An Amateur Faces The Poker Pros

Ken Adams Plays His Best Game When It Counts

(CBS) 
Finally, the odds evened out for me. I had been outdrawn so many times in the past week, I figured the cards had to even out some time. No ace or king came, and I busted him. My chip count was now up to $5,200, more than double the starting amount in less than two rounds!

When the blinds increased at the start of Round 4, I had about $4,200 in chips and Carlos had about $6,000. By this time Alan Goehring had been eliminated (as predicted by Phil Gordon). I picked up a pair of nines three seats from the button. Carlos called, as did the big blind. The flop came seven-five-four. The big blind checked and I bet $1,200, in an effort to lock up the pot right then and there before any overcards could come.

I was not happy when Carlos called. I had to consider the possibility that he had both a straight draw and an overcard, such as ace-six suited. He had been playing all kinds of suited connectors and suited aces. I didn't think he had an overpair. But I was nervous just being in a pot that size with him, especially out of position.

When an eight fell on the turn, I was not a happy camper. I checked and Carlos moved all in. I took a long time to make my decision. Had it been any other player at the table I would have had to give him credit for the straight. But Carlos was clearly capable of making that move when a "scare card" appeared, especially given my obviously tight and cautious play up to that point. So I swallowed hard and called (all in).

He tapped the table and said "good call". I breathed a huge sigh of relief. But I still had to sweat the river card. Carlos turned over the ace-three of diamonds. He had flopped a straight draw, and had 5 outs to beat me (any ace or deuce) and four cards to tie (any six). Luckily none of them came and I doubled up at his expense.

Later, Carlos was eliminated by another player and I breathed a big sigh of relief, and silently acknowledged again Phil Gordon’s wisdom.

When Round 4 ended, there were 440 players left out of the 1,072 starting field. That meant the average stack size was $4,872 and I had $10,300. Then as the fifth hour began, the blinds remained at $100 and $200, but now each player was required to post a $25 ante in addition before the flop. With nine players at the table, there would be $525 in the pot each hand before the cards were dealt. As the leading book on tournament play says, Round Five is "when the carnage begins."

Players start dropping like flies, as the small stacks take risks in a desperate but necessary effort to accumulate chips, and the big stacks lay in wait for them.