The Slow Decline of my Most Recent Accomplishment

So recently, I accomplished a long-time personal goal of mine, and made it to the payout structure of an online poker tournament.  Now, this may seem insignificant to you for a few reasons:

1. Poker tournaments are stupid.  Why do you care, and most importantly, why waste your time?
2. Pfft.  I've done that lots of times.  Are you a newb?
3. Ummm, I'm pretty sure that's illegal.

All valid points, so I'll address them each individually.

1. This is just one of those things that we'll have to disagree on, and I don't play poker, let alone tourneys, very often.
2. Good for you!  We should chat and you can give me pointers.  See my response to number one for my recently limited exposure to the game.
3. There are no federal regulations for online poker.  The problem arises with specific states, and oftentimes banks that do not allow deposits.  There are several legal poker sites available for US players, with more anticipated arrivals within the next four years.  For more information check out http://www.legaluspokersites.com, or http://uspokersites.us/laws/

So what did I even do?  It's really not that significant, so don't get too excited.  Basically, I registered for a freeroll tournament (i.e. playing against TONS of people for free...therefore no banks or deposits required.  See the loophole?) and had to make it to the top 100 out of 1200+ players to get...drumroll...

NINETY CENTS!

That's for 100th place, going up to a max of $100 for first place, but luckily I surpassed the $.90 death sentence of mediocrity.

Now in real life, I have made it to the payout structure/won a few tournaments, so why is this so earth shattering?  Well, if you've ever encountered online play, you'll know that it's more unpredictable, and usually overwhelming in the amount of participants.  It gets to a point where it's not even really about playing well, but just having the mental endurance to get through multiple rounds of play.  It can get pretty grueling.

The nice thing about this particular hobby is the ability to screenshot, so enjoy while I take you on the journey of the slow decline of my most recent accomplishment!

Just as soon as I made the payout structure, the second break began.  Here's what my chip stack (chiapet45) looked like upon my return:

I was prepared for this to not last for very long, (hence the name for the post) but here was the first hand I played post-break:

For those of you not poker oriented, I just caught a straight on the turn, and was very excited to start betting a bit more aggressively.  It paid off, and I won the hand, huzzah!

Occasionally in poker, you will fold a hand that is worth playing out of conservative strategy, and it will bite you in the ass.  Sometimes though, you will fold a hand that is legitimately NOT worth playing, and this happens:

Yeah, I would've flopped three of a kind, but do I regret it?  Should I have played the hand?  No, and no, especially considering that there were pre-flop raises.  It's situations like the above, though, that make playing mediocre hands oh so tempting...

It's moments like the following that makes waiting for the right hand worth it, though.

A 9 is a pretty decent pre-flop hand as it is, but suited?  In clubs?  (This has no actual bearing on the hand, mind you, but I really like clubs)  Yes, please!  I'm already forced to bet as the big blind, so it's nice that I'm already fond of my hand, as this doesn't always happen.

Seriously?  I have a decent hand, and then you go and do that?  Pfft.  I hate calling huge raises like that, especially pre-flop because it usually means they have a decent hand, but I feel like I just fell in love with my hand and reeaaalllly want to play it.  This is terrible rationale, for the record, but since I already have at least ninety cents (BOOYAH!) I give it a go.

Seeing the raiser flip over A 4 off-suit was like Christmas coming early.  Any Ace community card worked in my favor, they had no flush opportunities, and the only bust opportunity for me is them catching fours, or a straight so they only have a few outs that could best me.  After seeing the hand transpire, it narrowly worked out in my favor, resulting in...

...ahhh, sweet victory.  :)

After a haul like that, I sat very tight for awhile, until I had pretty premium pre-flop cards.  This next one seemed like a no-brainer.

A Q off is a pretty good hand pre-flop, and since I had not seen anything half this good in at least ten rounds of play, I capitalized on the opportunity.

And so this douche goes all in.  :-/  At this point, I'm really weighing heavily on whether or not I should call.  Things I'm thinking include:

• Why did he push all in?  Why not just raise?
• How do our stacks compare?  Do I have him beat, and if so, by how much?
• Am I pot committed?  If not, do I still feel confident calling?
• What are my outs?  Do I have a lot of them?
• Are my pot odds good?  Has anyone else called?

These all sound pretty legit, but I would be lying if I didn't say I was also thinking...

• How tired am I?  Can I keep this up all night?
• Where's the German chocolate I just grabbed from the fridge?
• Why isn't my Pandora station on something more badass (no offense, Colbie Callait)
• My lap is hot from my computer.  This shit needs to end soon.

(The above is why I'm a pretty lousy online/lengthy poker tournament player)

The consensus?  F@^# it.

Pocket deuces?  That's like, the worst pocket pair you could have, this is actually looking a lot better than I'd imagined!  (Cue to chill...he still has you beat with a made hand)

Oh, damn.  Just missed the flop.  Maybe the turn will be nicer?  (This is called chasing cards, and it feels like someone is dangling a Nalgene bottle full of icy water just out of your reach as you are dehydrating in the desert)

Uh oh.  This is like the poker version of a Hail Mary pass...

This is called adding insult to injury.  It was at least the second hand of low pocket pairs that beat me, which naturally makes me bitter.  At least the all-in push makes a bit more sense now, as it appears that he was protecting his hand, although to an almost unhealthy degree I would suggest.

The final hand forced me all in, as the big blind had raised to $5000, and I busted with 10 6 off, what a shocker.  I did finish in 38th place, though, and earned a whole $1.50!

Well hey, I learned a lot, brushed up on some skills, tapped into some endurance, and set a new PR.  If I had to spend a few hours partaking in a pointless hobby, well, at least I got less than minimum wage for it.  :-P