“I don’t look at results. Poker is about decisions. And I am happy with the decisions I made this year.”
— Greg Raymer, to ESPN shortly after busting out of the 2005 WSOP
I wanted Raymer to win it all, not only because it would be such an incredible achievement, but because he is such a kind person, and such a perfect ambassador for the game. It should be cold comfort to all poker players that on the hand which crippled him, Greg got his money in over an 80% favorite. That, as they say, is poker. Congratulations to Austraila’s Joe Hachem, who has some very big shoes to fill, if he chooses to put them on.
On Friday, Anne and I had the following exchange:
Anne: “Nolan’s friend is in the little league all-star tournament, and Nolan’s going to watch him tonight.”
Me: “Uh-huh.”
Anne: “Depending on what happens in tonight’s game, his friend’s team may be playing tomorrow —”
Me: “Is it a round robin, or something?”
Anne: “It’s not like a poker tournament, where you get eliminated on the first day and then you’re out.”
Me: *silence*
Anne: “Oh, wait. I mean, not you, like you, Wil, my husband . . .”
Me: ” . . . who can’t make it past the first day of a tournament . . . ”
Anne: “No! That’s not what I mean. I just meant that it’s not single-elimination, and . . . poker . . . baseball . . . one . . . tournament . . .”
At this point I started laughing so hard I had to stop and compose myself.
Me: “I know what you mean. That was awesome.”
Anne: “This is going on your blog, isn’t it?”
Me: “Yes. Yes it is.”
On Sunday, I finished 22nd in the charity tourney, when I made a move that unfortunately involved bluffing into the nuts. Oops. It was a lot of fun, though, and the players who signed up contributed almost $3000 in Charlie Tuttle’s memory, which is what the whole thing was about, anyway. Thanks to everyone who came out and participated. I’ll put together some other charity tourneys in the future.
Moving on . . .
two hundred sixty-six hours earlier
On my way out of the Rio parking lot, I called my mother to update her on my status.
Or, more accurately, I called my mommy, so she could make me feel better.
She picked up on the first ring. “Hey Willow! How’s the World Series?”
“I busted, mom.” I stopped to let a car with Utah plates pull in front of me. A little ceramic dog sanguinely bounced its head in the back window.
“Is that good?” She said.
I smiled to myself. “No, Mom. That’s bad. I got knocked out.”
“Oh no! What happened?”
My mom doesn’t play or watch Texas Hold’Em, so I translated as best as I could: “I played my best, but it wasn’t good enough to make it very far,” I said. The car in front of me stopped short, and the little dog’s head bounced like he was at a Metallica concert.
“Well, as long as you did your best,” she said, “ever since you were little, we’ve always told you to just be the best you that you can be. So if you did your best, I’m proud of you.”
“This is exactly why I called you, mom.” I thought.
“Thanks, Mom.” I said.
“So are you coming home, or staying there to write another book?”
“I was going to come home, but PokerStars is buying me into a tournament at the Palms that starts at 7:30, so maybe I can redeem myself there.” I turned right onto Flamingo, and noted how far The Palms actually was from The Rio. I was glad I didn’t try to walk it.
“Well, see?” She said, “they believe in you, so you should believe in you, too.”
“You’re right, Mom. I will.”
“Call me if you win, okay?” She said.
“If I win, it will be the middle of the night,” I said.
“Oh. Then call us tomorrow,” she said.
I laughed. “Okay, I will.” I turned left, and drive into the parking garage at The Palms.
“Your dad just walked in. He says he loves you.” She said.
“Tell him I love him too, and I love you.” I pulled into a parking spot and turned off my car. “I have to go register for the tournament.”
“Good luck,” she said.
“Thanks, Mom,” I said. “Bye.”
I pulled my keys out of the ignition, and headed into the casino.
I’d never been to the Palms before, so I didn’t know what to expect. I understand that it’s where all the hot young celebrites and wanna-bes hang out, but they were outnumbered 1:0 by typical Vegas tourists. I imagine that it’s different on the weekends.
I walked through the casino, which reminded me of The Hard Rock, but with higher ceilings, past a huge bar, which reminded me of a lost weekend in the late 90s, but without the empty promises to whatever deity happened to be listening at the time, and made my way to the poker room. It was much smaller than I expected, with just four tables, and I wondered how they were going to fit a tournament in it. A middle-aged man stood behind a podium and looked at a list.
“Doug K, 20-40 Hold’em,” he said into a microphone. “Doug K, 20-40 Hold’Em.”
“Is this where I sign up for the 7pm tournament?” I said.
Without looking up, he pointed to his right. “Two rooms down. Doug K, 20-40 Hold’Em. Last call for Doug K.”
“Thanks,” I said, and walked out of what I realized was the high-stakes room.
“Someday,” I thought to myself. “Someday . . .”
A few moments later I walked out of the cacophony of the casino and into the familiar quiet of the tournament room, which was a smaller version of the tournament area at the Rio: an impossibly high ceiling, about five or six hundred people scattered around fifty or sixty tables, the soothing click-click-click-click-click of shuffling poker chips, and a quiet reverence that just doesn’t exist anywhere else in the casino.
