Gray-haired poker TRs: Living the WSOP dream

1 day you’re dumping free money in fantasy football, next you’re filing chapter 11 for 10 million debt. Life in the fast lane.

Touché

2024 WSOP: June 4, Event 14 Super Turbo Bounty NLHE (Part 1 of 9)
Playing in a tournament structure I hate

The good, the bad and the indifferent of today’s tournament:

The good is that it’s a freezeout. I love freezeouts where people cannot buy back in.

The bad is that it’s a super turbo. I hate turbos. So that must mean I really, really hate a super turbo. Apparently the WSOP honchos decided a turbo is not fast enough, we need to go super turbo.

You only get 20,000 chips and the blinds go up every 20 minutes. Lose a couple of small to medium sized pots early and you are already short. Even if you win some early hands, the blinds become an issue at fairly lightening speed. You are probably wondering, why am I playing in something I hate? It’s NLHE, it fits my bankroll budget, and it fits my schedule.

I guess this kind of makes me like Muscles, the guy who claimed to hate poker, but was playing in a poker tournament. I hate turbos, yet here I am playing in a super turbo. Guilty as charged. So here we go, let’s go super turbo.

The indifferent is the fact that there are $300 bounties on every person you knock out. I’m neutral on this. Doesn’t excite me. Doesn’t annoy me. Whatever.

When my cab gets me to the Paris, the driver says to me, “Make sure you have everything.” I respond, “I’m sure no one ever forgets anything in your car.” He laughs and says, “You’d be amazed how many times I have to drive someone’s phone back to them.”

For the first time at this year’s WSOP I am playing in the Horseshoe ballroom. It is the room where all of the WSOP Player of the Year banners are hung. As a room, it’s really devoid of personality. It feels like a room for an annual conference of accountants. It does not feel bigger than life. Also, it is an ice box. Even colder than the Paris ballroom. I immediately put on my hoodie.

If I ever grow some fkn balls and go for a WSOP-run, I would strongly consider entering this tournament. In my local casino, most of the tournaments I play have 20 minute blind levels, and I don't find this to be 'super-turbo' at all. Though, with the dealers the use during WSOP + some tanking Euros at the table (I swear I am not one of them) it might not be that many hands per level.

Looking forward to reading your experience of it!

I find the Horseshoe ballroom somewhat charming. Reminds me of some of the Rio side rooms like Brasilia and Miranda. No frills. Just wall to wall tables.

Funny that you mention the low temperature.,

In the first year of the WSOP at the new venue, it took them a while to get the AC working in there, so it was known to be a sauna. Guess they fixed it.

The place you really want to be is the Horsehoe events center because that likely means you're DEEP in something.

I haven't had that honor yet. Maybe someday.

Do it! Some of those cheapo events that get >20,000 entries are 20 minute levels on the first day. If you run deep, you'll have a huge rail of people rooting for you that you never met before. 😀

There's still time to fly in for the Colossus in July!

Actually, it was broken.

Hehe. Maybe next year. But I do believe that even the Colossus and other sh*t show events have 30 minutes on day 1. Pretty sure this $1000 Super Turbo Bounty is the only one with 20 minutes, although I haven't studied the schedule in detail.

2024 WSOP: June 4, Event 14 Super Turbo Bounty NLHE (Part 2 of 9)
Michael Jordan era Bulls starting lineup music, and now your starting lineups (the crowd in my head goes wild)

The combatants:

Seat 1: When I first sat down, he said to me, “Good Morning. How are you?” After I respond, he says, “We going to have fun today?” He is OMC and seems like the kind of guy who would work as the greeter at a Target. We’ll call him MrFriendly.

Seat 2: Me.

Seat 3: Eric Baldwin, poker pro (lifetime earnings north of $8,000,000 per Hendon Mob). With that much lifetime earnings, he doesn’t need a nickname. Mentioned earlier in this trip report (Event # 3, level 15).

Seat 4: This player is playing chess on his phone for the first five or six levels, so we’ll name him Chess.

Seat 5: This player is wearing a Golden State Warriors jacket. Every time he places a bet, he announces it by saying a sports figure’s jersey number. For example, if he bets $1,200 he says, “Tom Brady” (who was jersey number 12). We’ll call him SuperSportsFan.

Seat 6: The first thing he says when he gets to the table is, “I hate poker.” This is the second tournament I have played in where a player says this upon arriving at the table. We’ll name him “I-Hate-Poker.”

