Jeremy and I played in the "Regional Finals" on Saturday for our texas hold 'em poker league. There were 70 players, and it was the biggest live tournement that I've ever played in. When I saw my table, I was disappointed to realize that 6 of the players I play with on a regular basis - dashing my chances of portraying the role of "dumb girl". But, I did have my favorite dealer of all time, $ Dave, so that made up for it!
After the first hour, things looked good for me, my stack was up about 25%. At a different table, Jeremy was not faring so well. He was just below even, but he ended up with our bad luck dealer, so we knew it was going to be a struggle for him.
At the second hour, I was surprised to realize that 1.) We had been playing for 2 hours! 2.) Most of my fellow Vero players were already out 3.) My stack had taken a major hit and I was down to half of what I started with. Oops.
Shortly after the break, Jeremy fell victim, and it was on me to bring home the money. Here are the two hands that put me out: I was in the big blind for $800 and was dealt Ace Jack of Hearts. Beautiful big blind hand. Now, if only I could limp in, hit my ace or even better a sraight or a flush and I could pick up some major chips. Not going to happen. A WPB kid raised to $2000, so I put in the extra $1200 so I could see the flop. It came out crap, crap, more crap. WPB raised again. I knew that he was sitting on high pockets, and with all the crap on the board, he had me beat. I folded. There went almost 40% of my stack. Now, I was definitely the small stack. Time for another break, Wow! I've been playing for 3 hours and I made it to the almost half way point, we are down to 37-40 players.
We come back from break with a lot of encouragement, both from friends and Kamikaze shots, and I adjust my game plan. It's time to sit back and wait for the hand. I just got out of the blinds, my table is full again since we merged before the break, I've got 8 hands to just watch and wait. Two hands later, I'm dead. I get dealt JJ. No one raises ahead of me, so I push in my remaining $3500 in chips. This should be enough to scare off any of the mediocre hands since the blinds are at $500 and a $1000, should be enough to make the blinds think twice before calling. The small blind (WPB kid AGAIN), calls my all in, along with the chip leader. The flop comes out 9 4 4. WPB raises and I realize that I'm screwed, I'm out of the tournament. Chip leader folds, and we flip. WPB kid has flopped a full house with his pocket 9's. Dammit.
But I did end up having fun. I played in a single table tournament later that day, and took 3rd (still not sure how because some guy at the table was buying me a LOT of drinks). Our buddy Steve came in 10th overall, and I was in bed before 11! Yay!
