The Night of "Grind or Gamble?"

Billy and I pimp-slapped Absolute Poker last Saturday night.

Just as he was taking down their Blogger Freeroll, I was heading toward my largest cash prize in a multi-table tournament to date. The event was one of Absolute's nightly ("morning-ly" to the East Coast) $4K Guaranteed tournaments, with a $20 buy-in. There were 230 entrants, and I finished in 5th place for a prize of $251.

The ladies were good to me all night. The first time was when I had Ace-Queen vs. Pocket Queens all-in before the flop. I spiked an ace on the flop to take the guy out. The second time, I had the pocket queens and was up against Ace-Queen and pocket Aces. All three of us were all in before the flop. Actually, only half of my stack was at risk, but it would have been a devastating blow for me to lose the hand. This turned out to be a non-issue, as my fervent praying paid off and I hit my one-outer on the river to take out two players. The third time the ladies saved me was late in the tourney, down to the last twelve players or so. I ended up all-in before the flop holding K-Q against a player holding A-K. The flop contained two kings, and I thought I was done for. But I hit a Queen on the turn, and dodged an ace to move on.

The final table was a minefield. I ran into quads twice within ten minutes (!!!) ... once when I held overcards and once when I held pocket Aces. The hand I busted out on was pretty sick. I picked up pocket Aces in the small blind, and I decided to just limp in so I'd get action from the big blind. The flop came 8-4-4. He flat-called my bet. The turn was another 4, and I just pushed all-in with my full house, putting him on an 8 (smaller full house). My opponent (who had me covered) showed me the case 4, and I was done for the evening.

It was my goal to match Billy's first place achievement. While I didn't do that, I managed to take 5th and learned a few things about final table play. I can't wait to get there again ... with any decent amount of chips I vow to take it down.