Seat 7: He is wearing a Michigan Wolverines “M” hat. We’ll name him Harbaugh (yeah, he’s now the coach of the L.A. Chargers, but he just won Michigan, my school, a national title).

Seat 8: He is wearing an Arctic Surf hoodie. I already had a SurferDude as an opponent in a previous tournament, so we can’t use that name. So we’ll do a play on the word Arctic and call him MrFreeze.

Seat 9: This is the second time I have faced a player with perfect hair this week. The previous player I did not use this for the nickname, so this player will be PerfectHair.

Yea this could make you get way less hands than a local casino with shufflers, good dealers and players who act fast.

Colossus is actually 40 minute levels. 40k starting stack.

Pretty cool tournament to play, but such a huge field that you can make a deep run and still finish like 500th.

2024 WSOP: June 4, Event 14 Super Turbo Bounty NLHE (Part 3 of 9)
MrFriendly thinks I may be crazy after the first hand of the tournament … Harbaugh has a full house plus a joker … Not sure if MrFriendly is actually friendly

Level 1 (20,000 chips)

100/100/100.

In the first hand of the event, I am in the big blind. MrFreeze bets 400 chips and I call. I have J-9 both clubs.

The flop comes 10-10-2, no clubs. It goes check-check. The turn is a Q. I now have an open-ended straight draw.

Mr. Freeze bets and I call.

The river is a 7. I miss my straight draw.

It goes check-check. MrFreeze has A-K and wins the pot with ace high.

MrFriendly then says to me, “What should I assume about you from that hand? That you are crazy?”

Maybe I gave the wrong nickname to MrFriendly.

I respond, “I turned a straight draw.”

MrFriendly says, “I guess that tells you about me that I don’t pay attention.”

OK, he can still be MrFriendly until proven otherwise. But I watching you, MrFriendly.

MrFreeze then wins a big hand against MrFriendly. On the flop MrFreeze made a straight, while MrFriendly flopped top pair top kicker.

I am dealt J-10 suited and I just limp into the pot. I-Hate-Poker bets. MrFreeze calls. I call.

The flop is J-4-3 rainbow. I bet and both players fold.

End of level 1: 20,000 chips.

Level 2

100/200/200

From middle position I raise with Q-J suited. Someone calls and then the big blind raises 4.5 times my opening bet. I fold, the caller folds. The player who popped it (I didn’t write down who in my notes) shows A-K.

Harbaugh has a tattoo on his arm that becomes a topic of conversation at the table. There are five cards on the tattoo: Three kings (representing his three sons) and two queens (his first two daughters). Harbaugh says it is a full house both in terms of the cards on his arm and the fact that he has a “full house” of so many kids.

Harbaugh then says he has a sixth child that isn’t on his arm. He says this with a sheepish look on his face. If I had to guess, he got the tattoo before the sixth child was born.

Harbaugh says that child number six wasn’t expected. Someone at the table says, “In that case add a tattoo of a joker to your arm.”

Brilliant.

About this time someone makes a comment about the nails of our female dealer. Her left hand fingertips have, “W … S … O … P … 2” and her right hand has “4 … A … A … A …A.” One letter/number per fingernail. In other words, WSOP 24 AAAA.

The deck is absolutely smashing I-Hate-Poker who just hit runner-runner cards to make a straight and bust PerfectHair.

SuperSportsFan (nicely) tells MrFriendly that he needs to post his blinds. MrFriendly, who looks older than me, does not respond. He doesn’t have the exact chips to post the blinds and BB ante, so SuperSportsFan suggests what chips MrFriendly should put out and he’ll eventually get change.

MrFriendly says, “OK, let me show you my cards, and you can tell me what to do.”

OK, I think we need a name change.

SuperSportsFan says, “Just trying to help.”

MrFriendly lowers the temperature and says, “OK, I’m a friendly guy.”

Well, if he says he’s a friendly guy …

I have K-6 two hearts in the big blind. UTG raises to 500. Four people call. OK, at these prices I’ll call and see if I can make a flush. I don’t catch any part of the flop and I fold to a bet.

End of level 2: 18,700 chips.

2024 WSOP: June 4, Event 14 Super Turbo Bounty NLHE (Part 4 of 9)
Chess is clearly not paying attention, or at least he wants the table to think that … A player asks if he can straddle, and the dealer (her first day in the profession) says no very uncertainly … I conclude Chess can be playing any two cards

Level 3

200/300/300

The action in a hand is to Chess, who is otherwise preoccupied by the game of chess he is playing on his phone. Eventually, Eric Baldwin says, “It’s on you.” Chess folds. This will not be the only time Chess has to be reminded that the action is on him while he plays chess.

