My first foray into poker in months ended up being a completely new experience. In Dallas for a work trip, I accepted an invitation from a co-worker to head out for drinks and a game. In Texas, freeroll tournaments with cash prizes are legal, thus we ended up at a bar playing in a Hold Em tournament at 9:00 on a Wednesday night.
The structure of the tournament was at the least unannounced and at worst disorganized. I did figure out eventually that late entries were permitted up to the first break; whether rebuys were permitted I'm not sure and couldn't really tell. I should hope not - what else would stop people from shoving on every single hand up until that first break? I had hoped to track the number of entrants to see where I ended up, but between the late entries and action at my table, it proved impossible.
I ended up lasting for about three hours, only about 15 minutes less than my co-worker, which worked out well in terms of getting back to the hotel at a decent hour, and not having to sit around and wait. Overall, I feel I played pretty well. Two hands stand out (not including the deal I screwed up on my first button - way to make a good impression, Mike).
The first saw my hold A/K hearts, raise and get called all the way down, and miss the nut flush on the river (I had the draw after the flop). It took a good chunk of chips, but not too bad. But, it was enough where if I won, I would have been sitting pretty thanks to the total pot.
The other was my last hand. Short stacked and on the button, I got 2/4 spades and of course had to shove. I was called with K/K and J/J, and though a 2 came on the flop, the kings held. How great would that have been, to win with the Cuffe Hand?
However, more than the cards itself, it was the environment and culture I will remember. Needless to say, there was a decent amount of apprehension going in. Pretty much everything I got to experience that night was new, save for the cards themselves. Which, as I mentioned to my co-worker on the way back, is one of the things I love about poker - it can bring people together. Here we were, a white New Yorker and a Mexican Colorado native, playing poker in Texas with a racially and culturally diverse group of Texans and having a hell of a time doing it.
Everyone was welcoming, and not even in the "be nice to them and take their money" kind of way I have seen in cash games. It couldn't be that way - no one's money was up for grabs. We hadn't been at the table ten minutes when people were asking where we were from, how we liked Texas, what else we had planned, making suggestions for things to do, and the like.
After I got knocked out, I walked around a bit. The room with the card tables was in the back of the bar, and to get to the bar itself and the restrooms you had to walk to the front, and opposite side, of the space. The dichotomy between the "poker culture" and "bar culture" is striking. The latter still gives me the willies - slutty girls doing what they do, nasty "bros" and old men trying to be the objects of their "affection", at least for one night. After I used the restroom, I was tempted to play some of the video games to pass time, but no - I had to get back to the relative normalcy of the poker area.
On the ride back to the hotel, I thought about what a good experience it was, and I was happy I got out of my normal comfort zone. I also thought about the reminder I just got, of the good poker can do for people.
Tournament hours: 3
Total tournament hours: 7.5
Overall hours: 275
