Sober Up!

A word of advice: don’t mix vodka lemonade, poker, and a Jagerbomb. It’s nothing but disaster. Trust me on this one.





I started this week’s Bounty night at the big table, the formidable Oval. The tournament was pretty small for a typical Bounty night, so our table was short handed. I was with Michael, Emily, Joel, Shashi, and Trevor to my left. I usually like to have Trevor on my right, so I can know whether to get out of a hand or not. Sometimes I ask “What do you plan on doing?” before I do anything, but he never looks at his cards before his turn, so I never know. Sometimes I bet and he’ll re-raise, and I never know if I should call. But it doesn’t matter, I like sitting next to Trevor because I learn a lot about how to play hands in certain situations. He’s definitely a good teacher.




It was a slow night and a cold deck, so I was happy with the few hands I won. I won a decent hand off of Joel with Queen high, and he won a decent hand from me later in the night. It was difficult to keep winning hands with a short handed table. Trevor and I were having a race to see who could bust out first and re-buy before the break. Trevor kept winning hands and didn’t bust, but I did. I re-bought and was down only a bit before break.




Eventually, I got sick of the cold deck and ordered a vodka lemonade. Generally, I take my poker pretty seriously and I try not to drink when I play. I should have stuck to my rule.




The upsetting moment of the night happened when Michael Tinker decided to call both Michael and my all-in. Tinker sucked out on the river, winning the hand with a straight. Which totally sucked, because had he not called us, I would’ve won that hand.






Michael and I both entered into the second chance sit n go, which awards the winner the 10th seat at the final table and an average chip stack. It’s worth sticking around to play in, especially because you get another shot at winning the tournament.




After Neal, Cool Kid Mike, Mike Lazzeretti, Alexa, Michael, and Will Yeung bust out, it’s just me and Genio. Which is a problem. After the final 9 are at the table, the sit n go gets five minutes, and if there’s no winner, the chip leader goes. After a few hands, I was the chip leader by a small amount. I was dealt King-10 of clubs, and flopped two pair. Genio raised, and I re-raised to all-in. Which at the time was the stupidest thing I could have done, because he CALLED ME. The flop was 5-10-King, and I though I was in decent shape. I figured my two pair was the high hand, and unless Genio had pocket 10s or Kings I was good. We flipped over our cards, and he had a five and some other card which I can’t recall. Even if he had 5-10, I still had him beat. (But I know he didn’t have 5-10.) The turn came, and was a 5. Are you effing kidding me, Genio? You called me with 5s? And you sucked out on the river and won the hand?




I basically gave him my seat at the final table. I was upset, and I almost started crying. Genio got up, agave me a hug, and said “Aw sweetie you played so well! Why’d you do that?!” I figured that he wouldn’t call me with a low hand, but I was wrong.



I feel that the correct move would have been to fold. At least, if the situation was reversed, I know I would have folded. I would have seen that I was outkicked, and there’s no way in hell I would have known another five was coming. Perhaps my skills on reading the deck need some work? Naaaaah.




I promptly ran over to the bar and demanded a Jagerbomb. Which was my next mistake of the night. Brooke came over and talked to me, and he’s always fun to talk to. Whenever I get mad he finds it funny, and he’s definitely what I would consider a friend in the league. I gave him the win in last week’s second chance sit n go, and that sucked. This is the 2nd week in a row that I’ve failed to win that 10th seat. But, I should be focusing on playing well so I don’t have to bank everything on that second chance. Genio’s also a friend, but I’m currently mad at him so he’s being shunned, lol! 






I ended up dealing for the final table after Genio busted out. So, I gave him my seat at the final table, and he didn’t even play that well! So now I’m tipsy and twice as pissed. I ended up screwing Trevor over, which I feel really horrible about. He moved all in, and Earl looked at his cards to see if he wanted to call.






Unfortunately, I only dealt Earl one card.




I did a big mis-deal. I potentially ruined a major hand for Trevor. I was tipsy and didn’t deal properly, and I made the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. I potentially ruined Trevor’s tournament life that night. I felt so fucking horrible, especially because I knew he was mad. He didn’t yell at me like I thought he would, but knowing that I upset him that much really upset me. So, after that, I started asking if everybody had two cards, just in case.




I’m never going to drink when playing poker ever again, unless it’s a friendly home cash game. I learned my lesson.




Hopefully this week will go better. Hopefully, Genio and Michael Tinker won’t do any suck outs.




Or, maybe I’ll just play better, and play better sober, so I won’t have to worry about suck outs at all.




And Trevor, I’m really sorry. But thank you for not shouting at me. That’s never fun. It’s fun to watch you yell at somebody else, but it’s never fun to be on the receiving end. Again, I’m incredibly sorry.