Rare sports injury incurred at the poker table

How, you may ask, can this happen? Well, we were down to the final two tables and they were kitty corner to each other. I was waiting for a hand to finish at the other end of our table (which I was not involved in) and decided to crane my neck to see what was going on at the table beside me.

I leaned back in my chair at the same time, and all of a sudden I felt my balance rapidly disappearing. In a mild panic, I torqued my body forwards and flailed out my arms, and narrowly averted a personal disaster. Only a slight chest muscle pull spasmed forth from the melee.

Other than the guy at the next table whose head I accidentally clobbered, and my seat mates (who were killing themselves laughing) I don’t think more than a few dozen people saw my little escapade.

Today, Friday, the daytime field was back up in size to 131 players with an entry fee of $150. First place was $4,853. In fact the first thirteen players would cash – plus $10 from each player for the bubble boy who came 14th.

I was pretty pleased with my play most of the day, except towards the end when I found myself in some tough situations with the blinds and raises so high. I would have to guess when it was prudent to lay down some pretty big hands, or when to push aggressively with others.

Each final table I have been at this week, the play has been much tighter than I have seen in my prior final table experiences. Basically, the first crack at a pot usually took it down, as people were almost all trying to move up the money board.

Eleventh through 13th were each paying only $324, and that’s where I finished. I misjudged my final hand completely. I should have cashed higher, but no one to blame but myself for misreading the situation.

I thought my hand was ahead of my opponent’s, and I could put him in a tough situation where he would have to fold rather than risk calling a very large re-raise bet. He saw it otherwise, and he was correct, and I made no miracle draws on the river. (After my re-raise he shoved me all in. I could fold and slink away or call - hoping (a) my original read was correct, or (b) for a minor miracle. I called)

I took my eye off the ball and gambled when I should have been thinking strategically, as I had been all day. It was way too early and I was too comfortable (ie not under an extreme shortage of chip pressure) to pull a stunt like the one I did.

The prize structure was as follows :

Place $ prize money
1st $4,853
2nd $2,912
3rd $1,941
4th $1,432
5th $1,076
6th $890
7th $728
8th $556
9th $445
10th $364

11th through 13th paid $324.

I don’t think the cards I picked up today were so great – best hand I saw all day was 99 and also AQ a few times, but definitely better than two days ago.

I do feel I mixed up my play more, and created a table image which was harder to play against than I had been all week so far.

A guy beside me, Craig, never really got his stack size going, and as a result found himself going all-in all day an inordinate number of times. He knew the law of averages were going to catch up to him. But at last count, he had done so successfully 18 times. Either he had won a showdown, or the other players had all folded and he had taken down the blinds and antes. Craig finally exited around 17th.

Craig’s father’s name is Russ, but they call him Ross. My father’s name is Craik, but most people have never heard of that spelling, and refer to him as Craig.

Neat coincidence I thought.

I am kinda bummed out about my mistake at the end, so I will not dwell any further here on this tournament. Other than it was a painful, but useful lesson.