It was (with the exception of a few towns that got drenched) a beautiful Sunday. So where did I spend it? This email from my friend Rick explains it.
team wingnut (kerry, lamar and me) are off to foxwoods tomorrow morning. wanna go?
Every Sunday at 9:00 AM Foxwoods runs a no-limit Hold’em tournament. This is not the World Series of Poker, but it’s a nice way to play cards with the chance of an impressive payoff against reasonably good competition.
Challenge. Think challenge.
To me, of course, the problem is the time. 9:00 AM at Foxwoods means a very early start. I usually don’t get to bed before 5:00 AM. This morning we met at Rick’s at 7:15 AM. I got around four hours of sleep.
I am no longer 18.
Coffee? Where is the coffee? Someone caffeinate me, please. I told the casino drink runner not to stop before I was visibly quivering.
If you’ve never played in a poker tournament here’s a brief rundown. Each player starts with a large stack of chips. The stakes (represented by forced bets or blinds) start small and increase rapidly over time. As the stakes rise some players begin to run short of chips and are forced into drastic, more risky bets to try and stay alive.
The ‘herd is thinned’ as more and more players lose their entire stack of chips. Finally when around 10% of the field is left the payoffs begin.
Tournament payoffs are not linear. The difference between first and fifth can be a factor of ten!
Today someone won about $3500. Not me!
I played pretty well for the first hour and a half. Then, after the first bathroom break, I played a moderate hand too strongly, lost and was forced into a more aggressive stance. The potential reward is high. So is the risk.
I finally busted out when my hand was beaten by another player who started with weaker cards and got lucky. He had enough chips not to be scared to take a chance against my much smaller stack. He beat me with a hand he knew to be marginal. This is typical late in a tournament.
No payout for me or any of my fellow travelers. No tears. We had a good time and I avoided getting a sunburn!
I spent the late afternoon napping! At the moment I feel as jet lagged as if I’d just flown in from Singapore.
