Tournament Pokie in Okie

Choctaw Poker Room

When last we met, Tin Man, Lil' Annie Okie, Philly Phanatic, Ms. Duck and I had left the Choctaw Casino to head over to the local Hampton Inn to check in and rest for a little while. The plan was to get back to the casino in time for the $135 buy-in poker tourney that was scheduled to begin at 7 pm.

Both Tin Man and Annie decided not to play at the last minute which meant that Philly and I would be the lone representatives for our contingent. For our $135 we received $5K in chips, with blinds beginning at $25-50 and 20 minute levels. There was late registration available through the fourth level and by the time we got there we had 170 players.

Philly busted out pretty quickly when his pocket aces got cracked by a flush. I was card dead for the first couple of hours and pretty much aggravated my carpel tunnel mucking cards. But when I did get a hand I would get paid off and was able to keep a respectable stack and by the first break after level six, I had better than doubled my stack to a little over $11K.

With blinds and antes becoming significant, play got more aggressive with a lot of pushing with marginal hands. I picked one player off when he shoved with A-7 and I peeked down at Rob's favorite hand, K-K.
I wondered if the poker gods that had been making life miserable for lightning had opted for a change of scenery and joined me in Oklahoma when an ace appeared on the flop. But all was well when a third wise man showed on the turn and held on the river.

Unfortunately I went card dead again late in the tournament, which is never good. I couldn't even get a hand worth considering a push until I finally saw a 7-8 suited and shoved. One player hemmed and hawed for a while, but eventually folded and I was able to steal the blinds and antes.

My final hand was a call rather than a push, which I hate to do, but I thought my hand was strong enough to warrant it. I was down to six BB when a player from middle position shoved for seven BB. He had played solid poker throughout the evening, but I knew he was waiting for any opportunity to get his chips in the middle (as was I), so his range would be wide. I peeked down at pocket tens and winced (just a little) as I made the call. His hand was certainly at the top of his range as evidenced when he flipped pocket queens on their backs. I wasn't able to improve and finished in 33rd place. But only 17 paid, so although I was able to play a little over four hours of poker, I was still out 135 smack-a-roos. On the other hand, 33 out of 170 ain't too bad.

Now after 11 o'clock, Ms. Duck and I still hadn't eaten and found a deli in the casino, split a turkey sandwich and headed back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

Our plan was to meet the rest of the gang in the lobby at 9 am for the free breakfast at the Hampton and then head back over to the Choctaw for a little more poker and then drive home after lunch. My poker session that morning includes one interesting hand which I will detail in my final post on our Oklahoma trip.

Till next time, win the flips.