NYC Underground: Part Four

NYC Underground: Part Four

Posted on October 20, 2007

Amidst the threats and high tensions, the final table was nigh. The field had battled for a little more than two hours, and the top nine were ready to play. First prize paid out $500, second was $300, third, $200. Fourth to sixth paid $100, and seventh to ninth was only $50. The card club staff enveloped the final table - it was a wall of Italian men dressed in black. I'm not sure what the purpose was, but I was intimidated. A chorus of "Don't forget to tip your dealers at the end" was repeated nonstop.

I was down to $2,000 in chips, and the blinds were $1,000-$2,000. Thankfully, I was on the button, so I had an orbit around the table to pick a hand and pray. I was dealt a paltry 9-7 offsuit, and folded it easily to a middle position raise. The raiser stole the blinds, and play resumed. The cards were dealt for the next hand, and as soon as I peeked down at my hand to look, I heard, "Misdeal!" Two black kings. That was it! That was the hand I was looking for, and the dealer had accidentally exposed an ace when dealing the final card to the player on the button. Bad beat, bad beat, bad beat.

The next hand, I was dealt the K 7. The player under the gun limped, as did the player next to him. The next two players folded, while the player before me limped in. I threw in my last $2,000 in chips, muttering something about pot odds in the process. The button called, the small blind completed, and the big blind checked his option. I stood to win $14,000 in chips, and that would put me right back in the thick of things. The flop came K Q 9, which gave me top pair. However, with seven people in the pot, the chances that I was ahead with two cards to come were slim. Action was checked around. The turn was the 3, giving me a king-high flush draw. The big blind bet out, and everybody folded to the button, who called. The river was the 6. The big blind checked, and the button checked behind. The big blind showed the Q 7, while the player on the button showed the A 9. Thank God the spade flush didn't hit! I raked in a big pot with my top pair, while the big blind won a small side pot. I was back in the game!

I folded until the blinds hit me. On the big blind, I was dealt the A Q. Action was folded to the cutoff, who raised the minimum to $4,000. The button folded, the small blind called, and I came over the top for $8,000 more. The player in the cutoff folded immediately, as did the small blind, which was strange. Either way, I had added another $8,000 to my stack, and I was in good shape with $22,000 in chips. In the next few hands, we lost two players, putting us at the final seven. I was dealt pocket nines in early middle position, and raised to $6,000. Action was folded to the big blind, who was the chip leader. He called quickly, and we saw a flop of K 9 3. He checked, and I bet another $6,000, which committed more than half of my chips to this pot already. He called again. The turn was another king, which gave me nines full. The big blind checked again, and I pushed. He called quickly, turning over K-Q. I needed to dodge a king, queen, or 3 in order to stay alive and double up. The river bricked out, and I was sitting on $45,000 in chips, good for the chip lead. The big blind was crippled, down to only $8,000. He went out the very next hand, after losing a coin flip with 3-3 to A-10. We were now down to our final six, and I was feeling pretty good about my chances.

Time for the blinds to raise! The new level brought us to $2,000-$4,000. Players were going to go out faster now. On my right was a player that the club was backing for the WSOP. His name was John, but I forgot his last name. He was a nice enough guy, very Italian, and as dumb as a brick. He was wearing a t-shirt that offered people a chance to buy a piece of him on eBay, and so far, he had had no bidders. I wasn't very impressed with his play, either. My prediction? Out early in the main event, out early in any other event he bought into. As it turned out, he didn't cash at all. But I digress.

John was sitting on a stack of $15,000 or so. There was another young player in a hat with whom I had tangled earlier, and he had a stack of around $20,000. There were two older men who were short-stacked, with a little less than $10,000 in chips apiece. One other player had around $15,000 as well, and he was loud and obnoxious. I loved his playing style; he talked a ton of trash and took a lot of risks, and it had paid off thus far. We had very similar styles of play, which made it easy for me to pick my spots against him. I peered down at my holecards and saw the A 9. I was second to act, and John immediately pushed all in from under the gun in front of me. Before the hand was dealt, John had said something about how the blinds were getting big and it was time to get a hand. When the cards were dealt he said, "Yep, that's it, I'm all in." I immediately pushed all in behind him, isolating with what I knew was the better hand. Action was folded behind us. He says, "Whatcha got?" I said, "You've got king high, and I've got an ace. I just hope the dealer keeps it clean!" Sure enough, he flipped up the K J, and I was ahead in the hand. The board helped neither of us, and I knocked John out in sixth place, adding to my stack. He simply couldn't believe that I pushed all in behind him with A-9, "A terrible hand!" He berated me for my play and I just said, "Hee haw." Five players remained and I had $66,000 chips. This was my tournament to lose.

I ended up folding for an orbit, letting the guy in the hat steal the blinds. He picked up $12,000 in chips stealing, and he was sitting in the big blind. Action was folded to me, and I raised to $15,000 with the 10 9 from the button. The small blind folded, and the big blind, hat boy, called. The flop came 10 8 2, giving me top pair and a flush draw. Hat boy checked and I pushed. He called quickly, showing two black aces. He had trapped me, but I had plenty of outs. Unfortunately, I didn't hit any of them, and he won a huge pot, taking the chip lead. I was down to around $30,000 in chips, and he now had about $64,000.

That was a big hit, but I was still second in chips. When my big blind hit, I was dealt pocket fives. Action was folded to the small blind, who was a short stack. He moved all in, and I auto-called. He had the A 8, but didn't improve. I saved my big blind and added his $8,000 to my stack. We were down to four players, and I had $42,000 in chips. The player who went out in fourth place was another one of the older men, and it happened without much fanfare. He pushed on a straight draw and was called by the aggressive trash talker, who had top two pair. The straight draw never made it, and we were down to the final three. I was pretty happy, because this meant I was leaving with at least $200, after buying in for $0. Pure profit, baby! But, I'd make sure to tip my dealer, just so my cousin and I wouldn't leave as marked men.

The cards were dealt, and I decided to change gears and start getting a little bit more aggressive. The blinds were raised to $3,000-$6,000, and I was dealt the A 4. I open-pushed and stole the blinds. The next hand, I was dealt the 3 4 in the big blind. The button raised to $12,000, the small blind folded, and I pushed, putting him all in. He folded quickly, and I picked up another $15,000 in chips, giving me an identical chip stack to hat boy. I folded my small blind and my button, and I was in the big blind again. The button folded, and hat boy raised to $20,000. I looked down at the 9 2 and decided to come over the top for $45,000 more. If he called, he would have no more than 2,000 chips left, and I couldn't see him risking his entire tournament on anything except A-A, K-K, Q-Q, A-K, or A-Q. He called with A-K, and I needed to hit or else I'd be going home in third. So much for getting creative, huh?

The flop paired my 9, but it also paired his king. I failed to improve, and I was bounced out in third place after making a bonehead play. The owner of the card club took a roll of $100 bills out of his pocket, and peeled off two of them for me. He winked at me and said, "Don't forget to take care of your dealers." I was there for a little more than two hours, so I tipped out $15, got my cousin, and got the hell out of Dodge. It was the sketchiest two hours of my entire life. My cousin and I got a slice of pizza and a beer; we were heading deeper into midtown Manhattan to play some cash games at another card club. Hopefully this time we'd be able to walk in and walk out without the fear of getting our legs broken.

More Articles

- NYC Underground: Poker in Spanish Harlem
- NYC Underground: Bad Luck, Bad Beats
- NYC Underground: Cash Game Mania
- NYC Underground: Part Three

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