(Near) Perfect

I am still smiling. No, sorry, make that beaming. I made my first cash in a live tournament on Friday night and haven't stopped grinning and giggling to myself since.

There were 37 runners in the LPC Friday Night Fight Night. Was good to have something to distract me and the rest of us from the football. They exceptionally allowed re-buys (but no top ups, ie you had to be busted totally) for the first level of blinds which was 20mins that night; I guess so everyone was still in for most of the football.

I had 3 good hands in that re-buy time; a pair of 4s which could have been way ahead or way behind by the turn, so I took a conservative view, and A-J diamonds which, with hindsight, would have nut-flushed and was either an all-in or fold on the flop when I got some heat from half-way round. I chose the latter, sadly, and sat there for another 3 mins afterwards, chantering on to myself, telling myself to concentrate and 'man up' a bit.

Then, on the last hand of the first level, I was in the big blind and already had 3 all-ins behind me, as you do with half decent cards with a re-buy opportunity. I put my forefingers on the cards and willed them to 'be good, be good, be good, be good'....
I saw 7s. I took probably around 12 seconds before announcing, 'oh bugger it, go on then' and moving my stack, of about 25% less than what I started with, over the line. I was up against A-3, Q-9 (really?!) and A-10. One 3 came out on the flop and for a split second, I thought I was losing, forgetting my hand was already made. I managed to dodge everyone else's outs on the turn and river, despite the other players hurling instructions at the dealer to flip over one of their cards. I jumped a little way into the air, clapped my hands together quickly a couple of times in delight and sat back down and started to arrange my now rather healthy stack. A couple of the guys realised that they had left themselves with less than 800 chips as they were slightly ahead of me in chips, but everyone vetoed a rebuy/add-on for those in that circumstance as it would have been shifting the goal-posts too late in the day. Unlukcy.

I was a bit up and down for some time after that, mainly down as I was predominantly posting blinds and checking them or plain folding, as I am not sure I even saw a picture card for an hour and my glares at the dealer directly opposite got dirtier and dirtier.

A couple of big stacks arrived at my table and got richer, making my stack look a bit less competitive, as everyone else seemed to be going out or streaking ahead while I couldn't get myself involved.
Then I was moved to table 1, with 2 tables left. I joined my boss and Leigh's brother Matt, who had come up for the weekend, ostensibly to help him move, but, as an added benefit to play some live cards, having got into PKR in a big way in the last 6 months, and got rather good in a short time.

My boss, possibly weary from the beer he had planned to stay off that night, decided to make an overly chatty move on the huge stack (and possibly me behind him), a hand or 2 after I joined. He was called by the big stack (I got well out of harm's way) and he was dominated with a ragged ace and was promptly dumped out, making the guy to my right's stack VERY imposing. Matt then got them in WAY ahead, re-re-raising all in, having committed himself, I think purposefully, pre-flop - but got rivered and went out around 14th, I think.
I stayed relatively quiet (which was as painful as it was unusual for me) for the next half hour or so and sneaked onto the final table, pretty short but not last and drew seat 1 and therefore the button. Hurrah. Leigh was also there with a decent stack, I think in seat 7.

Goodness knows what happened to a couple of the guys from the other table. One guy had about 1 metre cubed of chips when I left that table, but somehow lost them and didn't make it over. Maybe being a wus has its merits after all...
The other remaining lady was busted out first. She was very short and had little/no options left. She was then followed by a chap 2 down from me who seemed to be trying to force it, when there was still shorter stacks than him (myself very much included), not to mention bags of time. Before long we were down to 7; 6 were to be paid. I was convinced I would be next and bubble. Yet. Again. I was miles behind, I had barely 12,000 of over 200,000 chips in play, and blinds I think were 1500-3000. Curiously the guy next to me suggested a bubble deal. He had a healthy stack, maybe he didn't fancy it or had somewhere else he wanted to be. But Billy Big Stack next to Leigh said he wouldn't agree, which was annoying for me at the time, but totally understandable.

And then it happened.

One of the other chaps was in all in, another one called and the guy was out. I can't even remember what any of the cards were, but I was so happy. The official guy came over to confirm prizes. Everyone congratulated each other on making the money. I tried to play it cool, like this kind of thing happened to me a lot. I dropped my head down to count my chips (still didn't have many at all), and then lifted my head slightly and gave Leigh a knowing look, trying not to give it away that I had just lost my live tournament cash virginity.

