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I just bubbled (meaning not the actual bubble, but within a few places of a cash & final table) in the $500 Limit at Hollywood Park tonight.
This was particularly offensive because:
1) I took a ton of awful beats on big hands
2) Despite #1, I had a nice stack (among the best in the tournament) with 14 people left -- and I went out 13th.
They only paid the final table.
How did I chunk it all off? A few factors combined to make it happen:
1) Everyone only started with $1000 in chips, so every hand is huge at the 200/400 and 300/600 levels.
2) I missed every single hand (literally), until...
3) I had KQ with a very short stack, and hit a nice flop of KT6. Unfortunately, I was up against AA.
Donk down.
The tournament wasn't for big money -- first place paid $13,000, and even 7th paid a paltry $1165 after buying in for $500+50.
Still, it would have been nice to have made my 5th final table this year, and have gotten some more Player of the Year points -- as well as have the chance for 13 grand and my first tournament victory since the bracelet.
I was almost 100% sure I was going to make the final table when I had one of the bigger stacks with 14 left. I would have been shocked if someone told me I'd finish 13th -- especially given that I didn't take any bad beats during the chunking.
Obviously I can't complain about my tournament results this year -- I certainly made hands when it counted during the most important events. Still, I'm starting to feel the intense frustration and irritation in the life of a tournament player, and I am reaffirming why I like cash games better.
Tournaments tease you. You get off to a good start, a good middle, you feel like everything is going to fall into your lap -- and then suddenly it all shuts off and you finish far below where you expect.
Since tournaments really only pay anything substantial in the first few places, you basically don't know where you really stand until midway into the final table. Still, being human, it's easy to get excited by early or mid-stage big pots, only to watch yourself get quickly chopped down to nothing.
This is where cash games differ. While I have had occasions where I start off excellent and finish a loser for the session, this is for the most part rare. If I start off big, there's a high likelihood that I'll be a decent winner (or better) for the session. You can't say the same for tournaments.
Look at poor Zelong Dong at my first WSOP final table. Dude comes in with an above-average stack, yet goes out first, and is easily outlasted by several short stacks. It wasn't Zelong's fault. His first pot ran into E-Fro's flopped AJ full house (I think Zelong had AK), and then he flops a set of queens against me and I hit a flush. That could have just as easily been me. Fortunately, my luck waited to collapse until there were only 3 people left.
Tournament pros often write about the feelings of depression and failure they get every time they bust out -- especially if it occurs after a promising start. After a series of bubble finishes (along with one during the WSOP itself), I now know how that is. And I don't like it.
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Oct 28 2005, 01:30 AM
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