Soon after that, Chess tosses his bounty chip into the center intending for it to be an all-in bet. He is told that only counts as a call. There have already been two announcements to the field that a bounty chip is only a call and not an all-in. Chess only gets to call. The flop comes, he bets and wins the pot.

Despite seemingly paying little attention to the poker tournament, Chess has added a whole bunch of chips to his stack.

SuperSportsFan is announcing every bet he makes tying it to a sports number. In this particular hand he raises to 700 and says “Elway.” After the flop he bets 2,000 and says “Secretariat (the greatest race horse of all time wore number 2 when he won the Triple Crown at the Belmont Stakes). And on and on it goes in this hand as he gets into a raising war with someone. SuperSportsFan has quads.

MrFriendly gets eliminated when the seemingly distracted Chess’s A-6 hits an ace on the flop.

End of Level 3: 17,900 chips.

Level 4

200/400/400

I am dealt A-K in middle position. I raise to 1,000. Everyone folds.

We get two new players to the table. The player in the 9 seat always sits way back in his seat, so I can’t ever see him. He is MrInvisible. The new player to my right in the 1 seat has a fishing company shirt on, so we’ll call him Fisherman.

I-Hate-Poker continues to run blazing hot. After the river there are four cards to a straight. I-Hate-Poker made the bottom end of the straight and beat MrFreeze in a big hand when MrFreeze’s flopped top pair get run down by the runner-runner miracle for I-Hate-Poker.

UTG bets. Getting into the spirit of SuperSportsFan, Chess raises to 2,300 and he announces it by saying “Michael Jordan.” Maybe Chess is paying more attention than he is letting on.

At this time, Fisherman asks the dealer if he can straddle. The dealer meekly says no, but it is clear that she does not feel confident about her answer. The table comes to her rescue and tells Fisherman that he cannot straddle. The relieved dealer says this is her first day dealing.

End of level 4: 18,300 chips.

Level 5

300/500/500

I am dealt 3-3. All week long I have repeatedly been seeing people make sets and quads with 3-3. Earlier in this tournament, there was an UTG bet and an UTG+1 large raise. With some very aggressive players after me still to act, I fold my 3-3. Off course there was a 3 on the flop. This time with my 3-3, I call and we go four-way to a flop, which is 4-J-10. I don’t understand, 3-3 has been the nuts all week long. This is downright unfair. There is a bet and I fold.

A hand later, I am dealt A-A. OK, all is forgiven. MrInvisible bets 1,000. I raise it to 2,300. Chess calls. MrInvisible calls. The flop comes J-Q-3 rainbow. At this point it has become clear to me that Chess can be playing any two cards. His range seems to be anything and everything. Despite how wide open he is playing, he has a ton of chips. I just check, certain that he will bet. He does not. MrInvisible checks as well. Disappointed. The flop comes a king, which is a bit scary. I bet and both opponents fold. I have 22,800 chips. Pre flop, I thought I would have a lot more after this hand.

End of level 5: 21,800 chips

2024 WSOP: June 4, Event 14 Super Turbo Bounty NLHE (Part 5 of 9)
Winning a pot with 4c-5c on a board that is Q-5-Q rainbow no clubs flop followed by a 10c … A guy is playing in the tournament with two dogs in his arms

Level 6

300/600/600.

SuperSportsFan has become increasingly talkative at the table.

“I’m a part-time alcoholic, but a full-time gambler,” he says.

He is also running very low on chips. He says “The Big Hurt, Frank Thomas,” and puts his final 3,500 chips into the middle. MrInvisible calls from the big blind.

SuperSportsFan has 10-10. MrInvisible has K-5 off suit, which isn’t much but there’s a bounty to be won, I guess. There is a K on the flop and that knocks out SuperSportsFan.

After the mega talker that was SuperSportsFan leaves our table, I say to Eric Baldwin and Chess, “The table just got more boring.”

Chess busts Fisherman, and his stack keeps climbing.

The next hand I get involved in starts when UTG raises to 1,500. I-Hate-Poker calls. I have 4-5 two clubs in the big blind, and I call.

The flop is Q-5-Q rainbow, no clubs. Everyone checks. The turn is a 10. I decide it is time to get a little out of line, and I bet 3,500 chips. Both players fold.

End of level 6: 24,100 chips.

During the break I see a guy in the hallway holding two tiny dogs.

