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The Tavern Championship
I didn't feel that I showed up in the right mentality for a championship game but, as I was taking my seat, this weird sense of contentment came over me. It wasn't that I didn't care about how well I would go on to perform. It was more like I was okay with the outcome regardless of how highly I finished. It was something I had experienced several times in the past and I had always played well when it happened. I have tried to deliberately recreate this state of mind but, for some reason, it's just never as good as when it just happens unexpectedly.
I felt very patient throughout the entire tournament and I felt that I was picking my moments quite well. After the final nine converged to a single table, I saw that there were a few very small stacks and I had time to let them drop off before feeling any need to establish any dominance among the remaining players. As it turned out, the wait took a bit longer than anticipated and my stack had gotten somewhat beaten down by the blinds. I may have failed to take into account that this wasn't a typical final table. The blinds were much lower at this point than the typical regular season final table and the blind time was extended.
Up to this point, I never really felt that I achieved a strong table presence but I did manage to keep my stack at a competitive level. In fact, I don't think anybody really took any psychological edge until very late in the tournament. This was possibly the most evenly competitive game I had ever been in at WTP by the time we got four-handed with myself, Chris Becker, Mike Elliott, and Tammy Davis.
I was clearly up against three of the best players at Exit 36; all of whose play I have the utmost respect for. As good as many of us are, however, we all have our weaknesses. I already had my idea of Tammy's weaknesses and, in recalling past short-handed situations with both Mike and Chris, I realized that all three seem to share, in my opinion, one common weakness; a very difficult time with loosening up thier play short-handed. It was the perfect opportunity that came at the perfect time and I was now going to start stealing blinds in an effort to build a dominant table image. This could be disaster if my timing is bad because we all had competitive stacks and I could easily get in some trouble if somebody wakes up with a good hand.
As it turned out, everything went perfectly according to plan and my stack was growing even faster than I had anticipated. It got to the point the I was raising preflop on almost every hand with any two cards. Several hands later, Mike was getting visibly stressed with my aggressive play. I was fairly certain that he knew I was stealing blinds and definitely not on this incredible run of good cards. I got the impression that he just wasn't catching what he felt he needed to push back at me.
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Eventually, I raised on the button with A-J offsuit and Chris moved in with a weak Ace. Even though any Ace is considered playable three-handed, to his credit, Chris obviously sensed that he didn't have the best hand as he visibly struggled with his decision. However, by this time, the blinds were eating at his stack to a point that he couldn't afford to wait for a better hand and he made the call. My Jack kicker held up and Chris would go out a very respectable fourth having played a solid night of poker.
The three-handed battle had a little bit more on the line than previous Tavern Championships did. As it turned out, the three remaining players this time around were all gunning for the distinction of becoming the only two-time Exit 36 Tavern Champion. Whoever got it would likely hold that distinction for seasons to come. Mike's frustration continued to show as he still couldn't catch the cards he needed to push back at me. Tammy, however, was practically blinded down to nothing when she finally woke up with a hand. Because I had the odds to call her with any two cards, I made a pair and busted her with 7-8 offsuit.
When it got to heads up with Mike, I had managed to blind him down to where he had to make a move. He had enough of a stack that I should have at least given it some thought but I couldn't resist going for the quick kill, so I called him with a bad hand. Mike turned up K-8 of clubs (or something like that) and he doubled up. I expected that I would likely lose the hand. What I didn't expect was the effect that seeing me call him with total garbage was going to have. Later, I called his next all-in with a good hand and wound up losing again. As I awaited his preflop action on a subsequent hand, Mike tentatively reached for some chips then suddenly busted out laughing and said in mock frustration, 'I can't do it!! You're gonna call'!
Like the theory that any Ace is good shorthanded, it is also widely regarded that any pair is a good hand heads up. I barely had my opponent covered at this point and moved in with pocket 2's. Mike called me with two big cards and outdrew me to leave me severely crippled. In the past, I have been willing to lay down A-low kicker and very small pairs heads up even though they are regarded as good hands in that situation. Looking back, although it is considered the correct play, this was a hand that I feel I could have given a little more thought to before blindly acting in a way that all the books have told me to. Maybe that is hindsight but it is certainly a situation that I have played differently in the past. To my credit, I do feel that this was probably the biggest mistake I made in the whole tournament. If this were the worst mistake I had ever made, I would probably be in pretty good shape .
I caught a big Ace on my final hand and had momentary visions of a massive comeback. Of course, the tables had now turned since Mike had the odds to call me with any two cards; busting me out in much the same fashion as I had busted Tammy. Many would have had a difficult time dealing with that loss having come so close to victory in a championship game. Even though this wasn't just another game at Exit 36, I was content with the fact that I could only recall a single questionable decision in my play. The rest, of course, is up to the cards.
I gladly congratulate Mike Elliott on becoming the first two-time Exit 36 Tavern Champion as I consider him a good example of one who carries himself as a winner both at and away from the tables.
The Tournament of Champions
I struggled with my decision to participate in this season's Tavern TOC as I had already earned my seat last season for the National Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas. I liked the gold card topper that they were giving the winner this season but I had little other incentive to actually win this season's TOC as far as I knew. I certainly didn't want to take the opportunity away from someone else who actually wanted to play in the Vegas tournament. I actually went as far as expressing my concern directly to the folks at WTP and was quite disappointed in the reply I got which was something in the nature of 'If you win, that's one less person you have to face in Vegas'.
