I arrived at the final table with $86,000 which was second in chips behind Constantine who had $114,000. The blinds were $4,000-$8,000 which meant I had a very good stack to play around with. Most of the other stacks were around 30-50k. I was a bit intimidated having the chip leader to my immediate left but as it turned out he didn’t pose much of a threat, he stayed out of my way.
The first big hand I was involved in was 3-way. It was me Billy the ‘Croc’ and Geyer. It was raised by Geyer and I called with A3TsJs. Geyer had been doing a lot of raising and I was in late position. I figured while my hand wasn’t all that strong I could push him off a board which he had missed. Billy called in the big blind. The board came K95 rainbow. I was now looking for a queen. Billy checked and Geyer bet, I called and Billy called. The turn was a 6 of spades bringing two spades. I was now on a low draw and a spade draw with a gut shot for the straight which would most likely scoop. Billy bet, Geyer raised and I called. Billy fired off a re-raise and Geyer called and so did I. This was a massive pot and I was in some serious trouble. After Billy re-raised I didn’t think my low would be good and I was pretty sure my spades wouldn’t be high enough either. I was really banking on the queen coming or a 2 giving me the A3 nut low. The river was a beautiful Q of hearts. I couldn’t believe it. Billy looked horrified and as did Geyer. They both checked in disgust and I fired off a bet and was called by Geyer. I was later told that Billy had A2 of spades which would have dominated my hand if a low or spades came. When I scooped the biggest pot of the night the crowd erupted in a frenzy of excitement. It was incredible.
The other hand I had, to cripple Billy, was A35K on a 46Q board. I had raised coming in and Billy checked in the dark on the flop to me. He called my flop bet and the turn came a blank ten. He checked again and I checked behind him. The river brought a beautiful 2 and gave me the nut nut. Billy was again horrified and checked. He called my bet on the river and claimed to have A2Qx. If that is so, he should have bet into me on the turn or at least check raised the flop. I began to knock out players who were simply not keeping up with the blind levels, they were often forced all in on the big blind..
When it was just, Constantine, Geyer and myself, I had a massive chip lead and Constantine couldn’t manage to win a pot. I got him in a huge hand where I 3/4red him. I had 2 pair and nut low and he just had nut low. He continued to raise me and I just kept re-raising him until he got most of his stack in. I finally knocked out Constantine with a full house where I had him all in pre-flop with a hand like QQ23. All was fine until I got heads-up with my worthy opponent Adam Geyer.
I had around 4-1 chip lead over him, about $320,000 to $80,000. The blinds were $8,000-$16,000 and I went absolutely card dead. All I could pick up was K972 kind of hands and he was playing aggressive beyond belief. He would raise and raise and bet and bet everything. He had a good read on me and was able to raise me off most of my hands. I wasn’t hitting anything, I didn’t have a good read on Geyer and my chip stack had been burnt almost to the ground. I was all-in once and managed to survive by hitting a flush on the river, and at the break I was on about $60,000 and Geyer had a mountain of chips at $340,000. I was watching the championship slip away before my very eyes; I was slumped in my chair and was very depressed. The crowd, which was 60 strong had gone completely silent. Finally the break came.
I immediately walked upstairs and out of the casino into the fresh air. Arul, Nick and Emad followed closely behind. I was ready to give up this tournament, but as cheesy as this sounds, they wouldn’t let me. Arul isn’t one to mince his words and he told me I was being out-played like a fish. I tried to explain that I had been getting bad cards. He didn’t want to hear about it, he was adamant that I was playing badly. He explained that Geyer didn’t have anything either, he was just playing better. His solution for me, was to play back at Geyer and not be afraid to gamble. I asked if I should make a deal with Geyer, Emad laughed and said, “Why would you want to give him your money.” There was no way I was going to let Emad down by offering Geyer a deal, especially after Emad’s article on why not to make deals. Last but certainly not Least, Nick told me to straighten up and fight like it was a war and not to give up. After this talk, I was filled with energy and wanted to go down and tear this guy apart.
We resumed play and I was in the big blind with a marginal hand A4TJ and Geyer made his standard button raises. I instantly re-raised him and immediately there was a different feeling in the air. I noticed it, he noticed it and the crowd definitely noticed it. I was making a stand and playing back at him. He called and the flop brought 99K and I bet out into him, he looked me over and folded. I continued to raise on the button and 3 bet him when I was in the big blind. Eventually he began to realise that he was no longer going to get away with stealing my blinds every hand. I had managed to get back to even in chips, when the following hand came up, I had AsQs7c2c. He raised coming in and I three bet, he called. The flop came 7J8 with two diamonds I checked and he bet. I wasn’t happy with this board because of the diamonds but I did have the low draw so I called. The turn was the Q of diamonds, this was a bitter sweet card for me, I did have two pair but there was now a flush and a straight possibility, so I checked, he bet and I called, the river was a K and I checked and he checked. He turned over an 8 and I showed two pair and the dealer mucked his hand. The crowd went crazy. I had just won a huge pot but Geyer was not happy. He claimed to have two pair kings and 8’s. Apparently he tabled his cards but the dealer mucked them, this meant they had to get surveillance. Surveillance confirmed he did have kings and 8’s and I lost the pot. I was devastated but I continued to be aggressive and pick up uncontested pots where I felt he was weak.
Another huge hand occurred when I had 9T23 and Geyer raised on the button and I called. The board came JQK with two spades and I didn’t have spades. I bet into him because if he had a spade draw I wanted him to pay for his draw, I also wanted to get a feeling of where he was in the hand. He called me fairly quickly. The turn came a blank 2, I bet and to my surprise he raised me. I had about $80,000 left and if I decided to call the turn and the river it would cripple me below $20,000. I had to decide whether he had AT or not. He had not made this play where he just called and raised on the turn before in the tournament. I thought and thought for about 2 or 3 minutes. The crowd was dead silent as I deliberated and starred him down. I decided that there was a good chance that he had AT and I wasn’t willing to go broke on that hand. I folded. He later claimed to have bluffed me, however, a friend of mine claimed to have over-heard Geyer later telling his mate that he had AT that hand, so until this day I am not sure if he bluffed me, or if he had the nuts.
This heads-up match continued well into the morning until it was 6.30 am, and the crowd was still there supporting me. I was able to take hold of the tournament a few times and had Geyer all-in drawing to split and he managed to get half every time. He just wouldn’t die. I finally got him all-in when the blinds were huge with A4JT vs. his K933 hand. I hit an ace on the flop and he was drawing to two outs for a 3 and he managed to miss and the realization hit me that I had won the tournament. The crowd went wild and all wanted to hi-5 me, which I did for a bit until I saw the destroyed Geyer wondering where it all went wrong. I could imagine exactly how he was feeling so I went over to him and shook his hand and commended him on his excellent play.
I was put up on Nick and Mario’s shoulders holding the trophy and I shouted the crowd drinks all night. It was a truly awesome experience and one that I will never forget. |