I was early, so I looked at a bulletin board with the results from previous tournaments. The average field was just over one hundred people, and the average first place finisher was taking home between ten and twenty thousand dollars.
I’ll get into the details if I ever put this into a book, but I played my guts out. This time the cards fell my way a bit more than they had at the Rio, there was no Paul Darden to trap me with a set of jacks, and just after one in the morning, I finished 22nd out of over 300 entries. I took down a huge pot with AJ, doubled up with KK vs. 99, flopped the nut flush and got action all the way from a pair of tens, and even pushed around a couple of players who I correctly pegged as tight/weak. In other words, I played the way I thought I would play at the World Series, and for the first time in my life, I actually cashed out a tournament win at a real casino cage — I took home $430 (which would have been just my buy-in and rebuy, but because I was put into the tournament by PokerStars, it was a 100% win for me. Awesome 🙂
When I got back to the Mirage, it was almost three in the morning, and even though my day had been an emotional and financial roller coaster, I was too wound up to sleep. I finally fell asleep shortly before dawn.
When I rolled out of bed at the crack of noon, I threw on a PokerStars cap and my bathing suit, covered myself with two pounds of SPF 9000 sunscreen, and traded the cool, smoke-filled casino air and gaming tables for hot, dry desert air and sunshine. I spent the afternoon on a lounge chair, listening to podcasts and trying to drown my World Series sorrows with Anchor Steams . . .
to be concluded . . .
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I’m sorry for the lack of narrative details about The Palms tourney . . . I’m just totally out of gas on this story.
As I said in the blog, if I ever put it into a book (highly likely) I’ll go into much more detail there, when I feel a bit more energized to write about it.
Thanks to everyone who has e-mailed or left comments about this longer-than-intended saga. It’s been a lot of fun to write, and even though most WWdN readers aren’t poker players or fans, almost all the feedback indicates that most of you have enjoyed the broader narrative.
Wil,
I positively LOVED the exchange between you and Anne. I do that to my husband quite often, and then I look like a big dorkus, trying to stumble over myself, while he races off to the computer upstairs to post it on his friend’s website.
Moms are great for putting band-aids on our boo-boos. Though mine likes adding just a bit of iodine first. *ouch*
This is another well-written post. Good job. 🙂
There ya go again……
Talking on the phone while driving!
🙂
I’m still very unsure of the meanings of most of the lingo, but I love to read the stuff. The best stuff anyone can write is when they know what they’re writing about and love what they’re writing about, and that shows in the poker posts, Wil.
I hope you do turn the set into a book, especially if it has chapters entitles “Paul F’ing Darden” and “Beers and Roasting in Las Vegas” (for those posts about sitting at the pool with some Steams)
…for the first time in my life, I actually cashed out a tournament win at a real casino cageI am incredibly happy for you, and proud to be a regular reader of your blog. You set a great example for bloggers all over the world, and with your poker success, you show that hard work and discipline will take you far. I am glad for your success.I especially love how you pushed around tight/weak players. You are picking up the subtle aspects of the game that are taking you from a hopeful dead-money amateur to a skilled poker enthusiast. I salute you.-Brett Walker
*giggles*
your wife is so cool & lucky
I don’t get into card games (last time I played poker it was strip & took about 5 hands 😉 my type of game ) but I really am enjoying reading your blog about it
me and my boyfriend got into the poker thing a few years ago…we used to play for starbursts. I didnt win much, but it was because I didnt want to! Thats what I tell myself anyhow. I think both of us had that little tiny dream of being a big shot poker buff, sitting at the WSOP…That lasted about as long as an snowball in Hell. Amazng someone got to do that though.
quoth wil: they were outnumbered 1:0
I guess maybe that’s a typo, but I’d like to believe that it’s binary. That would be much cooler!
I love your wife!
* wiggles it *
* runs *
Poor Anne!
Per your comment, I’m not a poker player, but the story really has been interesting enough to keep me reading. It’s had some literary highlights (the transferring of the blanket was downright fucking slick). I did end up making a point of learning poker so as to not feel quite so lost.
Before you got sick you were gearing up to just sit down and hammer out a book or two. I hope you’re able to rustle that resolve together again. Judging by these stories, you could write a story centered on poker accessible to readers even beyond those who play it themselves.
I had a gut feeling that there was a nugget of gold lurking in this mostly-bad-news poker story. Congrats on the cashout! The first of many, I am sure…
I’m looking forward to the book with the details about that tourney, and of course more of your great writing about poker, family, and all that jazz.
Talk about waking up in a cold sweat:
Wil and I are standing around admiring the new smoked glass table I bought. We talk and decide that an 11 PM poker game with Worf and Jordie and all the rest is in order, since it’s such a nice table.
And off to the meeting we go, to talk with the confederation about the new 400GB hard drive it has obtained, and how it will be used to promote galactic security.