I ask him, “Are you playing in the tournament?”

DogMan says, “Yes.”

Me: “With both dogs?”

DogMan says, “Yes.”

I am tempted to ask him if he started with one dog and won the other in a poker hand, but I keep my smartass comment to myself. At some point later in the tournament one player at my table mentions the guy with the two dogs. Another player says he saw it and adds, “I think one of the dogs is marking the cards.”

During the same break that I saw the guy with two dogs, I see another player who has a service dog. The dog has a very waggy tail. He loyally stands inches from his owner. I ask the player, “Where does the dog sit?” He says, “Under the table.” I sure hope other players at that table don’t nervously start tapping their toes when they have a big hand, because the dog looks like he can spot a tell.

All this talk about service dogs makes me want to cough up a hairball.

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it's people who are too cheap to pay for kennels

This lol - so much this right here.

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2024 WSOP: June 4, Event 14 Super Turbo Bounty NLHE (Part 6 of 9)[/U]
Eric Baldwin knocks out Harbaugh … Chess is playing full throttle Crazytown poker, and he’s funny … Eric Baldwin and I get into a conversation about our start-up company investing experiences… A cooler slows the Chess train

Level 7

400/800/800

In the last hand of the last level, I-Hate-Poker flopped the nuts and won a huge hand from Harbaugh in a big stack versus big stack collision. As we get back to the table, I ask I-Hate-Poker if he still hates poker. He says, “Yes.” I say, “If you hate poker, why are you playing?” He says, “If you do what you hate, it makes you stronger.” Well, that’s one way to look at it. Not the way I’d look at it. Personally, I think if you do what you hate, it makes you unhappy. To each his own.

I-Hate-Poker and Chess get into a hand against one another. After the flop, I-Hate-Poker raises big. Chess asks, “Can we negotiate the price?”

I am starting to like Chess. He has a clever sense of humor. He is also playing Crazytown poker, but so far it is working. He has a ton of chips.

Eric Baldwin knocks out Harbaugh in a K-J suited versus 7-7 coin flip. Just a few hands ago (counting the last hand of the previous level), Harbaugh was a really big stack. Now he is out. Gone. Kaput. In NLH tournament poker, anyone and everyone is walking on a high wire without a net, potentially one or two hands gone catastrophically wrong from going splat. Look to your left. Look to your right. Your neighbor could be nothing but a memory five minutes from now. Which is what Harbaugh is at this table. Just a memory.

With every passing level, with every surprising showdown of his cards, it becomes more and more clear that Chess is playing completely unconventional poker. And by unconventional, I mean bat-sh*t crazy. You absolutely never know what cards he might turn over. I’m not sure if I am witnessing poker genius or poker insanity. My poker training site studying did not prepare me for this type of opponent. I’m not sure anything could prepare me for this type of opponent.

A new player joins the table. On his first hand he gets his chips all in the middle and Chess calls. New guy has A-10. Chess has Q-5 suited. Chess wins the hand, earns a bounty and the new guy is gone in one hand.

Once the eliminated player is out of hearing distance, Chess says, “I welcomed him. I said hi. I said goodbye.”

Chess amuses me.

A couple hands later Chess busts another new guy to the table when Chess turns a straight with his J-Q.

At this time, I get into a conversation with Eric Baldwin. I ask him what his biggest poker score has been. He says he earned a million dollars for a second-place WPT finish in 2008 when he was runner-up to David Williams. What he doesn’t say is that although technically his biggest score dollar wise was that WPT runner-up finish, from a prestige standpoint his biggest scores -- in my opinion -- were the two WSOP bracelets he has won. It must be nice, someone asks you for your biggest poker score, and you don’t even bother to mention that you have won two WSOP bracelets.

Eventually the conversation turns to a patch Eric is wearing that says “toTree,” which is a furniture start-up company whose motto (it’s on the business card he eventually gives me) is “This is for people who HATE f***ing furniture shopping.” He is an investor in it. He tells me about it. We discuss it.

I tell him the story about the time I had a start-up tenant with two founders and two employees in one of my office buildings that had a shoot-for-the-stars business concept designed to disrupt an entire industry. I invested in them and then eight years later they went public. Eric the start-up investor obviously loves hearing this kind of story.

I get dealt A-K. I raise to 2,000. Chess calls (2,000 in chips to him is mere crumbs). The flop is A-J-9. Whenever anyone has checked a hand post flop, Chess almost always makes a bet to put them to the test. So, I just check. Chess just checks. Sigh. Against everyone else, he is playing Crazytown poker. Against me he is disciplined. The turn is a blank. I bet 2,600. Chess folds.

