"Pocket Tens Goot!"

On Friday November 9th, 2001, Lucky Chances Casino in Colma,
California held their Texas Hold-em Shootout tournament.  This is
the third year of their Gold Rush tournament, and tournament director
Matt Savage and his staff put on a stellar series of tournaments,
starting with a limit holdem event on Friday the 3rd, and culminating
with a no-limit holdem event on Sunday the 11th.

In this event, 100 players started at 10 tables.  Each table played
limit holdem until only two players remained.  Then the remaining
20 players faced each other at two tables, with new starting stacks,
again playing limit holdem.  Each table played down to five, making
a final table of 10.  Stacks were again equalized, but the game
switched to no-limit holdem.

I had won my entry into the shootout by playing in a single-table
satellite and making a three-way deal.  Since I had never played
in a shootout before, I got some advice from a Bay Area poker pal
Paul McMullin.  Other pals who attended were Ed Fernandez, Sabyl
Cohen, Dave Orr, Chic Natkins, Stephen Landrum, and Bill Chen.
Beth Even also came up to root for us.

First Table:

I picked my seat card, and got "presto", table five, seat five.
I felt it was a great omen.  I was quite psyched, and felt that I
was going to win the event.

I took my seat and discovered that Sabyl is seated to my right.
Lucky Chances's lead floorman on the graveyard, Gene, was two to
my left.  A chip runner, Cliff, was in seat 10.

According to Paul and Sabyl, the key to surviving round one is to
not jeopardize your stack if you're one of the top two.  As the
table gets short-handed, you need to be more aggressive so that
you can become one of the top two stacks.  Early, though, tight is
right.

Cliff was in there early and often.  He was playing rather maniacally,
and he quickly reckoned pocket tens were his best hand.  He damaged
Sabyl with his tens against her kings.  Meanwhile Gene amassed a
good-sized pile of chips and promptly and properly shut down.

I won a good pot with pocket kings, then raised in middle position
with A9s.  Cliff called from the big blind.  The flop had a nine,
but also a ten.  Cliff bet out, and in the table talk, I got a
strong read that he's got a ten.  I fold.  He did.

Now we're down to four players.  I'm the low stack, but the blinds
are still low enough for me not to get desperate.  Gene then made
a pre-flop raise, the first hand he'd played in a long time.  The
player in seat 1, who was pretty quiet, called from the big blind.
The flop came two-suited, and seat 1 bet out.  Gene raised, got
re-raised, and called.  The turn completed the flush.  Bet, raise
by Gene, call.  River is a blank.  Check, Gene bets, call.  Gene
was on a complete steal with 73s and made his flush.  Seat 1 went
on tilt and got eliminated in short order.

With three players left (Gene the big stack, Cliff next, and me),
we made a $40 save for the next player eliminated.  The end came
with me in the $400 big blind and only $400 left.  On the button,
Gene folded.  Cliff raised from the small blind.  I look to find
pocket tens, and call all-in.  Cliff has T9o and nothing untoward
happens.  Cliff is now the short stack, and Gene finishes him off.

Second Table:

For the second table, I'm at table 2, seat 9.  A tournament
acquaintance was in seat 10.  Gene was also at this table, and I
had position on him.  Fortunately for me, Bill Chen, Stephen Landrum,
and Ed Fernandez were at the other table.  All twenty of us are
already in the money, getting $220 and making this tournament
profitable for me.

Since only five need to be eliminated before making the final table,
I was still feeling I would win the event.  Pocket tens again showed
up as Gene won two pots with them, once when all folded to his
pre-flop raise.

Three hands were key.  In the first, I got pocket kings in a multiway
pot and built up a nice cushion.

Then I open-raised in middle position with A9s.  A late player who
I knew to be loose, reraised me.  I called and we were heads-up.
The flop had an ace and one of my suit.  I check-raised him, and
followed up with a bet on the turn.  When he raised me, I now
believed he had a better hand than mine.  But the turn had four-flushed
me and I felt if I hit my kicker or the flush I would get paid off.
I called, the flush came, and he paid me off.  He tilted, then went
off even more when his pocket jacks were outdrawn by pocket eights.

At seven players, I open-raised with ATs.  The mega-tilt player
called all-in, but I was expecting him to be gunning for me.  The
small blind folded, but the big blind called!  I've played him in
tournaments, and he can be pretty loose and is very aggressive.

The flop was ten-high and double-suited.  The big blind bet into
me!  That got me thinking, does he know the proper strategy for
this kind of tournament or does he have pocket tens?  I decided he
doesn't and was trying to blow me off my hand, so I called.  The
turn was a blank.  The big blind checked.  Much relieved, I checked
too.  The river was an off-suit queen.  He bet.  There was a possible
low straight, but I knew he wasn't *that* much of a maniac.  I
called.  He showed down AJo, with nary a flush card!

Now I had a big enough stack to sit and wait.  I noticed another
player was stealing like crazy.  I had no reason to play sheriff
and wondered if anyone else knew he couldn't have all the hands
he'd been representing.

At the break, we were down to six, and the short stack had only
three chips left, with the limits moving to 2-4 after the break.
The earlier player that I'd wondered if he knew proper strategy
now went to the other four big stacks (which included me) and said
we should check it down any time a player is all-in.  Sigh.

I nearly made a serious mistake when I open-raised with AKo and
got called by this same player.  The flop came with a king and I
got bet into again.  I nearly raised, but remembered where I was
and just called.  We checked down the turn and river and he beat
me.  That dented me a bit, but eventually the earlier short stack,
who had made a bit of a comeback, was eliminated.

Final Table:

I was in seat 10, with position on both Ed Fernandez (seat 8), and
Stephen Landrum (seat 9).  Bill hadn't made it.

Early on, I got pocket aces for the first time that tournament.
There was one player who had very wide-rimmed large sunglasses.
I tried to trap him, but couldn't.

Ed had already busted a player and had a large stack.  I had about
1300 (which included a raise with pocket tens) when a decisive hand
came up.  With the blinds at 15-30, Ed open-raised to 85 on the
button.  Stephen folded from the small blind.  I had AJo.  I wasn't
sure Ed really had a hand, but I must admit that reraising him
didn't even cross my mind.  Instead I called.

The flop came Jxx double-suited with my ace.  Then I made another
questionable decision: I checked.  Ed bet 300, a slight overbet of
the pot.  I went into the tank, wondering what he had that he would
raise pre-flop with, then bet the pot.  I then check-raised him to
600, whereupon Ed went all-in.  Now I felt I was beat and folded.
Ed later told me he also had AJ.  Perhaps if I'd reraised to 300
pre-flop he might have given me credit for a better hand and laid
his down.

Now down to 700, I tightened up.  I got pocket kings and picked up
some breathing room.  At the break, Ed had about 60% of the chips.
A deal was suggested whereby Ed would get $6,000 (giving up $800)
and split the rest of the money (about $1,600 each -- 2nd place
paid $3,400, 3rd $1,800).  Two players refused, so we played on.

Two other players quickly went all-in and were busted, so I was
moving up the ladder, but I also went card-dead.  Since players
were going all-in, I couldn't try to pick up chips.

Finally I made my stand.  With one chip left after a two-chip big
blind, when Ed tapped me from the small blind, the last chip went
in sight unseen.  Q8 for me, 93 for Ed.  Sadly, he caught a nine
and I didn't catch a queen.

Fourth place paid $1,300, which has been my largest tournament win
so far.