In Their Head
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Friday, August 8, 2008
By Jim "KrazyKanuck" Worth
Bluff Magazine
When I get my seat assignment in a new tournament, I'm rarely the first one to sit. I find my seat and walk straight past it. I generally like to scout out who's at the table before I sit down, and then I will plan out my strategy, based on the players that I see at the table. If I'm unfamiliar with some of them, I'll ask advice from friends that I've made on the circuit about their style of play. When I found my seat for the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em event at the RIO, for the main event of the WSOP Circuit event in March of 2005, I saw right away that I had a tough table. I had drawn Seat 6 and realized I had my work cut out. There were three California-based pros sitting to my left, and Alan Boston and Daniel Negreanu sitting to my right. I didn't like my draw too much, but tried to plan out my strategy anyway, based on the three fast-playing wildcards to my left, and the totally unpredictable Negreanu sitting on my right.
I had arrived a good 20 minutes before the event had started and began to stress once I saw the players start to take their seats at my table. The problem with such a table is that it can rarely be predictable. The fast playing players to my left were capable of making unorthodox plays and chasing draws that could become expensive if they were lucky enough to hit. And with Negreanu there, I knew that there was a great opportunity to chip up given the right situation, but it was going to take some cunning to catch Dan fast playing a hand into a strong holding of mine.
As I arrived at my seat, the tourney director announced, "Dealers, shuffle up and deal!" Without time to unpack my IPOD or my favorite pair of shades, I sat down in time to get my first hand, a pair of threes. The button was in seat 9 with the blinds in seat 10 and 1. Alan Boston, who was in seat 2, was first to act and came out raising the 25/50 blinds to 150 right away. Dan Negreanu was in seat 2 and quickly called. Two more players in front of me called as well, which made my pair of threes an easily called hand. I called and three more people called behind me. I already knew that, unless I flopped a set, I wouldn't see past the flop with any bet. The flop came down 2-3-4 with 2 hearts. I had flopped my set, but was facing a very scary board. I knew full well that Alan Boston likely had a large pair with his under the gun raise, but Dan Negreanu and the three fast-playing pros from LA behind me could have almost anything in their hands, so I had already made up my that I was going to play the hand cautiously.
The two blinds checked the action to Alan Boston, the original raiser, and he came out betting strong, 700, into the pot. Dan Negreanu called pretty fast, as did one of two in front of me. Considering the action so far, I had a big choice to make here. I had flopped middle set, but by no means had an unbeatable hand. In fact, with the pot being the size that it was already, there was potential to go broke, based on all the potential holdings and draws that might be out there. I wasn't worried about Alan's hand, as I didn't put him on 5-6, A-5 or pocket fours. I put him on Q-Q, K-K or A-A. I was hoping it was Q-Q or K-K, as that would reduce his potential outs on me. I was, however, scared to death of what Dan Negreanu, the caller in front of me and the three wildcards to my left were holding. Any one of them could easily have a flush draw, a 5-6, A-5 or 4-4. I decided to play it safe and just call, rather than overcommit by raising. I wanted to see how the action would play out behind me and hopefully get to see the turn card before I made a move to isolate the competition. Two players called behind me, putting six players in the pot to see the turn. The pot was already huge and I was nervous as hell about my hand.
The turn card paired the twos and I breathed a sigh of relief. Two hands could beat me at this point, 4-4 or 2-2, but I was willing to put my chips on the line now – because no one had raised the flop, I was pretty sure that no one else had flopped a set.
Then Alan Boston did the unthinkable. He bet 3,000 into the pot. I couldn't believe it because he had so many people call his flop bet. I felt that he had a large pair and I had really only been worried about the other players in the hand. After a long period of time, Dan Negreanu folded his hand, as did the other player in front of me. Rather than pushing all in, I decided to raise Alan's 3,000 bet, but wanted to price him in by only minimum raising him. I made it 6,000, and the two remaining threats behind me folded their hands quickly. I knew in my heart I had Alan beat. Alan looked at me and remarked out loud, "What? Am I going to go broke on the first hand of the tournament?" (I was hoping he would). Alan looked at me again and shocked me by announcing that he was all in.
I said, "Well sir, if you have 4-4 or 2-2 it's your pot." He turned over Q-Q and I rolled over my threes full of twos and watched as he went white. The river card was a face card and I thought for a split second that it was a queen. I felt my stomach drop, but noticed the moustache on the card; it was a king, giving me a win and putting my stack at almost 24,000 after the first hand.
I think it took almost a half hour for my hands to stop shaking. The thrill of putting my $10,000 buy in on the line a minute into the tournament was one of the most exciting and scariest things I've experienced in tournament play in my career. You mustn't be afraid to mix it up, but doing so on the first hand of a major tournament must rattle the most seasoned professional.
