My $61K Poker Payday

Ken Adams Explains How He Placed 2nd In A Field Of 1,245

(CBS)  This report by Ken Adams is part of a series for CBSNews.com offering commentary on the world of poker.

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November 2 was my grandson’s first birthday. I celebrated by placing second out of a record field of 1,245 in the $500 No Limit Hold'Em event at the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods (Connecticut). I collected $61,821 in prize money, and in the process broke the hex of the “dinner break curse.”

While of course I wanted to win, my primary objective going into the tournament was to finish in the money. Even the best tournament players in the world can’t expect to win a lot of tournaments with starting fields as big as this, but they finish in the money consistently. No matter how well I think I am playing, until I get to the point where I finish in the money more consistently than I have in the past I cannot kid myself that I am playing at a high level.

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Each player started with $1,500 of tournament chips. The small blind and big blind started out at $25 each, and were increased every 50 minutes.

After the first six hours of play, I had increased my chips from $1,500 to $15,625 and had only shown five hands. I had won 20 uncontested pots by raising before the flop and, when called, betting aggressively after the flop. I had a conservative table image, and people tended to assume that when I raised I had a strong hand. I was able to capitalize on that by raising a lot in late position with hands that I would have had to fold if anyone had played back at me. That only happened once or twice.

That is one of the big differences between a $500 buy-in event, populated by lots of inexperienced amateur players, and a $10,000 event in which all the experienced pros compete. The pros play much more aggressively, and would never have allowed me to pick up so many uncontested pots.

Things continued to progress nicely along these same lines until just before the 6:30 dinner break. Historically, the dinner break has been a major line of demarcation for me. When I have made it past the break in decent chip position, I have finished in the money.

Unfortunately, I have an unlucky history of going broke just before the dinner break. The last time it happened, I vowed that in the future I would throw away the last few hands before the dinner break without looking at them, in order to avoid the “dinner break curse.”

Well, I didn’t keep that promise to myself. On the second to last hand before the dinner break I picked up a pair of aces, the strongest starting hand in hold’em. At that point I had about $16,000 in chips (With about 200 players left, the average stack was roughly $9,000.)

I opened the pot for $2,000 in late position. The player in the small blind re-raised to $4,000. He had about the same number of chips as I did. I moved all in, expecting him to fold rather than risk elimination. He called, and turned over a pair of kings.

I was a 4.5 to 1 favorite before the flop, which came 8-8-5. When fourth street brought a meaningless 7, I was more than a 20 to 1 favorite to take all his chips. The only way I could lose was if one of the two remaining kings in the deck was dealt on fifth street. Of course that is what happened! I jumped out of my chair and screamed in disbelief. It was a $30,000 pot – enough to easily propel me to an “in the money” finish. Instead, he had caught a miracle card and I was as good as dead. With only $1,300 left, I did not even have enough left to post the blinds one more time.

Needless to say I did not enjoy my dinner. It was about as desperate a situation as one can be in, in a no-limit hold’em tournament. Worst of all, it triggered memories of all the situations at the World Series this year when I played well, was in good chip position, and suffered a horrible beat. It just feels so unfair, especially when I watch other players getting lucky and being successful (like the guy with the kings who took almost all my chips).

But at the same time I was not about to give up without a fight. I mapped out my strategy and hoped for the best. My plan was to move all in with one of the first three hands dealt (before I had to post the big blind), and if I won, do it again before the big blind came around a second time. That meant I had to get lucky (or pick up a strong hand) twice in 15 minutes. If I could do that, then I could wait two rounds for a strong enough hand to move all in with again. If I survived that situation, I would then have enough chips to raise before the flop without getting called by marginal hands. With the blinds and antes totaling more than $3,000, all I needed was to steal the blinds a couple times. I didn’t like my odds, but at least I had a plan. The rest would be up to the luck of the cards.