End of level 7: 25,300 chips.

Level 8

500/1,000/1,000

I am dealt K-10. It folds to me in the cutoff, and I bet 2,700. Everyone folds.

Chess, who has a mountain of chips loses a huge hand against a new player to the table on a massive cooler. The flop comes 2-3-6. All the chips go in the middle. Chess has 3-3. NewPlayer has 6-6. Set over set. Chess does not hit the one-outer. Chess still has a ton of chips.

I am dealt A-Q off suit. A brand new player to the table with a monster stack (we’ll call him Heaps) raises 3,000 from middle position. He bet 3x, so I raise 3x and pop it to 9,000. He folds. I have 28,300 chips.

Later on, Heaps bets from UTG. MrInvisible who is on the tightish side raises big. I have 5-5. I think MrInvisible has a very big hand. Heaps is a relatively unknown quantity at this point other than he accumulated the heaps of chips at his previous table. I fold. The hand does not get to showdown, so I never find out what MrInvisible had.

Eric Baldwin gets knocked out of the tournament. He gets his approximately 20,000 chips into the middle with 3-3 and is up against MrInvisible’s 7-7. Up until today, 3-3 has consistently flopped the nuts at my tables, although it didn’t work out that way for me earlier today. It doesn’t work out for Eric either, and he is out.

A new player with a short stack joins the table. He is wearing a Hollywood Park hat, so we’ll call him Hollywood. Very quickly, Hollywood gets all of his 13,000 chips into the middle. The only person who calls is Chess who turns over … 5-7 two clubs. Chess does not win the bounty.

At about this time, Chess stops playing chess on his phone.

On the next hand a newly added player to my right goes all-in with 6-6. Hollywood calls with A-8 two clubs and loses. Some of the players are starting to chase all-in bounties with light holdings.

End of level 8: I forgot to write down my chip stack. Probably 26,000-28,000ish.

2024 WSOP: June 4, Event 14 Super Turbo Bounty NLHE (Part 7 of 9)
Chess endures another cooler but still has a lot of chips … Our table gets broken at the Horseshoe and we are moved to the Paris … At my new table, the player to my right is Chess … On break I forget the number of the table I was just moved to, and I try not to panic

Level 9

I don’t write down anything this level. Apparently, nothing interesting happened. That or I fell asleep.

End of level 9: 28,300 chips.

Level 10

800/1,600/1,600

Chess gets in a big hand with a new player with a bunch of chips. On a board of A-6-3-J two spades, their hands are …

Chess: A-6 (two pair).

New player: As-10s (top pair and the nut flush draw, plus a 10 or a jack will win him the hand).

The river brings a spade. NewPlayer gets there. Chess still has a lot of chips.

A bunch of tables, including mine, get broken. We leave the Horseshoe and are headed to the Paris. This is unfortunate for me, because by the time we get there the blinds may have gone up again, and the blinds are already nipping at my heals. We are given bags for our chips. This is not the exciting bagging of chips. This is move-to-the-Paris bagging of chips. It is not you-made-day-2 bagging of chips.

I walk with Chess, and we talk the entire way. I learn that he was a full-time poker pro for about 15 years, until he had a child. He says now he is a semi-pro. We talk about the unpredictable style he is playing. He says his approach for today has been to play crazy and either run up a big stack or bust out and then play something else.

When we all get to the Paris ballroom, we are told to line up and we will be given a new table assignment. Chess gets his card, someone else gets the next card, and then I am handed a card. Chess asks what table I am at. I show him. He laughs. We are at the same table. But whereas he has been two to my left all day, now I am to his immediate left. As we walk to our table, he says, “Now you get to be second to act, knowing how I play.” I respond, “I’m pretty sure I will be the only person at the table for a while who understands how you play.”

I think to myself that it seems inevitable that Chess is either going to bust me or double me up.

We get to our new table. The player to my left is chatty. He has an interesting looking goatee, a very vibrant shirt and a Yoda card protector. I do not get any playable cards, and pretty quickly the level ends. We go on break. I believe this is the end of late reg.

End of level 10: 24,300 chips

While on break, I have a horrible realization. I don’t remember what my new table number is. Usually, I take a picture of the sign above the table when I go on break, but this time I forgot to do so. I remember the color section, and I have a vague idea of the general table area I was in. I also know that I was in seat 8. I don’t completely panic. OK, I was a little panicked, but it wasn’t full-blown freak out. Yet. I figure I will look for Chess and/or the player to my left with the interesting goatee, vibrant shirt and Yoda card protector.

