|
I awaken on my birthday to the prospect of competing against the toughest poker players on earth at the Bellagio WPT Championship. Oddly calm in the face of this peril, I dress like Johnny Cash (black slacks, black Ralph Lauren Black Label jacket, Paul Smith Oliver Peoples shades and my starkly contrasting all-white iPod Shuffle). I turn fifty-nine today and no longer feel compelled to apologize for my choice of music. I am an unrepentant baby boomer and my iTunes library has its fair share of Stones, Dylan, Neil Young, Seger, Lou Reed and the like. I have just broken up with my girl two days before and carry the requisite heavy heart - nothing more dangerous than a guy carrying a torch at the poker table. You either miss her and don't care if they call your 7,2 off-suit all-in bluff, or you are in a mild rage and push with anything in your hand, like you are wielding a broadsword against the Visigoths. So I am dressed like an assassin, feeling truly badass and saunter down to the main poker room at the Bellagio. Most of the field is in the Fontana Room, so the overflow get the main poker room and most of those here are not happy about the cacophony of 10-20 Limit being announced over the PA. I like the bruit and confusion. As an actor I learned long ago the power of concentration in the midst of bedlam.
We sit at noon and they shuffle up and deal within ten minutes of the announced start time. Gotta give a lot of credit to the WPT. They run a good show. Athough there is presently some serious controversy about the release form (Chris "Jesus" Ferguson drops by to say hello and explains that he is not playing because of a disagreement with the form), I generally like their entire operation, especially Steve Lipscomb. He has always been gracious to me and I am honored to return the favor at all times.
I learned a great little lesson from my online HollywoodPoker buddy, "Ruski2." When I played in the LA Poker Classic (my first serious WPT major cash - 24th), Ruski gave me this tip - "Always decide what your goal is for the tournament. Be very specific. Decide if you want to win, to cash, to make it past the first day, the first break, whatever. Just be clear with yourself. That way, regardless of every choice you face, every peril that threatens you, you will have a clear path. That path will be available to you because you will have preordained the decision. If you choose to win, for example, from the first moment going forward, every decision will be based on that solid foundation."
His philosophy was the reason I called Fabrice Soulier, the chip leader, on the bubble and on the button, for everything. I reckoned I would either live or die like a man, right there, right then. That choice doubled me up and sent Fabrice out on the bubble a few hands later. Just being clear made a difficult call for me much easier.
So what was my goal today? Well, first of all, I must tell you that I had company at the event. Josh Rich of Entertainment Weekly Magazine was following me with a photographer for an article about my day at the tourney. From the second I arose to the last minute before I retired, Josh was by my side. The other players all agreed that he could watch silently, under the auspices of the WPT. I must say it helped my game, because a "monitor" makes you not want to look foolish. Suddenly I found myself not wanting to turn over AT off-suit in front of the world and thus my game tightened up immeasurably and, as always when one plays tight, aggressive poker, for the better.
So my goal, for the first day at least, is to survive and hopefully finish with more chips than when I started. After the first day I will adjust and I suspect probably go back to my usual goal of winning rather than just cashing. For now, however, the Birthday Boy just wants to get through to the day's end, bloody maybe, but still standing.
It is odd how relaxed I feel. Usually you can cut the tension with a knife and it is obvious some at the table feel that way. I, however, am in that zone poker players pray for. I am actually having fun! I steal few blinds, if any, and defend only when reasonable. The table is extremely loose and somewhat aggressive. That combo is one that I find most dangerous. Every hand has a raise and anywhere from one to five callers. You can just never determine where you stand in such an environment, but that, of course, suits my tight game plan perfectly. AT such a wild table, you will do just fine if you just play super premium hands clearly and aggressively. That doesn't help poor Jeff Shulman who gets it all into the middle after flopping 6's full of Jacks. His (fortunately for Jeff) understacked opponent has flopped quad Jacks. OUCH! Jeff demonstrates what a superb player he is after such a cold deck beating. He gets right up, takes a walk and shakes out his emotions. When he returns to the table, he plays like an Olympic equestrian who has been thrown brutally from his steed, but has gotten right back into the saddle nonetheless.
Our starting stack is 50,000 and that allows for some serious gamesmanship. It also makes it a crime if you get knocked out early. That stack size is such that you should NEVER be all-in the first few levels unless you have the stone cold nuts.
The good news is that I am up to around 67,000 within the first hour. The bad news isn't ever that bad, but the tournament is not the smoothest flight. Not only is my stack a victim of some turbulence, so is the poor lady dealer who gets cards thrown (literally) in her face. The very young WSOP bracelet holder that does it gets a serious penalty and plenty of negative mojo from the table and the crowd. More of that and other tales of bloody battle in my next blog from the Bellagio WPT Chamionship.
To be continued. 
~ James Woods
|
