Buddy’s 3k Takedown
May 6th, 2009
On PokerStars at 7pm every night there is an $11 (one rebuy, one add-on) poker event with a $15,000 guaranteed casino prize pool. My good friend plays it a few times a week. One particular night this week, it had almost 900 players in it. I got home from work and popped on PokerStars and did a user search for my friends and found him deep in the tournament, about to reach the final table.
He had an average sized poker stack, and there were some short stacks at the table. 9th place was about $250 and 1st place was $3500. He, like most people, spent $33. On $33, $250 is a pretty good return, but the disparity between 1st and 9th was so large that it seemed a bit ridiculous. All of the players at the final table beat about 900 players, and now they will be shoving all in and coin-flipping for up to a $3,300 pay difference. Now, I certainly think that first deserves a large payout, but I think final table payouts could be a bit more leveled out. I think anyone at the final table should get, say, $500, and the jumps could be relatively small until it reaches the top 3.
Anyway, he was guaranteed $250 and had a shot at $3500, so my brother and I decided to bring the laptop out on the deck, have a cigar and a scotch and watch him play. As opposed to typical rail-birding, we didn’t want to make our presence known and make the guy nervous, so we just watched.
A small stack was going all in a lot, giving action and getting it. He beat 99 with K, 8 off suit and kept getting involved in coin flips, taking a play out in the process. My friend had been playing pretty tight. This loose mid stack made a raise and my friend went all-in over the top for a huge raise. This player called, as he had been doing with a wide range of hands, obviously willing to gamble. This time he had 55. My friend had Ad Kd and flopped the flush. He had to evade a runner-runner straight flush, which he did. This hand eliminated a player and put him in first place.
Entry Filed under: Fun Place, Gaming Hall, Great Gambling Stuff