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To me, that statement seemed in serious conflict with my perception of the general 'have fun and party' mentality that the folks at WTP seem to be encouraging in their participants. In fact, it seemed quite strange that WTP would encourage players to win another TOC to improve their odds at the National TOC. How big will the percentage of my winning the NTOC increase if I can prevent one player from going? Aren't we talking decimals here? What if I win the next three? Aren't we still talking decimals?
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When I found that there were prizes for second and third place, it made my decision easier. I decided to play for the second or third place prize and, if I were lucky enough to go heads up again, I would just concede the win to my opponent or strike a deal for the card topper and/or the gift certificate depending on who had the chips.
Much of this is a moot point. I tanked bigtime in this season's TOC but I was really pulling for the wife to get her seat in the National TOC so that she wouldn't just be a spectator while I was playing. Ahh, ... who am I kidding! She had a ball at the cash tables when we went to last year's National Championship/World Tavern Open. If she never qualifies, she'll still be tickled about going! She lasted quite a bit longer than I did but just never really got anything going.
Seeing the results of the TOC looks like it would have been a lot of fun to watch. Even though David McClelland's regular season numbers have dropped off, it is never a surprise to find out when he takes down a win. There were quite a few players in this tournament who had the momentum of a solid Winter 2007 season on thier side and to come out on top of all those players is certainly an accomplishment. Congrats, Dave!
The Winter 2007 Regional Championship
Tammy and I were both in a very positive mindset going into the Winter 2007 Regional Championship at Tee Time in Winston/Salem. I find it quite exciting to face the best players at bars from miles around. People can say what they want to about bar poker in general. The Regional Championship is an affair that any serious poker player would find quite difficult to take down a win in.
David McClelland was the only other Exit 36 player at my table. Unlike what we heard about most of our other players' starting table, our table was very agressive and the majority were skilled players. You would think that this would fit Dave's style perfectly but, unfortunately, Dave stayed card dead for pretty much his entire duration. On the upside, the generally aggressive nature of the table made it quite easy to spot the weak players and I was able to take advantage very early. Nearly every pot was raised preflop from the outset and I had yet to experience this in any WTP game; even a Regional Championship. I have to say,though... I LOVED IT!! You could even see the 'What is going on here?' expressions on all the players' faces.
There was one woman about my age, maybe a little older, who seemed rather unfriendly from the moment I sat at the table. During the course of the tournament she made a negative remark about the generally aggressive nature of the table. When she was the only caller of my preflop raise, I had to put her on a big hand. I was playing A-T offsuit and the flop came T-8-4, all diamonds. I just flopped top pair, top kicker with the nut flush draw. Even though I put her on a big hand, I loved this flop and I had built enough chips that, if I chased and lost, I would still have chips to work with.
She did fire out a bet, but I recall sensing an element of fear somewhere in the placement of her bet that told me I might have the best hand. I don't recall exactly what it was or even if it was anything exact, but I called her bet. The turn appeared to be no help to her but she bet out again - the same amount that she bet on flop. Because she didn't increase her bet amount, I was certain that I had her where I wanted her. I didn't hit the Diamond that I was praying for on the river but, by this time, her stack was so small that I had the odds to call her final all-in bet.
As it turned out, my instinct was right and she turned up K-T offsuit. Even though I missed my big hand, I busted her out with top pair and a better kicker. She immediately stood up and announced, 'This was not a fun table to play at. No fun at all'. Some of the remaining players looked at each other in surprise and sat quietly for a short time.
Of course, when she finally got out of earshot some of us just started giggling like little girls!
Myself and a few of the other aggressive players had each built a healthy stack. I made my first mistake of the night when one of the aggressive big stacks checked a flop to me after betting preflop. I was so high on myself at that point that I bet into his check-raise that I should have seen coming from a mile away. It's one of my weaknesses, I suppose. If I'm not on my guard, I get cocky when things are going well and make bad bets. I'm instantly steaming at myself after this hand.
Several hands later, I make a raise with pocket 8's that is followed by a re-raise and a call. I contemplated moving all-in, but because I'm not absolutely sure that these guys aren't on big pairs I very foolishly took a gamble and called the re-raise hoping to flop a set. The re-raiser moved all-in after the flop and we both fold. It turns out, the winner had pocket 9's and flopped a set. My other opponent had pocket T's and missed. I had far and away the worst hand and my ill timed gamble has left me near crippled - clearly the result of my anger over falling for the earlier check-raise.
A few hands later, I caught a big Ace (that turned out to be the best preflop hand) but two others had the cards and the odds to set up a checkdown and bust me. I was happy with my overall play against what I would bet was the strongest starting table in the whole tournament. I was quite unhappy about tilting over knowing that a check-raise was coming and betting into it anyway (and the later mistake I made as a result). However, I didn't leave feeling that I drove to Winston-Salem and wasted my time. It was a good experience playing at such a strong table and the quality of play there made it a lot of fun.
As Tammy and I were leaving, in a parting conversation with David Hilty, he said that last season's Regional Champion, John Hawkins, was the only remaining 36'er in the tournament. I couldn't believe it and had to go back in and see for myself. Sure enough, John was the only one left with three tables remaining and he had quite a healthy stack. John would eventually finish 6th. Not only is making the final table two regionals in a row quite an accomplishment, it is because of him that they can't say Exit 36 fell on thier collective ass at this season's regional.
Thanks for saving our dignity, John! Well done!