So Close... Yet So Far...

I finished 2nd place in a Razz (a variant of poker) tournament. It was fought valiantly for 3+ hours.

Here's how it happened:

When it was down to 12 players, I was a short stack, but something clicked... I always felt anxious when it's going down the wire... This time, I was calm, and didn't mind if I get eliminated. Luckily, I started hitting cards and built up my stack to a comfortable size, putting me 4th place. The final table, which has eluded me a lot of times finally felt close.

I put just enough pressure on the table to steal some pots, and avoid getting bamboozled by traps. I notice a lot of the players left are really skillful and they have trapped me masterfully. I should remember to be careful around them. The countless heads-up matches I played were paying dividends; I was playing like a pro. I knew when to push, and when to be gentle. I knew when to spring the trap and to avoid one. I was dancing. It was perfect.

Then, the last 4 were eliminated and I reached the final table with 7 others. Looking at their stacks, I was somewhere in the middle. I was happy, because it meant I would be cashing this time. But my goals changed at this point. To win is the only goal worth right now.

At the onset of final table action, I played aggressively, trying to instill terror into the hearts of my opponents. What I instilled upon them however were my chips. And my stack dwindled to one of the small ones. In a short amount of time, I lost 3 semi-big pots and that put me near the bottom of the ladder.

At this point, winning the entire thing seemed so far away. I had to change my goal. And so I focused on getting just to the final 4. Being at 6th or 7th on the leader board, it will still be tough. I knew I had to climb the ladder somehow.

With that new perspective in mind, I waited for an opportunity to come back. And come back I did... I played according to how I profiled the players... One guy will call as long as you put pressure on him. That meant if I have the goods, I just have to bet out to him. Another guy will check, and try to re-raise when you bet. So you gotta play his game as well.

I played them all good. So good in fact, I got back up to 2nd place, busting 3 people along the way. I was doing good, except against one player--the friggin' chip leader! On the course of the final table, we played heads up for a pot about 5 times. Frustratingly, I lost each one of them.

I played him behind, I played him ahead... regardless, he'll win the pot. I can't friggin' believe it... He gets lucky so many times, I tried to stay as far away from him as possible.

Unfortunately, when you're down to 3 players, it's hard to avoid him. And we had one big confrontation. I was giddy because the law of average states that I'm due for a win, so I was ok with a semi-big confrontation. However, needless to say, he won that pot too. Un-fuckin-believable.

Good thing is the other player committed harakiri and went ballistic with a mediocre starting hand against the ultra-lucky chip leader. He too fell from the hands of the almighty card rack (poker term for someone who keeps on catching cards).

Now, finally it's down to just the two of us. We've played for more than 3 hours now. I've eaten 2 pizza slices and countless carrot sticks. I'll finally have my way. Going heads up, I was confident, I was calm, I knew exactly what I had to do to win, and know how to execute that. "You can't possibly win every hand in a heads up match", I told him in my mind. I've been in this situation countless times before and I know I can pull this thing off.

We started out... we got into a decent pot immediately... Forget about small pot plays, this guy wants to keep it big. So, I gave him that courtesy...

But the friggin' card rack keeps on getting cards. He won that which further made my stack dwindle. After that, I decided to play conservatively. This guy is aggressive, but aggressive players will usually trip if you stuck it to them at the right time. I'll just wait for good cards to come, and I'll stick it right to him. Right up his ass.

At this point, I was 5-1 underdog in chip stacks, but I was still big enough to hurt him if I can just stick it to him at the right time.

The hand finally came, a decent hand... I bet and bet... he called and called... until the final cards came... I bet... and he re-raised!

I can't believe he caught his card... In order for him to win, I had to not improve my hand, and he had to improve his... I put him at 15% favored to win before the final cards were dealt... How could he get so lucky... How fuckin' insane is that.

I'm done. No more chips left...