Day 2 - Part Deux

Before I tell you the rest of my day 2 story, I want to thank my bro, Erik, for designing my header - "Dogs Playing Poker at 420". Merci 'el frez!

...like I was saying, I pull up my chair at this table stacked with pros. By that time the antes were 200, bring in was 200 and the stakes were set at 800 - 1,600. Poker Gods were definitively not on my side for a span of about 15 minute where I drew this terrible seat, and got the bring in on the first 3 hands at that table. This brought my stack down to just about 4200, which is what I had at the beginning of day 2. I then pick up a couple of small pots to get me back in the game. By now, there were 42 players remaining and the top 32 cashed a minimum of $3,800.

A couple hands later I get the bring-in again but with a J up and Eskimo completes the bet showing a 6, so I decided to call while holding A-3 in the hole. Next card Eskimo gets a gets 10 and I get a Q up. He bets, I call. Next card comes and Eskimo, who by now is shaking like a mad man and coughing out Aspirin (no joke), hits an A and I pair up with a god damn 3 (fuck I hate Razz). Eskimo, takes a quick peak at his card (which took about a minute since he's shaking uncontrollably), I thought for sure that he paired up his A since he was betting every street and I figured he had an A under.

At this point, ol' man Clark it throws out another bet and I pop him thinking I would pick up the pot since he would fold having just paired up and showing a high card. But he fired back at me which meant I would be pretty much all in by the end of the hand, hoping to draw 2 great cards in a row. I decided to fold here leaving me with about 2 grand. Out of about 5 or 6 hands I would like to take back and those 16 hours of Razz, that was one of them. I should have either A- folded when he completed, as my tight ass would have done all tournament long, or B- gone the whole way and hoped for the best. I would have had plenty of chips had I outdrawn him, or go home in 42nd. Live 'n' learn...

Anyways, couple hands later the game is stopped as Eskimo Clark had another medical distress, this time he had abnormally high blood sugar levels and did not have his medication with him. I must say it was quite a dramatic situation watching as the Medics were trying to get Eskimo to the ground, while Mr Clark would not let go the table. He later laid on the ground while paramedics worked on him. Play was stopped for 1.5 hours as an early dinner break was called by the tournament director. As freaked out as I was, especially considering that I too am diabetic, I was pretty pissed that I had to wait that long to play my last 700 chips!

Just before play resumed, I went for a cigarette of my own to calm myself down. Mom, I only smoke in Vegas... ;-) And what do you know, Clark if puffing away right beside me. When we get back to our tables, there are 39 players left and I know I will be all in the next hand. I get lucky and quadruple up to 2800 or so... to busted 2 hands later by Mark Vos and finishing "in 38th, just out of the money", as http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/ said it.

All and all I was pretty proud with my solid finish in my first live Razz tournament, and best of all, in my first world series of poker event. Saying that I did not get anything out of this would be a lie, as much as I've learned about Poker and Razz in those 2 days in Vegas, I enjoyed every moment of it. I'll be back there in the Main Event... and back in the Razz Event next summer.

Come back tomorrow as I will post the final results of the Event #29, Seven Card Razz, $1,500 buy-in, World Series of Poker 2007.