Born to Play Badugi

If you have have been to a trade show at large convention centre, then you have some idea of the space that the WSOP is played in. Imagine hundreds of poker tables filling a gigantic room. In the middle of the hall at the back is the "television table" where a small theatre has been set up around a single poker table with cameras suspended from poles in the ceiling. When I registered I was given my table and seat assignment. Eric and I showed up a few minutes before the start - milling about until they let us go to our seats.

An announcement informed us that there had been some last minute changes to the tournament structure. The starting stack each player would receive would be only 7,500 - not the 15,000 that was stated on the WSOP website. Also the bind structure has been raised. Both these changes were bad news for me, because it would accelerate the pace of play, giving me less chance to feel my way in. We were told that we could get a refund and not play if we wished, but I didn't really consider it. It was too late for me to back out now.

When we were allowed to sit, I made my way to the amazon room, orange section, table 343, seat 3 - and sat down in my $1,500 chair. A photographer took my picture in case I made it deep so they would have a face to put on the website. There were only six seats per table, and when the tournament started only four seats at my table were occupied. In seat one was a melancholy looking young guy with sad eyes. Let's call him Melancholy Boy. In seat five is a slouchy young Irish kid - I dunno, let's call him Seamus. I'm saved from being the old man at the table by seat six;  an older gentleman who looks more like a businessman than a hardcore poker player. Let's call him...Bob.

The first game we played was No Limit Hold 'Em (Thank God!). I was dealt Ad 8d in the small blind.  Bob folded. Melancholy Boy put out a minimum raise. I really wanted to fold my first hand, but a suited ace short-handed seemed good enough, so I called. Seamus also called. The flop had two diamonds, giving me a flush draw. I checked and so did the others. I hit the nut flush on the turn and checked it. Seamus bet the pot. Melancholy Boy folded. I re-raised and Seamus mucked. Bingo - I just won the first hand.

How this mixed game thing works is the dealer button moves around the table clockwise with each hand. When the button gets back to seat one, the game changes. Every level is an hour long and each new level brings high blinds, antes, and bets for the different games. It's hard to keep it all straight and even the dealers are frequently referring to structure sheets to see how much the antes and bets are.

I held my own through the first two levels, wining at least one hand in each of the different games and feeling pretty good. I took a big pot off Melancholy Boy in Badugi when I hit a badugi on my first draw and stood pat. I kept betting and he kept calling until he folded on the last street. Then when we were playing 2-7 triple draw I hit a monster hand on my first draw (again!) and stood pat. Again I was up against Melancholy Boy, and he seemed dubious that I really had it. "Do you always hit it on the first draw?" he asked in a thick accent I could not place. I shrugged. He called, but when I stood pat on the next draw and bet again he folded.

I was not the only one to have taken a bite out of Melancholy Boy. Seamus had taken a pretty big pot in Omaha. By the middle of the second level Melancholy Boy was down to about 2,000 in chips. He went all in twice when the game came back to No Limit Hold Em, winning a small pot the first time but busting out the second time when his AJo did not improve against Seamus's pocket kings.

By the break after level two I was up to around 9,500, and feeling very good. However with the reduced stack and the levels increasing I was sure I'd have to open up my play pretty quick. Eric gave me some good advice on waiting another level before starting to make any moves, and I returned to my seat feeling really good.

TO BE CONTINUED....