Sunday's online poker story

I entered a satellite to the $750,000 guarantee on Full Tilt on Sunday. The entry fee was only $8; there were 60 entrants; and the last two players standing won an entry worth $216 to the big event.

I was one of them - having played pretty well the whole event - yes with some luck but not an ungodly amount.

The main event had almost 4400 entrants, with a $3000 starting stack. Just by staying out of trouble and foolishness you can watch the field whittle itself down by 60 - 70% in a few hours.

That's in fact what happened with me. Twice I lost 1000 chips on solid hands, and I had to wait a while to build back up. Just stay patient. So by 8.30, after only 2.5 hours, the field was down to 1700 players and my stack was around $5800 (which was slightly below average size but certainly not alarming.

Sitting in the big blind, with $25 antes, $240 BB and $120 SB I picked up a pair of queens. My LHO opened for a funky $555, and the guy to his left shoved all in with his $2025. The pot was now $2775. Everyone folded back to me.

I could fold (no way !). I could call and throw in another $1785 (keeping around $3600 in my stack for post flop play). Or I could shove all in myself. The guy on my left who had opened for $550 had a slightly bigger stack than I did. If he calls my shove, he has me covered, and I would be in a three way pot to glory. If he folds, I would be heads up with the all-in guy for a $4560 pot.

These are situations I need to learn more about if I am to advance my placings in tournament play. The gambler in me says go for it - it's a good spot to more than double up if I am called ! The conservative, patient player in me says keep it small till I see the flop - be prepared to regroup if I don't like developments post flop.

Anyway, I did shove all in, and my LHO called without much debate. To my delight, he turned over a pair of jacks, and the small stack turned over a pair of sixes. I was clearly ahead in this race. The flop was 9 A 8 with no flush draws possible for any of us.

The next card was a beautiful queen, and I was already high fiving my son Max when the river came a ten. It took a second to realize that the dealer was pushing all the chips from the pot past my avatar to the guy on my left who began with a pair of Jacks, and who had just rivered a straight. Aargh!

His stack zoomed to around $15000 and he was in the top 100 and well placed for a long night at the table. Had I won, my stack would have been just under $14000 and I would have been in around 150th but with a definitely playable stack.

At first my reaction was, oh well, I put myself in a good position and someone sucked out on me - it happens.

But then I went back and looked at the board and the starting hands and began to play out the hand under a different scenario.....

Suppose at my turn I had just called the $2025 bet, and NOT shoved all in. I don't think the JJ guy would then shove all in but if he did for sure I would call and take my chances. So let's assume he would not shove, but rather simply call.

Now the hand plays out totally differently. Villain has JJ with a flop of 9 A 8, and I check to him. What should he do? I dunno !

If he checks too, the turn is my queen, and I would likely shove all in. I believe he would admit defeat on the hand and fold his jacks. I would win a smaller, but still good sized pot, without having jeopardized my whole stack.

If he elected to shove after the flop, I dunno what I would have done. I probably would have folded.

Should I check after the flop? I feel yes, otherwise the hand feels like I will be stack committed very soon.

I would really appreciate some feedback on the play of this hand from expert players - as there were several ways to play my hand and the villain's hand.

Anyway, I am not unhappy. I am on a journey and I feel confident I will get there. I don't play that much compared to many online players and pros - but when I do play, every hand counts, and I learn from every experience. This is exactly how I accelerated my development as a bridge player both back in the day and again now as I reclaim my long lost skills there.

I'm about to book our next trip to Vegas - I feel the tables calling !

Post mortem

The event finished at 4.30 AM. I watched the final three players (again to learn how people play in final table play in these mega events) First place was a cool $154,000, second place $93,000, and third place $61,000.

And Full tilt runs this event every Sunday ! As well as several other pretty big ones! And all the other sites have their own big events too. There is serious coin out there !