Once I was making money on about 50% of the tounaments, then I would be ready. Well, that is exactly what I am going to do. Next year, I will be entering some events...and hopefully you WILL see me at the main event ready for a new battle!