hell hath no fury.

Hell hath no fury like a poker player on a mission. A true gambler is a wild animal with no discipline to guide him. A poker player, on the other hand, is a tamed beast. Endless hours of controlled practice have taught poker players to harness the gambler inside them and guide it to success. We take our innate urge for excitement and monetary gain and focus it on a set plan of action. My plan of action this week was simple: make a profit.

And that, I did.

After a hellish week of bad beats and unintelligent play, I reset my systems and decided that a break was my best course of action. After seeking help in the advice of some of the games top players, I utilized my time away from poker to my full ability. I reviewed my hand histories and focused on the causes of my mistakes. I now had a clear understanding of what went wrong in the past weeks.

I sat down on Monday without the intentions of playing cards. After browsing the web for a bit, I found myself on p5’s reading some recent scores and I became motivated. I decided to fire up my Absolute Poker client; the tournaments are typically smaller fields and tend to have shorter run times. I registered for a $1 re-buy tournament with two add-ons. The prize pool was guaranteed to be at least $2000. With my new-found drive, I set out to the virtual felt to slay some donks.

Fast forward 627 players, 932 re-buys, 623 add-ons, and 7 hours later and I am sitting 2nd of five at the final table of the tournament. The tournament has run much longer then I had expected, but by now I am fired up beyond belief. I have the table window sitting adjacent with the prize pool information window, staring at my goal of $405.54. I could tell I was the best player at the table; the other four players had very predictable styles of play. My reads were dead on and I was in control of almost every pot I was in. My aggressive play as paying off and I had the other players guessing. I was poised to win this tournament until one hand changed my fate.

At the 12,000/24,000 level with a 2,000 ante, I was dealt KTdd on the button. In five handed poker, this hand is a definite raise. So the villain and chip leader limps UTG +1 and the next two players fold to me. I put in a standard 3x raise to 48,000 and the villain flat calls me. The flop comes out 425dd and I decide to lead out for about 120,000 chips to see if I can pluck up the pot or induce a call. I try to bet my draws when playing short handed because:
• It compliments my aggressive style
• It allows me to show up with huge hands without giving my opponent future warning.

Most times I get the pot without contest, other times I catch my draw and win pots the old fashioned way. The villain in this instance called my 120,000 bet and we went to the turn. Ad: the money card. This card completed my nut flush on a very action inducting board. The Ace was great because it could have very well completed my opponents low straight, top pair, or lower flush. My semi-bluff had worked to perfection and I was about to reap the benefits. I decided to check in hopes that my opponent would think I was stealing pre-flop and just taking another shot on the flop. My aggressive style most often leads players to think that I am stealing with lesser cards and making attempts to get cheap pots on dangerous boards. I click the check button and lean back to watch my opponents play. After a few moments, my opponent makes a very curious move.

The villain bet out 648,000 chips, about 30,000 less than what was left in my stack. This is not a standard bet; the villain was calling me out. I squealed like a little girl receiving a pony for her birthday, did a few fist pumps, and then some frontflips in my basement. I had the second best possible hand. Only 53dd takes the cookies here, and if he’s got a straight flush, then he deserves this pot. I go ahead and commence my frontflipping and return to my chair and raise the rest of my chips in to the pot. The villain calls and shows me 44sh and I am elated. He overplayed his set and now he is going to pay. I just start to call my roommate in to the room to see my monster pot when the worst possible thing happens.

The river: Ac.

Silence. I see the pixilated chips slide over to the villain. The number under “xSTEVIEDx” reads: 0. A small notice pops up over the table window. “Congratulations xSTEVIEDx, you finished in 5th place for $109.33. Thank you for playing!” I stare at the screen in disbelief.

A fucking full house. I punch my desk, my wall, and my door. In that order.

There is nothing I can do. He made a play at the pot with a good hand in hopes that I didn’t have the flush. I got my money in with the best hand and could not fade his 10 outs. One 4, three 2’s, three 5’s, and three Ace’s stood between me and the first prize. That fateful ace, in essence, cost me $300.

There is no guarantee that I would have took the tournament. I have to say that I am confident that when I have 3 other players stacked 4:1, I’m pretty solid. I can’t really be upset with almost 10,000% profit, but it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

I sat there for a while, watched the end of the tournament, and put on some John Mayer. I leaned back and closed my eyes, clearing my mind. I may have suffered a bad beat in a critical tournament, but with $100 profit in my bankroll I could only settle on one thing.

I’m back.