So, with my 'massive' 30 quid guaranteed, I started to play reeeeeally freely. I was all in pre-flop, with A-Q diamonds, folded round to the big stack in the big blind, who had lost a bit around the table recently. My 15k was about a quarter of his stack, I think I counted (after I had shoved). I stared at him as hard as I could, unflinching. I was pretty sure after a time he would fold; he duly did and I told him I thought he would. He was trying to make out it was close. I had decided I wasn't going to get pushed around anymore. I was all in vs the guy in seat 8 who had had his coat on for 90mins, professing he wanted to go home. I hate it when people do that. He was an ok player, in my eyes, not any better than that; he was the one who had made a hideous call to river Matt. I think he had decided to deliberately target me, as I was so short (and a bit gobby towards him). He raised, I shoved and won, with JJ I think, which held up vs his decent Ace. Then he tried the same thing again, no more than 6-7 hands later. I think I had picked up AK suited. The chips went in again; I leant back again, supped my glass of white wine and felt calm. The guy to my left was all in too, with less than me and less good cards. Seat 8 folded, moaning about something. I asked him, quite aggressively, what else I was supposed to do in that spot and was instantly supported by the rest of the table. Anorak quietened down.
Suddenly I was 5th - and nearly competitve. In any case, I had far exceeded my own expectations or dreams. I went quiet again for a bit and one of the other guys managed to get himself knocked out, to my shock and delight.
All I was doing was nesting on my precious chips, posting blinds and ducking for cover; having no cards making the decisions quite easy.
Then Anorak tested me again with a chunky raise. I had found KJ clubs. In they went again, wine was supped again, I leant back on the chair again like you were told off for doing at school. He had 10-2. And called. What the?!? I must have really pissed him off.
Then the oriental chap to my left, a very decent player, of whom I was very wary, found AJ and shoved with his sizeable stack. Leigh was to follow him; he was the chip leader by now and playing very well. He looked at his first card and I was sure he seemed to be already announcing 'call' before he had seen the other. He certainly snapped when the 2nd card was about millimetre off the felt. He had found Aces. Oh my God.

Then there were 3. Leigh, Anorak and, somehow, and I don't think I will ever really know how, me. Now I had 140 quid guaranteed. While completely surreal, I was just having the time of my life. Anytime I took a pot, I asked the nice young dealer if I could scoop the chips from the middle myself, rather than him passing them to me. Nobody seemed to mind too much.

Then Anorak seemingly suddenly got his chips in pre-flop. I blinked a couple of times, a little taken aback, yet also excited. I looked at my cards; I genuinely had nothing and folded, not even querying how much he had.

Leigh called. Oh, please....

I can't say with any certainty what those cards were either, but I remember being on my feet, seeing Leigh was either ahead or coin-flipping pre-flop, but definitely ahead on the flop or turn, possibly pairing an Ace. It all seemed to happen so quickly and, in spite of racking my brain, I can't recall exactly how it came, but what I do know is that at 1.13am, Leigh and I were heads up.

Bless him, he immediately offered to chop. Without any genuine expectation of my overturning the probably 5:1 chip defecit I was facing, I suggested we played for 15mins more, if no-one else minded. I kinda didn't want it to end, heck we still had an 'audience' of Matt and Mo, a guy I have adopted as a mate from my first table the other week who was also on my table first up this. I figured this might not happen again for sometime, us being the last 2 - even though afterwards the dealer Sean said kindly he was pretty sure it wouldn't be the last time he'd be dealing to us heads up there.
If I wasn't flat folding, I was, of course, raising or shoving trying to make something happen. I won a couple of pots and nicked a few blinds and got it back at one point to 2:1. I was all in pre-flop with a big hand which he folded. Then next hand I decided to raise to 20k with 8-2 diamonds (think blinds were 4-8k); he called. Flop came 4-8-9. I was all in, he called and I knew then that would be it. He ended up with a straight, although his paired 9 was already good enough on the flop.

I stood up, not disappointed at all; I have never been so delighted to lose at something. I smiled, joined him around seat 9, and went to shake his hand, for which, very fairly, he told me off for being a muppet, and gave me a kiss. We collected our 240 and 190 quid respectively, shook hands warmly with the organiser chaps (I had let on then that it was my first cash), and then went to settle the bar tab - and grab the now traditional McDonalds and cab home.

I had either my hands across my mouth and nose, in semi-shock, or one hand in Leigh's, squeezing it and grinning from ear-to-ear, all the way home. I was still smiling to myself on Saturday morning, while I was doing my make up, alone in the bedroom, looking in the mirror. I'm such an idiot.

My sister is 3 days from being due to give birth to her first child, so, in times like this, poker and a couple of hundred quid, of course, pales into no significance at all, but, in my little world, finally, my next poker development objective has been achieved and a new chapter can start. I know I wasn't the 2nd best player in that tournament and certainly wasn't the most aggressive or biggest gambler. That said, everytime they went in I was ahead and they held up, which is, I guess, ultimately the key to all this. And I will now happily put to bed all the live bad beats I've had, to keep this little memory for sometime, and hopefully a long time more.

Phew.