Quantum Poker - The Wrinkle's Run

We used to have these terms; "Squeeze" referring to someone who was young and "Wrinkle" was...well you know, the opposite.  I have now moved well beyond wrinkle status.  However, somehow I manage to hang around in poker tournaments to reach the final 'cash' table now and then. This is in spite of the fact that there are plenty of "squeezes" hanging around to apply the pressure with smart, aggressive play.

This past November, one of our newer Sacramento area casinos, Stones Gambling Hall put on their "Quantum" tournament. This included a number of satellite tourneys a player could use to qualify for the final day, in all a $100,000 guaranteed pot. I got lucky in one of the cheaper $120 qualifiers and won $250 while bagging 91,000 chips to go along with a seat in the "Main Event" final day tournament. On that day, you could just enter cold for $900 and get 100,000 starting chips or have previously qualified as I did. You could also re-enter for another $900 if you got knocked out.

Early on the final day a poker pal, Eric, shoved all-in in front of me with pocket queens while I was sitting on pocket Aces and I doubled up.

It was pretty cool that Eric went to the cashier's cage, bought in again for another $900 and ended up finishing 7th overall in the tournament.

The rest of the day went pretty smooth with no major set backs and I continued to increase my chip stack in spite of the young, and not-so-young guns in the crowd. We went from 11Am to about 11PM with a ten-minute break every couple of hours. Then, to my surprise, I found myself among the 9 players headed to the final table.

Final table underway!
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Stones Gambling Hall's Table #11 is set up professionally for televising with commentary. It has several cameras and special lighting. The table is set up to electronically read the cards players as they are dealt so commentators can share details about players and hands with their audience. What made this event special was our commentators; Lon McEachern, the "voice of poker" pretty much world-wide and Michale Loncar, teaching pro. Those two were the frosting on the cake for a great tournament.

Our final table was to be broadcast live on Twitch.tv. That meant a 20-minute delay so competitors couldn't be coached by outsiders during real-time action.

Nah, I'm not going to play this one...
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I was pretty excited about the whole thing so I texted the family in case they were still up and could watch. Son Tyler and wife Julieann were up and dialed it right in. It wasn't long before he began coaching me on general play and I loved it. Some of Tyler's texts included:

He's telling me to say calm - much like I used to advise him when he was pitching in baseball; "Deep breath, back of the hand." The "breath" to help calm him and "Back of the hand" a technical reference to positioning his pitching (left) hand toward the batter before he began his wind up.

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I did not have the presence of mind to tell him even pocket Aces gets beat 18% of the time but his advice was right on. Loved the "unzip" part...right after following this advise, we caught a couple of hands and got back in the game enough to outlast a couple more players.

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We couldn't hear the commentators at the table so it was pretty cool that Tyler shared their impressions with me.  I went out fifth and, as I was cashing Tournament Director Justin Kuraitis asked me if I wanted a security escort to the parking garage. I initially said "no" but after collecting that fifth place cash I thought better of it and the guard accompanied me to the car. It was 2:30 am so not a bad idea eh?!

And there you have it...an old wrinkle's adventure. If you want to see some of the actual proceedings here is a link to the YouTube episode: Quantum $100k Guaranteed Final Table.

Thanks Stones Gambling Hall, Thanks Son Tyler and most of all, thanks Lady Luck!

The "Clock"

In the poker game of Texas hold'em there is an etiquette option for a player to call the "clock" on an opponent.  This occurs when a player is taking what appears to be more than a reasonable amount of time to make a decision to call, raise or fold his hand. It is an option rarely used because players recognize how tough a decision can be and generally want to give their opponents all the time they need.  

The vast majority of players make their decisions quickly. But, calling the "clock" can be useful when a player "tanks" (takes too long to take action).  In reality, you might not see a clock called in thousands of tournament poker hands.  When it does happen, the dealer calls the Tournament Director to the table to notify the player and begin a 30 second countdown, typically with "10 second" and "5 second" reminders.

So here's the story...yesterday in our local Capital Casino Sunday tournament we were well into the second series of four intervals (maybe 2 hours) when this hand occurred:

I was at or near the big blind (last to bet on a hand preflop) and looked down at Ace, six unsuited.  I had a decent chip stack of about 20,000.  The blinds were 300/600.  Bets went around the 10 player table and there were 4-5 callers before my turn.  I rarely play Aces with small kickers but, since no one had raised I sensed an opportunity to take down the sizable pot by semi-bluffing so I raised to 6,000.  Players folded around the table but one player, with a somewhat larger chip stack decided to go "all-in."

I was sitting with one third of my stack in the pot and was almost certain I would be behind when the hands were revealed.  My choices were to "ship" the rest of my chips to a likely losing cause or fold.  I did have a small chance my Ace was on top but it didn't look good. At that time we had maybe 30 players left of 60+ in the tournament so we weren't that close that I had to hang on to my chips in hopes of hitting the final and cashing.

Being left handed - I have to admit that I struggle with working without deadlines so that probably had a lot to do with my predicament as I sat for long time trying to decide what to do.  Then finally, one of my old pals, "A.F." said something like; "Tom, with all respect and I love you like a brother and all but you have to make a decision here." Ordinarily, players not involved in a hand are not allowed to comment while another player is all in but no one including me objected. I said something like: "Your are right A.F. - go ahead and call a clock on me." He didn't want to do it so I called one on myself.

In 8 years or so of live tournament poker I have only seen a clock called maybe a dozen times and two of those times I have called it on myself.  I needed that deadline in order to act you see. I really can't see that as associated with being left-handed but the old wives tale says we lefties are procrastinators so I will go with that.

The Tournament Director came to our table and the dealer told him I had called the clock on myself.  The Director, Mark then began a 30 second clock.  "Ten seconds."  "Five seconds."  At that I decided it was probably time for me to go home so I shoved my remaining chips into the pot.  My opponent showed Ace, Jack off suit against my Ace, six off suit.  The flop (next three cards) was uneventful, the turn was the same...nothing for either player.

The river (seventh and last card) came and BOOM, it was a six giving me the win.  This is called a "suck-out" in poker parlance and it was big.  I pulled in around 50,000 in chips and was on my way to a 3-way chop (tie) for first place in the tournament, pocketing 8 times the entry fee.

I had several other suck-outs yesterday...it was one of those days where Lady Luck kept patting me on the back even when I didn't deserve it.  It happens to all us players now and then.

This reminds me that poker is, in many ways like Christmas.  The dealer gives you cards (presents). When you look (open) at them you see something you were hoping for 'Pocket Aces!' or you see another set of underwear that Grandma gave you, or something in between.  It's the in-betweens that can give you fits.

See you at the Final Table.