WSOP Day 3 - Jon Kalmar

WSOP Day 3 - Jon Kalmar

5th June 2009

As I am registered for the $5k event at the Rio on Saturday I thought Iā€™d go play the $1000 event at the Bellagio. This is a one dayer instead of the 3 day $2500 event at the Rio. I set off early and thought Iā€™d try a little cash while I wait for it to start. Despite it not even being midday there was still quite a wait for the cash. I locked a seat up and instead played a $240 satellite for the $1000.

Now when you are running bad at poker it strangely cheers you up when you find a fellow player sharing your misery. Iā€™m not saying I want to hear about his bad beats, I donā€™t. (and I donā€™t want to hear yours either so please donā€™t tell me, I canā€™t even pretend to be interested anymore) Itā€™s just that sometimes itā€™s nice not to be alone, and poker is very lonely when youā€™re losing. It can get you down even more when everyone around you is getting the lot. Its not that youā€™re not pleased for them, you are. Ok, maybe we get slightly jealous, but you wonder when your turn to play on the swings will come round again. Instead Iā€™m stuck on the roundabout and Iā€™m starting to feel sick.

I found my brother in arms in Trevor Reardon (BigTR), wandering around the card room. Trevā€™s a good friend of mine and I have known him since I starting playing poker and indeed we often swap a piece when in the same event. Only natural we swap troubles of woe. He asked what I was planning to do that afternoon, and convinced me to skip the cash game and come join him at the Venetian ā€œDeepstackā€. It was only $500 and should pay big for 1st. Ok, why not? The Bellagio was not being good to me (I soon got knocked out of the satellite), a change of scenery might help. Trev and I swapped 20%, more than usual, but to be honest neither of us thought weā€™d cash the way we are running so it might as well been 50%. If by a miracle one of us won it, 20% would feel like a win to the other.

After I sat down with my 15k starting stack I looked at the board and thought hmmmm, juicy, 577 runners $80k 1st, delicious. It then dawned on me that this was not a one day event. Doh!, if I get through I am going to miss the $5k, the 1 event I was looking forward to the most bar the Main Event. Oh well, lets see what happens. I have made the mistake of not trying in events before because Iā€™d rather be doing something else, this was not going to be one of those times.

My table was fun, a few people recognised me from the WSOP and I explained that I was running bad since, and this was all I could afford nowadays. I donā€™t always like people pointing me out, but in fairness everyone was in good spirits and it was a joy to share my story, itā€™s pretty much all I have left.

During day I met what I would describe as a cretin. He was on the other end of the table wearing his ā€œpoker academyā€ sweater. A smug prat to say the least, he bluffed a few pots and couldnā€™t wait to show. He then said ā€œI went to poker academy, the ex-head of the FBI teaches you how to spot tells, thatā€™s how I know I can make those movesā€. I cough ā€œCoooooooghhccckkkkkkā€

With the blinds at 1200/2400 3 people limp into my big blind including Mr Poker Academy. The flop comes Ah Kd 5d and Iā€™m holding ace 2 of diamonds. We check to academy who bets out 3600, I push for 23k and he snap calls and flips his pocket 5ā€™s. Quite smugly I might add. The turn is a 2 and the river the 8 of diamonds, giving me the nut flush, he was far from pleased.

ā€œHow do you make that moveā€ he said. I was not the only one to smirk at this outburst. ā€œTough break mate, that was the beat of the century, someone call Ripleys, besides if I flat call Iā€™m going nowhere when the two comes am Iā€ ā€œYou were still behind!ā€ he protested. ā€œReally!ā€ Obviously the ex-head of the FBI didnā€™t tell him how not to tilt, and it gave me great pleasure to see him push 40k in cold with QQ and run into pocket kings. The poker Gods answered my prayers.

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed today. No matter how I went out I wouldnā€™t have cared. For the first time in quite a while I enjoyed playing the game, unfortunately I made day 2 and have now unregistered from the $5k. In 14 hours I didnā€™t see AA or KK once, maybe thatā€™s why Iā€™m still hanging in with 201k. Average chips is 280k with 34 left. The blinds are 6k/12k ā€œDeepstackā€ my arse.

No doubt I will go out early and make a whopping 100 bucks profit for 2 days work, but who cares; I am falling in love with poker again.