Variance

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been invited to participate in a poker league. The good news is that first prize is a seat in the WSOP Main Event, plus $2,000 for travel expenses. Cost to play in the 10 man league is $1200, with a winner-take-all format.

I had two concerns with the league. First, the tournaments were on Mondays, which is my bowling night. Second, I didn't like the winner-take-all format because of the large variance it presents.

I was invited to play in a tournament at a local pool hall/bar yesterday. Some of the players in the tournament are also members of the league that I've been invited to join and they wanted to discuss the league with me and get an answer. I expressed the concerns I mentioned above, one of which was settled when they agreed to move the league tournaments to Tuesdays. However, they would not agree to changing the prize payout to three packages worth $4000 each. My reasoning was that $4k is plenty for a trip to Vegas and a buy-in to a WSOP preliminary event. It would also reduce the variance to a level I find acceptable.

Since we couldn't agree on my second concern, I declined the invitation and let them know how much I appreciate being invited, which I do.

I did okay in the tournament, finishing fourth out of around 15 players. I was in the SB with 9BB left. The action was folded to me and I looked down at Q-8. The BB was down to 5BB and since I had her covered, I decided to push, knowing that she had to have a big hand to call me. Unfortuneately, A-K soooted is a big hand and I was insta-called. I didn't improve and was down to 4BB. My very next hand was A-J, so it was an easy push. The same lady called with K-Q, hitting a Q on the flop and another on the river for good measure and I was toe-tagged.

Overall, it was a good night, but I'm a little bummed we couldn't come to an agreement on my joining the league.

Till next time, win the flips.