As I think about this, it strikes me that when you first get to your table to start the tournament they ask for identification (plus you have to provide your tournament ticket), but when you move to a new table there is really no ID check. You just give them the new table draw card you have been given. But what happens if someone goes to the wrong stack after break? Other than the other players at the table vouching for who was seated in the disputed seat, how would such a dispute be settled?

The announcement is made that the players can go back to their tables. I am frantically looking around. Finally, I see the guy with the goatee and vibrant shirt in Seat 9. I go to my seat next to him. Phew. I’m such a moron.

How many minutes would you say you lost all together from this process? It must be a bit annoying, especially in a tournament like that with only 20 minute levels.

I have done this many times if I am playing semi-big tournaments here in Malta; forgetting exactly where I was sitting. But usually I recognize one or two of the players at my table, and are able to find my way back without anyone noticing.

Every time I go to Vegas I take a picture of my room number at the hotel, to ensure I don't forget it. Taking a picture of the table number is probably a good idea as well.

I would say that from the declaration that our table (and several other tables) was breaking to the walk to the Paris ballroom to getting a new table assignment to getting to my new table maybe 10 minutes. But that's just a guess well after the fact.

Waited til I got back from my own WSOP trip to start reading this -- and I'm glad I did so, as this has been quite a treat. Thanks for taking the time to put together such a detailed report and looking forward to the final chapters!

2024 WSOP: June 4, Event 14 Super Turbo Bounty NLHE (Part 8 of 9)
I’m all-in, and, of course, it is against Chess … Is it a coin flip or am I crushed? … We have a sweat

Level 11

1,000/2,000/2,000

The blinds go through me and I don’t have playable cards. I am down to around 18,000 chips. Nine big blinds. I have been seeing a soul-crushing array of unplayable hands. An island of misfit cards. 2-7, 3-5, 4-9, 2-8. I see 9-7 off suit and consider it but I have just had the blinds go through me, so I decide to wait, but I know I have to get it in before the blinds get to me again. I think to myself that I think I was right to fold the 9-7, but I’m not positive. For all of my poker training site studying that I did in the months leading up to the WSOP, I still need work on my muscle memory when it comes to push fold charts.

The next hand I am dealt is 3-3. This will have to do. 3-3 has been the nuts for other people in previous tournaments, but it has not been hitting today. Chess raises to 4,000. I go all-in. I have no illusions that I have any fold equity here. I know he will be calling, but an initial bet from Chess doesn’t necessarily mean anything. The prior hand he had K-3 suited and ended up with the nut flush and doubled up through the table’s huge chip leader. He has previously called all-in bets with Q-5 suited and 5-7 suited in an effort to win bounties. If Chess is holding a bottle cap and a postage stamp, he is snap-calling me.

I am hoping he has two over cards and it’s a coin flip. A coin flip sounds good since I need to double up or go home. Chess calls my bet and then says something I don’t want to hear. He says, “Let’s see how your A-K does against my hand.”

So, it’s not a coin flip.

Chess turns over 7-7.

3-3 versus 7-7 is the exact confrontation that knocked out Eric Baldwin earlier in the tournament. 3-3 has not been good to me in the WSOP. I need it to come through for me now.

The flop comes 7-8-9. Chess has a set of 7s. I’m pretty much dead. But then there is a murmur at the table when a 6 comes on the turn. Any 5 or 10 and we chop a straight. The river is a blank, and I am out of the tournament.

Strange as this sounds, if someone had to knock me out, I am glad it was Chess.

I might have gone with the 9-7. It's hard to say. The argument in favor would be that it's hard for anyone to have an overpair, you'll win uncontested a lot of the time, and when you do get called, you're going to have two live cards more often than not (vs. AK, AQ, AJ, KQ, etc). It's unpleasant to risk our tournament life with such a dusty hand after many hours of nursing a stack and fighting for our life, but sometimes we must walk on the tight rope.

Can't fault you for looking down at a pair and deciding to go with it vs. a wide range. I don't think it's horrible. In this spot though, you really want to be the first one into the pot as opposed to knowing there's a raiser in front of you. When you KNOW you're getting called, the 33 shrivels up quite a bit because you're flipping at best in most cases. Still unlucky that he had a pair. Most of the time he doesn't and you're flipping for a stack.