jennings rampage

Indeed, it appears I have used up all of my luck.

April 2nd, 2004 | by Scott Jennings |

So at the big poker tournament on Wednesday, there were about 35 entrants, so naturally, I had to be eliminated by my roommate.

We were somewhere in the second round, when I get dealt pocket jacks a seat or two to the right of the cutoff. The player under the gun was a tall redheaded guy, very solid player, and he brought it in for a small raise. The player to his right seemed to be a bit of a wildcard, and I make that judgment based on the fact that he kept flashing his hand to his ladyfriend behind him and he had a tongue ring. So he raised it up again, and it folds to me, where I begin to bemoan my fate. It’s about $4 to me at this point, and after thinking a moment, I reraise all-in for $10.50. Austin is on my left, and he calls immediately. Wait — he calls? I could kill him then, why is my own roommate tangling with me in a big pot? Redhead and tongue ring get out of the way, and Austin and I flip our cards over. He’s got ace-king offsuit, which mean my pocket jacks are a 57-43 favorite before the flop. And after the flop comes rags, I’m better than a 3-1 favorite. And so, naturally, an ace comes on the turn, the river is no help, and my own roommate knocks me out of the tournament. (Redheaded guy later said he had pocket sevens, and would have flopped a set.)

So after I’m done yelling and screaming, I play a few side games, and from time to time, promise Austin he’s getting a thirty minute poker lesson on the ride back to Chapel Hill. And after we drop off the Brown brothers, we have this exchange:

Scott: When you called my all-in, what did you put me on?
Austin: Oh, I figured you had a pocket pair.
Scott: So you knew you were an underdog in the hand.
Austin: Ummm… yeah.
Scott: And you called me anyway.
Austin: Yeah.
Scott: Ok. That’s all I needed to know.

Austin ended up being eliminated from the tournament because he took the wrong close gamble at the wrong time, since he started feeling invincible. It happens all the time.

Tournament poker is all about survival, aggressively going after small pots, backing off when your opponent shows strength. My reraise all-in screamed pocket pair, but Austin was ready to call off half his stack to gamble. Sure, the pot was laying him the correct odds to call — but in a tournament, you can’t buy more chips to get back in the game, you have to stay away from the close gambles.

And Austin, now that I’ve shamed you on the Internet, this time, I promise, I’m done talking about it.