In the middle of the conference, the lights go off, and a loud clank is heard. When the lights come back up, the drive is gone. No one knows what happened to it, but me.
I turned off the lights, put the drive in the coffee pot I bought on ebay, and then put the coffee pot under my shirt where no one could possibly see it.
Later, Wil let me know neither he nor anyone else could make the game.
I secretly suspected that they thought I was the one who stole the hard drive.
Thanks alot, Wil.
Wil, your style makes my lack of poker lingo knowledge insignificant. I enjoy every post!
Going along with the poker theme, I just got my copy of ‘Harrington on Hold’em’ yesterday and I’m loving it so far, thanks for recommending it. It’s a ton of information to absorb so I expect I’ll be reading it many times. You also mentioned that Harrington’s second book and Lee Jones’ ‘Winning Low Limit Hold’em’ were good iirc, any other recommendations?
Blatantly plagiarised from a radio ad, but your last paragraph stuck it firmly in my head, so I’ll pass the suffering along…
Today we salute you
Mr. 80 SPF Sunblock Wearer
(mr. 80 SPF sunblock wearer)
There are 24 hours in a day
You’re wearing 80 hour protection
If the sun fails to go down…
You’ll be ready.
(don’t forget the moonlight)
Your coconut-scented force field
blocks out all the sun’s rays
and any stray rays
from another sun
in another galaxy.
(you’re a star)
30 SPF?
Please…
you might as well be wearing cooking oil
(something smells delicious)
So crack open an ice cold Bud Light
Mr. 80 SPF Sunblock Wearer
In fact, feel free to crack one open at high noon
In the middle of the Sahara Desert
(mr. 80 SPF sunblock wearer)
/needs 80SPF
//sun bad, burn things
Qw, crap. Preview looks nothing like final post…sorry about the double-spacing; preview stuck everything on one line, thought I had to add break tags.
I for one know very little about poker but your entries are always so interesting. I read it even if I don’t get what your talking about for many many paragraphs. I’m so happy that you cashed out! I’m sure there will be many more to come.
Wil,
Long entry, again. It is a good read. May your next poker game be the charm.
FG
I can’t wait for the book. 🙂
You know, its illegal to talk on the phone and drive at the same time in the UK…
And so it should be, it dangerous. Shame on you!
Sorry for your favourite losing Wil, but all I can say is: “Allllrrright, a local boy!” 🙂
Joe Hachem’s been all over the news here, he lives in a working class suburb in my city. His family came to Australia as migrants from Lebanon. He used to be a chiropractor or something, and quit 3 years ago after convincing his wife he could make a living at professional poker. He’s going to use his winnings to buy a house and send his kids to better schools – and he still has to explain to his mother what he does for a living! First thing he did after he won was to buy plane tickets for his entire family to fly them out to Vegas so he wouldn’t be lonely. He sounds like a very decent guy, so don’t be too disappointed. 🙂
Elyssa in Melbourne, Australia.
Wil,
I can’t wait for your poker book/novel/whatever it ends up being. You just have this way of writing about poker that I haven’t read since, well, Positively Fifth Street.
Keep up the great work. You may have busted out of the WSOP, but somethign tells me you got some pretty good poker stories to tell in return.
The conversation between you and your mom made me teary-eyed. 🙂
Wil,
Congrats on cashing in that tourney 🙂 There’s just a great feeling of being in a game and knowing that you’re on a roll. You can almost feel the luck oozing through your pores. Now you just need to play like that in next years’ WSOP. *grin*
>>I guess maybe that’s a typo, but I’d like to believe that it’s binary. That would be much cooler!
sthenno, if it makes you feel better then yes, it was in binary. You do realize that the numbers 0 and 1 have the same value in binary as in decimal, right? 🙂
It *has* to be hard for your wife, being held up in the spotlight like that. (waves enthusiastically/geekishly) HIII ANNE!!! Now, the kids, I bet they freakin dig it. LOL
This kind of entry is why I read blogs – I get to connect to other people who share my passion for this weird little world-on-a-screen. Makes me feel like we MIGHT just make this world WORK.
Also nice to see laughter associated with The Poker Loss, good sign of healing. NOW MAN UP, BOAH!! (lmao)
I recently found your blog and started reading it. After you suggested pokerstars.com I went there, signed up for a free account, and have been playing in the free games to get used to the online aspect. I see that you are scheduled to play in a heads up game agains Exclusive on sunday. Just wanted to say good luck with that and comment that Raymer’s advice about being happy with your decisions is solid gold.
Wil,
The exchange between you and your wife was uncredible. It had me and my co worker laughing so hard, thanks for making me laugh so early in the morning. And having such a kick ass wife!
Anchor Steam is an excellent, excellent beer.
Nice to hear you cashed. Still waiting for my first live tournament cash myself, maybe someday.
I also see that you’re in the headsup game against the tournament board leader on PokerStars, good luck! Is that going to be a regular thing, or just a one shot for a quick grand?