Deep Run

I accomplished this year what I hoped to accomplish last year. I played well.

The Senior Tournament set a record as the largest single-start poker tournament in history, meaning that "Day 1" was not broken across multiple days. There were a record 4,128 entrants, and we all started at the same time. The first day (yesterday, Friday) was scheduled for eleven one-hour levels plus several 20-minute breaks and a 90-minute dinner break. We started at 10:15 (the 10:00 start was delayed, because of the crush of entries and some opening ceremonies). Add it all up, and it means that Day 1 lasted until midnight.

I almost lasted that long. I finished about #600, or about 170 spots out of the money. Meaning that I "beat" > 3,500 starters. That's a real deep run, and is actually better than the class of poker player that I think I am. It was thrilling and intense, and I was exhausted by the time I got swept out at about 10:30 PM.

Everybody started with 3000 tournament chips. That means there were more than 12 Million chips in the tournament. When it ends, one person will have all of them and be the winner. The estimated first-place payout is over $400k. I milked my chips for so long. I don't think I ever got above 12,000 chips, but I kept winning just often enough to stay in the pack.

My best story happened early. At my table was Dick Harwood, a Hollywood director (Hee Haw, The Jeffersons) who finished SECOND  in the tournament last year, winning >$340k. I thought, Oh great, I have a pro at my table, I am screwed.

About the 6th hand into the tournament, I got pocket 10's. I bet them, Harwood raised me, and I thought, what the hell, it's early, 10's is a good starting hand, so I called him. The flop came up 10-6-4. I had trip 10's, the best hand possible given the cards on the board. I slow-played it, checking to Harwood. He read my check as weakness (which was the goal), and he bet heavily. I spent a fair time trying to see how my 10-10-10 was not the best hand out there, and I couldn't see how it wasn't, so I called him. The next card came up, it was lower than a 10 and presented no straight possibilities that I could see. The cards were a rainbow, so no flush possibilities were there either. I checked again, Harwood bet again, and I went all-in.

That put him in a tough spot, as he had a lot of money in the pot already. I figured he had trips on one of the other cards. He could not also have trip 10's, as three of the 10's were accounted for (I had two and one was on the board). The question was whether he would figure out that I had the 10's and fold. He didn't and went all-in. He turned over his cards, he had trip 6's. I turned mine over, and you could hear the table suck in its collective breath when they saw my trip 10's. I don't think anyone saw it coming. One more card to see, it was meaningless, and I won. He had a few more chips than I did and so he had a couple left over, but he was mortally wounded. He was gone a few hands later.

Wow. My best poker experience ever, and probably nothing will ever top it.

Mission accomplished for 2012. The WSOP is a tremendous scene, and the Senior Tournament is a special tournament--calm, no fights, no hoodies, there's never been a penalty assessed since it began in 1995. Lots of jokes about seniors. I suspect that next year they will have to split it into two Day 1's, although I think they are so proud of pulling this thing off logistically that maybe they will keep it unified. Anyway, a great experience.

Thanks for tuning in.

Dave